Colts Must Force Jets to Rely on Passing Game Tonight
After getting manhandled by the Buffalo Bills defense last Sunday in a game in which Andrew Luck had one of the worst games of his professional career, the Colts now look to get things back in check Monday night when the New York Jets come to town.
Let’s all take it easy on the panic button for just a moment. Yes, the Colts fell behind last Sunday by as much as 24 points. Yes, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had one of the worst games of his career, but could it be that the Colts look to be in trouble this season or did Buffalo’s defense play just that good on Sunday?
It’s worth noting that Luck is 1-3 in week one match-ups in his young career (with that one win coming by four points at the hand of the Oakland Raiders in 2013).
It’s also worth noting that since last season, the Buffalo defense has given some of the league’s best signal-callers fits, holding both Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers to uncharacteristically low numbers.
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So we can all take a breath knowing two things: the Colts have a history of sluggish week one starts, and the Bills have a really, really good defensive unit.
The New York Jets come to Indianapolis Monday night as they try to build off of their 31-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. While the Colts will not have to worry about defending against a mobile quarterback as they did with Tyrod Taylor last week, but will have to worry about containing the run against Chris Ivory, whom had 91 yards on 20 carries with a pair of touchdowns against Cleveland last week.
The Colts held LeSean McCoy to 41 yards on 17 carries last week and will need to produce the same success against the run Monday, forcing Ryan Fitzpatrick to have to beat Indy through the air.
Luck and the Colts offense shouldn’t have too much of a problem with the Jet’s defensive line without Sheldon Richardson (who’s facing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy), but Luck will still have to keep an eye out for Darrelle Revis and possibly Cromartie, who is listed as questionable for the Monday night match up.
The Colts are gonna have to avoid any sort of slow starts Monday if they want to force the Jets to abandon the running game and throw the ball down the field some.
Not saying that the Colts defense will be unable to contain Ivory on Monday, because they did a good job for the most part against Buffalo last week, especially for a defensive line that features two rookies in David Parry and Henry Anderson, but I think I can speak for most Colts fans when I say that the Colts would much rather have Fitzpatrick throw the ball throughout the game.
Expect to see a much more energized and rejuvenated Colts team in this match-up, as they try to avoid an 0-2 start for the second consecutive season.
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