Keeping the Mo Going- Scouting the Colts

[Bobhaze]

Huge win yesterday. From the brink of elimination 6 weeks ago to the brink of clinching the NFC East, the Cowboys are in the drivers seat. But they need to keep this momentum going with the Colts to not only lock in the division, but also continue peaking at the right time.

Here’s a quick scouting report on a surprisingly tough Colts team that I watched break the 9 game winning streak of the Texans yesterday in Houston. They have now won 6 of their last 7. Their offense was very impressive. It’s going to be a tough game next week in Indy against a hot team. And at 7-6, they are still desperately fighting to make the playoffs.

Here’s what I saw watching the Colts against the Texans:

OFFENSE

1. Andrew Luck is almost back to his pre-injury form. He threw for 400 yds and 2 TDs against a pretty decent Hou Defense. Luck doesn’t have a great OL, but he is nimble in the pocket. He escapes the rush pretty well and can even scramble for a first if needed. The salty Texan pass rush got two sacks, but they should have had more. He’s the second best QB we’ve seen this year behind only Brees.
2. Passing game looked great. TY Hilton #13, shredded the Hou secondary. Very underrated receiver. Great escape moves off press coverage. Hilton had 193 yds last Sunday. Besides Hilton’s 9 catches, Luck spread his other 19 completions between 7 receivers.
3. Running game looked average. Their feature back is Marlon Mack, #25. He’s pretty big so more power than speed. Had about 35 yards, so not much of a factor. Luck can scramble for some yards but otherwise, not much of a running game.

DEFENSE

1. Very aggressive in passing situations. I watched all but the early first qtr, and I counted 9 times the Colts blitzed. They had a lot of blitzes using corners, so they’re not afraid to take chances.
2. They have a decent pass rush, sacking Deshaun Watson 6 times.
3. Their front seven looked pretty good against the run, holding Hou to about 90 yards rushing. Both DEs were good-#90 and #93. Good against the run and with pass rush pressure.
4. Overall, their defense looked good, but not great. They got away with some risky blitzes when Watson missed some wide open receivers.

KEYS TO A COWBOYS WIN IN INDY

1. Pressure Luck. If he has time, he’s deadly accurate. We will probably need to blitz him some too to get him to throw early.
2. Limit TY Hilton- he is by far their best weapon. He reminds me some of Andre Hopkins, just a little smaller but still fast and capable. He needs lots of attention- perhaps some double coverage at times.
3. Surprise! TOP will once again be huge. If we can hang onto the ball for long stretches, obviously it will reduce the chances of Luck getting his rhythm.
4. It will be loud in that dome, so Dak checking out of plays at the LOS will be more difficult. Linehan needs to get the plays in quickly!!!
5. Don’t get in a shootout with Andrew Luck. If he gets into a rhythm, he’s extremely accurate.

IMO, we’re going to need to score at least 25-30 to win. The Colts average 27 pts a game overall, and at home they avg 31 ppg at home. They are probably the second best offense we will face this regular season.

After a 1-5 start, the Colts are 6-1 and need this game more than we do. Which means we are going to need to be prepared for their best shot and be prepared to throw a good counter punch back at them to win next week.

No letting up!

 

[jazzcat22]

I watched a good amount of that game. Colts are playing pretty well right now. But laid that egg in Jacksonville. I hope we get that team.

But that was a rival game, both of them, such as ours was yesterday. So no telling which team we get, or we may go in and lay an egg.

I think it will be a good game.

 

[Bobhaze]

I watched a good amount of that game. Colts are playing pretty well right now. But laid that egg in Jacksonville. I hope we get that team.

But that was a rival game, both of them, such as ours was yesterday. So no telling which team we get, or we may go in and lay an egg.

I think it will be a good game.

Me too. Should be interesting to see how our OL is with the probability of no Zack Martin.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

The Colts drafted extremely well this year. They probably had the best draft the NFL. Drafting Nelson and Smith really fortified their offensive line and I think it's the best one Luck has had in his entire career.

