It's going to be interesting to see how much Simeon Rice is able to help the
Colts during the month of December after he's had a little time to get settled
in.
Although he had an empty stats line at the end of the day Sunday, I was
impressed by his intelligence on a play where he sniffed out a screen pass and
stayed with the running back who was trying to sneak out of the backfield rather
than rushing in to take a shot at the quarterback, leaving him open for a quick
pass that could have turned into a decent gain for the Chiefs.
And
speaking of impressive, as I looked at Rice's history as a player, here's
something that is a huge positive in light of the Colts' injury woes this
season. During his first ten NFL season, Rice only missed two games and started
in all but nine NFL games during that stretch.
One of the big questions is
whether or not he's still got the quickness to get pressure on the quarterback.
Over the course of his career, he's been incredibly consistent in that
area. He's logged 37 sacks on first down, 37 on second down, 45 on third
down during his career and even a pair of them on fourth down.
Against the
run, you've got to like his work inside the tackles even though he's a defensive
end. Out of his 391 career tackles as a defensive end, he's made 200 of them
inside the tackles in the middle of the field. That's good news for the Colts'
run defense.
Adam Vinatieri misses a kick against the Chiefs.
Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images |
He's fine ... really
Okay, so as you watched Adam Vinatieri miss two more field goals on Sunday,
how many of you asked yourself why the Colts didn't add kicker Shane Andrus to
the roster this week?
If you were watching the game on television, you probably heard one of the
announcers mention that Vinatieri has his "plant foot" bandaged up and
inferred that he can't quite get himself set to launch the ball as well.
With as good as the Colts have been over the last couple of years at
shuffling players on and off the roster to substitute for banged-up players, I
just couldn't believe I was watching another week of Vinatieri obviously not
capable of kicking up to his usual standards. The Colts front office is usually
much smarter than that, especially when it comes to key players who can impact
the outcome of a game — as the Colts kicker did last week, and could have
easily done again this week with two missed field goals.
Luckily for the Colts, the opposing kicker was Dave Rayner, an Indy castoff
who spent last season in Green Bay before being released this year and landing
in Kansas City. His pair of misses allowed Vinatieri to have a shot at an easy
game-winner in the closing seconds.
The message following the game was mixed by the Colts. Tony Dungy said that
Vinatieri "was fine." The Colts kicker was a bit evasive, but had this
to say when asked if he was injured or not.
"Ten weeks into the season there's probably a lot of guys who are dinged
up a little bit," he said. "We try to do everything we can to
get back on the field and try to be productive and that's really all I have to
say about that.
"I'm fine. The misses are because I missed, not because I've got
anything that's keeping off the field. I'm going to be out there doing the best
I can to help the team win."
Vinatieri's now 0-for-3 on attempts of 40 yards or longer this season. While
he's made 18 out of 24 attempts overall, he's hit just four of nine during the
past three weeks. And the 27-yard field goal that he made against the Chiefs on
Sunday was his longest successful field goal since October 22 when he kicked a
36-yarder against the Jaguars.
Maybe instead of trying out punters last week, the Colts should have brought
in some kickers. Or better yet, they just should have signed Andrus. For the
team's sake, and to let Vinatieri take a week or two off to bounce back from whatever's ailing him, they
should call Andrus ... today.
Former Colts: Week 11 notes
Cornerback Von Hutchins got his first start as a cornerback with the Houston Texans on Sunday and picked off a pass. Strongside linebacker Marcus Washington
of the Redskins also had a good day, making six tackles against Dallas after
missing four of the previous five games with a hamstring problem.
Safety Idrees Bahir wasn't so fortunate. He suffered a knee injury on the
opening kickoff as the Lions took on the Giants. Following an MRI, he was put on injured reserve, ending his season.
Running back Edgerrin James had a tough day as well, but at least he stayed
healthy. He was only able to gain 52 yards on 22 carries against the Bengals
while failing to break a single run for more than seven yards.
Did you know?
The Colts are a 13.5-point favorite over the Falcons despite the fact that
the game is being played at Atlanta this Thursday night. Former Jaguars
quarterback Byron Leftwich has made three game appearances, including two
starts, and has completed just 54.2 percent of his passes. He's thrown just one
touchdown pass and has been intercepted three times and sacked five times.
Although Robert Mathis has six sacks for the season through the first nine
games, four of them have come over the past three weeks. His forced fumble
against the Chiefs on Sunday was his second of the season. Mathis recorded his
first one against the Saints in the season opener and now has 21 for his career.
While I'm sure he's feeling badly about teammate Dwight Freeney landing on
the injured reserve list, from a financial perspective, the timing is very good
for defensive end Josh Thomas. Freeney's absence will give him the opportunity
to showcase his skills prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end
of this season. Thomas is currently playing under a one-year, $1.3 million
contract that the Colts offered him as a restricted free agent earlier this
year.
Ed Thompson's player interviews and NFL features
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