The Sports Xchange

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A lot of work to do.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano had hoped to see improvement in his team during the team’s preseason home game with Chicago.

Coming off a preseason opening loss at Philadelphia, Pagano knew that there were several areas in which he wanted to learn more about his football team.

Well, he learned more alright. And he wasn’t happy with everything that he saw.

First the bright spots. Early defensive play got the Colts’ coach’s attention.

“We were in a tough spot. Field position was really a tough go. But we got off the field on third down (early in the game) and we played good in the red area,” Pagano explained.

“We forced field goals. When you look at that first half, we took a lead at the half. So there was a bunch of positives as far as the defense goes. We played better together as a whole. The communication was better.”

That wasn’t the case so much in the second half, however, when Indianapolis began to take a long look at the team’s backups. Shoddy tackling was a big factor.

“That’s why you have these preseason games is to iron out the kinks and develop and those kinds of things,” the coach said. “Hopefully we’ll see progress.”

Now with an 0-2 preseason record, the Colts will go back to work this week and began to prepare to face the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome Saturday night.

Shoring up the tackling will be a big emphasis in practice.

“It’s not because of a lack of effort or a lack of toughness or those things. It’s not guys turning down stuff,” Pagano said.

“It’s a fundamental part of the game and we’re going to get better at it. We’ll continue to work at it. But these games are definitely where you find out exactly where you are and grow from it and get better.”

Another area that needs improvement is on kick coverage. Indianapolis gave up a punt return for a touchdown against Philadelphia and was inconsistent against the Bears as well.

The Colts did not bring back a couple of their better special teams aces from a year ago in safety Sergio Brown and outside linebacker Andy Studebaker. Finding suitable replacements among a group of younger players is the goal now.

“We’ll going to continue to work and try to develop some roles, find some guys that can play those spots for us,” Pagano said.

–Quarterback Andrew Luck knows that the Colts offense is not where anybody wants it to be right now.

“Not satisfied by any means. I don’t think anybody is satisfied. We’ve got two more preseason games and we got to get better as we go. I think we’re on the right track. I think we’re in a great spot,” Luck said.

“I don’t think anybody offensively, defensively, special teams is satisfied with where we are. We’ll continue to get better. I think it was a great week of work vs. the Bears. I think that’ll pay dividends, the practice and this game as well. Just keep grinding and keep working.”

–Veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had his second straight uneven performance in the preseason loss to the Bears Saturday night. Hasselbeck completed 6-of-9 passes for 59 yards, but also suffered an interception in the game. He acknowledged after the game that he has not been playing well.