Bear Digest

Colts of Concern for Bears in Matt Eberflus' Homecoming Game

Analysis: It's possible the real Colts haven't surfaced after two losses to tough opponents, and the Bears need to handle several players capable of reversing their opponent's poor start.

Gene Chamberlain

Colts running back Jonathan Taylor looks to break free against the Bears in his rookie year during a 19-11 Colts win.
Colts running back Jonathan Taylor looks to break free against the Bears in his rookie year during a 19-11 Colts win. / Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
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For Bears coach Matt Eberflus, this will be an emotional week returning to face the team where he was a defensive coordinator in Indianapolis.

Although it's the third season since he left, there are still players remaining on the roster he coached and he has spoken often with fondness and respect for some of them.

The task for the  Bears looks a bit easier because they won't face one of those player. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, the 3-technique defensive tackle who made it easier for his defense to work, is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.

Buckner was a key to stopping the run but it hasn't been his absence entirely responsible for the sieve the Colts run defense has become in allowing 474 yards on the ground to Houston and Green Bay. He just went on IR and had been his usual disruptive self in the season opener with six tackles and 1 1/2 sacks. He only had 10 plays against Green Bay before leaving with the injury, a week after he had been in for 54 plays.

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It should be an open invitation for the Bears to get D'Andre Swift and their running game out of suspended animation to keep pass rushers from teeing off on Caleb Williams.

Here are the Colts who are expected to play who could pose the most threat to the Bears.

RB Jonathan Taylor

While the Colts can't stop the run, they have been able to run it themselves when they've tried. It's just that coach Shane Steichen is coming under fire for not running it enough. So expect they'll be like the Bears and place a heavy emphasis on getting Taylor going. The 5-foot-10, 226-pounder has breakaway speed to go with great toughness. Thank David Montgomery except with speed. In a game when the Colts got routed, Taylor still had 103 yards against the Packers rushing. They only ran 18 times in the game. He's had 151 yards on 28 carries. So 10 carries in the opening loss to the Texans was obvious insufficient. Get ready for the Bears to face a face full of Taylor, who averages 5.0 yards per carry on a five-year career and is coming off two straight injury plagued seasons.

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G Quenton Nelson

The massive (6-5, 330) seventh-year veteran has been the key over the years to Indianapolis' running game on the left side but also has the middle anchored down. He has made the Pro Bowl every season and was All-Pro his first three seasons. Pro Football Focus has him ranked 10th in the league with both running and passing grades in the 80s. A combination of power and quickness.

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G Will Fries

The Colts can hit people with a 1-2 punch of devastation at guard. Their starting right guard is currently graded No. 2 overall  by PFF. More angular than Nelson, Fries didn't become the full-time starter until into his second year of 2022 but has developed. It's as if he has suddenly blossomed in his fourth year as he never had a PFF season grade blocking the run or pass higher than 66.2 before this season.

NB Kenny Moore

One of Eberflus' favorites from his time in Indianpolis. Moore's passer ratings against when Eberflus was in Indianapolis were 80.0, 76.8, 97.2 and 86.9. Once Eberflus left and changes came for their scheme, they went to 117.7, 96.6 and this year 142.0. Slot cornerback is impossible to play if the opponent is hitting you with the running game constantly because you've lost a step or two trying to diagnose pass or run and that's all it takes in the passing game on the inside. This decline for the former Pro Bowl nickel defender could be the result of this Colts problem, or it could be he is showing signs of slowing down at age 29.

WR Michael Pittman

So far Pittman has been unable to shake loose, with only seven catches in 15 targets for a scant 52 yards. He came into this season averaging 98.6 catches for his previous three seasons. So Richardson has thrown more to Alec Pierce or to the opponents. He has four interceptions in two games. Pittman, at 6-4, 223 pounds, is close to the size of Tico Collins, who burned the Bears for a big night in Houston. Expect the Colts to try to use him against the Bears zone the same way, but that might mean Richardson gets outside the edges and throws on the run because Collins had to do it that way, except on the 28-yard TD pass the Bears coughed up.

LB EJ Speed

A backup linebacker under Eberflus, he has since developed into the weakside starter after injury derailed Shaq Leonard's career. Speed is exactly as the name suggests. He has the jets to arrive in the backfield and make tackles for loss and had a dozen last year, but it's not easy for the weakside to get there if the defensive line is faltering. The Colts have had struggles there and it explains why stopping the run is the issue. In coverage, Speed allowed an outstanding 75.9 passer rating against last year and started out this year at 56.2.

WR Alec Pierce

With the Pittman connection not clicking for Richardson, he has turned more to Pierce. The Glen Ellyn native and former Cincinnati receiver is in his third year after making 41 and 32 receptions and has been a big-play guy with a 60-yard catch and a 22.6-yard average per catch. He has good (4.41) speed but also has sharpened his route running. The biggest advantage Pierce has over cornerbacks is a 40 1/2-inch vertical leap that he uses well as a 6-3, 211-pounder. The Colts have two X-type receivers, in essence. So far it's been a matter of Richardson throwing it to the other team or running it too much himself to let those receivers be effective.

QB Anthony Richardson

So far his return from the shoulder injury that ended his rookie year after only four games hasn't gone as planned. He had a respectable 87.3 passer rating for those four games before the injury ended his season. He threw only one interception in those four games last year and the four in two games this year have been devastating. He also has connected only 49.1% of passes, so he's having accuracy issues. Playing from behind and facing two very solid defenses didn't help his stats. But now he gets to face another strong secondary which helped the Bears lead the NFL in interceptions last year.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.