Of all the things that happened on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, being, playing good defense wasn't one of them. The Houston Texans' defense got picked apart on just nine passes, exposing some serious concerns within the secondary on the team. The Colts didn't get lucky, they took advantage of a terrible secondary. Maybe they were just terrible for one game, but they were still terrible. That's why they need to do better. There's no reason to give a pass to anyone in that secondary, let alone your supposed best player.
So we're looking at four of the better players on the team that need to step up against the Chicago Bears and the first name we're looking at is Derek Stingley Jr.
CB Derek Stingley Jr.
Some tried to defend Stingley and rookie Kamari Lassiter on Sunday by throwing Jimmie Ward and others under the bus, and while Ward played awfully, so did Stingley. He played too far off of the Colts' wide receivers, and Anthony Richardson was able to make the most of that. Considering he only completed nine passes, seemingly all for huge gains, it's hard to look at the Texans' secondary and be anything but miffed.
There was no reason the Colts should've torn up the defense the way they did. Stingley is supposed to be a top-tier corner, and yet he gave up a third of the completions on his own. Now, he wasn't the one getting dog-walked, that was Lassiter. Still, Stingley is supposed to be the team's best player secondary player, dare we say one of the three best defensive players overall and he was a total non-factor.
Who knows if Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams looks as good as Richardson come Sunday Night, but if he does, he's throwing to a much better talent in D.J. Moore and Stingley will have to step up if the Texans want to win.