Colts Observations: Week 13 vs. Titans

Division within reach. Barring an epic collapse, the Colts will win the AFC South. They have a three-game lead over the Titans and hold the tiebreaker. Essentially, the Colts would have to lose their last four games and the Titans would have to sweep their last four for the Colts to miss out on a division title.

Vintage "Money." Adam Vinatieri nailed five field goals for the Colts (with a long of 49 yards). On a day when the offense stalled repeatedly, the Colts needed Vinatieri to come through, and he did. He's having a fantastic season.

The turnover battle. The Colts forced four turnovers: three interceptions and a fumble (all from Ryan Fitzpatrick). Cassius Vaughn--relegated to third cornerback after a couple rough starts in place of Greg Toler--picked off two passes. Indy turned the ball over early in the game after a pass from Andrew Luck went off T.Y. Hilton's hands and bounced into the hands of a waiting Titans defender. The Colts defense forced a punt.

Thank you, Jerrell Freeman. The linebacker was all over the place Sunday, finishing with nine tackles and asked to cover Chris Johnson when Tennessee split their running back out wide a few times. He saved his best play for last, picking off a Fitzpatrick pass as the Titans tried to rally for a touchdown and two-point conversion to send the game to OT. Freeman also recovered a fumble after a sack by Robert Mathis.

Why is Darrius Heyward-Bey a professional football player for the Indianapolis Colts? Hey, it worked last week with David Reed. DHB drew a couple pass interference penalties and caught a pass for 23 yards. Those were his good things. He also got buried for an 11-yard loss on an ill-advised running play, was whistled for offensive pass interference (in his defense, the call was iffy), and--in glorious DHB style--dropped a pass that killed a potential touchdown drive. Sigh.

Donald Brown gets the start. Honestly, he should've started last week on the heels of his great second half against this same Tennessee team. He didn't do much until the last drive, finishing with a relatively unimpressive 14 carries for 54 yards and a TD. The key is when the bulk of those yards came--Brown had 46 yards on the game-clinching drive.

Luck uses his legs. His offensive line can't protect him. His receivers can't get open, and when they do, they drop passes. Luck showed that extra dimension he can bring to the offense when he scrambled for 32 yards on the last drive. He was the team's second-leading rusher, scrambling five times for 42 yards.

Still can't Protect the Franchise. The Colts offensive line is abysmal. Luck got dropped five times; there was an occasion or two in which he held onto the ball too long, but most of this goes on the offensive line. What does this tell us? Despite opening the checkbook and making big moves, the Colts and GM Ryan Grigson failed in their primary mission to protect Andrew Luck. Swapping out Mike McGlynn for Jeff Linkenbach didn't make a noticeable difference.

Richardson demoted. It just hasn't worked out. The Colts made a splash by pulling the trigger on the Richardson trade, and I don't think the "jury is still out" on this one. The Colts have gotten about as much from this former first-round pick as they could've gotten out of a guy from the scout team at the cost of next year's first-round pick. It's expensive mediocrity, even though I'd really like to see him prove me wrong. Earlier, it looked like Donald Brown was being successful because the Colts ran him in certain situations (and with more spread formations). Lately, though, Brown has hit the hole hard in the power formations and found success.

Time to unleash Da'Rick Rogers. Since the Colts are getting nothing from DHB, it's time to give Da'Rick Rogers more playing time. Even though DHB "knows the offense," it doesn't matter because he's not a reliable target. Rogers may suck; I have no idea. But the truth is that he can't hurt the team anymore than DHB. And maybe, just maybe, he'll find himself in the right place and catch the football.

Goal line stand. The Colts stiffened when the Titans tried to get the ball into the endzone from the two. They stuffed Tennessee three times before a little gimmick/misdirection pass resulted in a touchdown. By the way, when you watch that play at regular speed, it kind of looks like Chris Johnson dropped the ball and "didn't complete the catch." It looks a lot different on the replay.

Robert Mathis: Master of the Sack-Fumble. Robert Mathis is having a season for the ages. The Colts pass rush didn't do much Sunday, but Mathis forced a sack-fumble after getting around the edge and knocking the ball away from Fitzpatrick. The Colts ended up salvaging a field goal from the drive.

