Two young Colts defenders made big plays to help the team pick up their first win of the season

It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. The Indianapolis Colts picked up their first win of the 2024 season over the Chicago Bears, improving to 1-2. It was another day full of struggles for the offense, but thankfully, the defense decided to step up to the plate and win this game for Indianapolis.  Anthony Richardson continues […]

Destin Adams — NFL News Writer
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Indianapolis Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones (40) runs with the ball after making his second interception of the game Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, during a game against the Chicago Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. 

The Indianapolis Colts picked up their first win of the 2024 season over the Chicago Bears, improving to 1-2. 

It was another day full of struggles for the offense, but thankfully, the defense decided to step up to the plate and win this game for Indianapolis. 

Anthony Richardson continues to struggle 

The Colts pulled out their first win of the season, but it wasn't due to a stellar performance by their quarterback. Anthony Richardson ended the day throwing two ugly interceptions and completed only 10 of his 20 pass attempts. He also threw multiple poor balls on the day that appeared to be easy completions. His poor play was a major factor in the team's struggle to put together any long drives to give the defense needed rest. 

Now, the Colts knew starting Richardson early would come with some ups and downs, so these early-season struggles shouldn't surprise anyone. But in Week 3, it feels like we got to see a lot of the bad for Richardson and not enough of the good. Hopefully, he can use this one as a learning opportunity, and I'm sure he's just thankful the Colts found a way to win despite him in Week 3. And on a day where he struggled as a passer, it was good to see him make the heads up play to power Trey Sermon into the endzone for a big touchdown. 

Best defensive outing of the year 

After allowing over 200 rushing yards in back-to-back weeks, the Colts' run defense bounced back in a big way. They treated the Bears' running game exactly like their league-worst ranking would suggest, with them only being able to rush for 63 yards on the day. 

In addition to their drastically improved run defense, they forced four turnovers on the day: two interceptions, one fumble recovery, and a turnover on downs. We will have to wait and see the status of multiple key players who left the game with injuries, but this is by far the team's best defensive performance through the first three weeks of the 2024 season. 

Young Colts defenders were the Colts' X factors 

Jaylon Jones

Jaylon Jones caught a lot of criticism early in the season, but he was fantastic in Week 3. He ended the game with two interceptions, two pass deflections, and five tackles. His first interception was a perfect read on Jones' part to jump the short route. His second was an incredible toe-tapping play off a Nick Cross deflection. With Juju Brents set to miss the rest of the season on IR, Jones needed this type of performance. Hopefully, this helps him build some confidence going forward as the Colts' top outside corner. 

Laiatu Latu

Laiatu Latu was just a half-second away from multiple sacks during the first two weeks of the regular season. In Week 3, the story was the same for most of the game. Until the fourth quarter came around and Latu powered through a tight end, not only sacking Caleb Williams but also forcing the fumble. That led to the Colts scoring a big touchdown in the fourth quarter. With multiple injuries on the Colts defensive line, I'd expect Latu's snap count to continue to climb in the coming weeks. 

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