had to do in
order to get themselves a playoff berth.
Win
T.Y. Hilton
Jersey , and move on to the Wild Card round in Houston. Lose, on the other
hand, and their season is over right then and there.The Colts came out hot,
dominating time of possession, and put up touchdowns on their first two drives
of the game of 12, and 16 plays respectively. But, the Colts soon made their
evening a lot harder than it had to be with a couple of terrible turnovers.In
the end, the Colts were able to right the ship for the remainder of the game and
pulled off a 33-17 victory to send themselves into the playoffs for the first
time since the 2014 season. The Colts will head to Houston to take on the Texans
in the Wild Card round of the playoffs next week. Here are a few takeaways from
the Colts big victory on Sunday night football. Colts¡¯ turnovers/senseless
penalties cannot continue into the postseasonThis is no surprise to anyone who
understands how important ball control is in the postseason. To this point, they
haven¡¯t really been an issue, but in a game that isn¡¯t against the Tennessee
Titans it very well could have meant the difference in the end result.Midway
through the second quarter ¡ª just after the Colts decimated the Titans¡¯ defense
for two long scoring drives ¡ª Andrew Luck and the Colts offense were backed up
against their own goal line. On the first snap, Luck held the ball forever, then
pumped twice before leaping while attempting to hit Dontrelle Inman outside the
numbers. Jayon Brown undercut the pass and went easily into the end zone to put
the Titans on the board and cutting the Colts¡¯ lead in half. On the Colts very
next possession, after the Colts recovered a muffed punt inside of the Titans¡¯
10-yard line, Marlon Mack had a touchdown called back, then fumbled the ball
away two plays later taking at least 3 more points off of the board for the
Colts.Both of these turnovers were killers. A pick-six as well as another
turnover in the red zone are not plays that you would consider to be ¡®winning
football¡¯ by any means. These two situations did appear to be out of the norm in
this game, but they¡¯re important for the coaching staff to address during the
week nevertheless.Additionally, the Colts committed 12 penalties for 96 yards,
causing two touchdowns to be called back and countless long-yardage situations
throughout the night. Mark Glowinski was flagged several times, and seemed to be
getting caught at the most inopportune times for the Colts¡¯ offense.Two costly
turnovers added to nearly 100 yards worth of penalties is not exactly a great
combination for a team that will have to go on the road in the Wild Card round
of the playoffs. These mistakes simply must be fixed.Darius Leonard takes
franchise single-season tackle record, breaks Jeff Herrod¡¯s 160-tackle season
from 1991Lost in the mix of watching a win-and-in game between these divisional
foes was the Colts¡¯ rookie stud linebacker Darius Leonard breaking the franchise
record for tackles in a single season. After once being seen as the ¡®worst pick¡¯
in the 2018 draft, the Colts¡¯ rookie second-round pick has taken everyone¡¯s
expectations and exceeded them all. Even if you were one of the few on the
Leonard train following his being drafted, your expectations could not have been
this high for the small-school ¡®Maniac.¡¯Leonard finished his rookie regular
season with 163 total tackles which led the Colts easily, but also the NFL.
Leonard was snubbed in the voting for the Pro Bowl, but he has to be the leader
for rookie defensive player of the year honors, and should even be in
consideration for defensive player of the year as well. Chris Ballard appears to
have hit the jackpot with Leonard, and just as he was overlooked by several
schools heading into college, he was again by analysts and other NFL teams even
after being drafted. He simply cannot be overlooked any
longer
Darius Leonard
Color Rush Jersey , and it¡¯ll be quite interesting to see what he can do
in the playoffs.Colts put together two of their better drives of the season to
start gameThe Colts hadn¡¯t started very quickly over the past few weeks. In
fact, the Colts had only amassed 14 first-quarter points ¡ª before tonight ¡ª
since Week 12. Tonight, the Colts got hot right away, and on their first two
drives looked about as good as anyone could have hoped.They were also shutting
down the Titans¡¯ offense ¡ª I use that term loosely ¡ª allowing only 8 total plays
through their first two drives. In their first two possessions, the Colts put
together 28 plays, 192 total yards (6.8 yards per play), used up nearly 17
minutes of the clock and was piloted by Andrew Luck who went 13-of-15 for 142
passing yards and 2 touchdowns in that span of the game.I don¡¯t know how
interesting it is, but through those two drives, the Colts ran only one play