Your free gift: three points! As time wound down in the first half, the Titans' Moise Fokou (a former Colt) decided to level Stanley Havili. If he'd kept his cool, the half would've ended because T.Y. Hilton caught a pass in bounds and the Colts were out of timeouts. Instead, the idiotic penalty put the Colts in prime position for a field goal.

Return change. With David Reed gone, the Colts turned the return game over to Chris Rainey, who handled both kickoffs and punts. He wasn't measurably more effective than Reed on kickoffs. Rainey filled in on punts for T.Y. Hilton and turned in a nice return for 18 yards. On the flip side, he also muffed a punt return. Thankfully, special teams standout Sergio Brown was there to recover and advance. Brown has quietly had a fantastic season in the third phase of the game.

Ain'tcha ever comin' back, ain'tcha? What's the deal with Greg Toler? The Colts haven't put him on injured reserve and he's been "trending in the right direction" for approximately forever now. The secondary hasn't been the same since Toler's been out. I hope he returns to the lineup soon, because I could think of a few positions that could use that roster spot.

Colts Observations: Week 11 vs. Titans

Chris Johnson for 30 yards. On the first drive, after a series of passes, Chris Johnson bolted right, got great blocks, and raced to the endzone. 7-0, Titans. Just like that.

Trent Richardson's first carry. He gained a yard. Barely. The Colts did make an effort early in the game to get him involved in the passing game.

GRIFFNATION--uh, never mind. Griff Whalen gave us his best DHB impression, dropping a third-down pass on the Colts' first series. It was awesome.

Will someone cover Delanie Walker? The first quarter wasn't even over, and Walker had four catches for 40+ yards. He finished with 10 grabs for 91 yards and a TD. Fun fact: he was targeted 10 times, meaning each time Ryan "Rugged Outdoorsman Beard" Fitzpatrick looked for him, he caught a pass.

Great start. Two drives, two touchdowns for Chris Johnson and the Tennessee Titans. Just like that, the Colts were down 14-0. Mission critical.

Finally on the board. The Colts finally scored early in the second quarter with a field goal from Adam Vinatieri. They were down 14-3, but it felt quite a bit different from the Texans or Rams deficits. I can't explain why I felt that way.

DHB: Hands of Marble. DHB dropped another pass on what should've been a big play. The ball got tipped slightly, but he had it in sight and got both hands on it. Will this guy ever make a play?

Momentum swing? Guess not. The Colts forced a three-and-out after Vinatieri's field goal. They picked up a couple first downs before punting.

The Flag Drive. Penalties against Robert Mathis, Cassius Vaughn, and Erik Walden gave the Titans plenty of free yards, showed the Colts had lost their composure, and put Tennessee in scoring position. Ryan "Zero Dark Thirty Beard" Fitzpatrick almost rope-a-doped the Colts into a free first down, but the Titans settled for a field goal. So...I guess one point for each flag?

The headbutt. Erik Walden headbutted a helmetless Tennessee receiver (Delanie Walker--so I guess they tried to stop him?). So there's that.

DHB caught a pass. It happened. I saw it. He even got out of bounds near the end of the first half. It was his only catch of the game.

Field goal before halftime. The Colts faced a 17-6 deficit at halftime. Luck led them on a nice drive to get close to the endzone. The drive sputtered with about 40 seconds left after Luck got sacked, setting up a short FG by Vinatieri.

And Donald Brown gets into the endzone. The Colts put together a terrific drive to start the second half. Luck converted some third-down opportunities, we saw a couple of decent runs from Trent Richardson (!) and Donald Brown. The drive culminated in a nice TD run that was well blocked by the Colts.

And a turnover! Tennessee fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff, giving the Colts great field position. Indy capitalized with a touchdown. The fumble turned the game around, and the Colts never trailed again. They scored 20 unanswered points from the end of the first half through the fourth quarter.

