Colts: Halftime Corrections Were Key in 25-12 Victory

The Indianapolis Colts entered the locker room at halftime trailing 12-6. Several players were vocal which led to the corrections as the Colts outscored Tampa Bay 19-0 in the second half.

Colts veterans Kendall Langford and T.Y. Hilton were vocal in the locker room – to say the least – at halftime when the Colts trailed by six. Langford was especially outspoken in regard to the defense’s play in the first half and challenged each one of his defensive teammates to focus on their task.

Hilton was animated on the field knowing that he was open when overlooked or overthrown. The lack of a connection between him and Hasselbeck has been obvious.

With Luck at quarterback Hilton has always been the primary target. With Hasselbeck under center… the results have been less than optimal. In seven games with Luck, Hilton amassed 548 receiving yards. In the three prior games with Hasselbeck he totaled 148 yards. At halftime Hilton had 36 yards on only two catches.

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Whatever he said to Hasselbeck at halftime, Hilton got through to him. Hilton caught four more balls for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Donte Moncrief also benefitted from Hilton’s success as he too exploded in the second half. For the Game Moncrief caught eight balls on nine targets for 114 yards. With that kind of success through the air, Hasselbeck finished the game 26 of 42 for 315 yards and two touchdowns.

Admittedly, the Colts had little success on the ground, but that was more a product of offensive opportunity than from a lack of ability to run the ball. The Buccaneers were lined up in a Tampa-2 – No surprise I know – that allowed Hasselbeck to dink-and-dunk down the field with short passes all day.

Defensively the Colts halftime adjustments, spurred on by Langford’s comments, were a game-changer. The Colts tallied 5 sacks in the game despite losing Jerrell Freeman in the second half. Four of those sacks came in the second half. Erik Walden had two sacks and Trent Cole (finally) and Nate Irving each added one respectively.

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Not to be outdone by his fellow 40-something, the future Hall of Famer – who is also the oldest player in the NFL at 42 years of age – Adam Vinatieri had another solid outing despite a missed extra point. Vinatieri kept the Colts in the game early and connected on all four field goal attempts with makes from 49, 27, 26 and 44 yards out.

The Colts have five games remaining in the regular season. Currently, they are tied with Houston at 6-5 atop the AFC South, but still hold the tiebreaker.

Their remaining games include three games against AFC opponents and road trips to Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football and to Miami on December 27th.

Next: Colts re-sign Boom Herron

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