Five Observations: Indianapolis Colts Vs. New England Patriots

The Indianapolis Colts welcomed their biggest rival (at least if you ask the fans) the New England Patriots to Lucas Oil Stadium this week. After Denver lost earlier in the day it was a chance for the Colts to get into a position to have the AFC’s No. 1 seed. The Colts failed to take advantage of the situation and fell to the Patriots 42-20.

Time is ticking

The Indianapolis Colts have been blessed to be in the position they are for these last three years. They have a quarterback who has arguably been one of the better QBs in that time span. This season, Luck has reached the point where he is considered in the same tier as the “elite” (I hate that word). The difference is that Luck is on a rookie contract and next year he will make the most money in that contract at a little bit over a $7 million cap hit. This should have allowed the Colts to build a true contender around their star QB. Instead, this regime has made some questionable signings and trades that have left this team as dependent on the QB as ever before. The time for the Colts to be able to spend a lot of money on defense to build a well-rounded team is nearing an end. This was probably the penultimate year the Colts could have transformed into a Super Bowl favorite roster by building a defense to go along with the offense. However, they are too far away for me to think that they can reach this goal by next year. When Andrew Luck and the rest of the 2012 draft class sign their contracts, the Colts will no longer have the luxury of having so much room on their salary cap.

Run the ball. Stop the run.

Since Chuck Pagano was given the Colts head coaching job, he has preached running the ball and stopping the run. However, once again, a team was able to run all over Indianapolis with Jonas Gray and was able to completely shut down the Colts running game. The Patriots managed to get 244 yards on the ground and added 4 rushing touchdowns (I thought LeGarrette Blount left New England)/ The Colts running game was somehow just as bad. Ahmad Bradshaw and Trent Richardson were both given 7 carries and could only manage FOUR yards (Bradshaw had all 4). Andrew Luck out-rushed them in three attempts and was one yard away from having four times the amount of yards. The Colts need to be a passing team first but the also need to be able to have effective runs to keep opposing defenses honest.

Coaching Regression 

Chuck Pagano has done a fine job as an in-game coach for the Colts the majority of the season. The Colts have looked prepared to play lower completion, which is something that hurt them last year. Chuck had also began to understand that he should put more trust in his offense than defense. This led to the Colts going for it more often on fourth down. However, one of the concerns that I had was whether Chuck would keep this up against better competition or would he go back to the coach we saw last year. In this game we saw a little bit of both but the “good” Pagano showed up too late. Pagano’s decision to kick a 53-yard field goal on fourth and one was one of the worst decision in the game. The good news is that later in the game, Pagano decided to go for a touchdown instead of a field goal. With the defense unable to get any stops it was critical that the Colts walked away with touchdowns over field goals. Overall I felt as if Pagano wasn’t ready himself for this game.

Will the real Coby Fleener please stand up?

When the Colts drafted Coby Fleener in the second round back in 2012 this is the type of game that they had to have in mind. Fleener showed an ability to play physical and continue his solid play throughout the game. Coby also was able to use his size and speed to take advantage of the coverage the Patriots were showing. Fleener was huge for the offense because he was the only one able to move the ball with T.Y. Hilton not being able to do much, Reggie Wayne getting shut down after the first quarter and Dwayne Allen’s injury. Fleener caught all seven of the balls thrown in his direction for 144 yards. The Colts are going to have to hope that Fleener can keep up this kind of play while Dwayne Allen is sidelined with an injury.

We saw more awful officiating

The Colts did not lose this game due to officiating. The Colts lost this game because of their lack of talent on defense and inability to convert drives into touchdowns instead of field goals. However, the officials in this game where depressingly bad and it wasn’t like they only made bad calls against the Colts. The league said that they would have a point of emphasis on illegal contact penalties. So far this season I have yet to see that emphasis in a Colts game and I don’t know if we will after watching all the pass interference and illegal contact penalties not be called. The worst part was when the replay showed two Patriot players pushing and then knocking TY Hilton down after he was over 10 yards downfield.

Bonus: Anthony Castonzo Touchdown Dance

Best touchdown celebration of the year?