The Indianapolis Colts suffered their first loss of the 2025 season against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The AFC South team couldn’t keep up with the NFC West co-leaders and saw its unbeaten run end with a 27-20 loss.
Veteran cornerback Xavien Howard was on the receiving end of criticism after the game. Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua had a field day against Howard in a game where he allowed seven catches on 10 targets for 112 yards and a touchdown.
Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo was asked about Howard’s performances, but he rejected any notion that the CB was responsible for the team’s loss.
Lou Anarumo takes the blame for Colts’ loss to Rams
Instead, Anarumo said that the entire defense, including himself, needs to do better. The former Cincinnati Bengals coordinator went as far as saying that he must perform better instead of blaming anybody on his squad.
“The combination of all of it,” Anarumo said on Tuesday, via the Indy Star. “You’re playing against an elite passing game with two elite receivers and a quarterback, and at some point, rust or no rust, we’ve got to make sure we’re out there and guarding the guys we’re tasked to guard. We’ve all got to do a better job. Not just X, but me.”
He continued to defend Howard, saying that everybody would be evaluated moving forward, and they would make decisions based on what they see.
“We’ll evaluate everybody, every game,” Anarumo said. “X is a player on the team, so he’s certainly going to get evaluated. … Not only X, but everybody will always be evaluated each week, based on performance. We’ll always take a look at all those things and move forward accordingly.”
The Colts will clash with the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5, hoping to bounce back and play like the team that delighted fans in the first three weeks of the season.