Colts vs. Giants: Complete Week 9 Preview for Indianapolis

The Indianapolis Colts are looking to bounce back after a blowout loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers by grabbing their sixth win of the season on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants.

Despite the 51-34 loss last week, the Colts are still 5-3 and on top of the AFC South. The Houston Texans are close behind at 4-4, but with them taking on the Philadelphia Eagles this week, it's the perfect opportunity for the Colts to put some more distance between them in the division race.

Before losing to Pittsburgh, the Colts had won five straight games in large part thanks to some great play from the defense. Unfortunately, once Vontae Davis went down last Sunday, the entire defense collapsed, allowing Ben Roethlisberger to throw for 522 yards and six touchdowns.

“We've shown everybody what we can do, so the expectations are high," safety Mike Adams told WTHR's Bob Kravitz. “To take a step back like this is tough, really tough."

Despite the rough outing from the defense, Andrew Luck continues to do what he can to lead the Indianapolis offense. Through eight games, he's already thrown for 2,731 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

While the Colts try to turn things around with a solid week of practice, let's take a look at a complete Week 9 preview for their game against the Giants.

Colts Week 8 Recap

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Despite last week's loss being such a one-sided affair, the Colts were actually able to keep it pretty close in the second half despite some very bad plays.

The Colts got on the board first with an Adam Vinatieri field goal, but the Steelers answered right back with the first touchdown of the day for Roethlisberger. Big Ben then threw another TD pass, this time to Martavis Bryant, to start the second quarter. On the Colts' next drive, Luck threw a pick-six to William Gay on just the second play, giving the Steelers an early 21-3 lead.

As he usually does, Luck answered the turnover with a scoring drive, finding Dwayne Allen in the end zone with a beautiful pass. The defense couldn't hold the Steelers, however, answering with two straight touchdowns by Antonio Brown to go up 35-10.

The Colts scored 10 points in the final two minutes of the half to give the team some hope and eventually made it a one-possession game in the third quarter, but a Luck safety and a late Pittsburgh touchdown gave them the 51-34 win.

The Indianapolis defense allowed 639 total yards, and a big reason for that was the lack of pass rush, as well as the absence of Davis. Roethlisberger wasn't sacked once and was hit just twice. While the offense was productive, it didn't control the time of possession like it usually has, having the ball for only 20:17.

It was an ugly game overall for the Colts, but it was still only one game. If the defense can step up this week, fans should start to calm down again.

News and Notes

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Colts Not Rushing To Put LaRon Landry Back on Roster

Safety LaRon Landry has finished his four-week suspension for violating the league's PED policy, and even though he's eligible to return to the 53-man roster, the Colts don't seem to be in a big hurry.

Stephen Holder from the Indianapolis Star reported that the Colts plan to use a one-week roster exemption on Landry that allows him to practice without being on the active roster. However, the Colts can add Landry to the 53-man roster before 4 p.m. on Monday and he would still be able to play against the Giants.

"If we want him to play on Monday, then we have to do it by 4 p.m.," Chuck Pagano told Holder. "If he's not, and we don't want to throw him out there after being gone for a month—which I hope everyone would understand—then we don't have to do that."

Before the suspension, Landry was not playing well this season, consistently missing tackles. Sergio Brown has played better in his place, making it hard for the Colts to put Landry back in the starting lineup this early. Still, with how much Pagano seems to like Landry, don't be shocked if he's starting at safety again in the near future.

Hakeem Nicks, Ahmad Bradshaw Playing Against Old Team

Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw were both pretty recently on the Giants, so this is a game for both of them to show what their former team has been missing out on.

Bradshaw has been a terrific threat out of the backfield, racking up 635 total yards and eight total touchdowns. His six receiving touchdowns are just three shy of tying Marshall Faulk's NFL record of nine receiving touchdowns as a running back.

On the other hand, Nicks has been almost nonexistent in the Colts offense, struggling to get on the same page as Luck during games. Through eight games, he's caught just 18 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns.  

"I'm in a new situation, and I've got a chance to prove to this team what I can bring to the table," Nicks told ESPN.com's Mike Wells. "I take everything from the past and I learn from it. I don't dwell on it. It's life. There's going to be ups and downs, and you just learn from it."

For Nicks, there wouldn't be a better time to have his first big game of the year than against his former team.

Rashad Jennings Out for Giants

One of the things the Colts defense has prided itself on this season has been stopping the run, allowing just 99.3 yards per game on the ground. Now, the Colts have a chance to drop that number even lower against the Giants.

Mike Chappell from RTV6 tweeted that running back Rashad Jennings would be out for the Giants, according to head coach Tom Coughlin. Jennings has been the team's leading rusher, running for 396 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

Despite being such a productive running back last season at Boston College, rookie Andre Williams has struggled in his first NFL season. He's averaged just 3.1 yards per carry but has started to get more comfortable recently, running for 131 yards and two scores over the past two games.

Williams will try to keep improving, but with the depth the Colts have on the defensive line, the rookie could be in for a long night on Monday.

