Eagles vs. Colts: Complete Week 2 Preview for Indianapolis
The Indianapolis Colts started the 2014 NFL season with a loss last week against the Denver Broncos, but now they're looking to get their first win against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2 on Monday Night Football.
While it's only been a week, the Colts are already behind in the AFC South race and have plenty of injuries to deal with for the rest of the year. Players like Donald Thomas, Vick Ballard and Delano Howell were already out for the year before last week's game, and the Colts are now dealing with a couple of huge injuries at outside linebacker.
Robert Mathis was set to come back after a four-game suspension, but now he will likely miss the entire season after tearing his Achilles tendon, according to Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk. That left the Colts with just Bjoern Werner and Cam Johnson as legitimate pass-rushing options, but Josh Wilson from Stampede Blue wrote that Johnson is now on injured reserve.
Before the news of Johnson being placed on IR, head coach Chuck Pagano talked about how big of a loss it was to lose Mathis.
"It's a tough, tough pill to swallow," Pagano told Stephen Holder from the Indianapolis Star. "Right now (the team) is just absorbing the shock and the enormity of it all."
The Colts are still the clear favorites to win the AFC South, but the Houston Texans already have a win, and the Tennessee Titans looked like a much different team from last year after dominating the Kansas City Chiefs. The divisional race might be tougher than some originally thought, so Monday night's game against the Eagles will be a big one for the Colts to get back on track.
Colts Week 1 Recap
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The Colts suffered a 31-24 loss to the Broncos on Sunday Night Football in Week 1, and while they didn't get off to the best start, Andrew Luck and the rest of the offense helped make things interesting.
After deciding not to go for it on 4th-and-1 on their opening drive to try and take an early lead, the Colts ended up punting the ball after a delay of game, and it cost them early. The Broncos went on to score the first 24 points, including three consecutive touchdowns from Peyton Manning to Julius Thomas.
The Indianapolis offense finally got going right before halftime, with Luck scrambling and diving into the end zone for the team's first touchdown of the season. The defense finally started to step up in the second half, holding Denver to just one touchdown, as Luck continued to push the offense down the field.
A couple of passing touchdowns to Dwayne Allen and Hakeem Nicks helped the Colts get to within a touchdown, but their final drive fell short, which gave the Broncos the win. It wasn't the prettiest game, but Luck produced, throwing for 370 yards with two interceptions and three total touchdowns. Meanwhile, the running game could barely get anything done, rushing for just 54 yards on 14 carries.
It's always tough to lose the first game of the season, but the Colts should feel good that they were able to nearly mount a comeback against the most talented team in the AFC. Now, they should have a lot of confidence, at least in the passing game, as they take on a beaten-up Eagles squad that came out slow against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
News and Notes
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Chuck Pagano Still Thinks Colts Can Get to Quarterback
The Colts came up with a whopping one sack against the Broncos without Mathis on Sunday, and the pass rush is quickly becoming a concern. Granted, few teams can consistently put pressure on Manning, but fans are hoping to see some more pressure on Nick Foles this week.
Pagano still feels that the Colts can produce some pressure but admits that they need to be able to do so more often.
“I think we've had moments and showed signs that we can get after the quarterback,” Pagano told ESPN.com's Mike Wells. “I think we've just got to do it more consistently, and it will depend on the type of style of offense and the type of quarterback that you're playing.”
If the Colts can't get pressure on Foles this week, they might be in big trouble. The Jaguars were able to sack him five times last week, and Indy will be without a number of offensive linemen on Sunday, including Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis, per Mike Wells.
Bjoern Werner will need to prove he's improved from his rookie season, or else the Eagles could still put up plenty of points with their high-powered offense.
Bradshaw Will Share Carries With Richardson
After he averaged just 2.9 yards per carry in 2013 and started this season with another slow start, the Colts have already decided that it's time for Trent Richardson to take a lesser role in the offense.
Richardson talked about likely splitting the load for Monday night's game with Ahmad Bradshaw, according to Stephen Holder from the Indianapolis Star:
"I think it's going to be a good, equal load. Ahmad knows that once I get tired or once I'm winded, when I look to that sideline or he looks to the sideline, we know how to complement each other. It can be a drive where we have it going. I might have to look to the sideline and say, 'Come get me.' And I know if he does that to go get him. We work well together.
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Bradshaw looked good in the team's loss to the Broncos, picking up 15 yards on three carries along with 70 yards on five receptions. Before going down last season, he was averaging 4.5 yards per carry, so the Colts are hoping that he can put up numbers close to that as they continue to use him more in the offense.
Chip Kelly Praises Luck
As the former Oregon Ducks head coach when Luck was at Stanford, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has had plenty of experience going up against the former Cardinal, and he admits that the 25-year-old is one of the more special players in the league.
While talking with the Indianapolis media on Thursday, Kelly had a lot of good to say about Luck:
"He has the entire package. He has size. There's not many guys that are 6-4, 235. He can make every throw. He's as intelligent a quarterback as there is in the league, and I really think the added dimension that separates Andrew from everybody else is his ability to run. He ran a 4.65 at the Combine. If everybody is covered and you make him go through his progression, he can really hurt you with his feet and keep things extended. He's got it all.
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Luck doesn't have the flashiest of numbers through two NFL seasons, but with eight fourth-quarter comebacks and 11 game-winning drives, it's hard to argue with Kelly's assessment.