I think this game is going to come down to running the ball. Dak was able to get lucky last night by taking 50+ attempts and still getting the W. Don't look for that to happen again moving forward.

 

[Bobhaze]

The Colts drafted extremely well this year. They probably had the best draft the NFL. Drafting Nelson and Smith really fortified their offensive line and I think it's the best one Luck has had in his entire career.

I think this game is going to come down to running the ball. Dak was able to get lucky last night by taking 50+ attempts and still getting the W. Don't look for that to happen again moving forward.

This young colts team is underrated. They lost some close games early in the season and Andrew Luck is almost back to his form a few years ago before his shoulder injury. Gonna be a tough game Sunday.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

This young colts team is underrated. They lost some close games early in the season and Andrew Luck is almost back to his form a few years ago before his shoulder injury. Gonna be a tough game Sunday.

Agreed, but as I noted yesterday- we beat the Eagles and then the Colts in succession to clinch the NFC East in 2014.

Wouldn't it be great if history repeated itself?

 

[Clove]

Our formula works against all teams. Slow the game down, long drives, get after the QB, limit penalties and turnovers, we win.

 

[conner01]

I watched a good amount of that game. Colts are playing pretty well right now. But laid that egg in Jacksonville. I hope we get that team.

But that was a rival game, both of them, such as ours was yesterday. So no telling which team we get, or we may go in and lay an egg.

I think it will be a good game.

Luck is great at climbing up in the pocket
Middle rush stops that
If we can continue this trend of 50% 3rd down conversions luck will be watching a lot
Hilton is a beast and super fast. Got to limit him deep because luck can throw a mile
Need to work on hot reads this week because they will blitz like crazy
Got to get rid of it quick

 

[Sarge]

Colts a sneaky underrated team.

 

[pugilist]

Matt Eberflus about to hand over the Linehan playbook page for page

 

[ClappingCarrot]

I went to middle school with a Colts DT/DE back in the day. Back then, he was in special education classes only, even though his only disability was that he was dumb as rocks. It was super weird when I noticed he was a starting NFL defensive lineman.

 

[tomsanders921]

Huge win yesterday. From the brink of elimination 6 weeks ago to the brink of clinching the NFC East, the Cowboys are in the drivers seat. But they need to keep this momentum going with the Colts to not only lock in the division, but also continue peaking at the right time.

Here’s a quick scouting report on a surprisingly tough Colts team that I watched break the 9 game winning streak of the Texans yesterday in Houston. They have now won 6 of their last 7. Their offense was very impressive. It’s going to be a tough game next week in Indy against a hot team. And at 7-6, they are still desperately fighting to make the playoffs.

Here’s what I saw watching the Colts against the Texans:

OFFENSE

1. Andrew Luck is almost back to his pre-injury form. He threw for 400 yds and 2 TDs against a pretty decent Hou Defense. Luck doesn’t have a great OL, but he is nimble in the pocket. He escapes the rush pretty well and can even scramble for a first if needed. The salty Texan pass rush got two sacks, but they should have had more. He’s the second best QB we’ve seen this year behind only Brees.
2. Passing game looked great. TY Hilton #13, shredded the Hou secondary. Very underrated receiver. Great escape moves off press coverage. Hilton had 193 yds last Sunday. Besides Hilton’s 9 catches, Luck spread his other 19 completions between 7 receivers.
3. Running game looked average. Their feature back is Marlon Mack, #25. He’s pretty big so more power than speed. Had about 35 yards, so not much of a factor. Luck can scramble for some yards but otherwise, not much of a running game.

DEFENSE

1. Very aggressive in passing situations. I watched all but the early first qtr, and I counted 9 times the Colts blitzed. They had a lot of blitzes using corners, so they’re not afraid to take chances.
2. They have a decent pass rush, sacking Deshaun Watson 6 times.
3. Their front seven looked pretty good against the run, holding Hou to about 90 yards rushing. Both DEs were good-#90 and #93. Good against the run and with pass rush pressure.
4. Overall, their defense looked good, but not great. They got away with some risky blitzes when Watson missed some wide open receivers.

