There’s a stat going around on social media that says the Indianapolis Colts have allowed the most yards through two games of an NFL season in 50 years.
That’s not actually true, but it does make a valid point: The Colts are getting gashed.
Whether the opposition decides to run the ball or throw it, Indy hasn’t been able to stop it.
It has resulted in a brutal start to the season. The Colts were blown out in Week 1 by the Baltimore Ravens in a 41-23 defeat. They then couldn’t slow down Kansas City enough in an overtime Week 2 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday night.
This is a Colts team that hoped to start hot for the second year in a row. They began last season 8-2 before rattling off seven straight losses.
But that bad losing streak is now nine in a row when you extend it across seasons.
The Colts’ offense hasn’t been perfect, and an injury to Alec Pierce won’t help, but that hasn’t been the major culprit here.
Defensively, the Colts simply haven’t been good enough.
Is Colts’ Defense Bad?
ESPN’s Stephen Holder took a shot at analyzing the early-season trend of the Colts having a poor defense, being asked in a Wednesday article whether it’s a real trend or not — specifically, if the Colts have “one of the NFL’s worst defense.”
Holder wrote that it’s definitely “real.”
“Indianapolis was hardly expected to dominate on defense, but its hopes for improvement were largely built on getting dominant play from the secondary,” Holder writes. “That hasn’t transpired, and it’s hard to see a path toward significant improvement without it. The Colts rank last in the NFL in yards per play (7.2), yards per game (514.5) and points allowed per game (37.0) as well as 31st in defensive expected points added (minus-28.3).”
The Colts got crushed through the air almost immediately in Week 1, when Zay Flowers had five catches for 150 yards just in the first half — and Indy got a break when Flowers didn’t return after halftime due to a hamstring injury, or it would’ve been worse.
They’ve also given up plenty of production on the ground, and it just doesn’t look like there’s much the Colts can do to stop opposing offenses at the moment.
One Caveat Worth Noting
It is worth pointing out that the Colts have faced a pair of MVPs so far. The Ravens had Lamar Jackson at QB, and the Chiefs had Patrick Mahomes.
That can cloud the outlook for a defense, at least to some extent.
It’s probably fair to not feel great about the Colts’ defensive effort so far, but they also won’t face Jackson or Mahomes every week of the season.
Indy is at home in Week 3 against the Houston Texans and C.J. Stroud — that’ll be a bit more of a fair assessment of whether the Colts will indeed struggle against every opponent they play this season.
Colts’ Major Problem is ‘Real’