Colts vs. Titans: Complete Week 17 Preview for Indianapolis
The Indianapolis Colts will be looking to forget about last week's blowout loss while finishing the season on a high note in their Week 17 matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
They may have a solid record at 10-5, but plenty of fans are questioning the Colts after their 42-7 loss last week to the Dallas Cowboys. The starting offense completely failed to execute, and quarterback Andrew Luck wasn't afraid to admit that.
“Credit to Dallas’ defense. They dominated the game’’ Luck said after the game, according to Mike Chappell from RTV6. “We didn’t get any sort of rhythm going. Negative plays hurt us, penalties hurt us, miscues hurt us and we couldn’t recover from them. Lot of stuff to clean up.’’
Now, the Colts will be looking to shake off the rust and get back on track against a 2-13 Titans team that has struggled all year. The Titans may not be interested in winning their final game, either, as they're currently in contention for the No. 1 overall pick. Considering the state of the quarterback position in Tennessee, the team may be looking to draft a player like Marcus Mariota.
Indianapolis may not gain anything in terms of seeding with a win on Sunday, but it will at least pick up some momentum, so let's take a look at a complete Week 17 preview for the Colts as they prepare for the postseason.
Colts Week 16 Recap
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That look on Chuck Pagano's face pretty much sums up how last week's game went for the Colts.
Things didn't get off to the best start for the Colts on the Cowboys' opening drive of the game. Jerrell Freeman made a nice open tackle on third down to potentially force a punt but blew it after drawing a taunting penalty. The Cowboys went on to score on a nine-yard pass from Tony Romo to Terrance Williams.
The opening drive for the Colts was even worse. Pep Hamilton called three straight run plays that went nowhere before Dewey McDonald dropped a pass on a fake punt to give the Cowboys great field position. It only took them one play to score again, with Romo hitting Dez Bryant on the 19-yard touchdown to go up 14-0.
Things just continued to go downhill from there. The Cowboys added another two touchdowns before halftime, while the Colts couldn't do anything on offense. Luck nearly led them on a scoring drive just before halftime but took a chance and ended up throwing an interception in the end zone.
The Cowboys added two more touchdowns in the second half, with Romo throwing his fourth touchdown of the game in the third quarter to Jason Witten. Even Brandon Weeden got in on the action, throwing a 43-yard bomb to Williams on his only pass of the game.
Before the end of the third quarter, the Colts pulled Luck and put Matt Hasselbeck in. The veteran quarterback was able to avoid a shutout, hitting Zurlon Tipton for a one-yard touchdown with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
It was an ugly game all around for the Colts, who put up just one total yard rushing while forcing just two incompletions from the Dallas quarterback. That should change this week, but there are plenty of questions now about just how good the Colts really are.
News and Notes
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Colts Focused on Winning Despite Nothing to Gain
In most circumstances, this is a game that the Colts would want to consider resting their starters in order to keep guys healthy heading into the Wild Card Round. But after such an embarrassing loss last week, the Colts want to find their rhythm once again.
A win on Sunday would do a lot to restore some confidence in the locker room, and the players feel like this is a big game to do just that.
"For us, this game means everything," T.Y. Hilton said, according to The Associated Press via USA Today. "We get another chance to sweep the division, and we want to go into the playoffs hot, and that starts Sunday."
Some will criticize the decision to not rest the starters, but it's the right move. The Colts offense has been in a funk the past few weeks, and this is a game where the team can figure out what's working before trying to somehow make a run at the Super Bowl.
Five Colts Players Named to Pro Bowl
This has been a strong year for the Colts in terms of individual player honors and achievements, but this year's Pro Bowl selections say a lot about the talent on the roster.
Five Colts players were selected to the Pro Bowl this season; Luck, Hilton, Vontae Davis, Pat McAfee and Adam Vinatieri all earned selections, according to Zak Keefer from the Indianapolis Star. Mike Adams and D'Qwell Jackson were also selected as alternates.
The five players selected were all deserving. Adams was also deserving of an alternate selection because of his high level of play, but it was a bit surprising to see Jackson getting an alternate nod. He may have 131 total tackles, but that's a meaningless stat when they come five yards down the field. Jackson has struggled against the run and in pass coverage, but fans tend to vote based on traditional stats.
Khaled Holmes To Start Again at Center
It has become apparent at this point that the Colts don't really know who their starting center is, as they continue to make changes at the position. A.Q. Shipley played well to start the season but was replaced by the undrafted Jonotthan Harrison, who was significantly less effective at the position.
Now, it appears that second-year center Khaled Holmes is the team's go-to guy. According to Mike Wells of ESPN.com, Holmes will start against the Titans for the second straight week.
“It’s nice to have a vote of confidence,” Holmes said. “The game didn’t go the way any of us had hoped in sense, but I was excited to be out there for my first start. I think I did all right.”
We haven't seen enough of Holmes in his career to make any firm decisions about how effective of a center he is, but Sunday should be another good opportunity for us to see what he's made of.
Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Injury Status |
| Dwayne Allen | TE | DNP |
| Gosder Cherilus | OT | DNP |
| Jerrell Freeman | ILB | DNP |
| T.Y. Hilton | WR | Limited |
| Cory Redding | DE | Full |
| Joe Reitz | OG | DNP |
| Hugh Thornton | OG | Full |
| Erik Walden | OLB | Full |
| Bjoern Werner | OLB | DNP |
Note: All injury statuses are from Thursday's practice via Colts.com.
The Colts may want to win on Sunday, but they'll also likely be much more conservative with resting any starters who are dealing with nagging injuries, which means that most of the players on this week's injury report likely won't be playing on Sunday.
Dwayne Allen has struggled to stay healthy once again this season, dealing with an ankle sprain before this current knee injury. Given the fact that he hasn't practiced the first two days of this week, he'll probably sit out. He's too valuable of a player to risk getting hurt again, proving to be an asset as both a run-blocker and pass-catcher.
Three other starters who have yet to practice this week are Gosder Cherilus, Jerrell Freeman and Bjoern Werner. It is unclear whether any will play on Sunday, but they aren't exactly game-changing players, so the Colts should manage if any of them can't play.
The most intriguing injury is with Hilton, who has been limited in each of the first two practices. Pagano expects Hilton to play on Sunday, according to Kevin Bowen from Colts.com, but the team would be wise to limit his snaps. Hilton is by far the most valuable weapon on the Colts offense behind Luck, and they'll need him to be at 100 percent once the playoffs begin.
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X-Factor and Matchups to Watch
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Khaled Holmes vs. Jurrell Casey
Holmes will get another chance to start, but he'll have a tough assignment this week going against arguably the best player on the Titans defense in Jurrell Casey.
Casey has been an effective pass-rusher on the inside of the defensive line, racking up five sacks, 29 quarterback hurries and 14 hits, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He hasn't had the season that he had in 2013 when he picked up 10.5 sacks, but he continues to be one of the best pass-rushing options for the Titans.
It will be a tough assignment for Holmes and the rest of the Colts offensive line, but if they can contain Casey, they should be able to win in the trenches.
Colts Linebackers vs. Delanie Walker
Tight ends have given the Colts problems all season long. The inside linebackers in Freeman and Jackson have consistently struggled to cover players at the position in pass coverage, allowing 911 yards and 10 touchdowns on 76 receptions against opposing tight ends, according to ESPN.com.
This week, the linebackers will have to try and find a way to slow down Delanie Walker. In his last game against the Colts, Walker caught five passes for 84 yards and a touchdown. He has put up 847 yards and four scores this season.
Walker isn't the same kind of tight end as Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, but if the Colts can't slow him down, then they'll have a hard time against Gronk or Julius Thomas in the playoffs.
Colts Right Tackle vs. Derrick Morgan
If Cherilus can't play on Sunday, it could be a long day for Luck. Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan has been an effective pass-rusher all season, and that could mean a lot of pressure coming from Luck's right side on Sunday.
Casey and Morgan are two players on defense that the Titans will be building around in the future. At just 25 years old, Morgan has racked up 6.5 sacks and two forced fumbles this season along with 34 quarterback hurries, according to PFF.
Xavier Nixon will likely start if Cherilus can't play, and that could be a big problem. The second-year offensive tackle was awful last week against Dallas, getting burned play after play, and that could be trouble against Morgan unless he can turn things around.
Colts' X-Factor of the Week: Coby Fleener
Even if Allen is able to play on Sunday, you can expect the Colts to give more snaps to the healthier Coby Fleener, and that means more opportunities for some big plays.
Despite some issues with drops, Fleener has progressed well in his third season in the league, catching 46 passes for 718 yards and six touchdowns. More importantly, he's stayed healthy all year and should be on his way to playing all 16 games for the second straight year after missing four games in 2012.
If Fleener can continue to get better over the next couple of seasons, he could become a dangerous downfield threat. The Titans don't have the best defense in the world, and Sunday could be another opportunity for Fleener to shine with some catches for big gains.
Prediction
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The Colts weren't happy with last week's performance, and that's bad news for this week's opponent in the Titans...unless Indy is trying to get that No. 1 overall pick—in which case, it's probably good news.
Slow starts from the offense have hurt the Colts over the past month, and they need to find a way to stop that. Rather than trying to establish the run, expect a few deep pass attempts from Luck early on to try and burn the Titans secondary, followed by some more runs from Trent Richardson and Daniel Herron.
The big concern for the Colts will be cutting down on the turnovers. Over the past five games, they have given the ball away 15 times, and that can't happen, even against a weaker opponent like the Titans.
That being said, it'll be hard for the Titans to capitalize on mistakes given their current situation at quarterback. Charlie Whitehurst will start again at quarterback, and he completed just 52.2 percent of his passes for 177 yards, a touchdown and an interception in his last game against the Colts.
Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky will dial up the blitzes early and often once again on Sunday against a weaker quarterback, and that should make things easier on the defense. As long as the offense can at least find the end zone a couple of times, the Colts should be fine. But I expect Luck to have a big bounce-back game and give the Colts a very comfortable win to get them ready for the postseason.
Prediction: Colts 27, Titans 10
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