Few people, if any, thought the Indianapolis Colts would hold the NFL’s best record going into a Week 8 home game with the Tennessee Titans.
The surprising success is the reason Indianapolis is a prohibitive favorite entering a Sunday home game against the Tennessee Titans, a team the Colts already routed this season.
Leading the Colts’ attack is running back Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns on Sept. 21 as Indianapolis won 41-20 at Tennessee.
Taylor is playing at a Most Valuable Player level so far, compiling an NFL-best 697 yards and 10 scores on the ground. The Colts (6-1) have 16 rushing touchdowns, putting them on pace to break a 63-year old league record for most rushing scores in a year (36), held by the Vince Lombardi-coached Green Bay Packers.
Given that kind of running game, Colts quarterback Daniel Jones has played at the highest level of his career. Jones threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns last week in a 38-24 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
One reason Jones is completing 71% of his passes is the offensive line. He has been sacked a league-low six times in 232 dropbacks, none of them happening on third or fourth down. According to Pro Football Focus, Jones has a league-high 110.3 passer rating on plays when he was pressured.
“It’s understanding what’s coming and where the ball needs to be out on time,” Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen said of Jones. “I think that comes with experience and playing and knowing what the defense is doing, and he’s doing that at the ultimate high level right now.”
The Colts lead the NFL with an average of 33.1 points per game and have scored at least 30 five times. Four Indianapolis players have caught at least 23 passes, with rookie tight end Tyler Warren hauling in 33 for a team-high 439 yards.
While Indianapolis is rolling, the Titans (1-6) are resembling the New York Jets with a southern twang. Playing their first game last week under interim coach Mike McCoy, they absorbed a 31-13 pounding at home against the New England Patriots.
Tennessee actually led 13-10 just before halftime before a collapse on both sides of the ball led to 21 New England points in less than 8 1/2 minutes. The Titans’ offense gained only 255 yards and allowed rookie quarterback Cam Ward to absorb five sacks, while the defense coughed up 387 total yards.
The Tennessee defense might be short-handed this week as the unit’s best player, defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (hamstring), and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (quad) could both sit out. McCoy said Sneed would miss “some time moving forward” and termed Simmons’ status as week-to-week.
A total of 11 Titans didn’t practice on Wednesday, although it was just a rest day for right guard Kevin Zeitler, running back Tony Pollard and outside linebacker Jihad Ward.
“It’s a great opportunity for a number of other players like we’ve talked about,” McCoy said of the team’s injury problems. “It’s going to be the next man up mentality.”
To have any chance of pulling the upset, Tennessee has to find some rhythm on offense. The Titans are averaging a league-low 13.7 points per game, gaining an NFL-worst 269.4 yards per contest and converting the lowest percentage of third downs in the league at 28.3%.
The Colts’ first injury report of the week featured good news for the receiving corps. Ashton Dulin (chest) and Josh Downs (concussion) were back on the field on Wednesday after sitting out vs. the Chargers. Dulin was a full participant, while Downs was limited.
Indianapolis defensive end Samson Ebukam didn’t practice Wednesday due to a knee injury, and he was considered week-to-week.
–Field Level Media
