The Colts continued their 2024 season at home on Sunday against an NFC team in the Chicago Bears. The Bears were also 0-2 coming off a loss to Texans. The Colts were without defensive tackle DeForest Buckner who landed on IR.
The Colts now sit at 1-2 and are currently joint second in the AFC South. The Colts finally managed to get their first win of the year.
The national media have moved the Colts up in the power rankings board after their win against the Bears. Here is how the Colts stack up in the week 4 power rankings.
ESPN has the Colts at 24.
“QB Anthony Richardson has had some of the most explosive plays this season, leading the NFL with 12.6 air yards per attempt. But his play-to-play consistency has been problematic, costing the Colts some easy first downs. Richardson is completing 49.1% of his attempts, down from 59.5% in the four games he played as a rookie last season. His injury layoff could have negatively impacted his mechanics.”
NFL.com has the Colts at 18.
“What a breath of fresh air to see the Colts have an effective game defensively, taking away the Bears’ run game and forcing them to live and die with Caleb Williams. Gus Bradley’s unit forced just enough mistakes to make it a strong game overall from the defense. Offensively, though, the questions remain. Do the Colts need to revise their plans for Anthony Richardson? It’s not a stretch to say they won on Sunday despite his performance. He’s been an all-or-nothing player through three games, completing less than 50 percent of his passes and averaging two picks per game. Richardson hit on two big passes against Chicago, for 40 and 44 yards, and those two completions made up more than half his passing yards. He showed some toughness late as a runner, but overall, this still feels like Jonathan Taylor’s offense — or it should. Richardson’s big-play ability is what makes him dangerous, but his turnovers and accuracy issues are impossible to ignore.”
CBS Sports has the Colts at 21.
“Anthony Richardson is still too inconsistent, but at least they gave the ball to Jonathan Taylor in this game. They need to lean on that more.”
Bleacher Report has the Colts at 21.
“After starting the season 0-2 and allowing over 200 rushing yards in back-to-back games, the Indianapolis Colts desperately needed two things—a win and some run defense.
The team got both Sunday against the Chicago Bears, shutting down Chicago on the ground. But the team didn’t exactly rack up the style points doing so—quarterback Anthony Richardson had another shaky outing passing the ball and the Colts were out-gained by a sizable margin.
The engine for the victory was running back Jonathan Taylor, who piled up 135 total yards and two scores on 24 touches. Taylor told reporters after the game that getting a win was all that mattered in Week 3.
“It’s a lot (of momentum), especially being here (at home). All we needed is one,” Taylor said. “It was a great opportunity to get going and now we’ve got to continue to build on this.”
“The Anthony Richardson experience continues to be one helluva ride,” Sobleski said. “The 22-year-old’s peaks reach a level where most quarterbacks can’t go. But his valleys have been far more prevalent and border on making him unplayable. Still, the flashes of his immense potential are exactly why the Colts must continue to start last year’s fourth overall pick and simply endure those lows along the way. Indianapolis is far more capable of doing so when its defense actually plays well. The Colts were the league’s worst run defense, by far, entering Week 3 action. The unit held the Chicago Bears to 63 rushing yards at 2.3 three yards per attempt. Indianapolis will be a difficult out as long as it is playing complementary football.””
Pro Football Network has the Colts at 24.
“The Colts picked up their first win of the season with Sunday’s victory over Chicago but Anthony Richardson completed just 10 passes for 167 yards to go along with two picks. Indy needs much more from the second-year quarterback if it’s going to live up to preseason expectations.”
