Bengals vs. Colts: Full Report Card Grades for Indianapolis
A sluggish ending to the regular season didn't seem to matter for the Indianapolis Colts, as they came away with a convincing 26-10 win in the Wild Card Round against the Cincinnati Bengals.
A strong opening drive that featured plenty of third-year running back Daniel Herron ended with a two-yard touchdown from Boom to put the Colts up 7-0 early. However, the Bengals tied things up before the end of the second quarter with a 74-yard drive that ended with a one-yard score from Jeremy Hill.
It looked like the Colts were going to pull away in the second quarter, but several drives ended just before they reached the end zone, leading to a pair of Adam Vinatieri field goals. The Colts looked like they would put up some more points before halftime, but a fumble from Herron led to a 57-yard field goal from Mike Nugent just before halftime, giving the Colts just a 13-10 lead.
Fortunately, the Colts made plenty of adjustments at halftime and shut the Bengals down. Luck continued to play well, hitting Donte Moncrief on a beautiful 36-yard touchdown to give the Colts a two-possession lead. While the offense kept chewing clock in the second half, the defense was shutting down Andy Dalton and company, consistently forcing the Bengals to punt after three-and-outs.
The second half wasn't close, and the Colts pulled away. By the end of the game, they had outgained the Bengals 482 yards to 254, averaging 2.6 more yards per play.
After such a strong win, the Colts will take on the Denver Broncos next week. But before they play Denver, let's take a look at the report card grades for Indianapolis from the wild-card win.
Quarterback
1 of 10
While Luck usually had slow starts to end the regular season, he looked locked in from the onset against the Bengals. Unfortunately, his receivers did not, as multiple deep passes from Luck that were on the mark were either dropped or bobbled.
The numbers from Luck in the first half still weren't bad, with the third-year quarterback completing 16 of his 27 attempts for 219 yards. However, he could have had a couple of touchdowns and far more completions had his receivers not been struggling.
The receivers turned it around in the second half, and that helped out Luck even more. In the third quarter, he may have had one of the best throws of his career, escaping pressure before throwing a dime on the move to Moncrief for a 36-yard score. That was Luck's only touchdown of the game, but he continued to drive the Colts down the field drive after drive.
Luck finished 31-of-44 for 376 yards and that touchdown, ending with a 104.0 passer rating. Aside from a couple of throws that sailed for incompletions, he was dialed in all day, and his numbers would have looked much better if his receivers hadn't struggled early on.
Grade: A
Running Back
2 of 10
It could not have been a better start for Daniel Herron, who proved that he's the Colts' starting running back for the playoffs. On the opening drive, he put up 58 total yards, including 32 on the ground before finishing the drive off with a two-yard touchdown.
Herron looked like he would finish the first half on a high note, picking up 34 rushing and 61 receiving yards. However, on a screen near the end of the second quarter, he was stripped by Darqueze Dennard, leading to the team's first turnover of the game. Ball security had been a problem for Herron all year, and a fumble like that in the playoffs can really hurt his team.
Although he was probably down, Herron fumbled once again late in the game, but the Colts were able to recover. He finished with 56 yards and a touchdown on the ground while adding 85 more yards on 10 receptions.
Trent Richardson only played one snap, and the Colts instead went with Zurlon Tipton as their backup running back. He also made some nice plays on the ground, adding 40 yards on 11 carries. The fumbles from Herron weren't ideal, but both running backs made a ton of great plays to help set their team up for the win.
Grade: B+
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Coming into the playoffs, T.Y. Hilton had been dealing with a hamstring injury, and it looked like it was bothering him early on. In the first quarter, he was targeted five times but was unable to catch a single pass. Fortunately, he started to turn things around in the second quarter, catching four passes for 80 yards and showing some speed in the open field.
Hilton finished with 103 yards on six receptions, but it took 14 targets for him to put up those numbers. Some of that might have been due to his hamstring injury, but he'll have another week of rest to make sure he's healthy for the game against Denver.
