Hits And Misses: Jonathan Taylor Looks Like Old Self

INDIANAPOLIS – Here’s our latest ‘hits and misses’ piece on 1075TheFan.com highlighting the good and bad from the previous game. Unlike last week, it’s hard to find many positives from the Colts losing to a backup quarterback. What was the good and bad from the Colts (0-2) in Week Two?

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1. Hits: Jonathan Taylor

Jonathan Taylor: Undoubtedly, Jonathan Taylor was the best individual Colt on Sunday. Putting his entire game usage to the side, Taylor’s 8.6 yards per carry (12 carries for 103 yards) was the 3^rd best mark of his 55-game career. Taylor had runs of 29, 18, 17 and 16 on Sunday, slicing his way through the Green Bay defense as the only consistent threat for the Colts. This was Taylor looking very much like his normal (Wisconsin Badger) self.

2. Hits: Nick Cross

Nick Cross: Part of me feels this nod is a tad “someone is the leading scorer on the worst NBA team,” but that would be discrediting some of the sound tackling we saw from Cross on Sunday. Cross led the Colts with 15 tackles (10 solo) on Sunday, with a few notable ones in space. Yes, you want more playmaking from the Colts secondary players, but Cross’ effort from Sunday should be noted, especially with Julian Blackmon not playing.

3. Misses: Run Defense

Run Defense: For the second straight week, there’s no more disappointing unit for the Colts than the run defense group. In the first two weeks of the season, the Colts have allowed their worst (261 rushing yards to Green Bay) and 7^th worst (217 rushing yards to Houston) rushing outputs over the last decade. What an embarrassing, pathetic, pitiful response by the Colts run defense. And this time you didn’t have the Week 1 excuse of a defense needing to defend/limit a vaunted passing attack like the Colts said with C.J. Stroud and the Texans.

4. Misses: Anthony Richardson

Anthony Richardson: What you saw from Anthony Richardson on Sunday looked like a young quarterback starting his 2^nd ever road game. Not only was Richardson’s explosive playmaking taken away, but he also had his most turnover-prone day of his 6 NFL starts. Richardson tossed 3 picks, and put the ball on the ground on two other occasions. That combination of limited big plays and several turnovers is not the Richardson recipe. You can live with some incompletions, even a good amount, but the big plays combined with little to no turnovers, need to be there.

5. Misses: Defensive Playmaking

Defensive Playmaking: Against one of the most inexperienced/unaccomplished backup quarterbacks in the league, the Colts didn’t record a sack, or turnover and had just 1 pass broken up. Opportunities against such quarterbacks usually leads to feasting moments in those areas. But the Colts couldn’t create any of those such plays, allowing Willis to feel way too comfortable in his 4^th NFL start.

6. Misses: Pass Catching Help

Pass Catching Help: Yes, Anthony Richardson had several young QB moments on Sunday, but the Colts offensive talent around him struggled to support. You had drops galore, including Michael Pittman Jr. AD Mitchell and Jonathan Taylor. You had a pair of critical penalties from All-Pro Quenton Nelson. Richardson’s expected up and down play is going to be there, but the Colts can’t have that from so many others.