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The Indianapolis Colts improve to 1-1-1 on the season after coming away with their first victory of the 2022 season, upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs 20-17 Sunday.
Here’s a look at the snap counts from Sunday’s game and what stood out most offensively and defensively from the playing time Indy’s players received throughout the roster.
Offense:
Key contributors:
Quarterback Matt Ryan engineered the Colts’ first fourth-quarter comeback of the season — something Indy failed to do all last season. Ryan was perfect, fumbling twice and missing some key throws early on. But when Indy needed the veteran to come up clutch, Ryan delivered and tossed the go-ahead, game-winning touchdown to rookie tight end Jelani Woods.
Rookies Alec Pierce and Jelani Woods also stood out during Sunday’s massive win for Indianapolis. Pierce, who had dropped an easy touchdown pass in Week 1 against the Houston Texans, hauled in three receptions for 61 yards, including a big-time reception to help set up the eventual go-ahead touchdown to Woods.
Woods caught two touchdowns and had 13 receiving yards on Sunday. The 6’7” rookie tight end showcased the kind of role he could have in the Colts’ offense and could become a go-to target in the red zone for Matt Ryan going forward.
Defense:
Key contributors:
Indianapolis’ front four had their finest performance of the season, pressuring Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes all afternoon long. It’s not easy slowing down one of the NFL’s top-end passers, but Indy’s defense forced Mahomes off his spot and into several errant throws that we don’t typically see the star quarterback miss.
Cornerback Stephon Gilmore also had his best performance as a member of the Colts. The former Defensive Player of the Year broke up Mahomes’ final pass, which led to the interception by Rodney McLeod, and had another key pass breakup against tight end Travis Kelce down in the red zone as well.
It was quite the bounce-back performance after getting torched the previous week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the entire defense deserves a ton of props for such an impressive showing.
