Well now, wasn't that an interesting game?
In a contest that should have been a laugher against the 0-4 Titans, the
Colts once again used late-game focus and execution to pull out a narrow 14-13
win. The slim margin coupled with the team heading into the bye week will
undoubtedly send many fans and media columnists spinning on whether or not this
team is truly as good as their 5-0 record over the next two weeks.
But as Bobby McFerrin once sang ... "don't worry, be happy."
There is undoubtedly some work to be done with the run defense over the next
two weeks, but don't overlook the impact of early-season injuries on this team.
When a player or two is missing from the usual lineup, it can throw off the
timing and the benefit that familiarity brings to the field. Now consider the
incredible number of starting players that have been missing from week to week,
and you'll realize that the depth of talent and strong coaching is the only
thing that is keeping this team from being 3-2 or possibly even 2-3 right now.
Does that mean the team isn't as good as it's 5-0 record? Nope. It simply
means that they will be even better once they get healthy. And a bye week should
help them make major strides in that direction. About the only thing I think
there is to worry about is the rush defense. But the team will undoubtedly use
some of the down time over the next two weeks to figure out if any personnel
additions can help, or simply figuring out how to better utilize the talent they
have.
That said, let's take a look at Sunday's contest ... at first glance.
-- The inactives for the game included K Adam Vinatieri, WR Terrence Wilkins,
S Bob Sanders, CB Tim Jennings, TE Jerome Collins, LB Tyjuan Hagler, TE Ben Utecht, and DT Dan Klecko.
-- The team has to be thankful at this point that seventh-round pick T.J. Rushing wasn't grabbed by another team while he was on the practice squad during
the first three games. And after handling all the returns duties for Terrence
Wilkins today, it's unlikely he'll go overlooked again. Not only did he look
terrific on the 47-yard kickoff return, he also showed good field smarts and
poise on a number of plays. He made a very tough fair catch on a punt that
should have drawn a flag from the official as a Titans player was clearly within
the zone that Rushing should have had to make the catch. Rushing also did a
really nice job -- twice -- of selling a fair catch to the Titans coverage unit
on a ball that was over his head and rolled harmlessly into the endzone for
touchbacks. His technique made them pull up, losing the opportunity to catch up
with the bouncing ball.
-- Tennessee's ten points in the first half almost matched their 13 points of
production they had put on the board in first-half action over their first four
games. Up until today, they've actually finished stronger than they've started,
scoring most of their points in the fourth quarter until this game. The Colts
shut them out in the fourth.
-- The Titans not only didn't register a sack on the day, they didn't even
get credited with a quarterback hit. That's a really nice job by the Colts
offensive line, who also opened up some great holes for Addai and Rhodes today.
-- Once the Colts got into the red zone, they were efficient, scoring on two
of three chances. The problem was just sustaining drives and not turning the
ball over before they got there.
-- After starting out the season averaging 18 points of scoring in the first
half of their first two games, the Colts have averaged just 7 points in the
first half over the past three. Does that sound like a Peyton Manning-led
offensive attack to you? Whatever happened to "The Greatest Show on
Turf" and the offense that put opposing defenses on their heels early in
the game? This is another area the team needs to look at over the next two
weeks. They're allowing teams to run the ball and eat up time, limiting
Manning's playing time. And teams are now trying to force them to play offense
with their left hand. In other words, they're lining up challenging the Colts to
run even though the most natural thing for them to do is pass the ball. Back
when Manning tossed 49 touchdown passes, the Colts were undoubtedly seeing teams
try to take away the pass with nickel and dime packages -- but they threw it
anyway and scored big. I'm not suggesting that they go to that extreme, but if
they don't start taking control and playing their game -- rather than trying to
take advantage of what the defense is offering up -- they're going to lose one
of these close games sooner than later.
-- The Colts took a step in the right direction by limiting their penalties
to just five. Surprisingly, so did the Titans who were flagged just six times.
But Indianapolis' two turnovers were uncharacteristic since they had only given
up the ball twice in their first four games.
-- Travis Henry or LenDale White? It didn't matter, both averaged at least 6
yards per carry against the Colts. The Titans gained 214 yards on the ground
after averaging just 70 coming into this game. Perhaps most disconcerting is the
fact that the Titans didn't have a run longer than 11 yards all season. Henry
had one for 17 yards while both White and quarterback Vince Young had runs of 19
yards each. I don't think the Colts will be able to shrug this off to missed gap
assignments and missed tackles. This is the second week in the row where they've
faced a weak-sister running attack and been mightily challenged to stop them.
