Indianapolis, IN
Green Bay Packers scouting report vs Indianapolis Colts in Week 2
The Indianapolis Colts head to Lambeau Field, where the tundra won’t be frozen as they meet the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 action. Both teams are looking for their first victory of the season.
The Colts are coming off an odd 29-27 loss to the Houston Texans, who rolled up 417 yards (213 rushing) and had possession for 40 minutes. Anthony Richardson had the fewest completions among Week 1 starters (9), but a league-best 11.2 yards per attempt, including three completions of at least 50 yards.
Green Bay started the season in Brazil, losing to 34-29 to the Philadelphia Eagles. They also lost starting quarterback Jordan Love to an MCL sprain in the closing seconds. The Packers’ defense was vulnerable (410 yards allowed), but their rushing offense was potent (7.8 yards per carry).
Colts vs Packers injury report: Jordan Love does not practice, while Colts have longer list
Malik Willis steps in as Packers quarterback
Love is likely out this week, so Malik Willis is scheduled to step in. The Packers traded for Willis from the Tennessee Titans late in the preseason. The Titans drafted Willis in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but played little for them. He threw 61 passes as a rookie and 5 in 2023. His next touchdown pass will be his first in the NFL.
Green Bay has Super Bowl hopes behind Love, who justified its bold decision to pick him in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft with a breakout 2023 season. He had 64.2% completions for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as the Packers earned a wild-card playoff berth and led the San Francisco 49ers in the closing minutes of a divisional playoff game.
Scouting the Packers offense
Green Bay averaged a league-best 7.8 yards per carry and gained 414, third most in Week 1.
The Packers added running back Josh Jacobs, the 2022 NFL rushing leader for the Las Vegas Raiders whose production dropped off in 2023 (805 rushing yards, 37 catches, 6 TDs in 13 games). He replaces Aaron Jones as the RB1, and gained 84 yards in the opener.
Green Bay’s receiving corps and offensive line are considered adequate, with room to grow. Jayden Reed starred in Week 1, with 4 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown, and also a 33-yard touchdown run. Packers QBs were sacked just twice in Week 1.
Pro Football Focus gave Reed and right tackle Zach Tom Team of the Week grades from Week 1.
Scouting the Packers defense
Green Bay allowed the 4th-most yards (410) in Week 1 but had the most takeaways (3).
Green Bay has a strong group of pass rushers, with Rashad Gary (9 sacks in 2023), Preston Smith (8), Kenny Clark (7.5) and run stuffer T.J. Slaton returning.
Quay Walker leads the Green Bay linebackers (118 tackles in 2023, 11 in Week 1), and cornerback Jaire Alexander and safety Xavier McKinney each had an interception against the Eagles. Second-round safety Javon Bullard is already contributing (11 tackles).
Who is Green Bay’s kicker?
Brayden Narveson, who was 3-of-4 in the opener. He wasn’t even in Packers training camp. The rookie was strong for the Tennessee Titans in the preseason (6-of-7 field goals, long of 59 yards), and Green Bay claimed him off waivers. (Nick Folk has been Tennessee’s kicker for an eon.)
Greg Joseph and incumbent kicker Anders Carlson didn’t make the cut.
Green Bay has the NFL’s best kick returner over the past two seasons in Keisan Nixon (26.1-yard average in 2023), and with a renewed emphasis on kickoff returns, his presence looms larger.
When do the Colts play in Week 2?
1 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.
What channel are the Colts on against the Packers?
TV: Fox, Joe Davis (play-by-play), Greg Olsen (analysis) and Pam Oliver (sideline reporting)
Radio: 93.5, 97.1, 107.5 FM in Indianapolis, with Matt Taylor (play-by-play), Rick Venturi (analysis) and Larra Overton (sideline reporting)
Streaming: SiriusXM Channels 384, 813, Fubo (free trial)
Indianapolis, IN
Bleacher Report Says Colts’ Anthony Richardson on ‘Hot Seat’ for 2025
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson had a rough outing for his sophomore campaign in the NFL, struggling with accuracy, turnovers, and adjusting to the speed of NFL defenses.
In a recent article from Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report, the analyst details quarterbacks who will be on the hot seat to perform better in 2025, and Richardson finds himself firmly in the ranks.
Richardson has a lot of room to grow, but Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen may not have the time to wait for him to blossom next season.
– Maurice Moton | Bleacher Report
As Moton alludes, Richardson’s might not fit Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard’s timeline given how hot their seats are. Regardless of the situation, Richardson has to leap forward in year three while Indy makes the playoffs, or this trifecta of general manager, head coach, and quarterback might be torn down to the studs. Moton continues on Richardson.
Richardson isn’t a lock to start Week 1. Even if he does retain the position, the 22-year-old has to stay healthy and show progress or possibly lose the job to his competitor.