Rookie receiver Donte Moncrief had a huge game when it mattered, catching all three passes thrown to him for 54 yards, including that 36-yard score. He continues to make an impact on offense, and the Colts will need him to keep stepping up as long as they're in the playoffs.
After such a rough start to the season, Hakeem Nicks got the home crowd pumped up in the second quarter, making a great adjustment to a deep pass from Luck for a 45-yard reception. Nicks finished with 59 yards on three catches. Reggie Wayne was surprisingly absent, but his one catch came on a third down in the fourth quarter to let the Colts keep chewing clock.
Dwayne Allen hurt his team with a couple of early false-start penalties, which was unacceptable in a big game like this one. He still caught three passes for 30 yards, but those penalties weren't pretty. Fellow tight end Coby Fleener had just one catch for 18 yards.
This unit had some rough patches but turned it around in the second half.
Grade: B-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
At the start of the game, it looked like it was going to be a long day for the offensive line. Joe Reitz, who started at right tackle, gave up some ground, which put some pressure on Luck.
Fortunately, that pressure seemed to vanish a few plays later. The Colts began to add some help on the right side, and the pocket cleaned up significantly for Luck. The right side of the line still gave up some pressure, including a sack just before the two-minute warning. However, the offensive line played much better than expected coming into Sunday.
Luck continued to have time in the pocket in the second half, and although he was hurried a handful of times, he wasn't sacked again. There were times where he had all day in the pocket, and that's been rare to see this season.
As for the running game, Anthony Castonzo and Jack Mewhort stood out as they opened up rushing lanes. As a team, the Colts put up 114 yards on just 25 carries, and a lot of that came from some wide-open holes from the running backs to hit.
The Bengals don't have the most intimidating front seven, but this was one of the best performances from the offensive line all year.
Grade: A
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Coming into the game, the Colts defensive line knew that the Bengals were going to try to run the ball, and the unit did a solid job of stopping Cincinnati. Besides a 23-yard gain on a reverse from Rex Burkhead, the Colts allowed just 42 yards on 11 designed run plays.
Cory Redding stood out the most on the defensive line. Along with picking up a sack and two quarterback hits, he made plays even when he wasn't generating pressure, adding two pass deflections at the line of scrimmage. Ricky Jean Francois also made a play against the pass, picking up a half-sack.
Arthur Jones and Redding were big factors against the run for the entire game. Excluding Dalton's scrambles and that Burkhead reverse, Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard picked up just 53 yards while averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
The defensive line was key in Sunday's win; if the Bengals had established the run, Dalton might have done a bit more damage.
Grade: A-
Linebacker
6 of 10
D'Qwell Jackson did not get off to the best of starts against the Bengals, missing a tackle on Jeremy Hill in the backfield on the opening drive of the game. Things never really got any better for Jackson, as he was slow and unable to make much of an impact defensively.
After missing last week's game, Bjoern Werner returned and didn't play particularly well. He did a poor job of setting the edge on the first play of the game, which allowed Burkhead to break off to the outside for a 23-yard gain on a reverse. He also made little impact rushing the passer, not getting close to Dalton.
Surprisingly, Erik Walden had one of his better games. Along with some solid plays at the line of scrimmage, he was much more disciplined in setting the edge, staying home on a play where Dalton kept the ball to prevent the quarterback from getting back to the line. Walden also added a pass deflection.
Jerrell Freeman was the player of the game on defense. He was almost everywhere, making open-field tackles, rushing the quarterback and stopping running backs at the line. He finished with 15 total tackles as well as 1.5 sacks.
The linebackers weren't always productive, but the impact from Freeman and Walden was felt, especially late in the game.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
Vontae Davis continued to show why he's one of the best cornerbacks in the league, shutting down his receivers and quickly making tackles when they did catch passes on him. Davis also made some big plays when needed behind the line of scrimmage, getting another big hit on Bernard like he did back in Week 7.
