3 Good, 3 Bad in Colts’ Victory Against Titans

| December 4, 2023 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The Tennessee Titans were defeated in overtime by the Indianapolis Colts, who rose to the occasion when it mattered most.

The Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans had a spectacular gridiron duel on Sunday afternoon at Nissan Stadium. The Colts won 31-28 thanks to a game-winning score in overtime.

Let’s talk about the positive and negative aspects of a big win for Shane Steichen’s team as they approach a postseason berth after winning four straight games.

The Good: Special Teams

Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse felt the presence of safety Nick Cross and cornerback Tony Brown against the team in Week 13.

The first was a punt that Cross blocked, which Grant Stuard recovered and returned for a defensive touchdown. Cross just made the play with his athleticism, which gave Indianapolis the upper hand.

Stonehouse found the second to be graphic. On the play, Brown was sprung by special teams coordinator Brian Mason to come off the outside gunner just as the ball was about to snap. Swiftly approaching Stonehouse, Brown would fling the ball free, causing a turnover. Segun Olubi would come back and almost get a point.

As a result of Brown’s impact with the football and the punt, Stonehouse sustained a leg injury. Later on, he would be carried off to be assessed.

This game demonstrated why special teams are so important to Steichen, who is a devoted fan of the Colts.

The Bad: Gardner Minshew’s Turnovers/Inaccuracies

In the end, Gardner Minshew has led the Colts to four victories in a row while starting at quarterback through 12 games. They also have a chance to make the playoffs, something no one anticipated. These victories, meanwhile, were probably the result of a strong team effort rather just Minshew.

Although Minshew hit a spectacular touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr. to win the game, he made a number of poor throws and missed tackles with receivers in wide range.

Minshew completed 26 out of 42 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns on the day with no interceptions. But just before halftime, he lost an expensive fumble inside the 10-yard line, and in a close game, Indianapolis was unable to capitalize on the drive. But Indianapolis would come back and close the first half with four points thanks to a field goal from Matt Gay.

Additionally, Minshew made poor passes to open receivers. Pittman was missed occasionally, but most notably when Minshew misthrew wide receiver Alec Pierce when he was wide open for a potential second touchdown.

Although Minshew is probably the finest backup quarterback in the NFL, he occasionally behaves recklessly with the ball and lacks accuracy when receivers are open. He will want to improve this in order to stay in the postseason hunt.

The Good: Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce

Minshew completed the day with 312 passing yards, 205 of which came from Pittman and Pierce combined.

Pittman was outstanding once more, catching 11 passes for 105 yards and the winning touchdown on 16 targets. With three catches for 100 yards at an explosive average of 33.3 yards, Pierce obliterated Tennessee’s defense.

Pittman is playing at such a fast pace this season, but Pierce’s performance was exactly what the Colts coaches had been waiting for. Steichen’s system may have needed Pierce to develop this particular game because he was frequently open and destroying Titans defenders for deep ball chances.

The Bad: Allowing Big Pass Plays

The Colts kept rookie Titans QB Will Levis uncomfortable, getting another 6 sacks and forcing him to be below 50% completion (16-of-33 passes). However, due to the heavy ground game, the Colts had to put a lot of defensive emphasis on containing Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears.

DeAndre Hopkins (27), tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo (39), and receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (28) all had plays of 20 or more yards on passes from Levis.

Even though the Colts ultimately prevailed, they still need to limit big plays like this one. Grover Stewart, a defensive tackle, is expected back next week and is expected to be a huge asset to the run defense, which sorely missed him in this game against the Titans.

The Good: Samson Ebukam/Kwity Paye

Rewinding to the six sacks the Colts recorded against Levis, defensive ends Samson Ebukam and Kwity Paye were responsible for four of them.

Ebukam has now had two games in a row with 2.0 or more sacks, continuing a horrific run. With an 8.0 year total, he leads the team.

Paye blossomed and got back to his pre-season level, snatching 2.0 of his sacks in the Colts’ Week 12 victory over the Tampa Bay Bucs. He has 7.5 sacks so far this year.

With nothing but important games for the rest of 2023, this defensive front will look to continue being dominant in the pass rush.

The Bad: Containing the Ground Game

Referring back to earlier articles, Tim Kelly, the offensive coordinator for the Titans, applied a relentless attitude to the ground game, which is why large throw plays were allowed.

Below are the metrics on the day from Henry and Spears:

● Derrick Henry: 21 carries, 102 yards (4.9 avg), 2 TDs

● Tyjae Spears: 16 carries, 75 yards (4.7 avg)

With a concussion, Henry had to leave the game early; Spears took over and seemed to not miss a beat.

Stewart’s absence from the interior is partly to blame for this, but many of these runs were to the edges, giving Henry and Spears the opportunity to outpace defenders and take on the secondary one-on-one in tackles.

If Indianapolis wants to be serious about making the playoffs, this has to get better, and Stewart will be a big help in getting the run defense back on track.

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