Indianapolis Colts: Top Ten Takeaways From Week One

The Indianapolis Colts lost their season opener to the Detroit Lions with 35-39 being the final score. There certainly were a collection of positive and negative takeaways, regardless, this was a quality game to use as a foundational building block to prepare for the Denver Broncos in Week 2. It doesn’t appear to be time to panic because Indianapolis has been in this position many times in recent history. According to Pro-Football-Reference, the Colts now have a record of 1-4 in season openers during the Andrew Luck era. It is important that the Indianapolis Colts can avoid a 0-2 start to their season because the AFC South is a stronger division than it has been in recent history.

10. Phillip Dorsett Shows Potential

Phillip Dorsett has been under an unfair microscope since being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Many fans wanted the Colts to select a player that could make an impact on the team’s offensive line or defense with that draft selection, but instead, the team selected a wide receiver. GM Ryan Grigson wanted to pick the best player available and on their draft board, and that player ended up being former University of Miami WR Phillip Dorsett.

In the Indianapolis Colts’ 35-39 loss to the Detroit Lions, according to Pro-Football-Reference, Phillip Dorsett recorded 4-receptions and 94-yards. This was game by far the best performance of Dorsett’s young career. In fact, Dorsett set career highs in targets (six), receptions (four), yards (94), yards per reception (23.5), and yards per target (15.67). Phillip Dorsett also tied previous career highs in catching percentage with a 66.7 percentage.

9. Colts’ Receiving Trio Showed Up

The Indianapolis Colts did not add to their receiving core during the off-season. Instead, they decided to stick with T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and Phillip Dorsett as their primary receiving targets for Andrew Luck. According to ESPN, the trio combined for 16 receptions, 237 yards, and one touchdown. Dorsett headlined the group with four receptions and 94 yards. Hilton added six receptions and 79 yards. Moncrief was the only receiver in the group to score, and he had six receptions, 64 yards, and one touchdown.

8. Run Defense Has To Improve

Per Pro-Football-Reference, the Detroit Lions recorded 116 rushing yards on 24 attempts and rushed for two touchdowns. That means that Detroit averaged 4.8 yards per carry, which put the Indianapolis Colts in 21st place for opponent rushing yards per carry. After their first game of the season, the Colts rank 11th in opponent rushing attempts, 20th in opponent rushing yards, 24th in opponent rushing touchdowns, and 21st in opponent yards per carry.

Indianapolis used sets with two defensive linemen to aid the injury-plagued secondary in pass coverage and to sometimes provide an artificial boost to the team’s lack of pass rush. The Detroit Lions were well aware of this strategy, and they took advantage of the Colts by handing the ball off to Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah to rack up rushing yards. Getting their key secondary players back from injury could help the Colts’ run defense since they will go back to their traditional packages. Getting back Henry Anderson and Arthur Jones should directly help the front seven too.

7. Injuries Are Crippling The Defense

The Indianapolis Colts defense was blatantly awful. However, they were missing some key defenders from the beginning of the game and that total increased as this matchup progressed. According to Colts.com, Indianapolis was without starting corner Vontae Davis, starting defensive lineman Henry Anderson, starting corner Darius Butler, and starting safety Clayton Geathers for the entire game. Injuries or not, the Colts needed just one stop after their offense scored a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute of the game. Instead, they allowed a 50-yard drive on five plays, and it ultimately led to Detroit’s game-winning field goal.

The injuries continued for the Colts and will be a problem for week two and beyond. According to Colts.com, starting corner Patrick Robinson suffered a concussion during Sunday’s game and is going through concussion protocol. Starting safety T.J. Green suffered an MCL sprain and is listed as week-to-week, he could miss the team’s next game. Mike Adams was the lone member of the Colts’ starting secondary that managed to play the full game against the Lions. Updates regarding all of the team’s injuries should come early this week.

The Indianapolis Colts were blatantly terrible in this game on the defensive side of the ball. Per ESPN, Indianapolis failed to force a single turnover in this game, allowed 37 points, 448 total yards, 28 first downs, 4-of-4 red zone efficiency, 5-of-9 third down efficiency, and allowed six scores (five touchdowns, one field goal) on Detroit’s 11 total possessions. It is important to note that the Lions had one possession right before the half where they decided to kneel to run out the final five seconds of the clock to end the first half. Excluding that one useless possession for Detroit, the Lions legitimately scored on half of their possessions.

