Five observations from Indianapolis Colts Vs. Tennessee Titans Week Four

For the second week in a row, the Indianapolis Colts dominate another AFC South team. This week, the Colts beat the Tennessee Titans 41-17. This time it didn’t seem like the Colts were on their way to a blowout when Andrew Luck threw a pick and the game went to half with the Colts up 20-10. However, the game ended up working out for the Colts and although they only beat the Titans, there are a lot of positives fans can take from this game.

Aggressive coaching

For the second straight week, the Indianapolis Colts coaches played to win and it worked out. It started in the first quarter when the Colts sent Pat McAfee out to attempt an onside kick after taking a 7-0 lead. It didn’t stop with that play either. After the half, the Colts could have attempted to grind out a win. Instead of trying to run the clock, the Colts sent out Andrew Luck and company to put up more points. Last season brought a lot of warranted criticizing of the Colts’ coaches but it is important to also recognize when they are making good decisions. So far this season, it seems like they are coaching to win and putting players in better spots to succeed.

Andrew Luck continues his dominance

Andrew Luck has had an incredible start to the 2014 season and his success continued in this game.  Luck completed 29 of his 41 passes for a completion percentage of 70.7% on Sunday. On those 29 completions Luck accumulated 393 yards, 4 touchdowns but he did throw one interception. For the second week in a row, Luck has had a crazy stat line but was also able to make it look easy during the game. So far he is on pace to complete 460 passes for 5,220 yards and 52 touchdown passes. He is also on pace for 16 picks as well as another four rushing touchdowns. That would be a pretty good season for a third-year pro.

Where is the pass rush?

Once again the Colts pass rush has looked like the weakest unit on the team. Sure the Colts had three sacks in the game but they failed to produce constant pressure throughout the game. The Colts actually have a good cornerback unit but the safeties and linebackers struggle in coverage. The opposing quarterback having all day to sit in the pocket and wait for the open receiver has only exacerbated this problem.  The Colts need to find a way to get consistent pressure on the quarterback because that is more important than getting a sack here and there. With a consistent pass rush, you never give the quarterback a chance to get comfortable and that leads to a better defensive performance.

Winning the turnover battle

In four games with the team, Mike Adams has already been more of a game-wrecker than LaRon Landry.  On Sunday, Adams was gifted two interceptions off of deflections. The Colts also recovered a fumble when Greg Toler got beat by his man and then couldn’t even get a hand on him to try and stop him. When Titans receiver Kendall Wright went to dive for the first he lost control of the ball and the Colts recovered. Indianapolis’ defense is not a unit that will be able to shut out high-powered offenses but by creating turnovers, they will do just enough. However, in this game, the Colts didn’t really force any of the turnovers and instead just let the Titans make mistakes. While that is not a bad thing, the Colts can’t expect the better teams in the league to make those mistakes and instead will have to become better at forcing them.

Vontae Davis gets the Richard Sherman treatment

This past offseason the Colts resigned Vontae Davis to a four-year $39 million contract with the hopes that he would be the shut down corner that he showed glimpses of in the past.  Well so far this season it looks like the Colts made the right choice to invest in Vontae. So far other teams have only targeted Davis 15 times and he has only given up six receptions. The Titans seem to agree with the Colts about Davis’ ability to shut down opposing teams wide receivers and decided to not even throw at him once all game. Without Robert Mathis, Vontae has become the most talented player on the Colts’ defense and so far this season, he has turned that talent into great play.