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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- They have a decent pass rush, sacking Deshaun Watson 6 times.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!!!
- 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!
By your numbers, I'd take a 'decent' defense all day!!!