But get this ... just like they did against the Jaguars, the Colts defense made
a huge improvement against the run in the second half. The Titans put 152
rushing yards up in the first half and just 62 in the second half. It makes you
wonder if teams are just figuring out a way to throw the Colts off balance
during the first half by coming out with something different than what they've
shown on film to date, at least giving them an advantage until the Colts are
able to regroup at halftime and make some adjustments. Very odd.
-- The Colts did a nice job of shutting out the Titans' two top receivers, WR
Drew Bennett and TE Bo Scaife. And despite all the accolades that Vince Young
may receive for his poise in the face of the Colts pressure, he really didn't
have a good day. He finished 10 of 21 for a meager 63 yards and and QB rating of
34.4. With the Colts smothering Young's top targets, he had no choice but to
throw five of those ten completions to his running backs, a real departure from
what he did last week when he only went to them twice.
-- You know, I'll say this about Vince Young. The guy is very likeable. Even
when he got thwacked a bit by a charging Mike Doss on a play that got blown dead
due to a false start, he gave Doss a friendly pat. On a few other plays I saw
him do the same after taking a lick. He's a competitor, but I like his style of
keeping things in perspective even if he's taken a shot. Maybe the team should
assign him as a mentor to Albert Haynesworth when he returns in five weeks or so
from that awful incident during last week's game against Dallas.
-- Tony Dungy's not going to be happy that his special teams have given up
big kickoff returns over two consecutive games. The Titans only ran back three
kickoffs and averaged just 21 yards on two of them. But that 48-yarder will get
a good look in the film room this week.
-- Speaking of Dungy, he obviously doesn't care much about my opinion on the
Addai-Rhodes tandem. Last week I mentioned that Addai should get more carries,
so this week Rhodes got 20 for 84 yards while Addai got just 13 for 62. The
rookie finished with a 4.8 average per rush while Rhodes had a respectable 4.2
average. I'm warming up to the tandem idea after considering what ColtPower's
John Cimasko mentioned during his radio show on WIBC Saturday night. He made
brought up the point that the sharing of the carries could help reduce the
impact of the "rookie wall" later this year that so many first-year
players hit as the pro season winds on much longer than these young guys are
used to. Come playoff time, Addai, Rhodes, and the Colts could benefit
from their relatively fresh legs. It's a great point. Dungy may be thinking the
same thing. I guess I have to yield to them on that point, it's smart.
-- Safety Chris Hope's interception of a tipped Manning pass was just the
second of the season by the Titans. Hope has both of them.
-- While Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison both got their first TD
catches of the year, neither one took a huge toll on the Titans defense with
just three catches by each one. The Titans obviously weren't prepared for the
routes that Brandon Stokley can run out of the slot though, as he led the Colts
receivers with five catches for 57 yards. Dominic Rhodes also had five catches
for 26 yards.
-- Do you think rookie Antoine Bethea will take some razzing from veteran
cornerback Nick Harper when the team watches the game film this week? Harper
looked like he was ready to make an easy basket-catch of a Vince Young pass when
Bethea swooped in from the side and momentarily had the ball in his fingertip
before dropping it. I think the coaches will have a hard time criticizing the
rookie though when they see how much ground he covered and the good
concentration on the ball that he showed. He also made some terrific hits -- as
usual -- in this game.
-- Third down was a tough play for both teams. The Titans converted just 20
percent of their chances while the Colts finished with 42 percent. As of half
time, the Colts hadn't converted a single attempt out of six tries. In the
second half, they bounced back and succeeded 5 out of 6 times.
-- As much as you hate to see him do well at the expense of the Colts, it was
great to see former Colts linebacker David Thornton making plays. He's one of
the real good guys in this league. He led the Titans with 13 tackles that
included 10 solo efforts and he forced a fumble.
-- Mike Doss had another nice game. He made six tackles, an interception to
end the first half, got credit for two passes defensed and a quarterback hit.
-- The Colts defense didn't sack Vince Young, but they certainly did make
their presence known. The team was credited with five QB hits with two by
Mathis, one by Mike Doss, one by Montae Reagor, and one by Dwight Freeney.
Speaking of Freeney, did he want that safety on Vince Young late in the game or
what? He breaks through a clear hold, bounces off a second defender and grabs
Young's ankles while on the ground, yanking at them hard enough to almost topple
him. What an effort.
-- He hasn't always shown up big in the stats, but one of the more impressive
special teams coverage guys this season so far has been Darrell Reid. He led the
team today with three ST tackles, but on so many other plays this year he's been
the disruptor out there -- the player who blows up the lane of the runner,
forcing him to hesitate or change direction so that others can come in and swarm
to the ball.