Browns vs. Colts: 3 Second-Half Adjustments the Colts Must Make

The game has gone better than last week, although that isn't hard to do with how awful the Colts were last week.

They have strung together two nice scoring drives, but they only resulted in field goals instead of touchdowns.

Let's take a look at the key adjustments that the Colts must make to win the game today.

Special Teams CANNOT Give Up Big Yardage

The Browns' touchdown in the middle of the second quarter can be attributed directly to the short field that they got on a nice run back from Joshua Cribbs.

The Colts coverage unit needs to do a much better job of reigning in returners and getting through blockers.

Big returns on special teams are killers and put enormous pressure on the defense. The Colts desperately need to stop big returns.

The Colts Need to Finish Drives with Touchdowns

The Colts have been bad today once they get around the Browns' 30-yard line. The Browns punched in a touchdown off of the short field. The Colts, on the other hand, haven't been able to finish off drives with seven points.

The Colts have been much better on defense today, but they might not be able to hold out all game if the offense can't start getting more than three points off of their drives.

Since they haven't had success close to the end zone so far, perhaps they should try to mix up the play-calling a bit by doing some reverses or play-action passes. Dallas Clark has been able to run for positive yardage with those reverses on occasion.

The Colts Need to Stiffen Up on Defense on Third Downs

The Browns are 3-for-6 on 3rd down today. The Colts need to do a better job on 3rd down. They are giving too much room to receivers.

The secondary hasn't played receivers as tight as they need to, and they need to step up in the second half to minimize those 3rd down conversions through the air.

The Colts are not a great run-stopping team, but they've been fairly effective today. They definitely need to continue to bottle up Peyton Hillis in the running game.