Considering the Colts: Indy looks to clean it up against Miami

Heads up! This article was imported from a previous version of The Campus Citizen. If you notice any issues, please let us know.

The Colts let another one slip away against the Steelers. They should have won, but who would have predicted that Quenton Nelson would injure Jacoby Brissett? What made this game even more perplexing than it already was is the fact that Brian Hoyer came in and played well, minus the key pick-six by safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who is blossoming in the Pittsburgh defense. 

Uncharacteristic turnovers and penalties killed the Colts and led to the loss, but yet they still had a chance to sneak out another close win. The time came for Indy to leave Pittsburgh by the skin of their teeth and move to 6-2, but the inconsistencies of Adam Vinatieri reared their ugly head once more. Yes, the snap was not very good, causing punter and holder Rigoberto Sanchez to have the laces of the football pointed toward Vinatieri, but how long are the genius general manager and head coach going to let this go on?

Surely, these two brilliant football minds understand that all sides of the ball have to be clicking on all cylinders to make the Super Bowl or let alone the playoffs in the Colts’ case. The AFC is full of playoff contenders and it seems as if every week is a must win right now. 

I must give praise to Chris Ballard for bringing in Brian Hoyer to back up Brissett. Hoyer threw a touchdown on his first attempt in relief, but the interception he threw proved costly. Brissett’s status this week for the game against Miami is still up in the air. Luckily for the Colts, the Dolphins are one of the worst teams in the NFL. If Brissett cannot go, Hoyer is capable of getting the Colts back on track and into the win column. 

Miami is coming off their first win of the season against another bad team in the New York Jets. The Dolphins have switched quarterbacks twice this season and seem like they will stick to Ryan Fitzpatrick. They do not have many other bright spots on the team after trading Kenny Stills, Kenyan Drake, and Minkah Fitzpatrick and losing standout cornerback Xavien Howard to injury.

T.Y. Hilton is going to miss the game on Sunday as he’s still battling a calf injury and the Colts will be without Parris Campbell for a while, recovering from a fractured hand. The offense is beat up, but is still full of playmakers that can carry the load to give some of these guys time to get healthy. 

I would like to say definitively this would be an easy win, but with the injuries to the receiving corps and Brissett being less than 100%, the task may seem a little more difficult this week. Everyone on defense is continuing to get healthy; safety Malik Hooker was a full participant in practice on Thursday, so we could see him return to the field this week. The Colts will rely heavily on the defense to get Miami off the field and I would expect Frank Reich to carry out long drives and slow the pace of the game and cruise to a win.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Campus Citizen, IUPUI