6. Who’s Coby Fleener?

The Indianapolis Colts received great success from their tight ends. Courtesy of ESPN, Dwayne Allen recorded four receptions, 53 yards, and one touchdown. Jack Doyle was the other key tight end for Indianapolis, and he racked up three receptions, 35 yards, and two touchdowns. In recent seasons, Coby Fleener was utilized as a receiving target at the tight end position. Indianapolis did not want to pay Fleener, and now he is with the New Orleans Saints. That decision appears to have been the correct one so far.

5. Slow Starts Are Costly

The Indianapolis Colts’ offense did manage to score 35 points in this game. However, it took them too long to find a rhythm. Indianapolis punted on their first three possessions of the game. According to ESPN, the Detroit Lions led 14-0 with 9:11 remaining in the second quarter. At one point, the Colts trailed 3-21 until they finally found the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Luck to Donte Moncrief with just 0:05 left in the second quarter. At the end of the first half, Indianapolis trailed the Lions 21-10.

Indianapolis didn’t even look remotely like the same team during the second half. Per ESPN, the Colts were outscored 21-10 by the Lions in the first half. However, they outscored Detroit 25-18 in the second half. It is outrageous to have the need for an offense to score at least 40 points to win games, but until the Colts can get their defense healthy again, it’s the reality that they are facing. A poor defense means that the margin for error is incredibly small for Andrew Luck and the offense, and they cannot have slow starts like they did in this game.

4. Colts Need Higher Volume Rushing Success

According to ESPN, the Indianapolis Colts recorded only 82 rushing yards in this game. That may not look so bad on the surface, but Andrew Luck accounted for 21 yards, meaning that non-Luck rushers totaled only 61 rushing yards. Frank Gore led the way with 59 rushing yards on 14 carries, and that ended up being a quality 4.2 yards per carry. A lack of dynamic rushing success was a key culprit to the Colts’ early offensive struggles.

On the first three possessions for the Colts, Frank Gore averaged only 2.6 yards per carry on five carries, according to ESPN. In fact, the longest run by Gore on the team’s first three possessions was a four-yard run. Of course, not all blame should be on Gore, regardless of whether the offensive line needs to have better execution in run blocking, or if the Colts need to have better play calling, or if Gore needs to make better decisions, the Colts simply need more dynamic rushing success.

3. Defense Needs More Pass Rush

Mathew Stafford had way too much time to throw the football because of an almost entirely non-existent pass rush by the Colts. According to Pro-Football-Focus, Trent Cole was the only player that managed to put any form of pressure on Mathew Stafford. Trent Cole recorded a QB hit and three hurries. Excluding Cole, the Colts had only one sack, three hits, and two QB hurries, which is atrocious. Indianapolis had a terrible performance from their front seven, and it allowed Detroit to shred them in the passing and running game, which ultimately led to an easy 37 points by their offense.

2. Offensive Line Shows Potential

There were incredibly loud concerns about how the offensive line of the Indianapolis Colts would perform this season. Their offensive line ended up playing in their first game of the season. According to Pro-Football-Focus, the Colts’ offensive line registered the fourth highest pass blocking rating of the week with an 89.2 efficiency score. The offensive line allowed only one sack and seven QB pressures on 51 passing plays. They truly gave Andrew Luck a sufficient pocket and Luck certainly made the of most out of the opportunity.

1. Andrew Luck Is Dominant With Sufficient Conditions

Andrew Luck had a rare game where he had a good performance from his offensive line. With time to make the right decisions in the pocket, Luck picked apart the Lions’ defense. According to Pro-Football-Reference, Luck completed 31 of his 47 passing attempts for 385 passing yards and four touchdowns. Luck had an impressive 119.5 passer rating, and he added 21 rushing yards on three attempts. This game was simply one of the best performances of Andrew Luck’s career.

Andrew Luck had perhaps the highest-volume versatility of any game in his career.

Andrew Luck recorded his first career game with at least 385 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 30 completions. pic.twitter.com/YQW1QZV6LU

— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) September 12, 2016

Pro-Football-Focus gave Andrew Luck an excellent grade with a 96.1 rating, which is the highest of any quarterback this week. Pro-Football-Focus perfectly summarized Luck’s performance, “Luck didn’t force any passes or make any real poor decisions all game. He was making every throw he needed to and was able to march his team down the field consistently. After a tough season last year for Luck, this incredible performance bodes well for the Colts going forward.”

[AP Photo/Jeff Roberson]