 |
Not since the aboriginal two games played under the roof at Lucas Oil Stadium at the alpha of the 2008 division had the Colts lost two after home games - until bygone. Not alone did the Colts lose after home games for the aboriginal time in over two years, they also absent their grip on first abode in the AFC South, falling a bold and a half behind the first place Jaguars. Thursday night’s bold in Tennessee has now become an complete must win for an Indianapolis aggregation unfamiliar with late division affliction. But while the Colts prepare to yield on the Titans, let’s take a look aback at Sunday's disaster and hand out some grades. Today, I examine the offense and defense.
Offense. They may have scored 28 points, but this was not a performance the Colts offense will want to bethink. Peyton Manning already afresh struggled to get on the aforementioned page as his inexperienced receivers and threw the game abroad,Darren McFadden Jersey, casting four passes into the hands of the defense, two of which were alternate for touchdowns. The only receiver Manning seemed to connect with was Reggie Wayne and he did so 14 times for 200 yards and a score.
Complicating affairs is the Colts artlessly cannot run the brawl — not even a little bit. Compiling 40 yards on a 2.4 yard boilerplate artlessly isn’t going to cut it and with so abundant of what Manning does predicated on play action, not getting able to gain even a few yards on the ground is crippling this offense. They charge Joseph Addai back badly, and they also have to be acutely disappointed with above first-round draft aces Donald Brown, who has utterly failed to live up to his draft cachet. But even more black has been the play of their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback. Manning isn’t artlessly throwing picks, he’s making horrible decisions and that has to be a major concern not only for the rest of this season, but for the next few years,Clay Matthews Jersey, especially with a very ample arrangement that will be signed this offseason. It’s too early to beachcomber Manning’s white flag, but these endure few games certainly accept raised a few red ones. Grade: C
Defense. Considering the lot they were dealt by a shoddy performance from their quarterback,Wholesale MLB Jerseys, the Colts defense in fact played pretty well. They held the Cowboys to two touchdowns and four acreage goal attempts on offense, and if it weren’t for a ridiculous appropriate teams snafu by Eric Foster, it would have been one touchdown and five kick attempts. The Colts defense isn’t a shut-down assemblage by any means — they’re not declared to be. They are expected to do absolutely what they did: accumulate the other team out of the end zone as much as accessible and accord Manning the best adventitious to accomplish. They did absolutely that. Unfortunately, Manning didn’t authority up his end of the arrangement.
Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis anniversary had a sack and did their part in putting pressure on Jon Kitna. The canyon defense was appropriate for a lot of of the afternoon, but giving up a 53% third-down amount is absolutely not something to be proud of. But the Cowboys passing attack that had been accepting drive in the previous weeks was captivated to only 167 yards,James Harrison Jersey, with no receiver gaining over 47. The passing game wasn’t what had the Colts flabbergasted; the run game ran rampant, the Colts helpless to stop it.
The Cowboys ran for 217 yards, gashing the Colts up the middle and around both ends. Tashard Choice and Felix Jones had their way with the Colts defense, carving them up like a Christmas ham. But I’m appealing abiding they can live with those two guys getting their yards. What is absolutely unacceptable is acceptance a 38-year-old,Brandon Marshall Jersey, slow-as-molasses quarterback like Kitna to bust off a 28-yard clutter for a first down as the defense looked completely baffled. Stopping the run continues to be a problem for these Colts. With the Jaguars calmly in first, they’ll need to acquisition a way to stop it before Maurice Jones-Drew and Jacksonville run away with the Colts playoff hopes. Grade: B
Follow Blog Blitz on Facebook and accompany the chat.
-- BRANDON KOPCEUCH
NFL Blog Blitz powered by SportsFanLive.com
