Colts vs Broncos: Next Day Reaction

We don’t overreact at Horseshoe Heroes. We’re here to give you a realistic breakdown of the Colts after each and every game.

For the first time all season the Indianapolis Colts played something resembling a complete football game. Riding a three game losing streak that ended with the Colts scapegoating Pep Hamilton, the Colts managed to pull off a hope upset against the Broncos.

For three years now, the Colts have been Peyton Manning and the Broncos kryptonite. They matchup well with Denver and now own a 3-1 record against them since Andrew Luck took over in Indy. With the way the Colts have been floundering this season, it was a must-win situation on Sunday but one where many (including myself) didn’t give the home team much of a shot.

Here’s what stood out on Sunday:

• Signs of Life. Luck has had a rough year, but is starting to show signs of being that QB he was last year. The biggest difference between last night and the past two losses was that Luck was forcing the ball and watching the defense take it the other way. The best thing he can do going forward is play safe football. With the talent on offense, the Colts can pick and choose their moments which is exactly what they need to do right now. Getting Luck some confidence going forward is paramount and this was a good first step.
• Average or Above. Anyone who has told you that the Colts offensive line has been terrible this season hasn’t watched much film. Since Week 3 when they changed up the starters, it has been about average and at time better. Case in point: the Colts line stonewalled the Broncos pass rush. The same pass rush that was on pace to set a record for most sacks in a season. The pass rush that made Aaron Rodgers look like a lost child just a week ago. The play design helped, but there were multiple times the line gave Luck all day to throw.
• Toughness and Grit. T.Y. Hilton is unreal. Missing practice all week while in a walking boot, being a true game time decision (with many reporting him out), and then still managing to lead the team in receiving. Not only that, but taking a MONSTER hit on his first reception (that drew a penalty) and bouncing right back up. It wasn’t the only big hit of the day he’d take either. For a season where Hilton’s toughness has been questioned, he showed up with a big game.
• Run to Lose. The Colts went to the well far too often with the run game and it almost cost them a win. For the millionth time, the NFL is a passing league and you don’t HAVE to run the ball to work the clock. Rob Chudzinski’s commitment to the run nearly cost the Colts dearly, but timely passing (and dumb penalties by the Broncos) kept the Colts ahead. 34 designed runs for 86 yards it not good. That’s a 2.5 average, worse than Trent Richardson. Some of those runs came when the Colts were just trying to work clock against a stacked box, but that is the perfect time to drift a tight end past the run blitzers.
• Pace of Play. The Colts offense really seemed to click this season when they ran the no-huddle offense. That is something that didn’t happen at all yesterday (almost the exact opposite) and was a point of emphasis when Hamilton was fired. Maybe they didn’t play fast yesterday because of the change at OC, but that change of tempo seems to be when Luck is at his best. Utilizing the no-huddle is a great way to put pressure on an opposing defense and in the two weeks prior to yesterday’s game, it was when the offense played its best football. It doesn’t have to happen on every drive, but the Colts need to be willing to speed things up in the future.
• Penalties. No, not for the Colts, who nearly played the entire first half without a single penalty, but mostly the dumb penalties by the Broncos. The Colts were hit just four times for 30 yards while the Broncos, a normally disciplined team, had eight for 56 yards. None was worse than Aqib Talib‘s eye gouge on Dwayne Allen that basically gift wrapped the game for the Colts. Playing discplined football has been an issue for the Colts this season, and it was nice to see another team self-destruct for once.
• Bad Philosophy. Chuck Pagano isn’t a great coach. There are a lot of flaws with his strategies and we saw them come out on Sunday. Jim Irsay said after the game that they thought 17 points would be enough to win the game. There are so many things wrong with that statement I don’t know where to start, but I’ll try. First, why in the world would you ever assume that you need X number of points to win a game? Second why would you play to get to just that number of points? That is a losing strategy heading into a game. You know what wins on Sundays? Points. Lots of them. A better strategy? End every drive with points.
• Injuries. Players on both teams were dropping like flies Sunday. The Colts suffered injuries to safety Mike Adams and defensive tackle Henry Anderson. Adams suffered either an ankle or hamstring injury while Anderson is said to have a “significant” knee injury that was first reported as a sprain. The Colts don’t have a lot of playmakers on defense, but Adams has been a turnover machine the past two seasons. The drop off to Colt Anderson is huge when he’s off the field and hopefully his injury isn’t a long term concern. Henry Anderson has meant a lot to the defensive line, and is a big part of why the Colts have had better run defense this season. Losing him might be a bigger blow to the defense than we’d expect.
• Ghosts. Manning isn’t the same player he used to be. We saw some shades of it last night, but he’s lost that pinpoint accuracy that was so devastating and it’s made worse by the fact that his arm strength isn’t consistent from pass to pass. There would have been something poetic about Manning setting the passing record in Indy and part of me really wanted him to do it, but a win going into the Bye Week is much more palatable. Manning and the Broncos will be fine, but unless they both make AFC Championship game the Colts might not ever face Manning again.

The Colts have a much needed Bye Week before facing the Atlanta Falcons (who just lost to the Blaine Gabbert led 49ers). The win will prevent Irsay from making any big changes to the staff and makes an 8-8 finish more possible (or 11-5 if they can run the table).