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It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

We are at the half-way stage of the season already, which is both exciting and sad at the same time as we head into the cruch time for team's playoff hopes.

Week eight features the Indianapolis Colts travelling up to Heinz Field to face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in what should be a great game between two teams that will be feeling confident going into it, with the Colts having shut-out the Cincinnati Bengals last week and the Steelers coming off a huge win against the Houston Texans in Monday night football.

With the Colts at 5-2 and the Steelers at 4-3, a win for either team would keep them well within the AFC playoff picture, but what will be the five key things to watch this weekend?

No.1: Andrew Luck's continued level of great play.

The Colts' quarterback deserves to be in the MVP discussion at this stage of the season, so far he has totalled 2,331 passing yards with 19 touchdowns to go with it. To give some perspective on these numbers in his previous two seasons Luck threw 23 touchdowns in each, so he is on course to smash his career best numbers. His QBR of 100.5 is also a good chunk higher than his previous season's 87.0 and 76.5 marks. Luck's play is one of the main reasons behind the Colts' 5-2 record.

No.2: Antonio Brown vs. T.Y. Hilton.

A big matchup between two small (relatively) guys. When you compare the numbers between the two receivers they are unbelievabley similar. Hilton has 47 catches for 711 yards to Brown's 50 catches for 719 yards, the only real difference is Brown has five touchdowns to Hilton's solitary score. But more on the Colts' receiving game in a minute. Both defenses will have to game plan for the respective speedster on offence.

No.3: Ahmad Bradshaw's incredible receiving game?!

I think this came as a shock to most of us, but this season Bradshaw has been a revelation receiving passes from the backfield. So far this season he has six receiving touchdowns, SIX! Some names that don't have that right now include: Antonio Brown, Brandon Marshall, Dez Bryant, Rob Gronkowski, I could go on. In his previous seven seasons in the league Bradshaw had only totalled three receiving touchdowns. Admittedly as a running back he has only one touchdown on the ground, but I'm sure Colts fans and fantasy owners alike won't mind how he scores, as long as it keeps going.

No.4: Colts Offence vs. Steelers defense.

As a Pittsburgh fan this has me worried. Indianapolis' offensive unit is number one in the league for total yards and the Steelers defense is a very un-Steelers-like 15th overall in most yards allowed. If the Steelers want any chance of winning this game the defense will have to step-up and try and limit the Colts as much as possible, keep them to around 20-23 points and a Pittsburgh victory could happen.

No.5: Le'Veon Bell continuing to do everything?

Bell has been one, if not the best all-round back in the league so far this year, ranking third overall in rushing yards and adding 339 receiving yards. He has been as crucial as Brown and Ben Roethlisberger have been to the Steelers winning games, with a viable running threat, this takes away the pressure from Roethlisberger to try and do everything himself like in the past few seasons.

We are at the half-way stage of the season already, which is both exciting and sad at the same time as we head into the cruch time for team's playoff hopes.

Week eight features the Indianapolis Colts travelling up to Heinz Field to face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in what should be a great game between two teams that will be feeling confident going into it, with the Colts having shut-out the Cincinnati Bengals last week and the Steelers coming off a huge win against the Houston Texans in Monday night football.

With the Colts at 5-2 and the Steelers at 4-3, a win for either team would keep them well within the AFC playoff picture, but what will be the five key things to watch this weekend?

No.1: Andrew Luck's continued level of great play.

The Colts' quarterback deserves to be in the MVP discussion at this stage of the season, so far he has totalled 2,331 passing yards with 19 touchdowns to go with it. To give some perspective on these numbers in his previous two seasons Luck threw 23 touchdowns in each, so he is on course to smash his career best numbers. His QBR of 100.5 is also a good chunk higher than his previous season's 87.0 and 76.5 marks. Luck's play is one of the main reasons behind the Colts' 5-2 record.

No.2: Antonio Brown vs. T.Y. Hilton.

A big matchup between two small (relatively) guys. When you compare the numbers between the two receivers they are unbelievabley similar. Hilton has 47 catches for 711 yards to Brown's 50 catches for 719 yards, the only real difference is Brown has five touchdowns to Hilton's solitary score. But more on the Colts' receiving game in a minute. Both defenses will have to game plan for the respective speedster on offence.

