What will be the key matchups the Colts have to win to get on the win column in Week 3
Adetomiwa Adebawore / Dayo Odeyingbo vs. Matt Pryor
Remember Matt Pryor? The disaster at tackle that almost got quarterback Matt Ryan killed, and was benched after just five weeks, well he will be starting for the Bears on Sunday, though he will be playing guard. The Colts insisted on playing Taven Bryan the first two weeks, but hopefully they already realized that is a failed experiment and will look to play Adebawore and Odeyingbo (good luck to the TV commentators). The Bears’ offensive line was already bad with all their starters, so it will be a weakness versus weakness matchup, and one the Colts absolutely have to win.
Gus Bradley vs. Matt Eberflus
The return of the prodigal son as Matt Eberflus makes his return to Indianapolis! Of course this is ironic as I never liked his defense, but somehow Bradley has done even worse, so I am not sure what to think of this. Bradley has to put his players in better positions to succeed. This defense was already terrible last year, and any hope of improvements seems to have gone completely out of the window. That seat is starting to heat up, so if Bradley’s defense does not step up some mid-season changes could loom in the horizon.
Grover Stewart / Zaire Franklin vs. D’Andre Swift
The Colts need their two best players at stopping the run to actually start doing that. Stewart and Franklin’s main calling cards are their ability to thwart opposing running games, as neither are really good against the pass or creating turnovers. D’Andre Swift has 48 rushing yards on 24 carries through two weeks, and the Bears as a team have the fifth lowest rushing yards and just 3.5 yards per carry. I cannot think of a better chance for this run defense to get back on track.
Colts’ wide receivers vs. Whatever is wrong with them
The Bears’ secondary is really good, but so are the Colts’ wide receivers and they will have Josh Downs back with them. We knew beforehand that AD Mitchell sometimes took some plays off, and that is an issue that Reggie Wayne will need to work on as it was evident against the Packers, but whatever is wrong with MPJ is beyond me. He got the big extension, and even though it did not age well considering how the other wide receivers got paid later in the offseason, his numbers through two weeks are terrible, 7 receptions for 52 yards on 15 targets, so its not like AR is going away from him. Of course not all of the blame is on Pittman as Richardson is an erratic quarterback, and the short and intermediate routes where the receiver makes most of his work are not AR’s strengths. Anyhow, Steichen will have to find ways to make it work, as this passing offense has too much talent to be playing as poorly as it has.
Colts’ IOL vs. Andrew Billings
The Colts’ offensive line has been the best aspect of the team in this season thus far, and while the Bears’ front lacks special talent they do have a productive interior rusher in Andrew Billings. Anthony Richardson struggles more when facing pressure from the edges, so even if Billings does get home if the Colts manage to keep the edges contained the young quarterback should be okay.
