Indy Fast Five: Week One

Welcome to the first edition of Indy Fast Five, where we take a quick look at the action and provide some quick hitters for the world of Red Zone to keep up with.

Week 1 @ Jacksonville - Final Score

Colts 42
Jaguars 20

1. AJ Green is as advertised

This week, AJ Green put on a clinic at WR. In fact, he was the only offensive player for the Colts that had more than 1 reception. In a game with limited offensive snaps, AJ was able to pull in 8 catches for 143 yards and 2 TDs. If his body holds up, AJ looks to be exactly as advertised when the Colts traded for him in the preseason.

2. The front seven has a long road ahead of them

The entirety of the game on the offensive side of the ball was about possession. That's next, but one thing that we found from that was that this front seven is not prepared to defend against some of the best rushing attacks in the league. Fournette and Chris Thompson had their way with the defense and were major reasons why the Colts ran just 34 plays while the Jaguars ammassed an astonishing 69. (teehee). The front seven will need to improve if we hope to win any games going forward.

3. Possession, possession, possession...

As stated in the previous takeaway, The Jaguars ran more than twice as many offensive plays during this football game. While this isn't a killer this week, it could be a cause for concern moving forward. The non-AJ Green Colts WR corps dropped more than their fair share of passes, which cannot happen on crucial 3rd down plays moving forward. This defense is not built to overwhelm and if given the opportunity, the right QB/coach combo could easily stomp out this defense if they avoid mistakes.

4. Rushing by committee

As expected with Ricky Chapstick, we saw 3 running backs rush the football tonight. While Mack received most of the snaps on offense, Jonathon Taylor and Frank Gore played significant minutes and even saw big plays. Early in the first, Taylor rushed for 17 yards in his first ever carry and Frank Gore used his giant body to pound in a 1-yard TD in the 3rd quarter to ensure victory. No surprises here for fans and critics alike, these Colts are going to run the football and all signs point to them doing it well if they can manage to run more than 34 plays in a game.

5. Bend, but never break

This coaching staff has always relied on conservative playcalling to win football games. That was not the right move this week, as Gardner Minshew, despite throwing 3 picks, was mostly effective in finding the right man in the flats and across the middle. Despite this fact, he played right into the hands of the Ricky Chapstick defense, turning the ball over a whopping 3 times in enemy territory, including 60+ yard defensive touchdowns. Time will tell if this strategy will continue to work with a defensive unit that lacks the necessary firepower to blow up offenses in the backfield.

Next Week: Minnesota Vikings come to town as the Colts look to stay undefeated in the young season.