No.3: Ahmad Bradshaw's incredible receiving game?!

I think this came as a shock to most of us, but this season Bradshaw has been a revelation receiving passes from the backfield. So far this season he has six receiving touchdowns, SIX! Some names that don't have that right now include: Antonio Brown, Brandon Marshall, Dez Bryant, Rob Gronkowski, I could go on. In his previous seven seasons in the league Bradshaw had only totalled three receiving touchdowns. Admittedly as a running back he has only one touchdown on the ground, but I'm sure Colts fans and fantasy owners alike won't mind how he scores, as long as it keeps going.

No.4: Colts Offence vs. Steelers defense.

As a Pittsburgh fan this has me worried. Indianapolis' offensive unit is number one in the league for total yards and the Steelers defense is a very un-Steelers-like 15th overall in most yards allowed. If the Steelers want any chance of winning this game the defense will have to step-up and try and limit the Colts as much as possible, keep them to around 20-23 points and a Pittsburgh victory could happen.

No.5: Le'Veon Bell continuing to do everything?

Bell has been one, if not the best all-round back in the league so far this year, ranking third overall in rushing yards and adding 339 receiving yards. He has been as crucial as Brown and Ben Roethlisberger have been to the Steelers winning games, with a viable running threat, this takes away the pressure from Roethlisberger to try and do everything himself like in the past few seasons.

The Indianapolis Colts chose to cut ties with their future Hall of Famer quarterback Peyton Manning the end of 2011. Owner Jim Irsay wanted to go in a different direction, as the quarterback was suffering from a severe neck injury and also some internal power struggles were engaged.

Jim Irsay did just that, as they said goodbye to Peyton Manning they said hello to Andrew Luck. They drafted Luck with the first overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Andrew Luck was considered the most NFL-ready quarterback to ever come out of college since Peyton Manning in 1998. But the wounds were still open in Indianapolis, as they weren’t ready to let go of their prized player in Manning.

Fast forward two and a half years later, and now you have the future in Andrew Luck which has potential that is unlimited. In his first two NFL seasons, he led the Colts to an 11-5 record. Not bad for a young quarterback that is always going to be in the shadow of the great Peyton Manning. Before he joined the Indianapolis Colts, they were an off-balance team that went 2-14, and then Andrew Luck came to save the day and became their saviour.

Many people were stating in the beginning of this season, that the Indianapolis Colts made a bad decision on letting Peyton Manning go. The reason why fans and the media felt this way was because Andrew Luck led his team to an 0-2 start. Then the NFL world started to panic and question the young star’s ability, to lead this once powered offense back to an elite level.

Now that the Indianapolis Colts are 4-2, after their win Thursday night against the Houston Texans, NFL fans are starting to believe in him again. Andrew Luck in the next three years will be the best quarterback in the NFL; guaranteed. He not only has a strong arm, but he’s very mobile in getting his team those extra yards for a first down. In his first two seasons, he’s accumulated 8,196 passing yards. The way he’s throwing the ball so far this year, he’s on target to throw for over 5,000 yards and 40 or more touchdowns this season.

At only 25-years-old and in his third NFL season, I can say that the Indianapolis Colts definitely made the right decision in drafting Andrew Luck. Hopefully some Super Bowls will come later for this young phenomenon.

The Indianapolis Colts chose to cut ties with their future Hall of Famer quarterback Peyton Manning the end of 2011. Owner Jim Irsay wanted to go in a different direction, as the quarterback was suffering from a severe neck injury and also some internal power struggles were engaged.

Jim Irsay did just that, as they said goodbye to Peyton Manning they said hello to Andrew Luck. They drafted Luck with the first overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Andrew Luck was considered the most NFL-ready quarterback to ever come out of college since Peyton Manning in 1998. But the wounds were still open in Indianapolis, as they weren’t ready to let go of their prized player in Manning.

Fast forward two and a half years later, and now you have the future in Andrew Luck which has potential that is unlimited. In his first two NFL seasons, he led the Colts to an 11-5 record. Not bad for a young quarterback that is always going to be in the shadow of the great Peyton Manning. Before he joined the Indianapolis Colts, they were an off-balance team that went 2-14, and then Andrew Luck came to save the day and became their saviour.

