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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts defeated the Tennessee Titans 38-10 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
What do you worry most about the Colts while they improve to 5-5 in season?
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Four straight.
After a season start of 1 to 5, the Colts have officially dug themselves in a big hole.
What the team has to do from here is another conversation for another day. For the rest of the day, the Colts can celebrate the fact that they play as well as they did for at least four years – the last time they won four in a row, they were on their way to an appearance in the 2014 Championship match.
Indianapolis won Sunday's most comprehensive victory of the season, allowing the Colts to calm a team of Titans in heat and dominate both sides of the ball in their 38-10 home win. Andrew Luck was decisive and effective; T.Y. Hilton was beating high school from top to bottom; and Indy's defensive front swarmed all day, knocking down the quarter and forcing turnovers.
The Colts will try to qualify five straight in Sunday after completing their three games by hosting the Miami Dolphins, one of four other teams currently posting a 5-5 record and tied with Indy. last place in the image of the AFC playoffs.
But the game of dolphins can wait. Enjoy this one for now.
MOMENT REVEALING
It's not as if the Colts had not taken a huge lead as they did today against the Titans. It's just the way the team handled things today, which was encouraging.
Last week, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indy had built a 16-point lead, 29-13, late in the second quarter, but the Jags were able to get by, scoring 13 unanswered points for the rest of the way and threatening to do it. tie the match or send it in overtime towards the end of the fourth quarter. The Colts would get a forced fumble and quick recovery from their defense to make sure that would not happen.
Sunday against the Titans, the Colts started at half-time with a decisive lead of 21 points, then were forced to beat the assist in their first training in the second half. Would it be a repeat of this Jacksonville game? Did Indy give Tennessee an opportunity to start coming back in this business?
Darius Leonard had other projects.
The Titans had arrived in midfield on the next record when Leonard showed up in front of a Blaine Gabbert pass during his first career interception, leading up to the Tennessee 36-meter line. a mask penalty on the return would put the ball all the way to 21.
Barely three games later, quarterback Andrew Luck would find wide receiver TY Hilton following the right flank, and he was able to sneak into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown, giving the Colts a solid lead. -3.
Tennessee was not about to start sniffing even a return to it – its only touchdown game during the draw – and Indy closed the door with a 28-point win.
GAME PLAY
In a game that featured some remarkable pieces that do not have Try your luck – like Chester Rogers' long punt return for a touchdown that was recalled, and Andrew Luck dipping all over the air to try to catch a touchdown, Eric Ebron – we'll continue to play that actually made work for Indy.
And it's still this Hilton man.
This time, The Ghost was the first of two touchdowns of the day, as he played the former first-round pick, Worshiped Jackson, in the middle of the field for a 68-yard touchdown reception, his most long of the season, winning 17-0 at Indy. in the middle of the second quarter.
What a well executed game and a perfectly placed ball from Andrew Luck to Hilton, who caught the ball around the 25-meter line and was able to keep his balance from there to find the end zone.
Hilton ended his day by catching the nine assists scored for 155 yards and those two touchdowns, and he is now tied with Marvin Harrison (11) for more than 150 yards or more of the Colts' history receptions. Since Hilton entered the league in 2012, he's tied with Antonio Brown for the second-biggest 150-yard-plus game in the NFL.
HÉROS MÉONNONNU
Jabaal Sheard is a factor that does not really catch the attention of the Colts' defense. Often, one of these guys does it all, but it does not necessarily appear on the statistics sheet.
But Sheard may have his best performance of the season on Sunday against the Titans as he led a Colts defensive front that knew he had to exert tremendous pressure to maintain a Tennessee offensive attack on the pitch. .
Sheard ended his day with four tackles and 1.5 sacks, and perhaps more importantly, he helped set the tone for what the Titans could expect all day.
Tennessee received the kickoff and used a quick attack to methodically move the ball down the field but eventually faced a 3rd and 8th of the 34th Indy. Quarterback Marcus Mariota, lined up in the shotgun, would face an intense blitz In no time, Sheard and cornerback Kenny Moore II – who also had a great day – took him to the field at 42. It's time to get rid of it.