KEYS TO A COWBOYS WIN IN INDY

1. Pressure Luck. If he has time, he’s deadly accurate. We will probably need to blitz him some too to get him to throw early.
2. Limit TY Hilton- he is by far their best weapon. He reminds me some of Andre Hopkins, just a little smaller but still fast and capable. He needs lots of attention- perhaps some double coverage at times.
3. Surprise! TOP will once again be huge. If we can hang onto the ball for long stretches, obviously it will reduce the chances of Luck getting his rhythm.
4. It will be loud in that dome, so Dak checking out of plays at the LOS will be more difficult. Linehan needs to get the plays in quickly!!!
5. Don’t get in a shootout with Andrew Luck. If he gets into a rhythm, he’s extremely accurate.

IMO, we’re going to need to score at least 25-30 to win. The Colts average 27 pts a game overall, and at home they avg 31 ppg at home. They are probably the second best offense we will face this regular season.

After a 1-5 start, the Colts are 6-1 and need this game more than we do. Which means we are going to need to be prepared for their best shot and be prepared to throw a good counter punch back at them to win next week.

No letting up!

Colts are a good team at times. They have pulled a few out late after struggling throughout. The defense is fast and the oline is great. Luck went about 4 games without taking a sack and he is a guy who sometimes likes to hold onto the ball too long trying to make a play.

They don't have much of a running game, but TY Hilton and ebron are forces in the passing game.

I wouldn't be surprised if we lost this game. We are really banged up and don't need it nearly as bad as the colts . They are pretty much in elimination mode right now with a loss.

I just want to come out without any injuries and also see this offense continue to improve and show more consistency throughout the game.

 

[DogFace]

Matt Eberflus about to hand over the Linehan playbook page for page

Doesn’t everyone already have it?

 

[DCreppinBoysfan]

The Colts drafted extremely well this year. They probably had the best draft the NFL. Drafting Nelson and Smith really fortified their offensive line and I think it's the best one Luck has had in his entire career.

I think this game is going to come down to running the ball. Dak was able to get lucky last night by taking 50+ attempts and still getting the W. Don't look for that to happen again moving forward.

If dak can complete 70% of his passes again, should we mind him passing the ball 40+times?

 

[CF74]

Everybody wants to rest Zeke but this isn’t the time to do it, we need to keep riding that horse. He can rest the final game of the season when we have nothing to play for. Feed The Zeken!!!

 

[atlantacowboy]

If dak can complete 70% of his passes again, should we mind him passing the ball 40+times?

Depends on how many of those passes he completes to the other team. If he turns the ball over 3 times again, its unlikley we are going to win. This is a better team than Philly with a better QB.

 

[Jake]

I watched a good amount of that game. Colts are playing pretty well right now. But laid that egg in Jacksonville. I hope we get that team.

But that was a rival game, both of them, such as ours was yesterday. So no telling which team we get, or we may go in and lay an egg.

I think it will be a good game.

They've won 6 of their last 7 and 4 straight at home. I don't think they'll lay an egg in their dome. 100+ yards in penalties and a negative turnover margin this week would likely spell doom for Dallas. They're still very much alive in the AFC playoff race.

Need to clean it up, keep their offense off the field, then get after Luck.

 

[Bobhaze]

Our formula works against all teams. Slow the game down, long drives, get after the QB, limit penalties and turnovers, we win.

Yeah it’s a great game plan for this team, but the TO trend must stop. It’s almost miraculous that we won the last two games despite losing the turnover battle 5-2. That’s usually an absolute formula for a loss. It’s also a testament to how good our defense has been.

If we can get back to no turnovers in a game, this team will be an incredibly tough out in the playoffs.

 

[DCreppinBoysfan]

Depends on how many of those passes he completes to the other team. If he turns the ball over 3 times again, its unlikley we are going to win. This is a better team than Philly with a better QB.

But Philly beat the Colts...

 

[Romo_To_Dez]

Would be the 2nd best team on left on the schedule (behind the Saints). So, it's would be an ever better sign of where this team is if they can pull off a victory going into the playoffs.