Many people were stating in the beginning of this season, that the Indianapolis Colts made a bad decision on letting Peyton Manning go. The reason why fans and the media felt this way was because Andrew Luck led his team to an 0-2 start. Then the NFL world started to panic and question the young star’s ability, to lead this once powered offense back to an elite level.

Now that the Indianapolis Colts are 4-2, after their win Thursday night against the Houston Texans, NFL fans are starting to believe in him again. Andrew Luck in the next three years will be the best quarterback in the NFL; guaranteed. He not only has a strong arm, but he’s very mobile in getting his team those extra yards for a first down. In his first two seasons, he’s accumulated 8,196 passing yards. The way he’s throwing the ball so far this year, he’s on target to throw for over 5,000 yards and 40 or more touchdowns this season.

At only 25-years-old and in his third NFL season, I can say that the Indianapolis Colts definitely made the right decision in drafting Andrew Luck. Hopefully some Super Bowls will come later for this young phenomenon.

After a shaky 0-2 start for the Indianapolis Colts, they have fired off three straight wins and are now tied for top spot in the AFC South after their win against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Colts offense sputtered for most of the game, and Andrew Luck was careless at times with the football, but their defense put together their best performance of the season led by standout performances from Bjoern Werner, Sergio Brown and Vontae Davis. The Ravens offense was mired in poor pass blocking, misfires from Joe Flacco and drops from Torrey Smith, who is having a terrible season thus far.

Here are three things we learned after the game:

1. Andrew Luck’s pocket composure rivals the best in the game

It is very easy to simply say that Andrew Luck is good at football, but you truly have to watch a full game to understand the minute details of his excellence. One of them, is his pocket awareness.

Luck was only sacked once during the game, but he didn’t always see a clean pocket. What amazes me is his ability to fight off defenders that are around him, similar to Ben Roethlisberger. Luck was firing off passes for first downs with bodies draped all over him. He also “climbs” the pocket as well as any quarterback not named Drew Brees or Philip Rivers. Climbing the pocket entails stepping up to it in the face of heavy pressure, while looking down the field and stepping into the throw. Baltimore was not able to pressure luck up the middle and as such, Luck was able to scramble for decent yardage on key occasions.

Luck did throw two interceptions and he almost had another one by forcing a ball into double coverage, but he quickly cleaned up his decision making in the second half and was his usual brilliant self leading the Colts to sustained drives.

2. Pat McAfee is an X-Factor for the Colts

McAfee is not only a great punter and tackler, but his booming leg is an asset for kickoffs. He had two touchbacks and two punts that fell inside the 20 pinning the Ravens on the 5 yard during the first quarter. The Colts offense was proficient enough converting 7 of 15 3rd downs, so McAfee only needed to punt three times, but his 47.7 average yards per punt allowed the Colts to win the field position battle. McAfee is an x-factor during games where the offense is not at its best and field position is imperative to help your defense.

3. It’s not that Trent Richardson is not good, but...

If you visit twitter during NFL Sunday, it feels as if every Trent Richardson rushing attempt is criticized by fans or pundits alike. When he makes a nice run, everyone is silent and as soon as he is stuffed for no gain or negative yards, as it does often happen, the masses rebel and come back out in droves.

Richardson is not a bad running back, but he and Ahmad Bradshaw are running behind the same line, but it is quite clear that Bradshaw is the superior runner. Someone needs to tell Richardson that as a big back, he should make one cut and always be looking up-field. There’s no reason for Richardson to be going laterally through the line of scrimmage as he is just not that type of back. Dancing through the hole, when he isn’t very explosive to begin with is completely outside of his skillset

Bradshaw has success because he knows where he is going as soon as he touches the ball and he is always looking to go forward. He's also running to his strentght, which is elusiveness, patience and vision.

Here were the game stats against the Ravens:

Here are the cumulative stats from this season

Pep Hamilton has done well to feature the running game. The Colts have an offensive line that is much more adept at run blocking than pass blocking and it has helped set up the play-action pass that has been a staple in Andrew Luck’s game. Trent Richardson still has a future with the Colts, but they must be judicious in the type of running plays they call for him and use tactics that force him to keep going downhill.

