The Colts' defense didn't make excuses about or sugarcoat anything from their 41-23 season-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens last weekend. It was, all around, a "bad game," as defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo put it.
But there's a difference in having one bad game and projecting that bad game on to the rest of a 17-game season. Especially when the issues from that one bad game began with a problem the Colts believe they've fixed – getting aligned before the ball is snapped.
"We didn't play to our standard at all whatsoever, and we know we're better than that and what we put on tape," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. "But obviously, you're only as good as your last game and that's what we put on tape. So we got to continue to prove to ourselves and prove to everybody else that we're a better defense than that."
The Colts believe those alignment issues will be solved by shifting communication responsibilities from safety Cam Bynum to linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither. The challenges for Bynum, it should be noted, aren't a reflection on him as a player – it was more a challenge of the deep safety role he's tasked with playing
In moving those duties to Davis-Gaither, the Colts will have a more traditional "green dot" guy; additionally, Davis-Gaither can pull from 72 games of experience in Anarumo's defense to help get his teammates set.
The point here is that it was hard to evaluate the talent and preparation of the Colts' defense in Week 1, because those guys were not able to be consistently lined up in the right spots. If that issue is fixed for Week 2 – and the Colts certainly expect it will be – the picture of what Anarumo's defense looks like will be clearer.
Tackling a major priority
Per Pro Football Focus, running back Kenneth Walker III broke 14 tackles on his way to 173 rushing yards and a touchdown in his Chiefs debut on Monday against the Denver Broncos. No player since 2022 has totaled that many broken tackles in a single game.
"The big thing is tackling, right? That's the biggest thing," head coach Shane Steichen said. "You got to get this guy on the ground. He runs low, he runs hard, and then our run fits have got to be great."
It's not just Walker, though. The Chiefs' No. 2 running back, rookie Emmett Johnson, broke six tackles on two receptions, with those catches totaling 44 yards against Denver. Johnson's six missed tackles forced on passing plays were tied with the Falcons' Bijan Robinson for the most in Week 1.
The larger point here, though, is the Chiefs ran the ball with a certain intent and volume that hasn't been part of their offense over the last few years. Kansas City's 220 rushing yards are the third-most in the Andy Reid era (2013-present), and were the most in a single game since Week 6 of the 2020 season. And Week 1 was only the third game in Reid's tenure in which the Chiefs averaged more than 5.5 yards per carry on at least 35 rushing attempts.
"We're going to have to do a great job wrapping up," Anarumo said. "They're a downhill, power run team. That's what coach Reid wants to be and they've always prided themselves on that. Even when they were throwing the ball around like they were back in '20, '21, '22, you always had to defend those downhill, hardball runs and they just called more of them last night."
And while Patrick Mahomes' final line from Monday – his first game since sustaining a torn ACL last December – wasn't spectacular (15/27, 184 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 86.0 passer rating), he still showed some of that classic Mahomes magic with his legs. He scored on a 15-yard scramble in the first quarter and had 10 dropbacks on which his time to throw or scramble was over three seconds.
"He still has his legs coming off that injury," Steichen said. "It's really impressive to see."
