1. It’s the most… existent time of the year, when NFL Saturday action gets underway, and that means we mix two columns—the Football Things preview and the Sunday FreakOut review—into one delicious goulash. We start with takeaways from the Colts’ Saturday night victory over New England…
Belichick Put It In His Defense’s Hands: And they didn’t deliver, allowing the Colts to pick up two first downs on their second-to-last possession, despite the fact that there was no way Carson Wentz was going to throw another pass. I didn’t like the decision to kick a fourth-and-goal field goal down 13 in the fourth quarter—even if you don’t get the touchdown, you’re pinning a team that doesn’t trust their quarterback inside their own 5. But neither approach works if your defense doesn’t get off the field. And then, on the final play of the night for the defense, Dont’a Hightower and Devin McCourty overran the play on Jonathan Taylor’s game-clinching TD run.
Jonathan Taylor As Kyra Sedgwick In :
A Bad Matchup for Mac Jones: Outdoor football in January will be interesting for a Florida native who played college football in the SEC, but this one was, obviously, indoors. That said, this Colts defense is both very good, and matches up very well against Jones’s strengths. Their secondary is at their best early in the down—the way to beat them is on slower-developing play-action concepts and second-reaction plays—and they don’t let anyone run on them. Still, Jones’s first half was downright ugly. The second half, against looser coverage, was better, and his second touchdown throw—around hook defender Darius Leonard, with pressure in his face that kept him from stepping into it—was tremendous. But, overall, this was a long night for a rookie quarterback facing a great defense.
A Brutal Night for Patriots Special Teams: They gave up a blocked punt that went for a TD, they jumped offsides on a field goal attempt that gave Michael Badgley a second chance, Nick Folk’s pooch kick in lieu of an onside attempt when way too far, Gunner Olszewski fumbled it out of bounds on an early punt return… Bill Belichick’s Christmas is absolutely ruined. Like, if at the end of the Grinch, all the Who’s were just like, Wait, we did want our stuff.
Dugger and Pittman Tossed, Judon Getting In Wentz’s Face…:
Like Aerosmith Doing a Bad Bon Jovi Impression, Carson Wentz Is Livin’ on the Edge: I’m not being sarcastic when I write that he had a couple of absolutely huge plays on QB sneaks that were not gimmes. But as a passer, in a game where he was protecting a lead, he put one ball into a linebacker’s hands that should have been a pick-six, and he stared down then forced a throw that was well covered by second- and third-level zone defenders that did result in an interception. Frank Reich, rightly, didn’t let him throw another pass all night, which is a luxury you can afford when you have Jonathan Taylor and that offensive line.
Darius Leonard, DeForest Buckner and Kenny Moore: Is a power trio we can all get behind. Leonard and Moore made Mac Jones’s night miserable, and Buckner’s sack to end New England’s first drive, lining up on the right end and getting around Isaiah Wynn almost literally untouched with an inside move, was utterly terrifying.
Well, This Was Most Certainly a Penalty:
The Colts Are the Second-Best Team in the AFC: Behind only the Chiefs. Though if you’ve watched football this year you already knew that. Indy lost one in Baltimore because the kicker got hurt, they lost disastrously officiated home games to Tennessee and Tampa, and they let a couple slip away due to sloppy red-zone execution. Even with the giant question mark at quarterback, this is not a team anyone wants to host in four weeks.
Jonathan Taylor Is Wonderful: But not the MVP in a league where so much is put on the quarterbacks. I’d be open to Taylor, the Colts’ offensive line and defense, Frank Reich, and Matt Eberflus splitting MVP, but I’m not sure if that’s really in the spirit of the award.