that recorded negative yardage. 26 of those plays were for positive yardage and
just 1 for no gain. That¡¯s impressive offensive football, and the Colts needed
that after their slow starts as of late.Now, this level of offensive play wasn¡¯t
exactly consistent throughout the game, but it was a nice explosion to remind
Colts¡¯ fans, as well as the rest of the NFL and their fans how good Andrew Luck
and this offense can be when things are hitting on all cylinders.Other notesLuck
finishes second in NFL with 39 touchdown passesMarlon Mack hits 100-yard rushing
mark for fourth time this seasonColts allow less than 100 yards on the ground
for 9th time this seasonDontrelle Inman leads Colts in receiving yardage,
continues to be late-down target for LuckColts don¡¯t get a single hit on Blaine
Gabbert, but are never really threatened by his play INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ¡ª The
Indianapolis Colts will gladly play it safe with Andrew Luck.They¡¯d rather he be
healthy for training camp anyway.Just minutes after coach Frank Reich announced
Tuesday that his starting quarterback would sit out this week¡¯s three-day
minicamp ¡ª the final portion of Indy¡¯s offseason workouts ¡ª Luck promised he
would return to practice when the Colts report to camp in late July.¡°It¡¯s OK,
it¡¯s not good enough to practice this week, which I¡¯m bummed about,¡± Luck said,
describing the injury. ¡°But I think we¡¯re on a very, very good page and I¡¯ll be
ready for training camp.¡±The injury, suffered during training, has forced Luck
to miss the Colts¡¯ entire on-the-field program for the second offseason in three
years.But this was different.After missing the entire 2017 season to recover
from surgery on his throwing shoulder, he started throwing again last June
during the team¡¯s mandatory minicamp. His appearance raised even more questions
when it appeared he was throwing footballs smaller than the NFL¡¯s regulation
size.Team officials continued to be cautious with Luck at training camp when
they closely monitored the number of throws he made and gave him extra days off.
The prolonged recovery time prompted some skeptics to question whether Luck
could ever return to his Pro Bowl form.It didn¡¯t take long for Luck to prove the
doubters wrong. He produced arguably the best season of his pro career and was
rewarded with the NFL¡¯s Comeback Player of the Year award.This year, many
outsiders expect bigger and better things from Luck and his teammates, and Luck
sounds confident he can deliver despite the nagging injury.¡°I¡¯ve thrown
significantly, sort of off my foot to make sure I don¡¯t aggravate something, but
to keep my arm in
shape
https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Denzelle-Good-Jersey ,¡±
he said. ¡°It¡¯s a football, a pigskin Wilson Duke, with Roger Goodell¡¯s signature
on it.¡±Reich has continually insisted that Luck¡¯s absence was a cautionary
move.He has no serious concerns about Luck¡¯s health, and with seven seasons in
the league, two full offseasons to get acclimated to the system and most of last
season¡¯s key offensive contributors returning, Reich figures Luck¡¯s absence
should not hinder his play.¡°He has missed the on-field work but he has gotten so
much in the meetings,¡± Reich said. ¡°Second year in the system, talking through
things, he¡¯s been able to have even more input into the system this year,
putting his imprint on the system now knowing what we¡¯re doing, what he likes,
what he doesn¡¯t, and why he likes what he likes in our system.¡±Indy can¡¯t wait
to see how things play out in training camp. But the last month certainly has
presented some challenges, and not just because of Luck.Rookie center Javon
Patterson, a seventh-round draft pick, and defensive end Jegs Jegede, an
undrafted rookie from Valdosta State, landed on season-ending injured
reserve.Fourth-string quarterback Chad Kelly will miss the first two
regular-season games for violating the league¡¯s personal conduct policy. Backup
offensive tackle Antonio Garcia received a four-game suspension Monday for
violating the league policy on performance-enhancing substances.General manager
Chris Ballard explained last week why he drafted linebacker Bobby Okereke in the
third round, knowing Okereke had been accused of sexual assault in 2015.And
after re-signing 11 of the team¡¯s 20 free agents and adding receiver Devin
Funchess, running back Spencer Ware and pass rusher Justin Houston, Ballard
signed punter Rigoberto Sanchez to a contract extension last week, and long
snapper Luke Rhodes to an extension Tuesday.All that¡¯s missing now is
Luck.¡°Within the calf strain injury, I¡¯d say it¡¯s on the longer side. I don¡¯t
think it¡¯s out of the range of a calf strain but it¡¯s definitely on the longer
side,¡± Reich said. ¡°We¡¯re not concerned.¡±