Considering the Colts: Indy drops pivotal game

Houston was finally able to get over the hump and beat the Colts in Houston. Even though the Texans have taken control of the division, hope is not all lost for the Colts. At 6-5, the playoffs are still in play for this Indianapolis Colts team. This loss does make it that much harder to claim a playoff birth though.

So what happened? How did the Colts lose? It wasn’t Vinatieri’s fault. It wasn’t the running game’s fault. It wasn’t the offensive line’s fault. I’m putting this one on Frank Reich and Matt Eberflus.

Frank Reich was on a mission to run the ball and rightfully so and they were successful, but when it came to Reich calling passing plays, I thought he missed the mark. Jacoby Brissett threw for only 129 yards on 16 completions. Every pass play seemed like a short pass for short gains. It seems very uncharacteristic for Reich, who trusts his quarterback and takes risks often. T.Y. Hilton returned from injury this week and only caught three passes for a whole 18 yards. Hilton has been known to tear up Houston’s secondary, but he was a total non-factor against them.

Matt Eberflus’ rotation of defensive backs finally caught up with him. With dangerous receivers like DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller V, rotating cornerbacks may not be the best move especially when a rookie safety turned cornerback ends up with Hopkins one-on-one down the field. The rotation might work against teams with average receivers, but not with elite receivers. 

Every game is a winnable game for the Colts and the Colts have to win them all even when they visit New Orleans later this season. Indianapolis has another division game coming up next week against the Titans. The Titans are playing better after switching quarterbacks, but you’ll have to wait till next week for that game preview :)