But ultimately, Bradshaw needs to get the lionshare of the carries. The numbers speak for themselves. Bradshaw will always need a player to spell him, as he’s been one of the more injury prone runners in the league. That is where Trent Richardson should make his niche, as a complementary back able to spot-start, but best suited as a 7-12 carry back who can support a smaller, more diminutive lead runner who can’t carry the load.

Other Notes:

CJ Moseley had a wonderful game with 15 total tackles and a pass deflection. He’s been a revelation for the Ravens defense...Eugene Monroe was brutalized all game by Bjoern Werner. Werner, after a tough rookie season, looks to be settling in nicely replacing Robert Mathis who is out for the season...The Ravens offense was stagnant for most of the game, converting only 1 of 11 third downs, although they did show some continuity when they went no-huddle. Gary Kubiak must go back to that much sooner to get Joe Flacco in rhythm...Speaking of sacks, Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro did a poor job of pass protection in the backfield. That’s one aspect from Ray Rice that will be missed.

After a shaky 0-2 start for the Indianapolis Colts, they have fired off three straight wins and are now tied for top spot in the AFC South after their win against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Colts offense sputtered for most of the game, and Andrew Luck was careless at times with the football, but their defense put together their best performance of the season led by standout performances from Bjoern Werner, Sergio Brown and Vontae Davis. The Ravens offense was mired in poor pass blocking, misfires from Joe Flacco and drops from Torrey Smith, who is having a terrible season thus far.

Here are three things we learned after the game:

1. Andrew Luck’s pocket composure rivals the best in the game

It is very easy to simply say that Andrew Luck is good at football, but you truly have to watch a full game to understand the minute details of his excellence. One of them, is his pocket awareness.

Luck was only sacked once during the game, but he didn’t always see a clean pocket. What amazes me is his ability to fight off defenders that are around him, similar to Ben Roethlisberger. Luck was firing off passes for first downs with bodies draped all over him. He also “climbs” the pocket as well as any quarterback not named Drew Brees or Philip Rivers. Climbing the pocket entails stepping up to it in the face of heavy pressure, while looking down the field and stepping into the throw. Baltimore was not able to pressure luck up the middle and as such, Luck was able to scramble for decent yardage on key occasions.

Luck did throw two interceptions and he almost had another one by forcing a ball into double coverage, but he quickly cleaned up his decision making in the second half and was his usual brilliant self leading the Colts to sustained drives.

2. Pat McAfee is an X-Factor for the Colts

McAfee is not only a great punter and tackler, but his booming leg is an asset for kickoffs. He had two touchbacks and two punts that fell inside the 20 pinning the Ravens on the 5 yard during the first quarter. The Colts offense was proficient enough converting 7 of 15 3rd downs, so McAfee only needed to punt three times, but his 47.7 average yards per punt allowed the Colts to win the field position battle. McAfee is an x-factor during games where the offense is not at its best and field position is imperative to help your defense.

3. It’s not that Trent Richardson is not good, but...

If you visit twitter during NFL Sunday, it feels as if every Trent Richardson rushing attempt is criticized by fans or pundits alike. When he makes a nice run, everyone is silent and as soon as he is stuffed for no gain or negative yards, as it does often happen, the masses rebel and come back out in droves.

Richardson is not a bad running back, but he and Ahmad Bradshaw are running behind the same line, but it is quite clear that Bradshaw is the superior runner. Someone needs to tell Richardson that as a big back, he should make one cut and always be looking up-field. There’s no reason for Richardson to be going laterally through the line of scrimmage as he is just not that type of back. Dancing through the hole, when he isn’t very explosive to begin with is completely outside of his skillset

Bradshaw has success because he knows where he is going as soon as he touches the ball and he is always looking to go forward. He's also running to his strentght, which is elusiveness, patience and vision.

Here were the game stats against the Ravens:

Here are the cumulative stats from this season

Pep Hamilton has done well to feature the running game. The Colts have an offensive line that is much more adept at run blocking than pass blocking and it has helped set up the play-action pass that has been a staple in Andrew Luck’s game. Trent Richardson still has a future with the Colts, but they must be judicious in the type of running plays they call for him and use tactics that force him to keep going downhill.

