Colts Overcome Richardson's Performance to Beat Bears | Jake's Takes

The Indianapolis Colts overcame perhaps the worst performance of Anthony Richardson's young career to defeat the Chicago Bears, 21-16.

Sep 22, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Chicago Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn (57) tips a pass from Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) during the second quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

The Indianapolis Colts hosted the Chicago Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday, looking to end an early-season winless skid before it snowballed into something much worse.

In the first half, it looked like neither offense wanted much part in a victory as the Colts (1-2) carried a 7-0 lead into the half. However, they showed a little more life, ultimately stacking together enough plays to come out victorious, 21-16.

While the Colts' offense made enough plays down the stretch when they needed to, it was the defense that really brought everything together, causing chaos for the Bears (1-2) through all four quarters.

Here are my main takeaways from Sunday's Colts win.

— The Colts won the pregame coin toss and elected to defer until the second half. In a game where it was so critical for the offense to get points on the board early so that their opponent wasn't the one with the early lead and forcing the Colts' offense to become one-dimensional, this decision turned out to be a wise one. Chicago's offense had some momentum, building an 11-play, 32-yard drive, but it ultimately ended in a missed 56-yard field goal attempt by Cairo Santos. The decision was not fruitful, however, as the Colts were forced to punt on the ensuing drive after a three-and-out (including an ineligible man downfield penalty on Quenton Nelson). With the Colts' possession to start the second half, Anthony Richardson threw an interception.

— After arguably the ugliest performance of his young career last week, Richardson sunk even lower against the Bears. Throughout the game, he did not set his feet or step into throws, which caused passes to frequently sail. Richardson had straightforward passes fly errantly on at least three third downs, causing punts on each. He was saved from a lost fumble after his forward progress was deemed to be stopped. However, the most egregious were the two interceptions. On the first, the Colts were knocking on the goal line, about to score. Richardson faded left with defenders in his face, threw into a crowd, and the ball was tipped as it then fell into a defender's chest. His second one opened up the second half. He worked his way up to an open portion of the pocket and threw off-platform to Michael Pittman Jr. The ball flew over Pittman's head and into the hands of Jaylon Johnson. Every level-headed person can acknowledge that Richardson needs time to develop, and it's going to be a wild ride before he finds consistency, but at a certain point, patience also has to be earned based on improvement. The season (and Richardson) are still incredibly young, but the amount of indefensible plays has to come down.

— It was going to be important for the Colts to establish the run game with Jonathan Taylor in this one, and they did just that. Taylor jolted his way forward for 135 yards of offense and 2 touchdowns on 23 touches. Taylor never got going in Week 1 and got going too late in Week 2, which caused the Colts to get doubled-up in time of possession in both games. The time of possession was still a little lopsided in favor of the Bears, but it wasn't quite as bad as the previous two weeks.

— Alec Pierce continues to be a big-play machine for the Colts. For the third consecutive week, he led the team in receiving yards, this time with one 44-yard reception. He now has three receptions of 40-plus yards this season.

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— This was a big day for the defensive line, who needed to be able to stop the run in this matchup. Granted, Chicago came in ranked near the bottom of the league, averaging about 77 yards per game, but the Colts were far and away the worst run defense in the NFL. Indy held Chicago to just 63 yards on 28 carries (2.3 avg.). The Colts also harrassed Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams throughout the day, constantly causing him to leave the pocket. They got to him for 4 sacks and 6 hits.

— Speaking of the defensive line, Colts rookie first-round pick Laiatu Latu showed exactly why the team drafted him. With 6:46 remaining in the game while nursing a five-point lead, Latu flew around the Bears' left edge and knocked the ball out of Williams' grasp while Chicago was at their own 18-yard line. The ball was recovered by Colts defensive tackle Grover Stewart, and the Colts scored the game-sealing touchdown four plays later on a one-yard run by Taylor.

— What a day for Colts second-year cornerback Jaylon Jones, who had no interceptions through the first 19 games of his career but took the ball away from Williams twice in this matchup.

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