Injury Report
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| Name | Position | Injury Status |
| Ahmad Bradshaw | RB | Full |
| Sergio Brown | FS | Full |
| Josh Chapman | NT | Limited |
| Jerrell Freeman | ILB | DNP |
| Khaled Holmes | C | Limited |
| Arthur Jones | DT | DNP |
| Joe Reitz | OG | DNP |
| Greg Toler | CB | Ribs |
| Reggie Wayne | WR | Full |
Note: All injury information from Friday's practice via Colts.com.
Since the Colts play on Monday night, their starters have an extra day to get healthy to be ready to play against the Eagles, but some players already look like they might not be ready in time.
The big name on this week's list is Jerrell Freeman, who is dealing with a hamstring injury. Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky mentioned that both Josh McNary and Henoc Muamba are ready to step up during Friday's press conference, according to Mike Chappell from RTV6, so it sounds like Freeman might not play.
Fans who were impressed by McNary and Muamba will finally get to see what they can do with additional playing time.
With Khaled Holmes limited in practice once again, it wouldn't be a surprise to see A.Q. Shipley starting under center on Monday. The offensive line held together in the second half of last week's game with Shipley, but they need to keep it that way if Luck is going to go off this year.
The biggest question mark on the injury report is Arthur Jones, who missed practice on Thursday and Friday. It's unclear whether he'll play, but if he can't go, undrafted free agent Zach Kerr could be playing alongside Josh Chapman and Cory Redding.
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X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Colts Defensive Line vs. LeSean McCoy
Pagano has instilled the philosophy of stopping the run to win, and that will likely be the case on Monday night against LeSean McCoy.
The defense was quite solid against the run in their first test of the season, giving up 102 yards but allowing just 3.0 yards per carry. Arthur Jones looked like a solid addition, but even if he's not able to play this week, the Colts have some solid depth on the line with players like Ricky Jean-Francois, Kerr and Montori Hughes.
McCoy ran for just 74 yards on 21 attempts against the Jaguars last week, and an elite running back like him rarely has a bad game. Losing a couple more offensive lineman won't help much either, so this is a great chance for Indianapolis to shut McCoy down and control the tempo of the game.
Bjoern Werner vs. Jason Peters
Bjoern Werner was originally going to be asked to step up for the first four games, but now that Mathis is done, the sophomore is going to have a big matchup to prove himself against Eagles left tackle Jason Peters.
Against the Broncos, Werner was quite ineffective in the pass rush, not generating any pressure against Peyton Manning. Coming off of a strong showing in the preseason, Werner needs to start generating pressure now before the Colts lose faith in him and call upon someone like Jonathan Newsome to play opposite Erik Walden.
Peters is a veteran 32-year-old offensive tackle with six Pro Bowl appearances, including a spot on last year's team. He has plenty of experience blocking top-tier pass rushers, so going against Werner might not be too big of an issue.
Still, if the Jaguars can get five sacks on Nick Foles, you'd expect that the Colts, especially Werner, to get a few this week.
Vontae Davis vs. Jeremy Maclin
During his first game of the 2014 season, Vontae Davis showed that the Colts made the right decision to re-sign him to a big extension by shutting down Demaryius Thomas. But that's just one game, and Davis needs to be ready to put up performances like that one nearly every week.
This week, Davis will be going head-to-head against Jeremy Maclin, who is coming off of a hot performance against the Jaguars where he caught four passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. After tearing his ACL before last season, Maclin looked a lot like his old self in Week 1.
However, Davis is a much tougher matchup for Maclin. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Davis was targeted five times last week, allowing just one completion for five yards. The Eagles don't have a ton of options at receiver, so shutting down their No. 1 target could go a long way.
Colts' X-Factor of the Week: Dwayne Allen
Now that Dwayne Allen is healthy, the Colts are starting to utilize both him and Coby Fleener with two-tight end sets, but the former Clemson tight end might be able to prove he should be the No. 1 player on the depth chart with another big game this week.
Allen looked quite comfortable seeing his first regular-season action since Week 1 of 2013, catching four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. He's a physical presence that seems to be more of a natural playmaker than Fleener, but the Colts are hesitant about giving him the majority of snaps.
The Colts witnessed Julius Thomas go off for three touchdowns against their inside linebackers last week, but they'll have a chance to do some of the same to the Eagles and their linebackers. DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks aren't the best in pass coverage, so that could leave Allen with a big mismatch.
Prediction
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It's only Week 2, but this is a must-win game for the Colts in order for them to stay near the top of the race in the AFC South.
The Eagles love to run an uptempo offense, but they're going to find that hard to do with so many offensive linemen out with injuries. The Colts' defensive front seven is meant to stop the run, and going against a few backups should help them plug up the rushing lanes and contain McCoy in the backfield.
As for the passing game, the Colts might still have trouble covering the tight end. Zach Ertz is only a sophomore, but he and Brent Celek could put up some big numbers, especially if McNary or Muamba is forced to replace Freeman and drop back into coverage.
Offensively, the Colts should be in good shape. The offensive line held up enough last week, and Luck has more than enough weapons. T.Y. Hilton will have to step up, however, as he was ineffective in Week 1 with 41 yards on five catches and a couple of drops.
Don't expect much from the running game, but if the Colts wind up in a shootout against the Eagles, I'll take Luck and his weapons over Foles and an offensive line with more holes than Indianapolis' has.
Prediction: Eagles 28, Colts 35
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