The Colts are staring at 0-2, and the ugly part is that Sunday night in Kansas City didn’t even feel like a total collapse. There was fight there.
There were moments. But in the NFL, effort doesn’t buy you anything in the standings, and Indianapolis is still left hunting for answers before Houston comes to town next week.
That matchup matters because the Texans are also 0-2, which at least leaves Indianapolis with something resembling a foothold in the AFC South. The Colts are tied for second, just one game behind defending champion Jacksonville.
There’s time to recover. Not much room for error, though, and Shane Steichen has some real decisions to make.
The first issue is Tyler Warren, who needs to become a much bigger problem for opposing defenses.
Steichen did get the rookie tight end more involved against the Chiefs. Warren’s targets climbed from five to seven, and he turned six catches into a second touchdown. He also picked up a first down as a running back and, by the eye test, did solid work as a blocker for Jonathan Taylor.
But the production still wasn’t close to good enough. Warren’s six receptions produced just 21 yards, and his yards per catch dipped even lower than the 4.3 he posted in Week 1. That stands out even more because the Colts lost Alec Pierce early and were already without Ashton Dulin.
Warren has the speed to matter downfield. He runs in the 4.6-4.7 range in the 40 and averaged 12 yards per catch in college, then came in just under 11 as a rookie.
Yet through two games, his role has shrunk instead of expanding. With Taylor forcing defenses to crowd the line, Warren should be the guy punishing them behind it.
Instead, he’s trending the wrong way.
The Colts also need to get Deion Burks on the field.
If Pierce’s injury keeps him out, Burks ought to see plenty of action. Even if Pierce somehow bounces back quickly, Indianapolis still needs the kind of burst Burks can bring. He flashed that a little on two jet sweeps against Kansas City, but now the team has to ask for more.
That need isn’t limited to offense. The punt return situation has become a problem.
Anthony Gould is not handling the job well, and his failure to field Matt Araiza’s punt at the end of the first half cost the Colts a shot at stealing points before the break. The broadcast crew wrongly pinned that mistake on Ashton Dulin’s absence, but Dulin has never returned a punt in the NFL.
He isn’t the answer there either.
Josh Downs has become too important to use in that role. That leaves Burks as the likeliest option, even though he doesn’t have much punt-return experience himself. He may not be ready for a bigger job, but Steichen needs to find out soon.
And then there’s the biggest mess of all: the defense.
Bryce Boettcher, AJ Haulcy, and CJ Allen may develop into good NFL players someday. Right now, they are not there.
The middle of the defense has been exposed, and Allen’s first tackle Sunday night did little to change that. His rookie teammates were not much better.
The numbers are brutal. Lou Anarumo’s unit has given up more than 500 yards in back-to-back weeks, including 675 through the air and 354 on the ground. That’s the kind of production that gets people fired, but Indianapolis is unlikely to move on from its defensive coordinator this soon after essentially stripping the defense down over the offseason.
Still, if the Colts are serious about avoiding a wasted 2026, they need a major adjustment. One possible fix would be a base 5-1-5 look, with a shift to 5-0-6 on passing downs.
In other words, a defense that barely uses linebackers. Akeem Davis-Gaither should be the only linebacker on the field for more than half the snaps.
The rest of the focus has to go to the line, where there is at least some versatility, and to the secondary, where the need for cover talent is obvious.
In Other News...
Colts Fans Are Split Over Carlie Irsay-Gordons Growing Game Day Role
Carlie Irsay-Gordon has made her game day routine part of the conversation in Indianapolis, often standing on the sideline and taking notes as she works to better understand how the Colts operate. She has spoken publicly about wanting to learn more about football operations since taking over the team, and her hands-on approach has become one of the more visible signs of her ownership.
Not everyone sees it the same way. Some fans and commentators have questioned whether her presence on the sideline is a distraction, while others say the reaction says as much about gender bias as it does about football. The divide has turned a routine part of game day into a larger debate over how owners are expected to act, and who gets the benefit of the doubt when they show up in plain view. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Suddenly Have A Growing Problem In The Secondary
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Indianapolis is now in the uncomfortable spot of having to sort through alternatives on the fly, with a rotation at the position suddenly looking like a real possibility. For a defense already trying to find its footing, the question is no longer just whether Walley can settle in, but how quickly the Colts can identify a better answer in the middle of the secondary. [Read more 🡒]
Colts 0-2 Start Is Putting The Wrong Unit Under Pressure
The Colts may have found a little rhythm on offense in their second game, but the early-season alarm bells are still ringing in Indianapolis. A 0-2 start always invites scrutiny, and this one has the attention shifting away from the side of the ball that looked better and toward a defense that has not done enough to steady the team.
Shane Steichens group is already hearing the kind of questions that come with an uneven opening stretch, and the pressure is creeping beyond the scoreboard. With the coaching staff and front office both part of the conversation this early, the next stretch feels important not just for the record but for the broader direction of the franchise. [Read more 🡒]