Clearly the worst coached game overall in Steichen’s tenure thus far
Offense
They made my job really easy on this one, as usually it is kind of hard to judge the coaching staff based on just one game, considering there are so many things that are out of their control, but against the Packers it seemed like the team was just underprepared, and that is the coaches’ fault. The Colts’ offense looked really bad all game long, but it is not entirely on Steichen. It is not his fault if AD Mitchell drops a pass that hits him right on the hands, and Richardson’s interceptions are the growing pains we talked so much about having to endure as he gets his experience. I do blame him for failing to adjust to his gameplan to give the defense more rest. I think that was a key evident mistake. I also don’t get the no-huddle approach with Richardson, as the intuitive approach would be to slow things up first for the young quarterback, not speed it up.
I also did not like the refusal to use AR as a runner. If you have such a massive quarterback that runs as hard as he does, then you are better served using him. Right now, if you take away the athleticism Richardson is not a better quarterback than Jake Eason was, so you need to use his legs in order to maintain a viable offense. It would also Richardson to get some rythm and confidence by making plays, instead of encapsulating him as a pocket quarterback. Just to clarify this is not my main criticism on Steichen because I get wanting to take care of AR’s body, and realizing that the best way for him to get better as a passer is to attempt plenty of those, and he has to be on the field to do that.
There was also the key third and short situation where Steichen ran a speed option with Trey Sermon instead of the red hot Jonathan Taylor. What on earth was that? At first I thought it was injury related, but that was later ruled out. JT finished with just 14 touches so it’s not like he was overworked either. The play got blown up for a loss of 4 yards, and then Matt Gay missed the 50-yard field goal, which should have been a 46-yard one. Terrible coaching and game management by Steichen on that one.
Grade: D –
Defense
The Colts’ defense had all week to prepare against Malik Willis. This is a quarterback that had just three starts, and no passing touchdowns in his NFL career, so you know for sure that the Packers are going to try to run the ball at all costs. Everyone realized that. Now how did Gus Bradley’s defense respond? Well the Packers finished the game with 261 rushing yards on 53 carries… yikes. This is a firable offense from Gus Bradley, you cannot come out looking so bad against a backup quarterback like Malik Willis. Now while the Packers scored only 16 points, mainly because of a key goal line fumble recovery and a missed 45-yard field goal, they had the ball for 40 minutes, went 10-17 on third downs, and had no turnovers.
It does not help when your linebackers are missing all the holes, Jaylon Jones is not making the key play on third down, and Kenny Moore misses tackles and routes. Losing your best defensive tackle does not help either. Nick Cross was the defensive MVP, leading the team in tackles, but that is not a good sign for a defense, because he was making those tackles 8-12 yards down the field, when the damage was already done.
The Bears scored a single offensive touchdown through the first two games, so Bradley will have the chance to redeem himself with a solid performance. If he lays yet another egg then his seat will get uncomfortably hot early on in the season.
Grade: F – – – (even the lowest grade is not bad enough)
Special Teams
Matt Gay’s struggles continued with him missing a 50-yard field goal, but that is a hard kick to make, especially at Lambeau Field. Still, the point remains. Since the Baltimore day where he pretty much won us the game, Gay is 28/37 on field goals, good for a 75.7% clip. That is among the worst in the NFL by far. Other than that, the Colts’ punt and return team looks clean, but that does not win you games in the NFL.
