Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncs: What to Watch For

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Indianapolis Colts head out west to face the Denver Broncos, a team they have bested in three of the past four meetings.

The Colts are going to have to lean on their offense for a second straight week if there is any hope of avoiding an 0-2 start. That means that coach Chuck Pagano is going to have adjust his expectations for the defensive unit, make adjustments, and let the offense fling the ball around. Surely anyone who studied tape from last week’s loss to Detroit would recognize the same thing.

But of course, that won’t happen because Pagano never learns.

He stated that he had enough faith in his defense to get a stop last week with 37 seconds (and three Detroit timeouts) left to play. That was his rationale for not burning more clock when the Colts offense had the ball inside the 15 going for the go-ahead score. This was the same defense that have been eviscerated by Matt Stafford all afternoon.

The good news for the Colts is that the Broncos offense probably isn’t as good as the Lions, and Trevor Siemian definitely isn’t on the same level as Stafford. The bad news is they’re on 10 days rest having knocked off the Panthers and their very talented defense. The worse news is that the Colts defense is even less healthy than a week ago, if that’s possible.

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We knew a week ago that the secondary would be a liability, but going back to watch tape it was the linebackers who were the real issue. All of those players have been starters for multiple years and weren’t just guys signed off the street for a week or two. To make matters worse, the Broncos love to use running backs as receivers, and will likely pick the Colts apart underneath.

There is hope for the Colts, but it rests on the offense being brilliant against a damn good defense. They’ve had success against the Broncos and have won the past two meetings, but neither game was a high scoring affair.

Here’s what fans should be on the lookout for:

The Colts have a chance on Sunday because of Andrew Luck and a relatively healthy offense. But they’re going to have to carry the workload with three starters on defense out and five more questionable.

It is tough to see how the Colts, who have been historically worse defensively on the road, can leave Denver with a win. If Luck drops 350-plus yards and four or five touchdowns then it’s possible. But that is a tall order against such a good defense.

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