Ugly game for the offense, good coaching from the defense.
Offense
What an absolutely dreadful day for the Colts offensive-wise. Facing a defense coming off a bye-week must not have helped, but they looked overmatched every single drive, getting a measly 284 total net yards and going 4-13 on third down conversions. Richardson just could not get anything going, and Steichen could never put his players in positions to succeed.
Despite it being probably the best aspect of the Colts’ offense in the past couple of weeks, wide receiver Josh Downs had just three targets and was rarely in motion. There was no creativity, no adjusting to the Dolphins’ blitzes, and you can fault Richardson all you want but this time the receivers were just not getting open.
Getting Taylor potentially back will be huge for this offense, but the regression from last year where Steichen made magic with Gardner Minshew most of the season is certainly worrying. Might be something to do with the quarterback situation too, but I am seeing no progress whatsoever in efficiency, and I expected some flashes this season. With some tough matchups coming up, if the offense does not start putting together some consistent drives the Colts season could go down the drain really fast.
The one positive I want to point out is the designed runs for Richardson and how he is finally starting to take more care of his body. Allowing him to run will open a lot of doors for the Colts’ offense, even running the risk of injury. You drafted Richardson because he runs a 4.3, not because of his pocket passing. Extra points for his gamemanship late in the game resulting in the Dolphins having to burn a timeout.
Grade: D
Defense
Credit where credit is due, the Colts’ defense had an amazing game on Sunday, and Bradley’s gameplan worked to perfection against the Dolphins’ backup quarterbacks. I would have liked more creative blitzes, but you cannot fault just 10 points allowed on a game where your offense was going three and out 2 out of every 3 drives.
Getting Buckner back will be huge for this defense, as he is the difference maker and probably the most important and irreplaceable player on the team, and the Colts need him now more than ever with the toughest stretch of opponents coming up. Over the next five weeks the team will face the: Texans, Vikings, Bills, Jets, and Lions. All teams with above-average passing offenses and quarterbacks that Bradley will need to get more creative against.
I think that is the biggest issue with him, his limit big plays and play to the opponent’s mistake approach works against bad quarterbacks like Tyler Huntley, Will Levis, and Justin Fields, but that is not the way to stop guys like Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, or the Lions’ offense.
Grade: A
Special Teams
Once again, another clean day for the special team’s unit, and even better for kicker Matt Gay, who made a 52-yard field goal right before the half giving the Colts a big psycological boost going into the half. Rigo did have a punt touch the endzone but that is the only mistake I can think of the past weeks of Colts’ football. Overall just a well coached unit that consistently does their job.