With Bill Belichick’s practice of zeroing in on and neutralizing the opposing team’s top play maker, we can likely assume that Indianapolis Colts’ wide receiver T.Y. Hilton will be the one of Revis Island this Sunday. This is where Colts’ wide receiver Hakeem Nicks could come into play.
An injury-prone Reggie Wayne is barely drawing any targets as of late and tight ends Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener will be tightly covered. This is where Nicks makes a sneaky option for Andrew Luck to target down the field. A glimpse of the former, big-play-making Nicks appeared in Week 15 when he twisted to catch an 18-yard pass which he turned into a tricky 26-yard touchdown against the Texans.
Since experiencing a little late-season revitalization with the Colts, Nicks shared this (via NFL.com).
I think in New York, I was just having injury after injury and I think I just wasn’t taking care of it the right way. I just kept trying to play through them instead of being patient and sitting and let it heal. Now, I am extremely healthy. Looking back on it now, I think that’s something that I just had to go through. My body was adjusting.
Showing more agility and elusiveness since he helped the Giants to a Super Bowl three years ago, Nicks is catching eyes once again, and making the most of the few targets he does receive. This play has Nicks leaping and twisting to make a clean catch while covered by Bengals defenders in the wild card playoffs.
If Luck can find Nicks open and get a few of these types completions, the wide receiver might just be the key to a big part of the Colts’ success on Sunday.
Photo: USA Today