Injury Report

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Player	Position	Injury Status
Vontae Davis	CB	Full
D'Qwell Jackson	ILB	Full
Arthur Jones	DT	DNP
Josh McNary	ILB	DNP
Erik Walden	OLB	DNP
Reggie Wayne	WR	Full

The defense was exposed last week without its best player in Davis, but that doesn't look like it will be a problem on Monday. He's been participating fully in practice all week, so the secondary should have all of its guys this week, which could be a big difference.

The other good news is that Reggie Wayne was able to practice on Friday after missing last week's game with an elbow injury. He should be ready to play against the Giants, but look for the Colts to also give rookie Donte Moncrief some more snaps just to make sure Wayne doesn't push himself too much.

Linebacker depth may be an issue this week. D'Qwell Jackson is dealing with a toe injury, and while he should be good to go, the Colts may be without his backup in Josh McNary. The Colts don't have a lot of options at inside linebacker, so they're going to have to hope no one else gets hurt.

Arthur Jones might be out once again. He was finally able to return last Sunday for the first time since Week 2, but he did not play well. According to Chappell, Jones was actually in a boot earlier in the week, and the fact that he has yet to practice doesn't bode well for him.

Fortunately, the Colts can afford to let Jones sit out another game to try and get healthy thanks to their depth on the defensive line. Ricky Jean Francois has stepped up in Jones' absence, and he should be able to continue making a positive impact.

X-Factors and Matchups to Watch

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Anthony Castonzo vs. Jason Pierre-Paul

Few players have turned things around from 2013 as much as Jason Pierre-Paul, who has once again looked like one of the best 4-3 defensive ends in the NFL. The two-time Pro Bowler missed the end of last season, but he has turned things around, recording 3.5 sacks and four pass deflections through seven games.

Even more impressive has been JPP's ability to blow up the running game. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Pierre-Paul has the highest run defense grade among 4-3 defensive ends at 16.9, with Denver's Derek Wolfe in second at just 8.2.

Anthony Castonzo has been a solid left tackle for the Colts in pass protection, but this will be a serious test on Monday night whenever they try to run the ball.

Colts Secondary vs. Eli Manning

After giving up six touchdowns to Big Ben last week, the secondary needs to show that they can limit opposing quarterbacks, and the secondary will need to do what it can on Monday to keep Eli Manning from having a big game.

Fortunately, the Colts will be getting Davis back, so he should be able to shut down opposing receivers like Rueben Randle or Odell Beckham Jr. considering how well he's played this year.

Still, even with arguably their best player on defense back, the Colts secondary can't have another bad game. Eli hasn't been lights out this year, but he's still posted a 96.8 passer rating with 14 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

With Jennings out in the backfield, the Giants could end up passing the ball more than they'd like to, and that should give the Colts secondary the opportunity to make some big plays.

Bjoern Werner vs. Will Beatty

Just after Colts fans were starting to buy into sophomore pass-rusher Bjoern Werner, the entire defense failed to generate any pressure on Roethlisberger this past week. Werner didn't end up getting to Roethlisberger once, only hurrying the veteran quarterback one time.

Things might not get much easier this week going against Giants offensive tackle Will Beatty. According to PFF, Beatty has allowed just one sack and four hits on Manning all year, but he has also been one of their more reliable blockers in the run game.

At 6'6" and 319 pounds, Beatty is a hard offensive lineman to get by, but if Werner is able to generate some pressure, it will say a lot about how far the sophomore out of Florida State has come.

Colts' X-Factor of the Week: Donte Moncrief

Rookie wide receive Donte Moncrief had his first breakout game with the Colts last week, catching seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted 12 times, the first time all season he had more than five.

Even if Wayne is able to play Monday, Moncrief should still be getting a few touches in this game. According to Holder, Pagano and the rest of the coaching staff will be trying to find more ways to get Moncrief involved in the offense.

The Giants have enough weapons to worry about for Monday's game but expect Luck to keep looking for Moncrief as long as he keeps producing when on the field.

Prediction

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Since the start of the Luck era in Indianapolis, the Colts have only lost back-to-back games once, and that came in the first two weeks of this season.

The entire team wants to make sure that doesn't happen again.

This isn't the first time the Colts have lost in a blowout since Pagano took over as head coach, but they've always found ways to recover the next week. The offense has still been playing well, so it's up to the defense to make the necessary adjustments, and they apparently feel better heading into this week.

"You put it behind you," Darius Butler told Holder. "We watched the film. We made the corrections. We know who we are as a unit, who we can be. But all that means nothing unless we go out there and prove it every Sunday."

Looking at both teams' seasons up to this point, the Colts have been the better squad. Football Outsiders has the Colts as the seventh-best team in terms of weighted defense-adjusted value over average, or DVOA, while the Giants rank just 22nd.

One of the bigger keys to this game will be controlling the clock for the Colts. They weren't able to do that last week, and it was one of the many reasons the team struggled. Having Trent Richardson in the backfield once again should help, as he and Bradshaw have done a good job chewing up clock on the ground this year.

On defense, the blitzes are going to need to keep coming from defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, especially since Davis is healthy. If they can get pressure in Manning's face, then this game shouldn't be too difficult.

Prediction: Colts 31, Giants 17