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4 Colts who must step up to beat Cardinals

By Jaleel Grandberry

Sep 26, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye (51) and tackle Al-Quadin Muhammad (97) ready for the start against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye (51) and tackle Al-Quadin Muhammad (97) ready for the start against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports /
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Colts, Eric Fisher
Eric Fisher #79 of the Indianapolis Colts reacts after a touchdown against the New England Patriots. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

The Indianapolis Colts have another huge primetime matchup this Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals.

After a huge victory in Week 15, the Indianapolis Colts are right back to work, hoping to do it again. Their next challenge is the 10-4 Arizona Cardinals, who they’ll play on Christmas night.

Arizona has been one of the best teams all year but has recently fallen on hard times. All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been sidelined with a knee injury and the Cardinals will enter this game on a two-game losing streak after an embarrassing loss to the Detroit Lions.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis is playing its best football. The defense is flying around making plays and the offense is running through everyone. Indy is peaking at the perfect time for the team to make a run.

Despite both teams trending in different directions, this still should be a competitive matchup. Arizona has been stumbling but it doesn’t take much for that team to turn it on. Indianapolis must prepare to face the best version of the Cardinals. If the elite Arizona shows up, Indy will need contributions from everyone, but 4 players, specifically, must step up for the Colts to beat the Cardinals.

Colts LT Eric Fisher must step up to beat Cardinals

The goal for the Indianapolis offense is to run the football and they’ve been really good at achieving that goal. A big reason why is left tackle Eric Fisher.

Fisher has been pretty good in the run game all year and on Saturday, he made a phenomenal block on the Jonathan Taylor touchdown run that sealed the game.

Where Fisher has struggled is in pass blocking, and that’s also where he’ll need to step up this week. His pass protection has been subpar for the majority of the year and Fisher will face arguably his greatest challenge of the season this coming Saturday.

He will be tasked with blocking Arizona’s defensive end, Chandler Jones. Throughout his career, Jones has demonstrated the ability to disrupt games with his pass rush. In the first game of the season, Jones recorded five sacks.

While Indianapolis will likely have a run-heavy game plan on Saturday, Fisher must be prepared for the inevitable passing plays or the event that Indy has to turn to the passing game. As fans saw in the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all it takes is one missed block for a strip-sack to occur and change the game.

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