The Indianapolis Coltsdropped their regular-season opener at home against the Baltimore Ravens.
With the clock at zero, here are our instant takeaways from the Colts' performance.
- A rough showing for the Colts' defense to open the season. Both on the ground and through the air, they gave up too many explosive plays.
- Ravens' wide receiver Zay Flowers was able to do whatever he wanted. Defenses need to know where he's at every play, but the Colts lost him on a few occasions.
- The Colts' passing game was able to generate little through the air. Josh Downs averaged over 18 yards per catch, but Daniel Jones' average yards per attempt was under 5.5.
- Playing catch-up for much of a game is not an easy place for an offense to find itself. Becoming
pass-heavy and predictable is difficult to overcome.
- The Ravens' defense also did well to not let Jonathan Taylor take over early on, but that often only lasts for so long. Late in the third quarter, Taylor began finding quite a bit of success. Unfortunately, with the Colts trailing for much of the game, Indianapolis couldn't lean on the run game either.
- DeForest Buckner appeared to have a disruptive game.
- The Ravens only had one sack but were able to get after Jones with some blitzes.
- Spencer Sharder made his lone field goal attempt but was 2-for-3 on extra points.
- Baltimore was penalized far more than the Colts, but it didn't help keep Indianapolis within reach.
- The Colts lost the turnover battle, which is always going to make winning a game more difficult.
- The Colts' pass rush had a modest performance, with a couple of sacks and four quarterback hits.
- A tough start to the season for a team that must win this year.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Instant analysis of Colts' Week 1 loss to Ravens
