Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos: 5 players to watch on ‘Thursday Night Football’

By Andrew Buller-Russ

·Updated: October 6, 2022

Our Week 5 Thursday Night Football matchup brings us two teams who are not where they want to be after four games. The Indianapolis Colts were just one game shy of the playoffs a season ago and added Matt Ryan to help them across the finish line, yet they sit at 1-2-1, in third place in their division. Then we have the Denver Broncos, who also missed the postseason but felt Russell Wilson could be the difference-maker. At 2-2, with the third-worst scoring offense in football, Denver’s been a big disappointment.

With a former NFL MVP on one side and a Super Bowl-winning QB on the other, there will be plenty of experience under center, and both players are eager to win over their locker rooms. But aside from the All-Pro quarterbacks, there are several players to key in on during Thursday night’s matchup. Here are our five hand-picked players to watch this week in primetime.

DeForest Buckner gets a chance to feast on Denver Broncos’ interior line

Unless they are able to bring down the QB, defensive linemen rarely get the recognition they deserve. But there’s a reason general manager Chris Ballard was willing to trade a first-round pick for defensive tackle DeForest Buckner three seasons ago. The 6-foot-7 monster has racked up 45 sacks in his career as he settles into his seventh season, but he’s yet to add to that total in 2022.

After battling a shoulder injury, Buckner wasn’t able to suit up in last week’s loss to the Tennessee Titans, but all indications point to the All-Pro defender being back in the lineup on Thursday. On one hand, he’ll be tested up front, as Denver’s interior offensive line holds up well in pass protection.

Left guard – Dalton Risner	77 pass block grade (10th among 69 guards)
Center – Lloyd Cushenberry III	78.7 pass block grade (3rd among 36 centers)
Right guard – Graham Glasgow	72.3 pass block grade (19th among 69 guards)

Pass block grades courtesy of Pro Football Focus

However, if Buckner can win some of these one-on-one battles in the trenches, Russell Wilson should give him plenty of opportunities to get a sack. Wilson’s still been sacked at the eighth-highest rate in the NFL this season (8.4% of his dropbacks). If the Colts can manage to get a quick lead, it could lead to a big day from Buckner, giving him a chance to pin his ears back and chase the quarterback. Not having Javonte Williams to worry about should only help matters too.

Pat Surtain II gets a chance to show why he’s among the best

With Jonathan Taylor sidelined, the top offensive weapon in a Colts uniform will be their top pass catcher Michael Pittman. This means Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II should get a chance to shine under the lights. The ninth overall pick from the 2021 NFL Draft is still just 22, but he’s already one of the better coverage cornerbacks in football.

Through four games, Surtain has allowed just 7.1 yards per catch, which ranks seventh-best among cornerbacks per PFF. He’s yet to get an interception, but that’s where the Indianapolis game plan plus Matt Ryan come in. Ryan has the fifth-highest rate of ‘turnover-worthy throws‘ this season, throwing a grab ball on five percent of his 154 attempts so far this season. Without their workhorse tailback in the lineup, expect the Colts to trust Ryan a bit more often as they try and build an early lead. Yet, with Surtain manning the boundary, finding success through the air won’t be a breeze.

Nyheim Hines to get a full workload as Indianapolis Colts’ RB1

Patiently biding his time since joining the Colts in the fourth round back in 2018, Nyheim Hines has routinely been hyped up as a breakout candidate coming into each season. Having run a 4.38 40-yard dash coming out of North Carolina State, Hines has the speed to burn, but Jonathan Taylor’s emergence has reduced the scatback’s workload the past two seasons.

With Taylor missing Thursday night’s action, look for Hines to receive roughly 20 touches. Hines seems to be more effective as a pass catcher out of the backfield, and he’s shown reliable hands with a career catch rate of 78%, but the 25-year-old back will have to show more as a runner to help the Colts’ offense thrive. His previous career-high rushing total is 78 yards, coming on 11 carries back in 2018. Look for Hines to approach that personal best this week.

Matt Ryan looks for luck in primetime

The Colts have had a new starting quarterback in each of the past five seasons. This last time, going from Carson Wentz to Matt Ryan, was 100% a Colts decision. It wasn’t a retirement or injury. It was due to ineffectiveness, or maybe simply a desire for change, hoping for improvement. Well, it hasn’t quite happened.

They have the worst-scoring offense in football and now are without their top weapon. This means Ryan will have to find a time machine and tap into the Matty Ice days when he was hitting deep shots down the field while still taking care of the football. Only, the Colts just don’t have the same pass-catching arsenal he rose to glory with in Atlanta. Not to mention, Ryan hasn’t been threading the needle. He has just one ‘big-time throw’ so far this season. If the Colts find themselves behind early, guts or glory, Ryan will have to risk it for the biscuit.

Russell Wilson aims for his best game as a Bronco

It hasn’t been the fairytale beginning anyone in Denver hoped for after trading two first-round picks in addition to several other moving parts for Russell Wilson. While he’s been known to cook with gas during his Seattle days, the burners aren’t even turning on in Denver. It was supposed to be this high-scoring, kickass offense with former Aaron Rodgers QB guru Nathaniel Hackett leading the way, but these horses have stumbled out of the gates, with 23 points being their game-high through four games.

Some of the blame can be pointed elsewhere, like Hackett’s questionable game management or two early goal-line fumbles in Week 1, but Wilson should be having more success at this point. Wilson needs to find out what he has in his receivers, as a cast led by Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy on paper has a chance to be one of the best in the NFL. For now, the entire pass-catching group has the highest drop rate in the NFL at 11.1%, having dropped 10 of Wilson’s passes. That can’t continue on Thursday if they want to pull out a victory.