Call your own number, man. Luck had Griff Whalen open in the flat, but pump-faked a Tennessee defender and took off for the endzone. The guy's incredible. Just like that, the Colts had a 20-17 lead.

"A Football Life: The Forward Pass." I love the NFL Network show, but the concept of this one is just weird.

Erik Walden shouldn't be allowed to dance. He sacked Ryan "Wookie Pelt Beard" Fitzpatrick, but Erik Walden--he of the cheap headbutt--shouldn't be allowed to do a celebratory dance.

First down challenge. Titans had to do it. It also had to fail. The spot on the QB sneak was very generous; I have no illusions about that. I understand why the Titans challenged the call, but I also knew there was no chance of a reversal. There was nothing--nothing--in that replay that would've reversed that call. And...the Titans probably could've used that timeout later, right?

Vinatieri with another one. After a failed third-down conversion, Adam Vinatieri came on the field to do what Adam Vinatieri does: nail big kicks.

Grinders. I didn't think they had it in them anymore, but Indy stepped up and brought back a balanced offensive attack in the second half. The power game worked and guys held their blocks. Indy had four drives of 11 or more plays. Each of those drives led to points, and none was more important than the 11 play, 74 yard drive that resulted in Donald Brown's second touchdown of the game. In fact, each Indy touchdown came on the ground (two by Brown, one by Luck). The resurgent running game also allowed Luck to hit on some big play-action passes.

Fantastic Fleener. I've been known to...um...rip on Coby Fleener from time to time. However, he proved his worth in this game, catching eight passes for 107 yards. He was there just about every time the Colts needed a big play, and I don't remember any of his signature, inexplicable drops either. Luck targeted him ten times vs. Tennessee.

Dashing Donald. Donald Brown had a phenomenal game, carrying 14 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He just looked more decisive and comfortable in the running game than Richardson. I've noticed that the Colts tended to run Brown out of different sets than Richardson, but against the Titans, Indy put Brown in those power formations. He showed patience, burst through the hole, and got to the second level. He's nimble-footed and has great vision. Let's put it this way, if this is the way the Colts' 2009 first-round pick plays in 2013, I'm expecting big things from Trent Richardson in 2016.

Protecting Luck. What a difference a running game makes. The Titans got to Luck a few times, but he avoided getting hit for the most part. Tennessee had one sack and four QB hits, a markedly better performance than we've seen in recent weeks against the Texans and Rams.

Luck's legs. Luck made big plays tonight when he saw running lanes. One scramble went for a key first down; another resulted in a touchdown. And I'd just like to say the "Luck Spike" is a thing of jubilant beauty. He ran nine times for 31 yards.

All too easy. Brown's second TD run late in the fourth quarter should've salted this game away, but the Colts defense let the Titans march right down the field and score despite the fact they had no timeouts. The onside kick failed, but there was absolutely no excuse for the easy TD.

And Chris Johnson had less than 100 yards rushing. After victimizing the Colts repeatedly in the first half and scoring two touchdowns, Chris Johnson disappeared in the second half. True, the Titans fell behind and the Colts did a better job on the running back, but it's still baffling to think CJ2K couldn't crack 100 yards after gaining 80 in the first half.

Reggie the Mentor. We'd like to see Reggie Wayne in the game, but we know that can't happen right now. It was great to see him on the sideline mentoring the young receivers and cheering on his team. The Colts may not be able to "Win One for Reggie" this year, but they'll certainly give it their best shot.

How the South was won? The Colts likely sealed the division and a playoff spot with this win. They hold a three-game lead over the Titans and will play them once again. As up and down as the Colts have been lately, this game will probably end up being a major turning point for the season.

Back-to-back streak intact. With the comeback win, the Colts still haven't lost back-to-back games in the Pagano/Luck era. I realize everyone knows this already.

No turnovers. Take care of the ball, and good things happen.

Good challenge. When the Colts caught the Titans with approximately 75 defenders on the field, and the refs missed it, Chuck Pagano threw the challenge flag. Indy got the call and ended up scoring a field goal on the drive. Considering the score was 14-0 at that point, it was a pretty big decision.