Three things we learned from the Colts' win over the Rams

The Indianapolis Colts defeated the St. Louis Rams 24-14 in Saturday's preseason game.  What did we learn from the game?  Here are three takeaways (and we're using the team "learn" loosely):

Offensive line isn't great, but better than last week

After an awful performance by the offensive line last Saturday in the Colts' loss to the Bears, it raised many serious questions about the unit.  Those questions are still there, but they're quieter this week.  In all honesty, the pass protection looked good for the Colts.  They kept Andrew Luck clean for the most part and gave him time to throw.  The run blocking, however, looked bad, as the interior of the line got beat way too often (Lance Louis was terrible on Saturday).  Often times, there were no lanes for the running backs to even get through.  Boom Herron and Josh Robinson, the two backs who played a lot with the first team, averaged just 2.8 and 0.8 yards per carry, respectively.  That's not good.  We can't pin all of the blame solely on the line, but that was the glaring issue.  So, let's put it this way: we saw on Saturday night the same thing from the Colts' line that we saw in week one, which was good pass protection but bad run blocking.  Not many seemed to freak out about that as much, but when the pass blocking was bad last week, it became a major concern.  I think we saw on Saturday what most already knew: the offensive line isn't as bad as they showed last week.  Run blocking is still a major concern, but the line did look better this week overall.

Offense is still a work in progress

The Indianapolis Colts did some things really well on offense on Saturday night.  They put up 13 points in the first half, made some great plays, and showed some of the potential that we know they have.  Andrew Luck threw for 161 yards and a touchdown, T.Y. Hilton caught three passes for 44 yards, and Andre Johnson caught a 32-yard score.  But something seemed just a bit off on Saturday night.  Whether it was the run game not getting going, the slight misses from Luck, or the inconsistency, there was something just a bit off.  This might seem like nit-picking to some, because we know that the offense is going to be very good this year.  But perhaps it's because of those high expectations that we realized on Saturday night that they're not quite there yet.  Andrew Luck will have better days (he was a little inconsistent against the Rams) and so will the rest of the unit.  I'm not concerned at all about the offense, and again - they put up 13 points and did a lot of things well.  But they're still a work in progress and still have room to improve.

Injuries stink

The Colts have been very fortunate so far to avoid any major injuries, and hopefully that continues.  The concern, however, is about defensive tackle Arthur Jones, who suffered an ankle injury on the second play of the game for the Colts and didn't return.  Chuck Pagano didn't have any update on his status after the game, only saying that they would need to evaluate it more.  Considering the fact that Jones missed significant time last year with an ankle injury, it's understandable by there might be some concern.  Furthermore, rookie running back Josh Robinson suffered a concussion during the game and will enter into the concussion protocol.  And then running back Vick Ballard didn't even play in the game, showing the harsh reality of the NFL.  Ballard tweaked a hamstring late in the week in practice that kept him out for the game.  He is trying to earn a spot on the roster after back-to-back season-ending injuries, but in order to do that he needs to be on the field.  The Colts have still (up to this point) been fortunate when it comes to injuries, but they still stink whenever they happen.