Knee-Jerk Reactions: Colts fall to Texans in overtime 37-34 The

Indianapolis Colts have not put it all together in 2018. Andrew Luck has been asked to play a big role at times and has been ineffective at others. The offensive line has shown some signs of improvement http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-matt-slauson-jersey , especially along the interior, but the tackle depth is a major weakness. The defense has been very impressive for much of the season, creating pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and making difference-making plays that give the team the opportunity to win football games. The unit has also come up a little short by allowing big drives to get into scoring position late in games.The first and perhaps most important knee-jerk reaction from the Colts and Texans game is that Andrew Luck is completely healthy. All of the chatter and nonsense about hidden issues facing Luck’s throwing shoulder or a lack of arm strength were answered repeatedly today. No quarterback with arm strength or shoulder weakness throws more than 60 times in a ball game including taking numerous deep shots and a ridiculously long hail mary. If Reich was worried about shoulder strength or setbacks, he doesn’t have Luck throw over 60 yards with one second left in regulation.The Colts need to get Zach Pascal more active in the offense every week. This unit lacks a ton of proven talent at wide receiver and Pascal has been a consistent contributor on offense and special teams. Most importantly, he has shown tremendous hands and isn’t dropping key passes at key moments. Nyheim Hines is starting to make his presence felt. He should be rarely used to pick up yards on the ground as a lone running back but he can move all over the field and create the kinds of defensive issues that Reich and Sirianni envisioned when they selected him in the 2018 NFL Draft. It is stunning to think about how far he has come from fumbling away punts in the preseason to looking like a speedy and shifty offensive weapon just 4 weeks into his rookie season.The Colts gave away another winnable game. Remember in Week 1 against the Bengals when Andrew Luck was driving down the field on a would-be game winning drive and Jack Doyle fumbled? Remember when Andrew Luck and the offense had multiple chances to punch the ball into the end zone against the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles but failed to do so? Well, mark down another example of a would-be win in your memory.The Indianapolis Colts defense was legitimately responsible for giving up 17 points to the Texans offense during regulation. Andrew Luck led the offense down the field for 31 offensive points. Unfortunately, a bad snap by Ryan Kelly on the goal line and strip sack given up deep in their own territory on another possession resulted in another 14 points for Houston. Frankly, Indianapolis shouldn’t have been in a position to play for overtime and the Texans should have gone home devastated after a thrashing on the road. Sadly, after an impressive four quarters for the defense, overtime saw the group fail to make big plays when they needed it most. Darius Leonard guessed wrong on a key Deshaun Watson scramble on third down. The pass rush couldn’t land when the defense needed a big play. The secondary, safeties in particular, played way too loose in coverage and allowed huge passing plays in front of them to keep drives going.Lastly, the Frank Reich decision to go for a first down on 4th-and-4 in overtime was bad football. If his team of analytics experts played a part in that decision, Reich needs to recognize when football intelligence overrides statistical analysis. This was a game that 1) the Colts really needed to win, 2) they had no business taking to overtime after the offensive disasters of the first half, and 3) has huge implications for the division. You don’t play “aggressive” in your own territory in overtime when a field goal defeats you. Ties may not feel good to a fan base but they will make a difference when tie breakers come into play for playoff consideration later in the year.Unless you don’t care about your chances to make the playoffs, you punt the ball away and take the tie. No-brainer football stuff. Analytics or no.Let’s take a look at how the keys to the game played out against the Texans.Pester Deshaun WatsonFor a second straight week Cheap Chester Rogers Jersey , the Colts found ways to get to the quarterback. There has been a lot of mutually beneficial work happening in the secondary and along the defensive line. Some of the sacks have been due to edge rushers landing with athleticism and speed. Some of the pressure has been the result of excellent coverage from a young secondary. It is certainly fair to recognize that the pass rush is still inconsistent but it is also clear that this group has come a very long way from 2017. The Colts accumulated 7 sacks today, versus 4 given up against J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney with backups at both tackle spots.Red Zone EfficiencyAfter struggling early in the year, it is a relief to see the Colts score in each of their 4 red zone visits. The first half offense was putrid and did not get much of an opportunity to get in Texans territory but once the ball started moving in the second half, things really started to click.Andrew Luck’s Decision-Making and AccuracyThis is perhaps one of the most impressive single game performances of Andrew Luck’s career. He completed 40 of 62 passing attempts for 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. He did this without T.Y. Hilton for a significant portion of the second half and while facing considerable pressure from Houston’s marquee pass rushers J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney.Of Luck’s incompletions, a half dozen were drops by his receivers. Without those drops, he would have a 75% completion percentage. Other than a couple of passes that were slightly overthrown or underthrown, his accuracy was fantastic. He hit T.Y. Hilton on a 42 yard bomb along the right sideline and threw a hail mary at the end of regulation that went 60 yards down the field.Any suggestion that Andrew Luck’s throwing shoulder is causing a strength issue at this point is comical. His first game back saw him throw over 50 times, this game saw him throw over 60 times and put up a QB rating of over 108. If Luck’s shoulder is causing an issue, it isn’t enough to impact his ability to win football games.Offensive BalanceFrankly, there isn’t any. The