Week Two in Review: The Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Indianapolis, IN – The Colts lost their Week 2 match-up with the Dolphins, but there was certainly a bright spot in the passing game. The aerial attack showed up, with Andrew Luck passing for 321 yards, and despite Dwayne Allen missing the game due to injury and Heyward-Bey going down early, everyone stepped up and contributed.

First and foremost we need to talk about the stellar performance that T.Y. Hilton turned in. In Week 1, he only came up with three catches for just 20 yards total. This week, he put up huge numbers with six catches for 124 yards. He didn’t score, but he showed the deep threat ability, and the Colts made an obvious effort to get him involved in the game early and they didn’t go away from him. Hilton is more than capable of putting up huge numbers each and every week. While the loss is never good, you always have to look for bright spots, and this performance from Hilton certainly is one.

Reggie Wayne put up another solid game with five catches for 46 yards, and was old reliable like always. The Dolphins had an obvious gameplan to steer the ball away from Wayne, and it worked for the most part, but he was able to make some plays, especially with beautifully run routes, and caught some big passes early on in the game. Down the stretch he was able to open up the passing game by drawing the attention of the defense as well.

Coby Fleener started at tight end due to the hip injury that forced Dwayne Allen out of the game. He was able to put up a big game as well, catching four passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. There was another pass that appeared was going to be a touchdown to Fleener, but it ended up being wiped away. Fleener showed great route running skills and much better hands than he’s shown so far this year. If he’s able to repeat this kind of performance throughout the remainder of the year, he’s going to be a major piece in the Colts’ passing attack.

Griff Whalen made his presence known with two catches for 28 yards, and had a big third-down gain of 14 yards that converted a huge first down. He’s a very talented #4 wide receiver that may need to step up even more depending on how sever the injury to Heyward-Bey is. Heyward-Bey did contribute two catches for 10 yards before he was forced to leave due to injury. Dominique Jones caught a pass for 13 yards, and Stanley Havili caught two passes for 12 yards as well.

Overall, this game was a step up from their Week 1 performance against the Raiders. It’s a tough loss to swallow for Colts fans, but even in this article alone there are some bright spots to take heart on. Assuming the Colts are able to continue improving their aerial attack, the Colts are going to be a very tough team for defenses to stop.

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