The Indianapolis Colts are on the road, taking on the Tennessee Titans in their Week 6 game on Sunday at 1:00 pm EST.

We all saw what happened last week. A Colts offense that was good on the first drive and good again when the defense let up late and was ahead by several points. I know the narrative surrounding last week's game is that Joe Flacco was outstanding and the Colts offense scored 34 points! Flacco was excellent for a backup quarterback, yes. But the second and third quarters exist and Flacco played like a backup in the middle of the game. The offense scored just 10 points in the first three quarters. The Colts scored seven of those points on their first possession of the game, the other three came in the second quarter and came on an erratic 17-yard run by Tyler Goodson and an even more erratic 24-yard reception by Tyler Goodson, a pass he intercepted from Adonai intercepted Mitchell.

What's my point? Without the threat of Anthony Richardson's legs, the Colts' running game stagnated and the rest of the offense sputtered. This might have been different if Jonathan Taylor had played, as he is a special defender who can do special things, but he didn't play, and despite a 21-yard scramble against Joe Flacco, the Jaguars' defense wasn't worried That Ol' Joe could get around the edge of the game and they were able to flood the rushing lanes for Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson.

Defensively, last week was as bad as it gets. Ultimately, the offense scored 34 points. From a defensive perspective, it doesn't matter how they did it. If your offense scores 34 points, you must win the game. Period.

So what will both sides of the ball look like this week?

Offensively it should look similar to last week. Flacco will give the Colts offense what it deserves, he won't create anything that isn't there, and the running game will likely struggle.

Defensively… I mean, do I really need to spend a lot of time talking about this defense? Here's what I'm going to say:

If you're a Will Levis fan, this is it, man. This is your week. Levis will look like a star. Heilman's will be upping their spending on these weird commercials all week after their game (my family only uses Duke's, but I wouldn't call it a boycott of the Levis deal (it definitely is)). Levis will look really good, if not I would be really surprised. Not because I think Levis is good (he's not), but because it means the Colts' defense, led by Zaire Franklin and Julian Blackmon, actually showed up to play. We all want to criticize Gus Bradley and yes, you can't finish with the 32nd ranked defense in your third year on the job and expect to keep your job, his plan is simple and predictable. But that's not really a bad thing. The 2001 Buccaneers were simple and predictable. The Legion of Boom Seahawks were simple and predictable. The 2000 Ravens were simple and predictable, and like it or not, they were all zone-heavy defenses from the same family of defensive schemes that Gus Bradley uses!

Being simple and predictable works both ways. Of course, the offense can anticipate what's coming, but it means your players never have to wonder what their job is. They run, they hit, they do it again on the next descent. A simple scheme means young people can play and excel faster than in a more complex system. This means that your veterans, people who have been in the system for several years, should always, and I mean always, be in the right positions and in the right places doing exactly what their job is.

But that didn't happen. Chris Ballard mounted a poor defense. Even though it was pretty healthy in weeks one and two, it was bad. Last week it was probably even worse. And yes, they are injured, but the scheme is simple! When players get beat because they're slow or run over because they can't keep up with another team's starters, it's disappointing, but not surprising. Last week we saw several coverage busts in zone coverage calls that the Colts cornerbacks all learned in high school. It's not just that they fail, but also the way they fail. Gus Bradley definitely has to take responsibility for this, but when his defensive backs are acting freely and refusing to follow the most basic rules of coverage three, there's honestly nothing Gus can do about it during the game. After the game he can do his best to send a player like Dallis Flowers out of the game (which has happened), but if your players just decide not to do what they're told and aren't physically strong enough To make up for that, bad things are going to happen.

Perhaps watching Flowers get cut this week is what it takes for the defense to decide to implement this very simple plan the way it was taught. Or maybe the entire defense needs an overhaul this offseason. This week could give us a glimpse of what we can expect for the rest of the season.

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This is your open thread for week six, so stick around, chat, celebrate, commiserate, and argue in the comments! Go wild (within reason)!

Come on, Colts!