The Indianapolis Colts (0-1) will be on the road to face their divisional rivals in Week 2.
This will be the first battle between the DeMeco Ryan-led Houston Texans (0-1) and the Shane Steichen-led Colts. This also will be the first look into a potential decade-long quarterback rivalry between Anthony Richardson and C.J. Stroud. B
Buy Colts Ticketsoth franchises are looking to avoid the dreadful 0-2 start to the season. Here are five things to watch for when they clash in NRG Stadium:
1
Anthony Richardson's deep ball
It was apparent that Shane Steichen didn’t want to put too much on his quarterback’s plate in his first NFL game last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He kept Anthony Richardson’s reads simple, which he did a good job doing, making the smart throws, and taking what the defense gave to him.
The majority of his throws came on the right side of the field because of the pistol scheme that Steichen ran for his quarterback.
Anthony Richardson's passing chart from his first game. It's very heavy on the right side of the field and nothing over 20 yards.
His interception came on one of his limited throws to the left side of the field. pic.twitter.com/BhlKyIFTmi
— Cody Manning (@CodyTalksNFL) September 11, 2023
While it was notable that Richardson didn’t have an attempt over 20 yards, that was because the Jags had both of their safeties deep often throughout the game. After the game, Richardson did let the media know they looked for some shots down the field.
“We were dialing up – we had some plans to take some shots,” Richardson said. “The one play we did have a shot, the protection wasn’t there and we just tried to make a play – scrambled around a little bit. But hopefully, we can stand in the pocket a little bit more stronger, a little bit more firm, and take shots down the field.”
I do expect to see the passing attack start to open more as Richardson and the rest of the offense get more comfortable in the system and with more of an efficient rushing attack to put the team in favorable third-down situations.
There should be some opportunities for Richardson to show off his deep ball against the Texans. Houston could be without both of their starting safeties on Sunday. Safeties Jalen Pitre (chest) and Jimmie Ward (hip) haven’t practiced this week.
If both players get ruled out, that will be the weakness for Steichen and his passing attack to target often on Sunday. If Richardson and company can take advantage of a banged-up secondary, then there should be more explosive plays from this offense on Sunday.
2
First look at C.J. Stroud
It was just five months ago that the NFL world was debating which quarterback the Texans and the Colts would end up in the draft. Despite the rumors swirling right before the event kicked off that Houston would pass on a quarterback with their second pick, they ended up submitting the card with C.J. Stroud’s name on it.
In a tough road environment against the Baltimore Ravens, Stroud went 28-of-44 for 242 yards in a 25-9 loss. Stroud did the best he could behind a patched-up offensive line that struggled to protect him throughout the matchup.
The Ravens finished the contest with five sacks and 10 QB hits which included a strip-sack fumble by David Ojabo.
DAVID OJABO WITH THE STRIP-SACK!! 🇬🇧#RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/jkrUe2hFwK
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) September 10, 2023
Stroud can dice up a defense with his pinpoint accuracy if he can get in a rhythm. The big key for the Colts’ defense is getting after the rookie quarterback with consistent pressure like Baltimore did this past Sunday.
The less comfortable Stroud is throughout the matchup, the better chances that Indianapolis will have to leave Houston with a W.
3
Help from the rushing attack
The biggest factor that led to the Colts’ loss to the Jaguars was the lack of help from the rushing attack. This was a bit of a surprise since there was the thought that Anthony Richardson would elevate it because of his rushing ability.
Richardson certainly did his part on the ground, leading the team with 40 rushing yards on 10 attempts. It was his counterparts in the backfield who were inefficient with his touches. Deon Jackson was only able to muster up 14 yards on 13 attempts and fumbled twice in the game.
The Colts will be without their rookie Evan Hull, he was placed on the injured reserve list this week and will be out for at least the next four games. Jake Funk was signed to the active roster from the practice squad. Funk had 10 rushing yards on two carries against Jacksonville.
The positive for Indy’s running back group is that Zack Moss is trending to make his season debut on Sunday after fully practicing on Wednesday and Thursday. Moss’ last game was in the season finale against the Texans, a game in which he went over 100 rushing yards for the first time in his career.
Zack Moss for six!#Colts#ForTheShoe#Texans#WeAreTexans#HOUvsIND pic.twitter.com/OtvUEvvQ7J
— Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) January 8, 2023
Shane Steichen needs Moss to be that catalyst to the rushing attack to help open up his offense for his quarterback. But as much as the backfield needs to step up, the offensive line also needs to do a better job this week dominating the trenches and opening up lanes for the backs.
A more efficient running game will help this offense sustain drives and put up points on the board against the Texans.
4
Bottling up Dameon Pierce
One way that the Indy defense can get their defensive front to pin their ears back and get after C.J. Stroud is to limit the impact from Dameon Pierce in the ground game. The Houston running back is their best-skill position player on the roster and can wear down a defense with his physical running ability.
The Texans’ rushing attack was similar to the Colts last week and weren’t able to get much going against the Ravens. Their backfield combined for 53 rushing yards on 18 attempts. Pierce had 38 of those yards on 11 attempts.
Their offensive coordinator is looking to establish the running game with Pierce entering this matchup.
#Texans OC Bobby Slowik on running game: 'I wanted to stick with the run longer and I got away from it at the end. ‘D.P.’ [Dameon Pierce] should touch the ball more than he did. I don’t think anyone in here has any question about that, I mean we all want to see Dameon run. Our…
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 14, 2023
The Colts rush defense had a good showing in Week 1. Outside of the dagger 26-yard touchdown run by Travis Etienne, they held Jacksonville’s running backs to 3.3 YPC on 26 attempts.
Gus Bradley’s unit needs to repeat that success to keep Pierce in check so they can put Stroud in third-and-long situations. Indianapolis should be in a position to get the win in the fourth quarter if they can bottle up Pierce for four quarters.
5
Sustaining drives
There should be two main goals for the Colts offense on Sunday. An efficient running game and keeping drives alive to help keep their defense fresh for all four quarters. Having an improved rushing attack will help that but whether it’s on the ground or in the air, Shane Steichen’s unit has to do a better job at winning the first two downs.
Against Jacksonville, the Indy offense was 3-of-12 on third downs and 1-of-5 on fourth downs. What led to the defense breaking down late in the fourth quarter was the amount of three-and-outs the offense had throughout the game.
The Colts had the second-highest percentage of three-and-outs in Week 1.
% of drives that went 3-and-out:
67% – CIN
64% – IND
62% – PHI
58% – NYG
55% – PIT
55% – MIN
54% – ATL
53% – JAX
50% – TB
50% – TEN
46% – NE
44% – SEA
42% – CAR
36% – BUF
36% – KC
36% – ARI
36% – DET
33% – CHI
33% – HOU
33% – DAL
31% – WAS
30% – LAC
27% – GB
27% – NYJ
25% – SF…— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 12, 2023
The Colts will improve that percentage if they can put themselves in more manageable third-down situations. They were in too many third-and-longs this past Sunday.
Indianapolis will win this game if they can sustain drives, convert them into points, and the defense can play as good, if not, better than they did in the opening game.
