Grades: Week 17 vs Jags

[Superman]

 

Just a weird note: We ran 70 plays, gained 379 yards and had 23 first downs, 17 passing. The Jags ran 70 plays, had 350 yards and 19 first downs, 17 passing. Similar results, right? Except the score was 30-10. Perfect example of why people should stop referring to yardage stats when ranking offenses and defenses. Yardage can be absolutely meaningless.

 

Week 16 grades

Week 17 box score

 

Offense, B-: 70 plays, 379 yards, 23 first downs (17 passing,  4 rushing, 2 from penalty), 8/16 on third down, 3/5 in the red zone, 0 turnovers, 30 points; jumped out to a big lead, even leaving some points on the bench, but put the game away right from the start

 

QB: Another strong game. Not a terribly fearsome opponent, but Luck was even and measured, tested the secondary a few times but mostly took safe throws, and was accurate on those throws. Had good time from the line, and put the ball right where it needed to be. Forced it a couple times when he had open receivers elsewhere. Chose not to run with the ball very much, as the Jags were right in position whenever he'd break out of the pocket. Solid game, did just what we needed him to. Very similar to last week's performance. I'm convinced Luck has the best hard count in the league. B

 

Backs / receivers / tight ends, B-: 

Running game: The running game was good situationally, but overall didn't do much. Not a lot of room to operate, and some missed holes by Brown and Richardson. But when the time came to get yards on the ground, we were able to punch it through. Slow to get outside on the off tackle runs, and didn't do much to fight off tacklers. Have to do better against playoff competition. C, a small step back from the last two weeks

 

Passing game: Balanced and effective performance all the way through, continually getting separation, making big catches and picking up first downs. There was a little bit of everyone in this game, plus a lot of Hilton, which is nice. He set some career highs, after a long stretch of shrug-worthy production. Still some missed opportunities downfield, but it's important to keep going deep, so long as the receivers don't give up and let the ball get picked off (which Hilton deserves extra credit for on the nearly picked bomb.) The TD to Whalen was a really nice play against the Jags red zone zone defense. The potential for an explosion exists with these guys, and that's great, because a month and a half ago, we wondered if anyone could make a play. Now everyone seems to be doing their part. B

 

OL / blocking: Really good job in pass protection. For most of the game, Luck was comfortable, and had time to wait for receivers to come open. There were a few pressures, but defenses get pressure. For the most part, their pressures had no impact on the game. Backs picked up some blocks as well. Against the run, it was a different story. Not much push, allowed a lot of penetration on edge runs, and was generally sloppy. The situational carries were strong, on the goalline and in short yardage. Richardson's TD run was blocked very well. C+, need more consistency in the run game

 

Defense, A-: 70 plays, 350 yards, 19 first downs (17 passing, 2 rushing, 0 from penalty), 3/14 on third down, 3/5 on fourth down, 1/2 in the red zone, 2 turnovers, 10 points; most of the yards and the TD came in garbage time

 

Defensive front: Started out strong against the run, and stayed that way. No room for MJD to do anything, aside from a couple of 5 or 6 yarders, and the backup didn't do anything either. Shut down the outside and stayed strong up the middle. Virtually no mistakes, despite some less than stellar tackling at times. In two games, MJD gained a total of 62 yards rushing, and never got near the end zone. The pass rush did their job, but kind of piece by piece. It was good enough, but the pressure wasn't consistent. Not a lot of penetration, and the Jags didn't really want to let Mathis make noise, though he still did with several hits and a couple more sacks (I think he should get a half sack on Freeman's). And the pass rush influenced the sloppy throw, although Henne let the ball slip out. The front was rock solid all game. A-, just need more action on the QB

 

Pass defense: Stayed tight on receivers, not giving very much room to get passes in. The ones that were caught, we took the receiver down right away for the most part. Linebackers did a good job, and Darius Butler was again causing trouble for the opponent. A couple of mistakes as the game went on, but mostly the reserves. I said above that the yardage doesn't really tell the story, and this is a perfect example. Gave up 330 yards, but I thought the pass defense was nearly flawless when it mattered. And aside from the final drive, the young guys did a good job as well. A, hopefully Davis is okay

 
Special teams: Demerit for McAfee kicking the ball out of bounds, and for Brazill doing his David Reed impression and bringing the ball out from the back of the end zone, but not getting to the 15 yard line. Did a good job otherwise. B+

Coaching / playcalling, A-:

Defense was excellent. Gameplan was excellent, and worked brilliantly. A

 

I spent a month and a half begging for more traps and draws, and now I think we're using them a little too much. They were mostly ineffective in this game. But the tempo of the offense was great, we've unleashed Luck and are allowing him to do his thing, and he's responding well. Got a little pass happy for a bit. We can do a better job in scoring situations; we probably should have had 30+ before halftime. Still, this offense has come a long way from the first half of the Bengals game to now. B+

 

I like the fourth down decisions. Maybe had chances for a couple more, but the game was well in pocket. No need for timeouts. Overall, the adjustments that have been made in the last month have been excellent, and my concerns that were developing about Pagano are less bothersome (though some of them still exist.) None of that mattered in this game, though. Good job. A

 

Game balls:

 

TY Hilton, despite being focused on, set career highs in yards and receptions, and finished the year with 80+ catches and 1,000+ yards. Congrats, young man. Make it happen next week.

 

Robert Mathis, as the sole pass rush threat on this team, tallied 2 sacks and another three or four pressures. And that sums up the entire season for him, as he's been the prime focus of the other teams' offense and has still terrorized quarterbacks relentlessly. Robert Mathis is THE MAN.

 

Playoffs, everybody! Hosting the Chiefs on a short week. Should be a very different kind of game than what we saw last week in KC. They'll be healthy and well rested, and will bring their best effort. I'm looking forward to it.

 

GO COLTS!!!