– Maurice Moton | Bleacher Report
General manager Ballard hinted during his end-of-season press conference that the Colts will bring in quarterback competition to push Richardson. While Joe Flacco was an understandable signing in 2024, he wasn’t threatening the former fourth-overall pick.
If the Colts sign a Trey Lance or Jameis Winston, Richardson will be pressed to be the best version of himself. Without competition players become comfortable and complacent, which might lead to a disastrous and lazy culture, something the Colts have exhibited.
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Richardson is entering a season as critical for success as Steichen and Ballard, but is under center and playing the games, putting more pressure than ever on the 22-year-old signal-caller.
After two seasons in the NFL, Richardson’s numbers are hard to look at, with 176/348 completions (50.6%) for 2,391 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Richardson also has an ugly 12 fumbles as a rusher but has compiled 635 rushing yards on 111 attempts (5.7 average), and 10 rushing scores.
Regardless of Richardson’s fantastic rushing abilities, quarterbacks win by making easy and difficult tosses. So far, Richardson has sailed simple passes while having a propensity to throw interceptions, which can’t continue if he wants to start.
Indy’s success hinges on Richardson’s on-field efficiency when it’s all said and done. Thus far it’s not resulted in winning football and in 2024, the former Florida Gator took steps backward, not forward, in overall development.
We’ll see what Ballard changes with the roster ahead of a massive offseason that will decide the trajectory of Indy’s franchise. The Colts must make something happen with Richardson or risk having to part ways with their project field general.
All eyes will be on if Richardson improves and hits the gimme throws while maintaining care of the pigskin. With many jobs on the line, look for Steichen to do everything possible to put his quarterback in a position to get better and succeed.
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Indianapolis, IN
Colts Sign Another Huge Offensive Lineman
The Indianapolis Colts have signed former Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Luke Tenuta to a reserve/future contract.
Tenuta spent some time with the Colts’ active roster in 2022 (Weeks 1-5), as well as with the Packers for three games. In 2024, he spent the campaign with the practice squad of the Arizona Cardinals. The 6’8″ tackle will look to make an impact on Indy’s depth chart.
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While Bernhard Raimann is a secure name for the left tackle spot, Braden Smith’s future on the right is up in the air. Indianapolis has Blake Freeland and Matt Goncalves backing up both starters at the tackle positions, but depth never hurts.
Whether or not Tanuka will make an impact is to be decided, but it’s good to see the Colts are taking depth on the offensive line seriously. During the 2024 campaign, Goncalves saw 230 snaps at left and 333 at right tackle, so this is a key signing despite not looking that way on paper given injuries are a 100% rate in the NFL.
Indianapolis’ roster needs far more ahead of a 2025 offseason that sees the franchise at a crossroads in year nine of general manager Chris Ballard. Indy has to have the goal of ‘playoffs or bust’ for 2025, and it starts by adding talent to a roster that might look different once the regular season begins.
We’ll see what happens as Indianapolis continues to work toward a better result than 2024’s mediocre 8-9 finish.
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Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Facebook and X, and subscribe on YouTube for multiple Colts live-stream podcasts per week.
Indianapolis, IN
Fix Indy’s potholes with state support, not tax increase | Letters
How potholes form and how they’re fixed
Rain and the freeze-and-thaw cycle wreak havoc on Indianapolis’ streets. Here’s how potholes form and how they’re fixed.
Dwight Adams, dwight.adams@indystar.com
As a taxpaying citizen of Indiana, I am outraged to read in IndyStar that House Roads and Transportation Chair Jim Pressel wants Marion County to address our potholes and maintain the county’s nearly 8,500 lane miles of roads by allowing us to raise taxes to meet funding needs.
Pressel and his fellow rural Republican legislators support a lane-mile funding formula that gives as much money to a one-lane county road as to six lanes for a street such as Keystone Avenue. Our county receives about half the lane-mile funding as most other counties. We also get 11 cents per every dollar our taxpayers generate for the state’s Community Crossings program, while other counties receive $1. Pressel says, “I’m trying to help them help themselves.” He rounds out his subterfuge by saying, “They know they have a problem.”
Yes, we know we have a problem: It’s the Republican-dominated state government with its anti-Indianapolis bias. Don’t they notice the discrepancy when they are in town spending their $196 per-diem staying at our hotels or eating at our restaurants courtesy of corporate lobbyists? Why wouldn’t they want their state’s capital city to thrive and serve as a magnet to attract businesses and new residents to Indiana? Instead, they spend their time trying to dismantle our public school system, put roadblocks in the way of efficient public transportation, prevent us from banning right turns on red, and take our money to prop up their backwoods towns.
When the legislative session is over and Pressel is driving back to Rolling Prairie, let’s hope his mega truck doesn’t hit a pothole, bend a rim and destroy a tire when he hits a pothole within our city limits.
Michael Nolan lives in Indianapolis.
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