FINAL: Indianapolis Colts Fall to New Orleans Saints 23-17

Aug 23, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back

(34) is tackled by New Orleans Saints linebacker

(57) at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Indianapolis Colts (0-3) fell to the New Orleans Saints (3-0) on Saturday evening with a score of 23-17.

The Colts starting offense showed its first glimpses of weakness against the New Orleans defense. Andrew Luck finished the night 10/18 with a touchdown and an interception. He looked solid to start out, but was rocked as the defense started to put pressure on him. He led the Colts down the field for a touchdown drive on their second possession but failed to put up anything spectacular later in the game. Luck also threw a very bad interception; something that we are not used to the third-year quarterback doing.

The whole offense was involved on Saturday night. Coby Fleener, Dwayne Allen, T.Y. Hilton, Hakeem Nicks and Donte Moncrief each recorded a catch, including a wide-open touchdown from Fleener.

Trent Richardson couldn’t quite get it going against the Saints, despite two good runs. He finished the night with 17 yards off of six attempts.

Dan Herron was on fire during the game, picking up 68 yards on the ground, including a 43-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. He looks good and may even cut into Richardson and Bradshaw’s carries.

The story of the night was the pass defense of the Colts allowing Drew Brees to have his way with the defensive unit. The offensive line did Brees a lot of favors, not allowing any of the Colts defenders a glimpse of sacking the All-Pro. Brees carved up the defense, going 9/15 for 128 yards and two touchdowns in just over a quarter of play. The pass defense had a bit to do with it and showed some weakness for the first time in the preseason. But it’s important to remember; it is Drew Brees.

Arthur Jones went down in the first quarter after getting the wind knocked out of him, but reserve tackle Zach Kerr made the best of his chances. Kerr was the defensive player of the day, logging 5 tackles, including a few stuffs in the backfield while also grabbing a sack.

Reggie Wayne played in his first game since the ACL injury. While he technically didn’t log any catches, he did haul in two throws that were erased due to penalties. He looked great and stated that he felt normal playing this evening.

Greg Toler also had a good evening starting at corner, but did exit the game with an apparent lower body injury after limping off the field. No injury statuses were released, so he will hopefully be okay.

The Colts will take the field for one last time in the preseason against the Bengals at 7:00 in Cincinnati.