Colts have failed to create any threat of a running game and are having to rely entirely on Andrew Luck. Anthony Castonzo’s pending return may play an important role in improving the running game and Robert Turbin’s return from suspension will also help but Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni must find a way to create some balance offensively or Luck will be a sitting duck in the pocket.Slow Down the Texans Pass RushThe offensive line struggled mightily in the first half with J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. Watt gathered two sacks and was credited with two forced fumbles. Watt beat Le’Raven Clark with speed around the edge. The second half?The coaching staff and offensive linemen made some changes that really slowed things down. Luck ran a quick no-huddle approach that was creating real issues for the Houston defense. It wasn’t until overtime that Clowney was able to land another sack with a stunt to the inside beating Quenton Nelson.Film Room: Quenton Nelson run blocking vs. San Francisco 49ers, Preseason Week 3 In what is known as the regular season dress rehearsal game, Quenton Nelson continued to hold down his starting spot at left guard. He played for the entire first half and spent time with Andrew Luck and Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. He played next to Joe Haeg and Le’Raven Clark at left tackle. Starting center Ryan Kelly played to his inside for the entire half.As we have throughout the preseason, we took a look at Nelson’s performance in both phases of the offense. We start with the running game and move from the weakest plays to the strongest.Honestly, Nelson didn’t have a weak snap as a run blocker. This is the best I could pull out from the film as a potential opportunity. His initial chip is on a defender to the back side of the play who otherwise doesn’t have a chance to make a play on the ball carrier. Nelson gets to the second level but fails to find anyone to block until after the play is essentially over.In reality, there was no one for him to block. It’s sort of impressive that he crossed to the opposite side of the field in an attempt to seal a lane before Christine Michael made his way past the line of scrimmage.While this isn’t a particularly spectacular play, Nelson is able to gain inside leverage on the defender with some help from Ryan Kelly. They move the left side of the defensive line and open up a huge lane behind them. Unfortunately, J’Marcus Webb and Darrell Daniels fail miserably to effectively block on the back side of the play so there is very little room for Michael to run. What I like about plays like this is that Nelson quickly recognizes what he needs to do. He chips the defensive tackle directly into Kelly’s grasp and moves to the second level. Joe Haeg is unable to seal the end, which collapses the lane that Nelson just created.It is also worth noting that Marlon Mack might have taken this play for a touchdown. There is a massive lane to the outside of Haeg and for some reason the running back doesn’t even see it. Mack’s “bounce it outside” tendencies will abuse the crap out of defenses who attempt to squeeze and send linebackers on run blitzes to the inside.This is one of the most important blocks an offensive lineman can make on a run to the opposite side. Nelson is able to gain leverage on the defensive lineman and throw his hips to the play side. He has effectively sealed the backside of the run http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-denico-autry-jersey , which would have otherwise opened a nice running lane. Unfortunately for Nyheim Hines, Webb doesn’t seal the linebacker and Braden Smith doesn’t gain outside leverage on the play-side defensive tackle. This play should come right into the hole Quenton Nelson creates when he blows the defender off of the line of scrimmage. As fans have learned to expect of Nelson, once he gets the defender off balance he doesn’t stop until he is eating turf.This is a safety run blitz that blew up the play with no chance. This was not the fault of the offensive line — at least not a player on the offensive line. This is a schematic limitation to single-back offenses. Ebron whiffs on his “block” on Reuben Foster as well so it likely would have failed for more than one reason.In the regular season, when the offensive play-calling isn’t as vanilla, play-action becomes a much bigger threat. Try this blitz and guess wrong? You give up an easy touchdown to Chester Rogers on a seam route.This is another example of how Nelson will have a positive impact on the running game. He chips the defensive tackle into Kelly and gets to the next level. For some reason, Hines just runs into a pile and fails to recognize the clean running lane off left tackle. Ryan Grant was playing patty-cake with the corner in this case but you have to think Mack running the ball here results in a big gain.One of the biggest challenges for offensive linemen when they get to the second level is having the agility to be effective in space. In this case, Nelson moves quickly to the second level and punishes the safety, forcing him inside. He rolls off of that block to drive the linebacker three or four yards downfield. If Chester Rogers throws a block on the corner, instead of crashing down, there could be a nice running lane down the left sideline.While this play is stopped at the line of scrimmage in a mess of bodies, primarily due to the failure of Eric Ebron to seal the end, watch Nelson go to work here. If you can imagine a situation where the right end/outside linebacker isn’t allowed to get all the way into the running lane, you have a chance to run into a three-yard-wide gap with Quenton Nelson driving the bus at the second level. These plays are really close to being big gain opportunities for the running backs.ANALYSISWhen Anthony Castonzo and Marlon Mack return to the football field, there will be chances for some electric plays on the ground. It is truly stunning how the preseason can be a mirage when you start looking at the film and see why and how plays break down. This isn’t to suggest that the regular season will start and everything will be perfect, but it is to suggest that relatively minor fixes can have a massive result on the outcome of the play.Quenton Nelson had another impressive performance and looked very comfortable playing next to Ryan Kelly. This game, more than the previous two, showed some chemistry between the two interior offensive lineman that should inspire cautious optimism from Colts faithful.