For the seventh year in a row, the Colts started out the season with a loss. Maybe it’s a force of habit. In the off-season the team had been much more active with General Manager Chris Ballard wheeling and dealing to shore up the defense as well as the kicking game with an eye toward building a contender. The two biggest acquisitions were defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and quarterback Philip Rivers.
Buckner is in his prime. Rivers, however, is coming off his least effective season. He played all his previous seasons with the San Diego (now Los Angeles)Chargers. He had big moments, set many team records, and played in several Pro Bowls. He was never able to get the Chargers to the AFC championship game let alone a Super Bowl though. His last two seasons he turned into an interception machine. There were those, myself included, that were of the opinion that it was time for Rivers to step into retirement. Frank Reich was of the opinion that Rivers still had something in the tank, and a change of scenery would give him a new outlook.
2020 has been a strange year for all sports as most of you know. A lot more guesswork and the effect of player’s political activism made the upcoming season hard to handicap. It looked like the Colts had made some big improvements . . . not having a preseason made the team’s potential success a matter of speculation. The opening game of the regular season was against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team who had suffered a disastrous 2019 season and had what seemed to be an even worse 2020 off-season. Many so-called ‘experts’ had them down as the worst team in the league. The Horseshoe was heavily favored to win the opener at Jacksonville.
Someone forgot to tell the Jags about their power ranking, however. Gardner Minshew had his way with the Colts’ secondary. The second year QB had 19 completions on 20 attempts for 173 yards and 3 touchdown passes. You read those numbers correctly. The Horseshoe defense was a Chinese Fire Drill. No pass rush and no run defense.
The Colts offense had some effective moments. Rivers threw for over 340 yards and a touchdown but he also threw 2 key interceptions that the Jags took advantage of. Marlon Mack carried the ball 4 times for 26 yards and a 3 yard reception before tearing his Achilles heel, ending his season. Those may be his last plays as a Colt. His contract expires at the end of the season. He has spent too much time being injured to risk resigning.
Rookie Jonathan Taylor was not totally effective running the ball with 8 carries for 2 yards. However, he caught 6 passes for 67 yards. There were questions about his receiving ability but he more than answered them Sunday. Nyheim Hines had a huge day, running for 28 yards and a touchdown on 7 carries and catching 8 passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. Second year receiver Parris Campbell, the receiver, had 6 receptions for 71 yards.
The Colts welcome the Vikings for their first seasonal home game this coming Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium at 1 p.m.
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