How can something so beautiful turn so ugly so quickly? The Indianapolis Colts began their home opener in the most positive and convincing fashion imaginable by marching down the field and punching it in for six. Missing the first extra point felt as if it could cause problems later but in reality, missing out on the 19 additional points needed to beat the Ravens proved bigger. It’s early though. The Colts shouldn’t panic. At least not yet.
The old adage in football is that half the league is 0-1
to start the year. With only one game, 50% are losers, but that doesn’t mean that is where they will stand when the dust settles. The Ravens are good, maybe really good. They have Super Bowl aspirations. A backfield of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is always going to be upper crust. They showed Sunday just how “upper” it is. The only saving grace is that the second coming of Jerry Rice, Zay Flowers, couldn’t play the second half. Otherwise, he might have broken 300 yards of offense by himself.
The offense stalled and turned the ball over too much, and the defense was a sieve. All hope isn’t lost, however. The start of the schedule is brutal. We knew that coming in. It doesn’t get easier traveling to Kansas City, but the Colts fare well against Patrick Mahomes. Do they have to play much better? Absolutely. They can clean things up and work to provide better resistance on defense. The Chiefs are good, but they are a different style of play. There is plenty of time to get back on track. It isn’t a time to throw in the towel.
Some teams match up poorly. Some teams have great games while others can’t find their footing. Championship contenders, and even those that go on to win it all, have games that are rough. It happens. The Colts had a bad one. They just can’t make it a habit. The Colts are 0-1. So is the rest of the league. Save that panic for another day.
