The Indianapolis Colts are coming off their bye week and, hopefully, they are a little bit healthier and have a strong game plan for the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday
The team did get some “positive” help during the bye as they moved up from ninth to seventh in the draft order. For fans, this is great news. The team, may not be as thrilled, as they are still wanting and trying to win.
Related: NFL games today – Get watch times and odds for the Week 15 slate of action
As the team plays out the string in the 2022 season, we look ahead to their latest matchup in Week 15 and make some bold predictions for Indianapolis Colts vs. Minnesota Vikings.
Indianapolis Colts secondary shuts down Justin Jefferson
Minnesota’s top wide receiver and the NFL’s leader in receiving with 1,500 yards, Justin Jefferson, will be in for a difficult matchup this week. Minnesota should have a creative game plan to move Jefferson around to help get him some favorable matchups. Regardless, Stephon Gilmore and Isaiah Rodgers will pose difficult matchups for him.
Both of those Colts’ corners are ranked really high with their play and coverage abilities. As of right now, it’s still up in the air if Brandon Facyson and/or Kenny Moore will play. Jefferson could find some success in the slot if they’re both out. However, the Colts’ pass defense ranks third best in the NFL. So, Jefferson is going to be in for a long day as he gets held to under 50 receiving yards for the fifth time this season.
Grover Stewart continues career season and sets new sacks mark
Grover Stewart is having his best NFL season by far. I mean, he’s already tied or set new career highs and there are still four games left to play. Unfortunately for him, nobody outside of the Indianapolis Colts and their fan base is aware of just how great and important he’s been. But the national media is starting to become aware.
His best two games on the season came in back-to-back weeks against Jacksonville and Tennessee. Against Jacksonville, in Week 6, he had five tackles, one tackle for loss, a QB hit, and a sack. Then in the next week against Tennessee, he had 12 tackles. Double-digit tackles from the defensive tackle position are impressive.
Considering Minnesota comes in as one of the better offensive units — they’re 10th ranked offense in the NFL, 27th in rushing offense, and have given up the 23rd most sacks (34) — it makes sense that Stewart has another big game. He’ll set a new career high in sacks when he gets his fourth one this week. And he’ll help shut down the Minnesota running game, by holding them to under 100 total rushing yards.
Colts’ offense line will shines against subpar Vikings defense
The Indianapolis Colts’ offense ranks second to last in the NFL. Only Denver is worse. Indianapolis ranks 19th in pass offense and 26th in rushing offense. The biggest reason why the offense has been bad is the play of the offensive line. The team has weapons to create big plays and score points. Unfortunately, it’s the offensive line that hasn’t been able to pass or run block to allow this unit to succeed.
Center Ryan Kelly has been one of the biggest culprits that are still starting. There have been calls for him to be benched in favor of Danny Pinter. Matt Pryor, thankfully, is now tasked with the tough assignment of holding down the bench to make sure it doesn’t fly up and injure anyone.
Fortunately for them, Minnesota’s defense is bad. They rank 24th in team defense, dead last in pass defense, and 16th in run defense. They actually have two fewer sacks (30 for Minnesota & 32 for Indy, not sure which number should go here) and have a lower hurry (7.7) and pressure (19.1) percentage than the Colts. However, Minnesota does blitz more (17.3%) and has more QB knockdowns (33) than the Colts. So, not all is sunshine and tulips for the offensive line.
Regardless, rookie Bernhard Raimann has started to really progress and come on over the last few games. He will continue this trend this week. Subsequently, it will help improve the play of Quenton Nelson, who will in turn help improve the play of Kelly. This trickle-down will help open up holes for Jonathan Taylor to run through and rip off big gains. It will also help by more time for Matt Ryan to throw the ball deep to rookie Alec Pierce.
For Indianapolis Colts fans that are wanting the team to lose and help improve their draft position, they should have a very bad feeling about this game. In reality, they should have a really bad feeling about the next four games. While all four remaining opponents are legitimately jocking for playoff position. Not one of them is a dominant team that the Colts can’t realistically beat.
Considering Saturday is still trying to collect wins and show that he can coach at the NFL level, fans can fully expect this team to try to win every remaining game. Minnesota is 9-0 this season in one-score games. Whereas, the Indianapolis Colts are 4-5-1 in one-score games. Fans should expect another close game this Saturday.