Colts Recap: Week 10

[Andy]

**Forgot to post this**

Indianapolis Colts 27 vs Jacksonville Jaguars 10

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

FG A.Vinatieri 31 yd. Field Goal (7-44, 3:31)

2nd Quarter

TD A.Luck 5 yd. run (A.Vinatieri kick) (8-66, 4:30)

TD A.Luck 1 yd. run (A.Vinatieri kick) (7-61, 3:43)

FG J.Scobee 40 yd. Field Goal (9-47, 1:31)

3rd Quarter

TD D.Butler 11 yd. interception return (A.Vinatieri kick)

4th Quarter

TD C.Shorts 4 yd. pass from C.Henne (J.Scobee kick) (14-81, 5:36)

FG A.Vinatieri 41 yd. Field Goal (9-57, 5:53)

What the Colts did Right

The Colts did a lot of things right and they got a lot of very good performances.

Andrew Luck had a very good game. He showed a lot of poise and calmness when faced with pressure or tough decisions. His awareness was outstanding, and he stepped up in the pocket and zinged it at least 10 times this game. The accuracy was there.

The running game had its moments. Vick Ballard had some very good runs, and Brown had a couple too. They had a total of 138 yards (4 yards per carry) and 2 first downs on the ground. The run blocking was pretty solid, as there weren't many broken plays.

Reggie Wayne had another oustanding game. He had 8 catches (on 11 targets) for 96 yards. He made great catch after great catch, and his route running was better than ever in this game. Donnie Avery had a pretty good game too. Although his route running was very sloppy, he made an extremely nice 44 yard catch.

The O-line had a pretty good game. Anthony Castonzo and AQ Shipley had great games. Castonzo didn't allow a sack or even a hurry. Shipley keeps on impressing. One could make the case that he's performing better than Satele this year. Joe Reitz had a not bad game.

The play calling and game management was very good on offense. They held the ball for 11 more minutes than the Jags, which is a big advantage. They also maintained a very balanced offense and didn't use Andrew Luck often. It's good to see that he threw only 26 times. 40+ times is really pushing it.

Now, the defense.

The best performance came from Darius Butler. He had 2 interceptions, and shut down the receiver accross from him (whether it be Shorts, or the guy he faced for most of the game, Justin Blackmon). He made great reads, one that lead to an interception, and another that caused him to knockdown the ball.

Antoine Bethea had a very good performance. He looked very good in coverage, didn't miss a tackle, and had a nice sack on Gabbert, a play that took Gabbert out of the game. Jerry Hughes looked good too. He had a good battle with their right tackle all game, but got the better of him several times. He had a sack and several pressures.

What impressed me the most is how they shut down their running game. They allowed only 37 yards on the ground, and if you don't include a Gabbert scramble, it's 27 yards. That's oustanding. If you can take away the running game from a team that needs balance, you'll usually win.

The defensive play calling was pretty good throughout the game. They were aggressive with their blitzes and there were some times where Gabbert wasn't able to throw the ball due to the coverage being good. It seems that the Colts do better on defense when they are more aggressive.

Finally, on special teams, both coverage teams looked very good. It has all year. Adam Vinatieri also had a solid game where he made 2 40 yard field goals. The man's still got it.

What the Colts did Wrong

The Colts actually didn't do much wrong.

Although very solid overall, Luck did make a few mistakes that you wouldn't see from a lot of guys. He made a bad decision to throw the ball on that interception. He should have just taken the sack and not try to force anything there. He also forced a couple of throws; the one that stood out was the sideline to TY Hilton that was almost (and should been) intercepted. Just a few mistakes, but very good overall.

There were some drops, obviously not costly, but it's not exactly good to see. Luck threw a perfect pass to Avery on a deep pass, and it was in his hands, but he dropped it. Can't afford to lose big plays. Reggie Wayne had an uncharacteristic drop early in the game too. A few drops isn't the end of the world, but it's not good.

Tyson Alualu was a big problem for the Colts. You can't be letting mediocre defensive tackles getting by snap after snap. Within the first 7:30 of the game Alualu had recorded a hurry, tipped a pass that was dropped on third down, recorded a defensive stop in the running game and taken down Andrew Luck for a sack. That's Mike McGlynn's fault (Reitz is somewhat responsible too). Jeff Linkenbach, who was the starting right tackle, replacing the injured Winston Justice, had a pretty bad game. He seems to be a better guard than tackle.

On defense, Cassius Vaughn had another bad game. He had trouble stopping Cecil Shorts and Laurant Robinson. He needs to wake up or he'll be cut just like Justin King was.

During the game, there were some drives where the defense would just keep getting beat with the same plays. If you see that happening, you have to change things up. They didn't, and the Jags were able to score. Being able to adjust to what the game gives you is arguably the most important about coaching along with leadership.

Game Ball (New!)

Darius Butler gets the game ball after having a 2 interception performance and shutting down the receivers he went up against.

[Captain Americolt]

No love for Gordy? I thought he looked good out there. Solid coverage and tackling. Sweet sack on Gabbert too. Though alot of credit to Freeney for forcing Gabbert towards Gordy.

[Smonroe]

I think Gabbert deserves a game ball for missing wide open receivers.

Also, not sure I agree about Shipley, I thought he was okay but nothing special. You may be right, I'll have to rewatch.

Nice write up Andy.

[T Y Goodbye]

Good job as always Andy...Butler also recovered Laurent Robinson's fumble...so he had all 3 turnovers..and def deserves the game ball...'

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