5 Halftime Adjustments Indianapolis Must Make

In a Sunday night game most pundits figured to be a blowout, the Colts have kept it competitive with the Steelers. With the Colts winning 13-10 at half, here are five things the Colts need to focus on moving forward.

Limit the deep ball

Though the Colts are dealing with a very inexperienced secondary, there is no excuse for a linebacker to be the closest thing to stopping Mike Wallace from a deep touchdown grab. Earlier in the game, Emmanuel Sanders should have had Pittsburgh’s first TD before a late distraction from Antoine Bethea. Almost effortlessly, Big Ben is connecting with several targets for more than 20 yard gains. Banged up or not, the secondary needs to step it up.

Mix in the run game more  

The Colts can’t expect Kerry Collins to carry them to victory with quality coverage on all of his best targets. On the Colts best drive of the night, Joseph Addai finally began to show his worth on the ground. If the Colts want to make this one competitive, we’ll need to see more of him and Delone Carter. As much as I’m sure Colts fans appreciate seeing Peyton Manning helping out the offense from the sidelines, the plays can’t be called as if Peyton is out there himself.

Keep with the quick-hit plays

Letting Kerry Collins go deep two out of three downs is no way to win a ball game. Hitting multiple receivers with short completions while mixing in the run game is. Though the Colts couldn’t capitalize in the red zone after a long drive, the variety of play-calling is definitely a good sign for the Colts moving forward.  

Pay extra attention to Mike Wallace

Though the Steeler WR corps have quality depth, particularly with Jericho Cotchery’s return this week, the Colts defense needs to do a better job containing Mike Wallace. It took only three Steeler snaps for Wallace to amass 48 yards on two catches before busting loose for an 81-yard touchdown.

Keep the fans in the game

Steeler nation is notorious for coming out to wherever its beloved black and yellow plays. If the Colts continue to make big plays on both sides of the ball, the 12th man advantage will stay with Indy in Lucas Oil Stadium.