Dopey Report Card: Colts vs. Raiders
Solid to great grades across the board after a 40-6 pummeling of Las Vegas.
RUN OFFENSE
Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher, scored 20 points -- three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion -- the most by a Colt since Taylor accomplished the feat in 2021. He joined Edgerrin James (2000) as the only Colt to have two games with three rushing touchdowns in the same season. I also learned Sunday that when you score a touchdown AND a two-point conversion, it’s called an “octopus.” Get it? Eight points. That’s a new one on me. Solid work from the backup running backs, DJ Giddens and Ameer Abdullah. The Colts ran 25 times for 96 yards, a decent 3.8 average.
Grade: B-
RUN DEFENSE
The Raiders ran for 106 yards on 25 carries, a 4.2 average, but that’s misleading. The Colts were willing to give up some running room while holding a massive lead most of the game. Zaire Franklin had seven tackles (three solo), one sack and one tackle for loss. Nick Cross, who continues to have an excellent season, also had seven tackles (three solo), one tackle for loss and one pass defensed. Rush defense was a massive problem last season; not an issue this year -- so far, at least. Also worth mentioning, they had six tackles for loss. Only negative, I feel like Chris Ballard needs to somehow upgrade at the linebacker spot opposite Franklin. Joe Bachie doesn’t impress.
Grade: B-
PASS OFFENSE
Hard to beat 8-of-10 on third-down conversions, both with the run and the pass. That’s the NFL’s best third-down percentage since at least 1991. They scored on six straight possessions after an early punt on their first possession, and they were 6-for-6 in the red zone. Solid, efficient game from Daniel Jones. Unreal performance by the offensive line, which didn’t allow a single sack to a team that had sacked the quarterback at least once in a league-high 39 games. Maxx Crosby, the Raiders’ game-wrecker, finished with just three tackles, a pass defensed and a tackle for loss. Michael Pittman Jr. had five receptions and became the fifth leading receiver in team history. He’s snuck up there, hasn’t he? A week ago, we were asking Shane Steichen when Josh Downs would get more involved; the answer was...yesterday. He finished with six catches for 54 yards. Crazy stat on Tyler Warren: He’s the first tight end in league history to average more than 10 yards per reception in each of his first five games. In a semi-related note, I’m a big Ashton Dulin fan. If I never see AD Mitchell again, I would be thrilled.
Grade: A-
PASS DEFENSE
Vegas never got anything going in the passing game. Geno Smith was 25-of-36 for 228 yards, two interceptions and a 63.2 quarterback rating. Mekhi Blackmon, who replaced the now-retired Xavien Howard, had five tackles, a pass defensed and an interception -- although he’s going to get grief from teammates for stepping out of bounds on what should have been a pick-six. Laiatu Latu had his second interception of the year, making him the first Colts defensive lineman to have two interceptions in the same season since Billy Newsome (who?) in 1971. The Colts had five quarterback hits and eight passes defensed. It surely helped Indy that tight end Brock Bowers did not play due to an injury, but when you’re talking 40-6, it’s hard to see him making that much of a difference.
Grade: B+
SPECIAL TEAMS
Bummer about kicker Spencer Shrader, who suffered a serious leg injury when he was run into by a Raiders defender attempting to make a block on a PAT. The Colts will be working out free-agent kickers all week. I would have liked to have seen Rigo Sanchez at least try an extra point; he was a placekicker at the University of Hawaii. Given the score, though, it ultimately didn’t matter. Huge punt block, again, by Segun Olubi, who did the same thing last year against Houston in the season opener. Sanchez was typically excellent in the punt game. Dulin ran back an early kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, but Bachie was called for holding. Too bad.
Grade: B+
COACHING
There’s a lot of season left, but if I was voting today for Coach of the Year, I would vote for Steichen. He’s got this team humming in all three phases, the Colts playing terrific complementary football. Coming into this season, I had questions about Steichen, whether he could be more than an offensive mad scientist and be a leader of men. Those questions are dissipating week by week.
Grade: A
INTANGIBLES
This is what good teams, really good teams, do: They blow out bad teams. That’s three blowouts so far this year, against Miami, Tennessee and Las Vegas Sunday. Except for a Raiders’ field goal on the opening drive, this game was never really in doubt. Now they have a very good chance to move to 5-1 with next week’s home game against an Arizona team that gave away a game Sunday to the Tennessee Titans.
Grade: A
Guess it’s pointless to complain about how MANY Raider fans were at the game …..Come ON Indy…..!!
Agree on most things. But I'd like to see Mitchell get a final chance to redeem himself. He is clearly very talented. If that stupid moment doesn't humble him, and he does something stupd again, then I'll be ready to write him off but I think he's young and deserves another chance. He did something that LOTS of players on a regular basis (holding the ball out) but the ball slipped. To me that isn't as bad as JT last year or the Cardinal yesterday who intentionally dropped the ball and did it early. So can we just let it go, until he does something bad again and then we can say it can't be coached out of him and he can't learn from his mistakes. That's when you give up.
I've always been one of those so called Ballard appologists. I think he's not had good options to choose from at the QB spot but has done a generally decent job of drafting and getting most of the roster to a good spot. This team has a loaded roster, LB's being the most glaring issue and CB depth being another slight concern. Finding the right QB is always the hardest thing in football, and getting the right guy at the right time that has the right fit is super hard. Clearly we are seeing the DJ, Mayfield, Darnold, and others that even talent doesn't always equate to success in any situation. No GM hits on all their decisions, but despite having trouble getting the QB right Ballard has done a better job than most at drafting solid to great talent. Bottom line, I think Ballard deserves some props for putting together a solid roster that has helped enabled the Colts to get to 4-1 now that they finally got the right QB to fit the staff and roster.