The Indianapolis Colts opened their preseason with a 23-19 loss against the Buffalo Bills on the road at Highmark Stadium on Saturday.
Marking the first time we’ve seen the Colts play under a new regime led by rookie head coach Shane Steichen. There were plenty of highs and lows from the preseason opener.
This will focus solely on those who performed well and those who failed to make a strong impression Saturday. Most of these players will have a chance to build off their performances, either good or bad, over the next two weeks.
Here are the studs and duds from preseason Week 1 opener against the Bills.
STUD: QB Gardner Minshew
Our player of the game, Minshew was solid in his second-quarter work. After getting through two sacks on his initial drive, Minshew eventually led the Colts offense to their first touchdown of the preseason, which was a one-yard run from Jake Funk. On the day, he finished 6-of-6 for 72 yards and a 116.7 passer rating.
DUD: Kickers
We shouldn’t overreact to one kick in the preseason opener, but it’s hard not to. When Chris Ballard dished out $22.5 million to Matt Gay, we assumed the kicking problems were over. Now, his track record suggests this is probably more of a one-off, but he missed his only field-goal attempt from 28 yards. Meanwhile, Lucas Havrisik missed an extra-point attempt after Darius Rush’s pick-six.
STUD: LB Grant Stuard
Stuard was all over the place for the Colts both on defense and special teams. He led the way with nine total tackles (five solo) and added a forced fumble. He also added two special teams stops.
DUD: G Emil Ekiyor
The undrafted free agent rookie struggled mightily in his debut. Working as the second-team right guard, Ekiyor was a revolving door of pressure, allowing multiple sacks and struggling to sustain blocks with an inconsistent anchor.
STUD: CB Darius Rush
The rookie cornerback made his stamp on the game when he caught a tipped pass for an interception and then used his 4.36 speed to race down the sideline for a touchdown.
DUD: Run game
Outside of Deon Jackson, who averaged 5.8 yards per carry, the Colts’ run game was pretty bad. The backfield consistent of Evan Hull, Jake Funk, Kenyan Drake and Jayson Huntley after the first team finished their day. That quartet took 21 carries for 44 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Part of it was the offensive line’s poor play in the run game, but there are plenty of question marks in the backfield right now.