Despite a holding penalty, Greg Toler didn't play that poorly on Sunday. Receivers caught few passes on him, and he even logged three pass deflections. On the other hand, Darius Butler continued to struggle against slot receivers this year; he couldn't contain Burkhead, who caught three passes for 34 yards.
After the defense had given up a touchdown on the previous drive, Mike Adams stepped up in the second quarter on a deep pass from Andy Dalton on third down, playing tight with his receiver and forcing an incompletion. Adams was reliable when Dalton went deep, not allowing any big plays in the passing game.
The Colts secondary shut down Dalton after the first half, as he finished with just 155 yards on 18-of-35 passing for just 4.4 yards per attempt. Even though the Bengals didn't have A.J. Green and Jermaine Gresham, you have to give the Colts credit for shutting the passing game down.
Grade: A-
Special Teams
8 of 10
Special teams can play a huge factor in the playoffs, and luckily for the Colts, they have the best unit in football with two All-Pros in Adam Vinatieri and Pat McAfee.
Both of those guys had great games against the Bengals. Vinatieri, who recently turned 42 years old, was automatic once again. The 42-year-old hit all four of his field-goal attempts, including a 53-yard kick that sailed right through the uprights.
McAfee was a huge factor in the field-position game with some terrific punts. He only punted four times but averaged 51.5 yards per attempt. His 68-yard punt was the longest in Colts playoff history, while two of his punts landed inside the 20-yard line.
If it weren't for these two, this game could have been much closer early on, but they proved again why they deserved to be recognized on the All-Pro team.
Grade: A+
Coaching
9 of 10
I have been as critical as anyone about the Colts coaching staff this season, but I can't say enough about how well they coached this team on Sunday.
The coaching staff made the right decision to make Herron the starter. They continued to gain my support when they left Richardson, who has struggled since coming to Indianapolis, on the bench. Herron and Tipton were effective running backs, and the coaching staff apparently realized that it was time to move on.
Chuck Pagano deserves a ton of credit for whatever he told his players in the locker room at halftime. The team was making sloppy mistakes in the first half, but it seemed like everyone was making plays in the second, which helped the Colts pull away and get a win.
Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton called a heck of a game. He ran the ball sparingly for most of the game except for the opening drive, but it worked. The offensive line gave Luck all kinds of time, and the offense kept moving because of it. Hamilton then turned to the ground attack late in the game, and it helped the Colts run out the clock.
On defense, Greg Manusky wasn't as aggressive with his blitz packages, but he didn't need to be. The secondary was containing Cincinnati's weapons, and Dalton couldn't find anyone open.
This coaching staff deserved the criticism they received in the regular season, but not playing Richardson and letting Luck air it out say a lot about their postseason strategy. Perhaps they've just been waiting for the playoffs to start making the necessary adjustments?
Grade: A+
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Position | Final Grades |
| QB | A |
| RB | B+ |
| WR/TE | B- |
| OL | A |
| DL | A- |
| LB | B |
| Secondary | A- |
| Special Teams | A+ |
| Coaching | A+ |
| Cumulative Grade | A- |
They didn't have the best first half, but if the Colts keep playing like they did in the second, the rest of the AFC better be ready.
Offensively, the Colts showed that they're not afraid to keep passing with Luck. This week's offensive line combination looked pretty reliable, but it could be even better if Hugh Thornton returns and replaces Lance Louis next week at right guard. On the ground, the Colts may finally have a reliable running game with Herron and Tipton.
There are still questions about the defense, but a healthy Davis and a motivated Freeman showed a lot of promise this week. This defense might be able to contain Peyton Manning next week with press coverage on his receivers, as the veteran's arm strength is nearly gone. If the Colts can somehow get pressure on Manning, that could be the difference.
It's only one game, but the Colts showed a lot of promise this week. They gave the Broncos a bit of a scare in Week 1, and they'll have a chance to pull off the big upset next week.
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