The Indianapolis Colts went into Saturday’s game on the back of a very important win against one of the their AFC South division rivals in the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 17 needing a win and some help to get in the playoffs. The Colts came up against a team who were the 2 seed in the AFC and had beaten a potential playoff team while resting key starters in the Miami Dolphins. There were some strong showings during the 27-24 loss against the Buffalo Bills and a few poor ones, as well.
Stock Up:
Jonathan Taylor had a tough outing on Saturday against the Bills. The Bills sold out hard to stop Taylor and the run, especially considering the Colts offense is run first it made sense. The Bills did reasonably well in doing so but Taylor still managed 78 yards rushing and a touchdown on the day and look very strong running the ball. Taylor has had an exceptional rookie year, especially in the second half
Michael Pittman had probably his best game as a Colt and it was in his first ever playoff game. Pittman was the Colts best receiver on Saturday and it showed. Pittman managed to put up 5 catches for 90 yards receiving. He did that on Saturday while being matched up regularly against Tre’Davious White, the Bills top cornerback. Pittman, after a inconsistent rookie year, really showed out against the Bills in the Colts biggest game of the year. Pittman has a lot of potential and hopefully can build on his rookie year next year.
Philip Rivers was exceptional on Saturday. Rivers spread the ball around to multiple different targets and made massive plays when the team needed him to. Rivers threw for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception. Rivers has been great all year and was great again in the playoff game on Saturday. If not for a few mistakes by the team we may be saying that Rivers was on the winning side Saturday.
Stock Down:
The offense was fantastic on Saturday all the way up to the redzone. The Colts Redzone offense just wasn’t clicking on Saturday and it ended up being costly. The Colts became the first time in NFL history to lose a playoff game despite going over 450 yards of offense without committing a turnover. The Colts also had 9 of their 10 offensive drives end up in Buffalo territory and 5 of them ending without points. The Colts were also just 2 of 5 in the redzone on Saturday. The Colts will need to address this going forward if they want to contend for a Super Bowl next year.
The Hot Rod wasn’t so hot on Saturday. Rordigo Blankenship made just one field goal on Saturday and missed his other attempt from just 33 yards out. Blankenship of late has been very inconsistent having missed 3 field goals in his last two games. Blankenship has also struggled with 50+ yard field goals, having only made one on the year. The Colts should really think about bringing in some competition for Blankenship next year.
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