Sheard's full bag came in this decisive third quarter, just after Hilton's second touchdown put the Colts up 31-3. On Tennessee's 1st and 10th, Sheard eliminated quarterback Blaine Gabbert for an eight-yard loss. The Titans could not get closer to the bat during their next two tries and were forced to get back on top. Andrew Luck finally turned that pass into a seven-yard touchdown pass to broad receiver Dontrelle Inman. At 38-3, the rout was on.
Sheard's numbers this season? Solid: 32 tackles (nine for one loss) with 5.5 sacks, 10 hits and four defended passes. He will continue to be an indispensable part of the Colts' defense, as the team tries to continue to give impetus here in the final stage.
What went well:
• Colts pass protection continues to be perfect. Not only was Andrew Luck not sacked Sunday for a fifth consecutive game, but the Titans have not even recorded a single shot. The closest to the meeting was a play in which scorer Brian Orakpo was able to dive to get two hands on Luck, but briefly because Luck could slip into the pocket and make a play on the field. Colts five-game series without allowing a bag – it was 217 pass attempts – links the New York Giants (2010) and the Tennessee Titans (2008) for the third longest run in the NFL since 1982.
• On the other hand, Indy on Sunday was able to return to the grueling manner it had shown in the first four games of the year, when the Colts' defense had scored 17 goals and was among the best in the league. Against the Titans, the Colts recorded five sacks in total and seven hits as quarterback while defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus put the pressure on at the right moment throughout the afternoon. Sheard led the way with 1.5 sacks, while Denico Autry, Darius Leonard and Kemoko Turay also had a bag each, and Moore II combined Sheard for a half-sack. It is a lot of productions from everywhere – before, linebackers and linebackers – that must be satisfactory for Indy.
• The pass defense was solid for the Colts, as was their defense of the race. The talented duo of Dion Lewis and Derrick Henry – who both bring very different approaches, and, quite simply, built, never been allowed to play – have never been allowed to embark on Sunday, and Tennessee has finished with 25 run attempts for 87 yards – an average of 3.5 yards per run. These figures would have been even better if they had not had a good pair of Titans during the garbage period late in the game. What do you say about that? The Colts tied for sixth place in the NFL with a yardage average allowed at 3.9. It does the job.
• The Titans played Sunday's game against top teams in the league to limit the teams in the red zone, their opponents scored a touchdown in about 35% of their trips in the twenty. Against the Colts? Indy scored touchdowns in four of his five trips to the red zone for a score of 80%. It is also interesting to note that the Colts scored 38 points against the best defense in the league; the Titans entered the game with only 16.8 points per contest. The Indy offense rolls, guys.
WHAT IS NOT HAPPENED:
• In a day where there were not many problems for the Colts, we can be a little fussy. For a second week in a row, a totally unnecessary penalty erased what should have been a huge special teams game. Last week, linebacker Anthony Walker countered a blocked take attempt and made a dramatic comeback by moving closer to the end zone – but this action was canceled due to a coup at the end of the round. two points of the table. On Sunday, Chester Rogers amassed a one hundred and twenty-yard kick in the house in the first quarter … but cornerback Arthur Maulet was called to be held at a significant distance from the game himself and hit him has been removed from the table. So on one side, congratulations to the Colts' special teams for creating splash games, but if they do not count, it will be hard to give full credit.
INJURY REPORT
– Two main indoor events – an offensive and a defense – ended Sunday's game for the Colts and did not return there: center Ryan Kelly and defensive tackle Margus Hunt were injured in the knee. Although their immediate status is not known, Kelly told reporters after the match that he would have an MRI on Monday. Head Coach Frank Reich has his weekly conference call on Monday afternoon.
AND AFTER
The Colts hope things will take place next Sunday, but in their own way it will be another tough test for the AFC as the Miami Dolphins head to Lucas Oil Stadium for 4:35 pm. start. The Dolphins are one of five teams currently 5-5 and tied for sixth place in the AFC playoffs. Indy is therefore faced with an imperative scenario to win in order to remain relevant for her playoff positioning. The Dolphins will have finished their week off and the last game against the Green Bay Packers on November 11 (31-12). Miami scored the league's 28th ranked offensive (313.6 yards per game) and the defense ranked 27th (392.3 yards per game allowed). And do not forget: the Colts will wear their all-blue "Color Rush" look.
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