The Colts Already Look Like The 2022 Bears and That's Right Where We Want to Be

Somebody asked me the other day, "What are you hoping for the Colts this year?"

My answer was, "I want them to be exactly like the Chicago Bears were last year, where Justin Fields showed that he was the guy, the Bears were a fun team to watch, but they still managed to suck enough ass to get the #1 pick next season."

I think that's a pretty level-headed take to have for the Anthony Richardson led Colts this season. Nobody thinks that the Colts are a threat this year. But we have a quarterback who gives us hope for the future, and that's more than a lot of teams can say. So if I'm looking at big picture, and I had to fast forward to the end of the season right now, I'd say to give us the exact same season the Bears had last year.

But to be honest with you, as soon as the game started, that way of thinking went completely out the window. I can't cheer for my team to lose. Not in Week 1. By the end of the first half I managed to convince myself that the Colts were just as good at the Jaguars. Everyone thinks the Jaguars will win the AFC South this year, and the Colts were going toe to toe. Anthony Richardson made some good throws. He didn't force too much. He ran when he needed too. I really thought they were going to win that game. And I'm never going to cheer against the Colts in a game I think they can win.

But in the end they just weren't good enough. Trevor Lawrence made drives when he needed to, and Anthony Richardson didn't. Reason being, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars are better than Anthony Richardson and the Colts. That's just a factual statement.

So.. here's the beauty of watching the Colts this year. When we get a disappointing game like what we just had in Week 1, we can simply tell ourselves, "Well, we're still a couple years away, and the worse record we have the better draft picks we get." It's kind of a win-win situation. All that matters is whether or not Anthony Richardson shows potential. That's all this year is about. And from where I'm sitting (couch) I thought he showed potential today.

He's definitely got to learn how to throw a ball less than 100 mph. Especially when he's targeting a running back 3 yards downfield. But he'll learn that. And he definitely has to learn how to not dive head first into the defense. He 1,000,000% got a concussion at the end of the game. I know that's probably hard to do when you're literally bigger, faster, and stronger than a majority of the defense. But he's too valuable for that. Just slide my guy. You're a talented dude, I know you know how.

It obviously wasn't perfect. I know Richardson threw a shitty interception when it mattered most.

But that's every rookie. I'm pretty sure Peyton Manning set a record for most interceptions thrown in his rookie season. So 1 big pick this game is nothing to worry about. But there were some good things that's Colts fans can hang their horseshoes on. AR made some plays.

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Our defense (scrappy) made multiple 4th down stops in big moments.

And we had a defensive touchdown! A great, fantastic, heads up play by the Colts, and definitely not just an insanely stupid dumbass move by Jaguars' running back Tank Bigsby.

So as far as rookie debuts go, I have no complaints. But I will say… the Colts could use a running back. There were some big 4th downs the Colts didn't pick up, and I can't help but think an Pro Bowl running back could have helped out in that situation. If anybody reading this knows of any Pro Bowl running backs that could play for the Colts, please direct them my way. If only we had one just sitting around doing nothing.