10 Colts thoughts on Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor and a clutch win over the Bears
INDIANAPOLIS – Ten thoughts on the Colts’ 21-16 win over the Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium to improve to 1-2:
1. This wasn’t pretty or smooth or anything you would call an offensive juggernaut. But it was so necessary – to get a win, to build some offensive identity, to pick the NFL’s worst run defense off the mat for at least a week.
The Colts flirted with danger in this game with two brutal Anthony Richardson interceptions and a few tough penalties. They looked like a team with some talented young players that was also lucky to face such a struggling Bears offense at home.
But when they had to make the right decisions and plays, they did the opposite of last week in Green Bay. They didn’t overthink things on offense, and they made the plays in the pass rush to get the ball back and get off the field.
For the first time in three games, the Colts played complementary football. The Bears made it easy at times. But that first step is a crucial one.
Colts score: Colts pick up first win of season behind Jonathan Taylor, beating Bears 21-16
The full Anthony Richardson experience
2. This was the full Richardson experience again – at least for the current iteration of him.
He was electric in flashes, like with the 44-yard rainbow deep ball to Alec Pierce in the first quarter and on a couple smooth and powerful runs in the red zone.
He was erratic, completing just 10 of 20 passes, sailing passes over the heads of receivers.
He was self-destructive, forcing an off-balance throw into triple coverage in the end zone for one interception and sailing the ball way over Michael Pittman Jr.’s head for another pick when he could have taken off and run.
But these are reps, and he’s going to have to work through the accuracy and decision-making mistakes. The athleticism and the arm strength are still super present and give the Colts a pulse in games when they otherwise seem dead.
3. This is who the Colts have to be while Richardson is in this early stage of his passing development and their defense has the issues it does:
They have to be a team that rides the backs of Richardson and Taylor in the run game.
One week after calling just 13 combined runs for the most athletic backfield in the history of football, the Colts had the two run it 31 times (28 not including kneel-downs). The score had something to do with it, of course, but it’s a chicken-or-egg situation when they try to live in ways they aren’t built to succeed and fall down by multiple scores like they did against the Packers.
Those 31 runs combined for 134 yards and two touchdowns. It was enough volume to allow Trey Sermon to step in and, on plays that were not speed options, take two carries for 16 yards and a touchdown as well.
Taylor had some terrific runs when he gained creases, including the 29-yard touchdown run and the 25-yard catch and run on the screen pass, both of which showcased his open-field speed and acceleration. I thought he was a little dancy on short-yardage plays, including the 4th-and-3 that got stuffed in the third quarter. But I also think the short-yardage will get better as Richardson and Taylor work on their reads and handoff relationship.
Colts coach Shane Steichen shows growth
4. I was most fascinated to see how Shane Steichen would rebound from what was no doubt his worst week as a head coach so far. The Colts needed to see growth, not just up from last week but back to the coach they hired him to be.
Because the man who designed just one run for Richardson against the Packers didn’t resemble the one who developed Jalen Hurts. The one who left Taylor on the bench didn’t fit the one who rode him for 188 yards until he was hurt in last season’s finale against the Texans.
5. This week was a little better from Steichen.
He designed a few more touches for Pittman. He drew up a couple designed runs for Richardson after calling just one a week ago, though I would rather see Richardson on stretch runs to force tackles from smaller defensive backs than in battering up through the middle of the line, where the biggest shots will come.
Steichen stuck with the passing game longer than I thought he should have on a day when Richardson was struggling so much with his accuracy. The first interception, in the end zone, felt like a moment where the Colts could have taken a few more shots with their two-headed monster running game and forced quick decisions from the Bears instead of introducing so much risk.
6. It’s ironic that the turning point in this game was when a team decided to run a speed option with a yard to go and met disaster.
Last week, the Colts did that with Trey Sermon in the fourth quarter. This week, it was the Bears trying it on 4th-and-goal from the 1 at the end of the first half, when they had a chance to tie the score. But Jaylon Jones, Zaire Franklin and others destroyed D’Andre Swift for a 12-yard loss.
That’s two speed option plays in Colts games in two weeks, combining for -16 yards and leading to losses. This is my pitch to again ban the speed option from levels of football higher than high school.
Shane Steichen gets involved with the run defense
7. Steichen spent some extra time this week watching and evaluating the different pieces of the Colts’ run defense in practice, starting in individual drills. It’s what he promised he’d do after the loss to the Packers, when his group had the worst first quarter of any run defense in 13 years.
Statistically, the Colts did a much better job this week, holding the Bears to 63 yards on 28 carries. It’s clearly improvement, with Raekwon Davis making his presence known and Zaire Franklin stringing out and shutting down run plays like he used to.
But it’s also the Bears, the worst rushing attack in the NFL, so we’ll just need to see more to draw many conclusions.
8. The run defense has had plenty of issues, leading to the worst two-game start to a season for any defense since the 1978 Colts, who played in Baltimore. But one of the issues came to light during interviews this week:
Taven Bryan doesn’t think he can play nose tackle either.
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"I can play either. I don't really care for nose, but I can play it," Bryan said. "We won't lose because of it, but it's not going to look that great."
Bryan first began playing in this spot when Grover Stewart was suspended for six games last season. Bryan’s rotated in ever since, including regularly this season, when the Colts have been mixing and matching with 10 defensive linemen and have had to brace for the loss of Buckner.
In the 13 games before Sunday, since moving Bryan to nose tackle, the Colts have allowed 146 rushing yards per game.
On Sunday, the Colts did at least have Bryan in his more natural spot at 3-technique, though it continues to surprise that he starts games rather than rotates in there. It’s likely because they want to save Dayo Odeyingbo for some pass rushing snaps at the 3-technique, but they also rushed Odeyingbo off the edge a decent deal.
Bryan did get a sack at least, getting back to some of the rotational plays that initially brought him to Indianapolis.
9. This is the second time I can recall a Colts player admitting to me that he can’t really play the position the team has him in and he’s actually fit for a different spot. The other once came in 2022, when Matt Pryor told Colts coaches he can’t play on the left side and they wanted him to anyway. He trained as a southpaw boxer to try to make the movements natural but it never came, and he was benched by midseason.
You might wonder why a player would admit something like this, but take it from the perspective of Pryor or Bryan: They know they are journeyman players trying to stick in the league. Their tape is their resume. So when the tape makes them look as unplayable as it has, eventually a player feels the need to speak up for himself rather than get typecast as someone who simply doesn’t belong at any position.
And, to that point, Pryor has found jobs at his natural position of right guard the two seasons since then, including this year with the Bears.
10. This was a much-needed step forward for Jaylon Jones.
The second-year cornerback intercepted two passes, one when he jumped a flat route on a late Williams throw and one where he looked like an acrobat as he reeled in a tipped pass and got three feet in while falling down near the sidelines.
The Bears went at Jones a few times to challenge his ability to get off blocks and make tackles, which was lacking the first two weeks. Jones wasn’t perfect here, but he competed and didn’t panic the way we’ve seen in the past.
Again, it’s the Bears, but this was a nice move forward for a player whose confidence has seemed rattled in recent weeks. The Colts are rotating cornerbacks at the other outside spot and could be looking at Jones to be their No. 1 for the rest of the season, so all progress is much welcomed.
See you next week from right here at Lucas Oil Stadium, when the Steelers come to town and the Colts will have a chance to get to .500.
Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on X @NateAtkins_.