What to Expect from Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts Offense in Week 16

After the league's top offense was completely bottled up in Week 15, fans are left wondering what to expect from the Indianapolis Colts offense and rookie receiver Donte Moncrief.

Moncrief was productive in the Week 13 outing against the Washington Redskins, catching three passes for a team-high 134 yards and two touchdowns. In the two games since, he's had three catches for 33 yards on eight total targets.

He didn't catch a single pass from Andrew Luck in the Colts' 17-10 win over the Houston Texans, unless you count the 48-yard touchdown that was called back.

T.Y. Hilton was the target of that play, anyway.

So, what's happening with Moncrief, and for that matter, the rest of the Colts offense?

Despite winning against the suddenly embarrassing Cleveland Browns, the Colts absolutely deserved to lose the contest after falling behind 21-7.

As it was, they managed a go-ahead touchdown pass to Hilton with under a minute to go in the game.

The past two weeks combined, Luck is a very human 42-of-87 passing for 481 yards and four touchdowns compared with three interceptions.

Perhaps more alarmingly, the picks are not of the deep-shot/pseudo-punt variety. Two of the three were taken back for six points against the Colts.

Reality is hard to face, but Indianapolis is not very good right now. Perhaps Moncrief, who was drafted to score touchdowns, is the key to getting the Colts back on track.

Reggie Wayne continues to see the field a great deal of the time, receiving eight targets (one catch) against the Browns and another five (four catches) against the Texans.

Try as they might to keep him involved, we have in all likelihood seen Wayne's last big game in the NFL. I'm as big a Wayne fan as you'll find, but a team and player have to know when it's time to pass the torch. Indy drafted the rookie out of Ole Miss to be the Robin to Hilton's Batman, and it's time to put that plan into effect.

At 6'2" and 221 pounds, Moncrief has the physical tools that make coaches salivate and defensive backs quiver with fear. Add in his 4.4-second 40-yard dash and a freakish 39.5-inch vertical and you're talking about a receiver with an alarming amount of athleticism.

It made sense to limit his playing time when Wayne was healthy and still producing, but his body has given all of itself for the Colts. Hakeem Nicks, despite his Week 15 touchdown, is clearly a shell of his former self.

Moncrief and Hilton offer two different sizes and shapes of a similar skill set, and that is a scary thought indeed for the rest of the league.

So, in Week 16, with the Colts expecting a shootout against the high-powered Dallas Cowboys offense, Pep Hamilton will unleash No. 10 yet again.

He hasn't yet been able to clean up his routes as much as the team probably hopes he will in the coming years, but, given his unholy measurables, Luck should be able to make it work in the mean time.

This game will be an excellent barometer of just where Indy is at as a team. While there isn't a great deal on the line for them in Week 16, fans should expect to see them come out with guns blazing. Confidence is everything in the playoffs, and riding a long win-streak into the postseason is the best way to do that.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

After Dallas—should they win—Indy just has to get past NFL bottom-feeders in the Tennessee Titans to carry a six-game stretch of W's into the playoffs. Moncrief can and should be a significant part of not just these last couple of games, but any postseason successes the Colts enjoy.

And if the rookie can make good on the flashes of potential he's shown throughout 2014, the AFC South better get ready for another pair of nightmarish Colts receivers for the next decade.

Marvin Harrison and Wayne will be forced to smile when they watch these young guns recreating the magic that Peyton Manning and those two Hall of Fame-caliber receivers first brought to Indy.

Indianapolis' opponents will have a different look on their faces.