Richardson finds Allen in his Colts debut
Keenan Allen's first snaps in a Colts uniform arrived with an Anthony Richardson connection, while the backup quarterback race and a rebuilt kicking competition both got real answers this afternoon.
Allen's first catch as a Colt comes from Richardson, not Jones
Keenan Allen made his Colts debut this afternoon against the Lions, and the first thing anybody saw of it was Anthony Richardson finding him — Adam Schefter posted the connection as it happened. It's a notable pairing given who Allen actually signed up to catch passes from: head coach Shane Steichen, who coached Allen in Los Angeles from 2014-2020, has called him "the most cerebral receiver I've ever been around" and said Allen "sees the game like a quarterback." James Boyd of The Athletic had flagged this game as the plan for Allen's debut all along, with Steichen also expected to get a handful of snaps for DeForest Buckner before both veterans came out.
Richardson's rep with Allen doubled as another data point in a backup quarterback race that offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter has called "neck and neck right now" between Richardson and rookie Riley Leonard, per colts.com's training camp notebook — Cooter said both are "out there competing and practicing hard," rotating second- and third-team reps all camp with GM Chris Ballard intent on carrying all three quarterbacks, including Daniel Jones, when the roster cuts to 53 on Sunday. It hasn't gone smoothly in front of the fans watching today: Mike Chappell of Fox 59 News Indianapolis reported live from the game that backup center Dalton Tucker "has Anthony Richardson guessing where shotgun snap is going to be," a problem Chappell called a real concern heading into this one.
Chappell also flagged rookie safety Hunter Wohler getting heavy reps on defense — the kind of afternoon this finale is built for on both sides of the ball. It's not one-sided, either: Detroit rolled with its own auditioning arm today, and Josh Dobbs went 12-of-14 for 110 yards and two touchdowns with a 139.0 rating in the first half against Indianapolis, per Colton Pouncy — a big day for a Lions quarterback who is fighting rookie Luke Altmyer for the same kind of job Richardson and Leonard are chasing here.
Last time out: a lopsided finish against the Falcons
The Colts head into this one still looking to answer for August 22, when they were run off the field at home by the Falcons, 34-6. It followed a 13-13 tie at New England on August 13, leaving Indianapolis at 0-1-1 in the preseason before today's finale — a preseason record worth quoting on its own terms, since nothing here counts toward the standings yet.
Falcons6-34
Patriots13-13The Falcons game was rougher on special teams and the backfield than the scoreboard even shows: Blake Grupe missed his only field-goal attempt, while Spencer Shrader made both of his. Seth McGowan carried eight times for 27 yards, and tight end Will Mallory sat out entirely with a thumb injury, per Joel A. Erickson of The Indianapolis Star.
Grupe answers the Atlanta miss, then Shrader tops it from 60
The kicking competition that quietly opened after Atlanta got a real answer today. Blake Grupe, who missed his only attempt in the 34-6 loss to the Falcons, put the Colts on the board with a field goal and then followed it with another — the club's own account posting "Grupe puts us on the board +3" and, minutes later, "Grupe does it again +3."
Spencer Shrader, who made both of his attempts against Atlanta, answered in the only way that tops back-to-back makes: a 60-yard field goal, which the Colts' account flagged on its own. Two kickers, both clean today, is exactly the kind of finale battle that decides which specialist is still around Sunday when the roster gets cut to 53.
The regular season opens against a Ravens team that hasn't lost all preseason
Once the preseason is behind them, the Colts open the regular season Sunday afternoon vs. the Ravens at Lucas Oil Stadium — a Baltimore team that is 3-0 in its own preseason slate and just beat Washington 41-3. Indianapolis will open that one as an underdog at home, a strange starting position for a club that's spent the last two weeks working out its punter's new contract and its third-string quarterback.
The number attached to it is a big one: the total for that game was set at 48.5, a high-scoring read that says more about how the oddsmakers see Lamar Jackson's offense than anything Indianapolis has shown so far this August. Whatever the Colts figure out about Richardson, Leonard, and the kicking job over these final preseason snaps, it all gets tested for real in two weeks.