This may be a great defense: Indianapolis has stayed in a number
of games with timely defense and clutch turnovers. To this point, that has
been mostly attributed to lucky bounces or great individual efforts.,
But
Colts fans may need to brace themselves and try to embrace the fact that the
2009 version of this defense may be great and not simply good enough to get the
ball back to the offense.
Halftime adjustments are overrated because the
coaches and players have very little time for the coaches to make "adjustments". The
in-game adjustments that coaches and players make are the key to the success or
failure of a unit and Larry Coyer and his charges made some fantastic
adjustments.
In the second half, the Colts defenders got after the ball, they attacked the
line of scrimmage, they took everything that they had witnessed from Matt Schaub
and the Houston offense in the first half and the Week 9 matchup, and they made
the Texans look foolish.
As soon as they closed the gap, Indianapolis
began to pressure Schaub — often using an extra defender — as they hurried
him, sacked him, and forced him to make throws into coverage, resulting in the
penultimate interception for a touchdown to Clint Session.
It was a
courageous effort by a much-maligned unit. When the Colts defense needed
to make a play, they made a play. And, looking back, it's been that way
all season. These are reasons Indianapolis is currently 11-0.
But, the Texans let them off the hook: Houston had 19 rushes for
90 yards in the first half. They had some success with their five rushes
in the second half.
Overall, they had 24 rushes for 122 yards and a
touchdown for the game, but they must have felt the noose tightening when
Indianapolis closed the gap to 20-14 in the third quarter. If the Texans
were a team like the Titans, Ravens, or Steelers, they would have stayed with a
rushing attack that had been successful instead of focusing on Schaub and the
passing game.
The final stats showed that Houston outrushed, outpassed,
and outgained the Colts. Turnovers played a factor, but the fact that
Houston largely choked the game away takes some of the credit from Indianapolis.
Houston doesn't seem to know how to close out a game and they particularly don't
seem to know how to beat the Colts, even with a 17-point lead. Chances are
that teams like San Diego and Pittsburgh won't do the same favors to
Indianapolis down the road.
The calls for Chad Simpson need to start now and stop now:
Simpson did score the only rushing touchdown for the Colts on an excellent
20-yard effort towards the end of regulation, but he is nothing more than a
garbage time back.
It's true that he has had some impressive numbers when
given the chance, but those numbers were posted against tired defenses towards
the tail end of runaway victories. He makes too many negative plays, looks
too uncomfortable with the ball in his hands, and Donald Brown and Joseph Addai
are too talented to take a back seat to Simpson.
He needs to focus more
effort into making himself a more effective kick returner. That's what
will help his team win more games. As a matter of fact ...
Special teams needs to be a greater emphasis for this team:
Indianapolis officials gave a great deal of lip service to the kicking game in
the offseason, but that has proved to be little more than lip service so far.
The coverage teams have been solid. Pat McAfee has been a tremendous find
so far in 2009 and had another stellar game on Sunday with a 48.5 yard net
average.
But the return game, simply put, has been abysmal. Simpson
averaged 17 yards per return on kickoffs and TJ Rushing averaged had only seven
yards on one return.
This is a squad that has its flaws in all phases of the game, but they have
significant strengths that have masked or made up for these weaknesses. In
the playoffs, everything is magnified. They need to spend some quality
time with their weaknesses — the lack of a return game being principal among
them — in the five weeks between now and the end of the regular season.
Balance is key: The running game came through early — and
especially late, to eat up clock — with 23 rushes for 114 yards. Peyton Manning targeted four receivers five times or more and completed passes to seven
different receivers. After they fell behind, the Colts didn't panic and
kept pushing with an even keel and a balanced attack.
Manning spread the
ball around to all of his weapons to move the ball, but looked for his stars in
the red zone. Houston was unable to take away all of them and the result
was three touchdown passes to Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Pierre Garcon.
It was another fantastic, resilient effort by Manning and the Indianapolis
offense.
The Texans can't beat the Colts: But, they're still alive in the
playoff race if they get some help. Here's to hoping they make the
playoffs, sneak past a higher seed, and come to Indianapolis looking for
revenge. Chances are that they won't find it.
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