Three Things the Colts Must Do in Week 2 to Beat Miami

Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

Indianapolis, IN – The Miami Dolphins will travel to Indianapolis on Sunday to face the Colts in a Week 2 match-up. Both the Colts and Dolphins are looking to improve their record to 2-0, and they match up very well against one another. Last season, the Colts were able to pull off a 23-20 victory over the Dolphins, so Miami is looking to get some payback this year. There are three keys to this game for the Colts that we’re going to highlight in this article, but that doesn’t mean there are only three.

1. Take Care of the Football

The Colts did a very good job against the Raiders in Week 1 in this area of the game. Andrew Luck did not throw an interception, and they hope that he continues to show that improvement in his game once again against Miami. Miami’s defense is vastly improved over last season, and the Colts need to be more careful with the football to counter that.

2. Establish the Ground Game

While they were able to pull out a victory against the Raiders, the Colts need to come up with a much more balanced offense. It will be an interesting week leading up to gameday as we find out more about which running back will receive more carries and how much Bradshaw especially will be used.

Ahmad Bradshaw is capable of being a workhorse for the Colts, and that’s what many analysts expected to happen when he was originally signed. You can expect him to get more carries than he had in game one, but you can also expect to see Ballard get a good number of carries as well. Indianapolis really needs to make sure that the ground game gets going early to take pressure off of Luck and the aerial attack down the stretch.

3. Put Pressure on Ryan Tannehill

The Dolphins made some solid off-season acquisitions by signing wide receivers Mike Wallace and Brandon Gibson, as well as re-signing wide-out Brian Hartline. They have a lot of faith in second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and in their week one match-up against the Browns, he was able to total 272 yards and a touchdown, but also threw an interception. The Browns were able to get to Tannehill for four sacks, and the Colts need to work to get to that number at least as well.

When he has time, there’s no doubt that he can pick defenses apart. As a young quarterback, there is absolutely no doubt that if the Colts are able to rush him and make him make quick decisions, he’ll make a mistake at some point. This is one of those games that could come down to which team is able to make one big defensive play, and Indianapolis certainly has the secondary to make those plays.

Overall this game is going to come down to execution and which team plays the cleanest game. The Colts have more talent and skill on paper, but that doesn’t mean anything once the two teams step out on the field. It will certainly be a fun game to watch, don’t miss it!

Evan Massey is an Editor at Naptown’s Finest. Follow Evan and Naptown’s Finest on Twitter.