Recapping the Colts’ 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams

The Indianapolis Colts fall to the Los Angeles Rams 27 to 24. Here are my personal takeaways.

The Indianapolis Colts fall to 0-2 after losing to the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 27 to 24. Here are my biggest takeaways from the game.

The Good:

• Carson Wentz

This loss isn’t on Wentz. Not even slightly. His injury, which was reported as an ankle injury, according to head coach Frank Reich, will be the major storyline moving forward. But for a second straight week, Wentz was under constant duress and managed to keep the Colts afloat for much of the ballgame.

Wentz was 20-of-31 for 247 passing yards and 1 touchdown. The Colts’ quarterback also had 5 rushes for 37 yards in Sunday’s game.

• Michael Pittman Jr. looked like a true No. 1 wide receiver, as the second-year wideout hauled in 8 catches on 12 total targets for a career-high 123 yards. Pittman helped move the chains with several key catches and made a few big-time plays down the stretch for Indy as well.
• The rush defense was slightly better, surrendering only 53 total rushing yards to Darrell Henderson and 46 to Sony Michel. Still, like other areas along the defensive side, there’s room for improvement.

The Bad:

• Let’s start with the offensive line, who, for a second straight week, looked overpowered and outmatched against a very disruptive Rams’ defensive front.

Wentz was running for his life throughout a majority of the game, as the Colts offensive line surrendered 2 sacks and multiple quarterback hits. For a line that prides itself on being one of the league’s better pass-protecting units, they’ve had an extremely poor start to the season.

• What happened to ‘Run the Damn Ball?’ The Colts haven’t had much luck with that either, as Jonathan Taylor had 15 carries for only 51 yards, averaging 3.4 yards per carry. Wentz, as briefly mentioned earlier, was the team’s second-leading rusher with 37 total yards. That’s, well, not great.
• Secondary struggles continue to haunt the Colts, as they’ve surrendered 200 or more passing yards to both Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford. Cooper Kupp had a field day as he had 163 receiving yards on 9 catches and 2 touchdowns. Yes, the Colts were without their top corner in Xavier Rhodes for a second week in a row, but there’s no excuse for giving up that many yards to one receiver.
• Red zone continues to be a major issue, too. The Colts left 14 points on the field after failing to score from inside the Rams’ 5-yard line. Whether the offensive line isn’t holding up long enough, the play-calling from Reich, or the receivers not being able to win their 1-on-1 matchups, Indy’s offense has to be able to punch it in when they’re that close. Not scoring on both possessions to open the game turned out to be very costly.

All of that being said, let’s not pretend like both the Seahawks and Rams aren’t two of the toughest and well-coached teams in the NFL. The Colts had opportunities in both games and squandered them with terrible execution and inconsistencies in key areas.

When you want to consider one of the league’s best teams, failing to capitalize, whether offensively or defensively, is not good enough, and the Colts know that.

Their schedule isn’t slowing down either, as three straight road trips against division-rival Tennessee, Miami, and Baltimore await Indianapolis. And like their first two games, none of these three matchups are going to be a cakewalk either.

Starting the season 0-3, 0-4, or even 0-5 would put Indy’s playoff aspirations at serious risk. Whatever they need to do to figure things out, it better get done quickly or the Colts could be in some serious trouble.