The Indianapolis Colts take the early lead in the AFC South with their second win in as many games. This is the first time they have started 2-0 since the 2009 season. While this win was not as dominating as last week’s, they got the win, nonetheless. Both teams made plenty of mistakes, but the Colts consistently capitalized on Denver’s mistakes.
The crux of Denver’s mistakes was the penalties and, of course, the final leveraging penalty that turned out to be the dagger for the Broncos. You have an argument to question the final drive play calls from Shane Steichen, and leaving Spencer Shrader to make a long field goal. Steichen gave the reasoning for their plan. The plan was to keep the ball in play for as long as possible and prevent them from touching the football again.
While they made mistakes, the key stat coming out of Week 2 is their 2-0 record. It does not matter how you get there, but getting there is monumental. The odds of making the playoffs jump substantially, and it will keep them in the hunt longer, even when they approach a difficult stretch that starts in the next couple of weeks.
Offense Keeps Rolling
I think the biggest narrative last week, after the victory over Miami, was the offense. Most felt the defense would be improved (it was), and the offense overachieved. This offense demonstrated that last week’s performance was no fluke. The offense continued to roll as they piled up another 473 yards of offense. With 306 through the air and 167 on the ground. They had reasonable 3rd-down efficiency stats (6/13) and, most importantly, they had another zero-turnover game.
Even with all the improvements we have seen, it’s the turnover reduction that has had such an impact on this team. Daniel Jones is efficient with the line of scrimmage, and he is not forcing the offense; he’s in command of it entirely. Jones is not forcing bad throws and is making decisions quickly to prevent plays from breaking down. You can see why he won the quarterback competition. The accuracy has improved offensive efficiency, and overall confidence is back on the sideline.
That Final Drive
Plenty will be discussed about the final drive of the 4th quarter. Did the Colts get bailed out by the Broncos on a call that could have gone either way? They absolutely did, but the call is the call, and this time it benefited Indianapolis. Both teams had yellow flags flying all game long.
The logic that Steichen explained in the post-game press conference was to keep the ball out of the hands of the Broncos at all costs. Some media members were questioning whether he didn’t fully trust Daniel Jones yet this early in the season. I think that narrative is a stretch, as Daniel Jones has arguably been the best player on the team so far this season.
I understand the logic, but this team got bailed out by the penalty. Steichen clearly has full trust in Spencer Shrader. While he has been terrific so far this season, leaving the game to an inexperienced kicker from over 50 yards is a questionable decision. While I defend his true logic, the results nearly crashed out.
Defense Settled In After Slow Start
While I do not want to be redundant, like the comment about the offense possibly overachieving, we did not expect the defense to deliver another near shutout. The first half showed us that the defense will still have some growing pains early in the season. I will give credit to Denver, as they are a better offense than Miami is. They also have a better coaching staff to direct them.
Even with all the injuries on the defensive side of the ball this week, we saw the defense settle in the second half. It was refreshing to see Lou Anarumo make the needed changes in the second half. Last season, we saw Gus Bradley refuse to change up during the game and continue to stick with the plan, win or lose.
Before settling in, we saw why Xavien Howard has been out of the league for two seasons. One of the worst first halves of football we have seen from a cornerback in quite some time. 3 penalties in one drive are inexcusable. Whether he is still learning the scheme or showing his age is now part of the discussion. Safeties Cam Bynum and Nick Cross were terrific again this week, and the Colts missed Laiatu Latu on the edge. The Colts pass rush seemed nonexistent and will need to improve next week against Tennessee.
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