The Indianapolis Colts defense had a rough start to the season.
It struggled to stop the run, prevent touchdowns, and get off the field. But now, the situation has changed.
Under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, the defense is playing much stronger. They’ve been able to slow down teams, including the high-scoring Detroit Lions, enough to give the Colts a chance to win. However, the Colts offense is still having difficulties.
“They are playing their tails off. You don’t want them on the field a bunch and as an offense you want to be able to play complementary football,” said running back Jonathan Taylor after their 24-6 loss on Sunday. “I would say specifically on offense, it sucks when you can’t help your defense out when they are fighting their tails off all game.”
The defense did its job, limiting the Lions (10-1) to only 14 points in the first half and allowing just 24 points in total, which was Detroit’s lowest score since Week 3.
The problem is, even when the Colts (5-7) got the Lions off the field, they struggled to keep drives going or score touchdowns.
Anthony Richardson contributed most of the rushing yards with 61 yards on 10 carries, mostly in the first half. Taylor only gained 35 yards on 11 carries, and the team was hurt by a season-high 10 penalties that put them in tough situations.
Part of the Lions’ success came from their game plan.
“We knew Jonathan Taylor was going to be the guy we needed to shut down,” said Lions coach Dan Campbell. “We did that. The quarterback runs. It got us on a couple but overall, we did what we needed to do, and we kept them out of that game.”
Another factor was the Colts’ offensive line, which has been dealing with injuries. They’ve had three rookie starters in each of the last two weeks, and they finished the previous game with the same group.
No matter the reason, the Colts need to find a solution for their offense.
There is some hope for the Colts, as their remaining schedule looks easier.
After losing four of their last five games, with all losses to playoff-bound teams, they will only face one team with a winning record in their final five games. The last time they played a team with a losing record, Richardson led them to a 28-27 win over the New York Jets.
But head coach Shane Steichen knows the Colts can’t rely on that alone. They need to fix their offense now.
“We’ve got to get that figured out. We’ve got to get him going on the ground,” Steichen said, referring to Taylor, who has gained just 92 yards on his last 35 carries. “We’ll look at the offensive line. We’ll look at everything.”
