3 things Colts must do to get above .500 against Buccaneers in Week 12

The Indianapolis Colts take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with hopes of extending their winning streak to three games for the first time this season.

Indianapolis Colts v New England Patriots
Indianapolis Colts v New England Patriots | Alex Grimm/GettyImages
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1. Contain Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on defense

There's no doubt that former Pro Bowl WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are Tampa Bay's best playmakers on offense. Statistically, they are Mayfield's favorite targets by a wide margin. However, first-year offensive coordinator Dave Canales hasn't always been able to maximize the usage of his star duo. Evans and Godwin are seeing a combined 15.7 targets per game this season, which is noticeably lower than the nearly 19 targets they were averaging last season. Just last week in San Francisco, the pairing was targeted only once in the entire first half.

Indianapolis will hope to continue this trend and, while the Colts' secondary hasn't been perfect, they have the personnel to do so. Between Jaylon Jones, JuJu Brents (if healthy), Kenny Moore II, Julian Blackmon, and Rodney Thomas II, Indianapolis has enough talent to prevent Evans and Godwin from taking over this game. That last part is critical as at least one of Evans or Godwin went over 100 receiving yards in three of Tampa Bay's four wins. In other words, when those two are playing well, team success usually follows.

If the Colts can at least slow down the Evans/Godwin one-two punch, Canales will be forced to rely on various good-but-not-great pass-catchers — think Cade Otton or Trey Palmer — or the Bucs' league-worst running game. That would certainly be a winning formula for Indianapolis.

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