We don’t overreact at Horseshoe Heroes. We’re here to give you a realistic breakdown of the Colts after each and every game.
The Indianapolis Colts are marching through the AFC South. Even without Andrew Luck, the Colts have managed to take down their past two division foes lacking a clear advantage.
Three straight division wins has the Colts season looking up, and while the schedule is about to get painful, the lead in the division looks like enough to secure a playoff spot with eight or nine wins.
For now, the Colts have a mini-bye week to get healthy before a storm comes to Indy.
Here’s what stood out from last night:
A True Warrior.Matt Hasselbeck had no business being out of his bed let alone on a football field. Fighting a bacterial infection (which he would describe as “lots of stuff coming out of the attic, then a lot of stuff coming out the basement,” which, ew), Hasselbeck didn’t just play the role of game manager. He was making plays and adjustment at the line of scrimmage. I can’t say enough good things about his play the past two weeks. These two weeks are why a backup quarterback is important. As Bill Polian said, had he addressed the backup QB in 2011, he’d probably still be the GM.
Old Men. The biggest player makers for the Colts last night are all over 32 years of age. That’s pretty far past when most guys fall off a cliff skill wise. The collection of aged veterans the Colts have collected proved their worth to the team list night, and it was even more impressive on a painfully short week.
Hasselbeck, 40: No turnovers, 18-for-29 for 213 yards, two touchdowns
Andre Johnson, 34: six receptions on seven targets, 77 yards, two touchdowns
Frank Gore, 32: 98 yards on 22 carries, one touchdown
The Smart, Ballsy Call. On third-and-six with 1:30 left to play, the Colts could have easily run the ball for minimal gain to force the Texans to burn their final timeout. Instead they went for the first down, which ended the game, with a deep shot to T.Y. Hilton (who, was of course going to make a big play before he left Houston). Running the ball isn’t the only way to burn clock, and that might have been the best pass of the night by Hasselbeck. They also sacrificed Gore’s shot at a 100-yard game by doing so, and I doubt he has a problem with it. If that play fails (and the Colts lose),
Signs of Life. Johnson has had a rough season. Before last night, Johnson had seven receptions off 19 targets for 51 yards. Last night he nearly topped his season totals. If ever there was going to be an opponent Johnson would play big against, it was the Texans in Houston. He may love the city and fans, but that was a professional troll job against his former team last night.
Anyone calling for Pep Hamilton’s head needs to rewatch last night’s game. There was nothing in the Colts favor on offense, yet they managed to pick apart the Texans. Remember
? You might not since he had zero impact on last night’s game and the Colts basically just made a blueprint on how to stop him. The best drive of the game by the Colts opened the third quarter. Set up by a big, 50-yard kickoff return from
21 yards. Johnson made his man look foolish with a 24 yard play, then two Gore runs up the middle for the score. The design of those plays was great, the execution better, and they were called at the perfect time. There is a reason why Hamilton is on the short list for a head coaching job, last night’s game is a good example.
Two on Eleven. The Colts were basically facing Arian Foster and DeAndre Hopkins last night. The two players combined for 20 receptions (out of the team’s 31) for 246 of the Texans 362 receiving yards. With Vontae Davis not anywhere near 100 percent, that put Greg Toler on Hopkins, but it really didn’t matter who was defending him. Jaelen Strong may get the two TDs, but he owes a lot of that to Hopkins drawing attention (and still making plays). It felt like the Colts coverage broke down regularly and it didn’t help that zero pass rush against a bad QB gave him time to get the ball out (CBs can’t cover forever). In fact the one time the Colts did eventually get pressure, Brian Hoyer threw up a lame duck that was intercepted to effectively end the game.
Compilers. The Texans are stat compilers. They put up big yardage numbers (outgained the Colts 444 to 323) but they fail to finish off drives. Twice in scoring position, they turned the ball over. Penalties killed their own drives, and kept the Colts offense on the field. This is a good case study on why big yardage numbers are overrated (and a bad means of judging an offense).
A Wasteland of Football. The AFC South is bad. Really, really, terribly awfully bad. Even the Colts are merely mediocre. But both the Jaguars and Texans had nearly everything in their favor the past two weeks and still couldn’t figure out a way to win. The QB situation in Houston is somehow worse after letting Ryan Fitzpatrick walk. The Colts set an NFL record with their 16th straight win against a division opponent, not having lost since December of 2012 to an AFC South foe. They have a good chance of extending that streak to 19 before the end of the season too with home games against the Titans and Texans, and a late season roady to face the Jaguars.
