This week, the Indianapolis Colts take on division rivals the Tennessee Titans. The thought coming into the season was that these two teams would be battling it out for AFC South supremacy. The reality now is they are now battling to stay out of the basement and catch Jacksonville. Anyone who placed a bet on this being the standings almost a quarter of the way into the season is a rich person.
So, what can fans expect to see in this week’s game? A lot of old-school football, with the two best running backs in the league. However, beyond the ground battle of Jonathan Taylor vs. Derrick Henry, there are three matchups to watch this week. Let’s take a look at the pivotal positional clashes in colts vs. Titans.
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Indianapolis Colts’ primary mission is to slow down Derrick Henry
General manager Chris Ballard has invested a lot of money and resources into the Colts’ defense. Over the last couple of years, fans are seeing the results. This week will pose a different test for them than last week. The Colts are built to excel in two areas; running the ball and stopping the run.
In this game, the defense will be tasked with stopping superstar Derrick Henry, who is doing his usual dominance thing. Being fed a lot of carries and running the ball. However, his yards per carry is down over one yard per game, 3.6, compared to his career, 4.8. This could be a sign that he’s starting to wear down.
In the offseason, Tennessee traded away their best and most explosive wide receiver in A.J. Brown. This puts even more pressure on Henry to carry the run game and for Ryan Tannehill to generate an acceptable pass offense. The Colts’ number one focus should be stopping Henry. From there the secondary will need to make sure they don’t give up any big plays.
Tennessee’s top two wide receivers are Robert Woods and rookie Treylon Burks. Stephon Gilmore should be able to negate either one of these guys. It will be up to Isaiah Rodgers, Brandon Facyson, and Kenny Moore to stop the other. This Colts defense should be able to handle this responsibility.
Colts’ offensive line needs to prove their worth
Maybe the one part of the football team that Ballard has invested the most money and capital in is the offensive line. Since 2020 with Philip Rivers as the QB this group has been on a decline in their play. Could it be that Rivers’ style made them appear better than what they actually are? Did the retirement of Anthony Castonzo hurt this group more than anyone expected? Or has the loss of Castonzo along with Chris Reed and Mark Glowinski been the biggest culprit?
Regardless of any of that, this year the biggest reason this unit has been struggling is because of a lack of communication. This is incredibly shocking considering you have a seven-year veteran center and a 15-year quarterback. You would think that these two guys can easily get on the same page. However, this has not been the case. And to a small degree, Jonathan Taylor has also been an issue.
Tennessee’s defensive line doesn’t offer the on-paper talent and athleticism as Jacksonville. Also, Tennessee’s defensive philosophy doesn’t offer the blitz-happy nature of Kansas City. Tennessee lost their best past rusher to injury for the season. This should help the Colts struggling offensive line to play better.
The two biggest players they need to worry about are Jeffery Simmons and former Colt Denico Autry. These two guys offer the main pass rush. It will be imperative that the offensive line communicates who will be blocking these two guys. Tennessee ranks 29th in rush defense while allowing 5.8-yards-per-carry and an average of 145-yards-per-game. This sets up well for Jonathan Taylor to have his best game.
Tennessee also ranks 24th in pass defense, with 256.3-yards-per-game and a 66% completion. This should help Matt Ryan get the passing game going for once. However, it all comes down to the offensive line blocking.
Alec Pierce parlays strong Week 3 into an even bigger Week 4
There has been a lot of pressure on Alec Pierce to succeed since the Colts drafted him in the second round. His first NFL game did not go how he wanted. He had a bad drop on a would-be touchdown. And then, subsequently, was knocked out of the game with a concussion, that forced him to miss Week 2.
In his first game back from the aforementioned concussion he had the best game of his young career. He caught three of five targets for 61-yards for an average of 20.3 yards per catch. He also could have had a touchdown if he had secured the catch on his last target. Unfortunately, it looked like he took his eye off the ball.
An encouraging sign is that he got a go route from Ryan that just missed. Pierce should, hopefully, continue to get those routes and will succeed more often than not. As previously mentioned, Tennessee’s pass defense has not been good as evidenced by their 11.6 yards-per-completion.
Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr should be able to pick up chunk yards via the air, which in turn will help open up some running lanes. Everything is set up to provide a breakout game for Pierce. If this comes to fruition there will be no one happier than Chris Ballard. As he’ll be able to finally check off the box on needing another wide receiver.
Indianapolis and Tennessee have always played tough close games, for the most part. Nothing in this matchup suggests anything different. Both teams have suffered one blowout on the season. One final thing to look for is the offense finding some rhythm.
This Tennessee defense is not good at getting after the quarterback. So, hopefully, Ryan can have some time in the pocket and deliver his best game on the season. Which in turn, comes with another Colts victory.