Indianapolis Colts Report Card 09/23/12
Jacksonville Jaguars 22 Indianapolis Colts 17
The Colts had a chance to jump to 2-1 going into the bye week with some opportunity to get guys healthy and ready for the next quarter of the season. But an eighty yard touchdown pass with 45 seconds left to play erased all of that. Now they’re sitting at 1-2 with plenty of questions about the overall team. Andrew Luck got the team down the field in that last 35 seconds and even had a shot at the end, but it shouldn’t have come to that. These teams are evenly matched, and the Colts were up with a small amount of time left. But the defense lets down, and now the Colts get on the losing end of things.
Passing Game: C
Andrew Luck did throw for over 300 yards in this game, but only got one touchdown pass. Plus, he had to take off and run a few times so he couldn’t seem to find an open guy when needed. T.Y. Hilton had a good game as he went over 100 yards receiving, and the lone touchdown pass. Reggie Wayne was himself with another game over 80 yards, but those receivers have got to find ways to get loose and get open. Luck did as much as he could back there just wasn’t enough. Even having a shot to win this game with no time left in the game. Make that pass, and I probably bump this up a letter grade.
Running Game: C
Just like the passing game, more could have been done. Donald Brown rushed for 62 yards, but Andrew Luck gets 50 on his own. That’s way too many yards for a pocket passer like Luck. Just when Colt fans think the running game can improve, it doesn’t. And we’ll get to how good Maurice Jones-Drew looked on the other side of things.
Passing Defense: C
Well that last play for the Jags is enough for me to drop this to a C, and possibly lower. There was blown coverage, and the Jags find a man open that probably shouldn’t win this game. Blaine Gabbert doesn’t even reach 200 yards passing and got 80 of his 155 yards passing on that 80 yard catch by Cecil Shorts III. Not a good day for the secondary of the Colts to lose a game like that.
Run Defense: D
Maurice Jones-Drew looked like the MJD of old with this performance. He got 177 yards with a great 6.3 average. If that running game is producing that well, it’s a long day for the Colts defense. That will have to shore up against someone like Arian Foster later on when the Colts face the Texans.
Special Teams: C
Cassius Vaughn had a good day returning kicks going over 100 yards, and setting up the Colts in decent field position for that final drive. But Adam Vinatieri misses a field goal that would have put the Colts up and makes a field goal late in the fourth to put the Colts up. So it was an up and down few minutes for him. If he makes that first one, maybe the Colts don’t need that other field goal try.
Intangibles: C
I’m lumping this as the overall game grade. I think this is a game that many people predicted the Colts could win. With their schedule and the way the team looks, there’s not many of those type of games. It would have been great to win this one, and get to 2-1, just a game back behind Houston for the division. Houston is probably going to win the division anyways, but someone needs to give them somewhat of a challenge. Now the Colts have a bye week and time to gear up for Green Bay to make a visit here to Lucas Oil Stadium on October 7th. That should be a long time of preparing for that game. Who knows what kind of effort the team will bring to that one?