RUN OFFENSE
It took a while, but eventually, Jonathan Taylor, the Colts’ Europe hand, took over Sunday’s game against the Commanders in London. Not only did he rush 20 times for 95 yards against a highly rated rush defense, but after scoring his first of two touchdowns, he celebrated by sitting cross-legged and, pinky extended, sipped a spot of tea. Good thing Taylor and the offensive line were on their game because Daniel Jones, who still may not be fully recovered from the torn Achilles, played miserably. More on him later.
Grade: B
RUN DEFENSE
The Commanders, who were down to their third-string quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis, after an early-game injury to Marcus Mariota, didn’t have a lot of offensive options. They ran reasonably well – an early 35-yard Mariota run skewed the numbers – but they finished with 100 yards and a 5.2 yard-per-carry average. Akeem Davis-Gaither and Justin Walley, the latter having gotten home on a blitz to knock Washington out of field goal position, both finished with eight tackles. Grover Stewart had six.
Grade: B
PASS OFFENSE
It’s only been 280 days since Jones returned to the lineup after suffering a torn Achilles last year, so it remains an open question: Are his early-season bobbles – namely, fumbles and interceptions – a function of not being fully back from such a major injury, or were the first 10 games last year a mirage? I’m not sure we’ll have an answer within the next month. His ball security is abysmal – he fumbled when a Washington defender pushed offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann back into Jones’ lap and frequently threw off his back foot into heavy coverage. He threw one pick and could have had a few more. To his credit, he settled down as the game wore on, but that first half…yikes. He finished 19 of 34 for a measly 143 yards against a pass defense that was ranked 31st in the league coming into the game.
Grade: D
PASS DEFENSE
It’s still a relatively small sample size, but thus far, Sauce Gardner has not yet performed as expected at the corner spot. He got beat deep twice, once for a touchdown on what appeared by be a double move and has not yet been a dominant force in the Colts’ secondary. Solid game from Walley, who struggled quite a bit earlier this season. The important stat, though, is this one: The Commanders went 2-of-15 on third-down conversions. I thought the edge rushers made more noise than usual, specifically Laiatu Latu, who’s had pressures this year but came into the game with just a half-sack this season. Washington passed for 217 yards, but 130 of those yards came on three plays. That’s more production than you might expect from a team missing Jayden Daniels, Mariota and Indy native Terry McLaurin, the dynamic wide receiver. Another solid break for the Colts, who didn’t see Houston’s Colts-killing receiver Nico Collins last week. Excellent interception by Jaylon Carlies on a day when the Colts linebackers played their best game of the season.
Grade: B-
SPECIAL TEAMS
You know you have a special weapon when the broadcast marks the 50-yard line as being within Spencer Shrader’s field goal range. Another perfect week for Shrader. Otherwise, not a whole heck of a lot to say about special teams. Sorry.
Grade: A
COACHING
There’s no telling how this game would have unfolded if Mariota, one of the league’s better backup quarterbacks, could have remained healthy. But once he left the field in the first half with an injured leg, Shane Steichen knew he could play it close to the vest, rely upon Taylor and the running game and largely take the ball out of Jones’ unsteady hands. Also worth noting, the Colts had just one penalty for five yards; Washington committed 10.
Grade: A-
INTANGIBLES
If nothing else, the Colts have this Europe trip down, having won all three times they’ve made the transatlantic trip under Steichen. Good thing they didn’t use Sean McVay as their travel agent. They looked miserable to start, falling behind 6-0 early – and it could have been worse – but the Mariota injury changed everything. At that point, all the Colts had to do was stop beating themselves, which they did after an early fumble and interception. Now 2-2, they travel to Pittsburgh next week, a locale where they never win. Let’s just say, they need a different Daniel Jones if they’re going to walk away from that game victorious.
GRADE: A-