The Colts playoff hopes live to survive another week as they defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 23-20 at home. Subsequently, the Jaguars and the Texans won big on Sunday, which will make week 18 a do-or-die situation for all three teams. while we’ll get to week 18 in another article, it does need to be noted that this week 17 win was crucial for the Colts as 1). it kept their playoff destiny in their hands and 2). they still have a shot at a division title.
Leading up to Sunday’s matchup, there were two looming concerns going for the Colts – Inconsistency running the football and a lack of defensive efficiency that didn’t rely on sacks/turnovers. On Sunday, both of those concerns were put to right as the Colts were efficient defensively and managed to run the football consistently to set up the pass down the field. Let’s look at both of those elements and break down how Indy managed to come out on top.
The Running Game Paved the Way
Without Zack Moss for the second straight Sunday, the Colts ran the football with Jonathan Taylor and Trey Sermon. Both backs were very productive but it was Taylor who had a fantastic day rushing 21 times for 96 yards and 1 TD. Trey Sermon finished the day rushing 5 times for 32 yards (6.4 average).
All around, the running attack is what really set the offense up for success in terms of setting up play action and providing opportunities to throw down the field.
Since day one, the philosophy of head coach Shane Steichen has been – “we’re gonna throw to score points… and we’re gonna run to win”. The Colts certainly accomplished that on Sunday coupled with a solid day for the defense.
The Defense Did Enough
The current recipe for the Colts defensive success has been disruption. The two key elements that contribute to this disruption are sacks and turnovers. On Sunday, the Colts did not force a single turnover (and the offense did not have any turnovers either) and only managed 2 sacks that came in the first half.
Just going by the numbers, the Colts defense was on the field for 21 more plays than the Raiders defense, they gave up 5.0 yards per play, 19 passing first downs, and allowed 2 TDs on 3 red zone trips. The main thing, though, with these lackluster statistics is that the Colts only gave up 20 points, 17 of which came in the second half and 7 of which came on a 4th & goal 50/50 ball to Davante Adams.
The big element of praise for this defense is that they were able to play relatively lights out without needing sacks and turnovers. It should also be noted that veteran CB Kenny Moore II was out with a back injury, so rookies Jaylon Jones and Juju Brents were having to shoulder the load with outside contain. For much of the game, the two managed to do enough and not give up many big down the field plays, but there were several holes for Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell to pick a part the zone defense.
Towards the end of the game, when Las Vegas was trying to throw to stay alive, O’Connell did manage to find Davante Adams on several occasions. Adams would end the day putting up huge fantasy numbers – 13 rec, 126 yds, 2 TDs. Both TD passes to Adams came with Jaylon Jones in coverage and on a couple of Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers’ catches, it seemed like the defense on the outside was just out of the position.
This is not to bring to light the negatives from the secondary as they did make many good plays on Sunday in terms of playing well with tight coverage and constantly making it tough for LA’s receivers.
Per a report in regards to Kenny Moore’s injury, there is hope that he will be ready to go for Saturday’s crucial matchup against the Texans. While this young secondary managed to do enough against the Raiders, the Texans are a whole different level of talent and the Colts will need all hands on deck in order to stop their passing attack.
The Final Down
The offense did enough and the defense did enough to seal the win. There were times where the Colts went a little one-dimensional and had two straight 3-and-outs, but overall the offense was efficient enough. The defense, as mentioned, was also efficient enough as even though the corners got outmatched and bent, they never broke. This defense also proved that they can be a horse power defense that does not need to rely on sacks and turnovers.
The Colts will face the Houston Texans on Saturday night @ 8:15pm on ESPN.
The Lucky Colt 
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