5 takeaways from Colts’ 20-20 tie with the Texans

The Week 1 woes for the Indianapolis Colts reared its ugly head again for the franchise Sunday in the opener against the Houston Texans.

For the first three quarters, it was looking like another season-opening disappointment. The Texans got out to a 20-3 lead with 7:16 left in the third quarter and it looked like all hope was lost for the Colts. Thanks to E.J. Speed’s force fumble off his blitz on Davis Mills, a breath of life came across the team and they scored 17 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter.

It looked like the afternoon was going to finish the Colts way after a great start to overtime. The defense forced a three-and-out and the offense marched down the field to get in field goal range. Then, in typical Week 1 fashion for Indianapolis, Rodrigo Blankenship missed his 42-yard attempt. It’s not a loss so I guess you could say there is somewhat progress with their Week 1 nightmares.

There was a lot of good and bad for Indianapolis and here are my five takeaways from the game:

Jonathan Taylor is still good at football

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When the Colts were having their struggles in the first three quarters of the game, there was one steady presence on the field. Frank Reich wasn’t shy with his usage of Jonathan Taylor and the team leaned on his legs when the passing attack was working through their issues. Taylor showed off his great vision and ability to pick up the extra yards throughout the afternoon.

He finished the game with 31 rushing attempts for 161 yards and a touchdown. He also had four receptions for 14 yards on five targets. When the offense got hot late in the game it was Taylor who was gashing the Texans defense for chunk gains to get the offense in scoring position.

Taylor got his 2022 campaign off to a great start despite the team not getting the win in the end.

Rough start for Matt Ryan

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The addition of Matt Ryan was supposed to give the Colts some comfortability at the quarterback position but for the first three quarters, it looked like there were still concerns about the offense protecting the ball. The Colts were moving the ball just fine in the first half but they would continue to shoot themselves in the foot with their play once they crossed the 50-yard line.

Ryan’s first turnover happened at the Houston 40-yard line in a third-and-two situation. He fumbled the snap and the Texans were able to recover. He had two more fumbled snaps, another one under the center, and in a shotgun formation.

He would go on to throw an interception later when the Colts were approaching the redzone. When he looked to dump off the ball to Jonathan Taylor, Jerry Hughes made a great play to get the pick. Ryan could’ve given it more air but it was good awareness by the veteran edge rusher.

When Houston went up by three scores, that is when the passing attack started to slowly get in a better rhythm. His best drive came in overtime before the missed field goal. The Texans took away Taylor and he was able to keep drives alive with his arm and his legs. The best part of that drive was that Ryan involved other guys outside of Michael Pittman Jr. and Taylor.

Ryan finished the day going 32/50 for 352 yards a touchdown and an interception. The passing attack is still a work in progress but there are positive things that Frank Reich can pull from the fourth quarter and overtime.

The defense missed Shaquille Leonard

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The defense wasn’t awful but it was apparent that they were missing the leader of the unit. Both of the Texans’ touchdown drives came after both of the Colts’ turnovers. There were blown coverages that helped Houston make some easy completions to march down the field. A player like Shaquille Leonard not only helps make sure his teammates are ready to respond to a sudden change but his communication on the field gets them in the right spot to make a play.

The biggest thing that Indianapolis missed in the first three quarters when the offense was having its issues was Leonard’s turnover-making ways. Eventually, it did come around for them when E.J. Speed went around the edge on a blitz and was able to light up Davis Mills from behind to help force the fumble. DeForest Buckner could come out of the bottom of the pile, which helped spark the 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

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Overall the defense was solid and they did hold the Texans to 299 total yards. But the energy of Leonard and his playmaking ways could’ve helped avoid going down 20-3.

Michael Pittman Jr. is the passing attack

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It didn’t take that long for it to be apparent that Matt Ryan is going to be looking to throw the ball to Michael Pittman Jr. as much as he can this season. The quarterback-receiver combo was the only thing working when the Colts turned to put the ball in the air for most of the afternoon. Ryan targeted his receiver 13 times, Pittman Jr. caught nine of those passes for 121 yards and a touchdown.

His touchdown tied up the game due to his effort to get up the field and take on some contact to dive forward for the endzone.

One of my favorite things after Week 1 is when you project a player’s stats based on his first game of the season. After today, Michael Pittman Jr. is on pace for 153 receptions for 2,057 yards and 17 touchdowns. Those numbers won’t happen but he is certainly on the way to earning Pro Bowl honors and more with that type of production.

Need more out of the offensive line

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After giving Quenton Nelson an extension, the Colts have one of the most expensive offensive lines in the NFL. With that much money invested in that unit, there is a higher expectation of the level of play that should come from it. Throughout the game, there were times when Jonathan Taylor had limited rushing lanes and was getting hit ahead of the line of scrimmage. The Texans’ defensive front was giving them fits in the trenches in the first half.

On a fourth-and-goal situation from the two, they got no push, and Houston snuffed out the Nyhiem Hines wildcat run. The offensive line’s issues also came in pass protection. Matt Ryan was under duress throughout the game and had to avoid pressure or even take off for first runs to keep plays alive.

Braden Smith didn’t look like himself in the first half. Got beat by Jerry Hughes a few times and a false start penalty helped pushed the Colts out of field goal range. One thing that was interesting was that Bernhard Raimann did work at left tackle during the second half. Could we see a line change at some point in the near future?

Regardless if that happens, Indianapolis needs a higher level of play from this unit to help the offense reach their ceiling this season.

Story originally appeared on Colts Wire