Stock Up
Laiatu Latu
This has been Latu’s breakout year after a somewhat pedestrian rookie season. Through just 10 starts (missed one with an injury), Latu has 44 total pressures with an 18.1% win rate, 6 sacks, and added three interceptions dropping into coverage. Against the Chiefs, Latu had an interception on a tipped ball to put the Colts in the redzone, and also added a sack.
Zaire Franklin
Franklin has been an above-average linebacker this season. I was very critical of him before, and was hoping that Anarumo was going to replace
him before the season started, but he seems a step quicker this year compared to last season. He is still a liability in pass-coverage, there is no denying that, but new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is using him creatively and getting him in position to make plays. Against the Chiefs he had 14 total tackles and forced a fumble in the redzone.
Sauce Gardner
The Colts gave up a lot to get Gardner, and so far he has delivered. The extra week to get up to speed with the rest of the field clearly helped him a lot, and he was by far the Colts’ best player on the field on Sunday. Mahomes barely even targeted, but in the end it did not make that big of an impact because both Ward and Moore struggled to keep up the pace with the Chiefs’ receiving group. That is the only issue with having such a good cornerback, opposing teams can just not throw his way.
Stock Down
Passing offense as a whole
It was another slow day for Daniel Jones and the Colts’ passing offense, who even though the Chiefs focused on stopping Taylor and the running game, struggled to get anything going. The receivers are struggling to get separation, Jones suffers the pressure a lot, and in the end the team finished with just 181 passing yards. It was especially disappointing because the Colts had two weeks to prepare for this game.
Shane Steichen
Speaking of the preparations, what was that Shane? I expected a lot more with an extra week to prepare for this game, and some adjustments after the Falcons and the Steelers exposed the weaknesses of this offense. The Colts first few drives were okay, but after that Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had Steichen on a chokehold. Jonathan Taylor getting less than 20 touches, and just one in the final four drives, compared to Kareem Hunt getting 30 is criminal. And even in obvious passing situations the plays drawn up were uninspiring to say the least. It seems like the Steelers laid out the blueprint, and the Chiefs followed it close to perfection with worse personnel, which is worrying. The Colts will have to face Jacksonville twice, Houston twice, and also the Seahawks. Those are five matchups against elite tier defenses. I am particularly worried about facing the Texans’ edge-rushing duo and how they could disrupt Jones.
Kwity Paye
I’ll make a movie called “Kwity Paye and the strange case of the edge-rusher that consistently plays 80% of the snaps despite making zero impact on pass-rushing”. With him being most likely a free agent after this season, I struggle to find any sort of reason why he is still out there. Ebukam and Lewis make a bigger impact, and the team spent a second round pick on J.T. Tuimoloau who showed some flashes as a pass-rusher. As for pass-rush win rate (PFF.com), Paye ranks 22nd out of 25 qualified edge rushers with more than 290 pass-rushing reps.
Charvarius Ward / Kenny Moore
Mahomes was also not targeting Gardner because Ward and Moore were struggling to keep up with their assignments. There was also a lot of crossers targeting the Colts slow linebackers, but in the end Ward and Moore just missed one too many times. Ward was probably a bit rusty after a stint on IR dealing with his second concussion on the season, which is understandable.
Colts’ division chances
Both the Texans and the Jaguars won their matchups, which hurts the Colts chances to end up winning the AFC South a lot. The Colts have not played either this season, and have by far the harder schedule of the three, which severely compromise their chances. With just one game in hand against the Jaguars, the division is basically up for grabs, making Sunday’s matchup against the Texans a must win for Indy.