But ultimately, Bradshaw needs to get the lionshare of the carries. The numbers speak for themselves. Bradshaw will always need a player to spell him, as he’s been one of the more injury prone runners in the league. That is where Trent Richardson should make his niche, as a complementary back able to spot-start, but best suited as a 7-12 carry back who can support a smaller, more diminutive lead runner who can’t carry the load.

Other Notes:

CJ Moseley had a wonderful game with 15 total tackles and a pass deflection. He’s been a revelation for the Ravens defense...Eugene Monroe was brutalized all game by Bjoern Werner. Werner, after a tough rookie season, looks to be settling in nicely replacing Robert Mathis who is out for the season...The Ravens offense was stagnant for most of the game, converting only 1 of 11 third downs, although they did show some continuity when they went no-huddle. Gary Kubiak must go back to that much sooner to get Joe Flacco in rhythm...Speaking of sacks, Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro did a poor job of pass protection in the backfield. That’s one aspect from Ray Rice that will be missed.

After a shaky 0-2 start for the Indianapolis Colts, they have fired off three straight wins and are now tied for top spot in the AFC South after their win against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Colts offense sputtered for most of the game, and Andrew Luck was careless at times with the football, but their defense put together their best performance of the season led by standout performances from Bjoern Werner, Sergio Brown and Vontae Davis. The Ravens offense was mired in poor pass blocking, misfires from Joe Flacco and drops from Torrey Smith, who is having a terrible season thus far.

Here are three things we learned after the game:

1. Andrew Luck’s pocket composure rivals the best in the game

It is very easy to simply say that Andrew Luck is good at football, but you truly have to watch a full game to understand the minute details of his excellence. One of them, is his pocket awareness.

Luck was only sacked once during the game, but he didn’t always see a clean pocket. What amazes me is his ability to fight off defenders that are around him, similar to Ben Roethlisberger. Luck was firing off passes for first downs with bodies draped all over him. He also “climbs” the pocket as well as any quarterback not named Drew Brees or Philip Rivers. Climbing the pocket entails stepping up to it in the face of heavy pressure, while looking down the field and stepping into the throw. Baltimore was not able to pressure luck up the middle and as such, Luck was able to scramble for decent yardage on key occasions.

Luck did throw two interceptions and he almost had another one by forcing a ball into double coverage, but he quickly cleaned up his decision making in the second half and was his usual brilliant self leading the Colts to sustained drives.

2. Pat McAfee is an X-Factor for the Colts

McAfee is not only a great punter and tackler, but his booming leg is an asset for kickoffs. He had two touchbacks and two punts that fell inside the 20 pinning the Ravens on the 5 yard during the first quarter. The Colts offense was proficient enough converting 7 of 15 3rd downs, so McAfee only needed to punt three times, but his 47.7 average yards per punt allowed the Colts to win the field position battle. McAfee is an x-factor during games where the offense is not at its best and field position is imperative to help your defense.

3. It’s not that Trent Richardson is not good, but...

If you visit twitter during NFL Sunday, it feels as if every Trent Richardson rushing attempt is criticized by fans or pundits alike. When he makes a nice run, everyone is silent and as soon as he is stuffed for no gain or negative yards, as it does often happen, the masses rebel and come back out in droves.

Richardson is not a bad running back, but he and Ahmad Bradshaw are running behind the same line, but it is quite clear that Bradshaw is the superior runner. Someone needs to tell Richardson that as a big back, he should make one cut and always be looking up-field. There’s no reason for Richardson to be going laterally through the line of scrimmage as he is just not that type of back. Dancing through the hole, when he isn’t very explosive to begin with is completely outside of his skillset

Bradshaw has success because he knows where he is going as soon as he touches the ball and he is always looking to go forward. He's also running to his strentght, which is elusiveness, patience and vision.

Here were the game stats against the Ravens:

Here are the cumulative stats from this season

Pep Hamilton has done well to feature the running game. The Colts have an offensive line that is much more adept at run blocking than pass blocking and it has helped set up the play-action pass that has been a staple in Andrew Luck’s game. Trent Richardson still has a future with the Colts, but they must be judicious in the type of running plays they call for him and use tactics that force him to keep going downhill.

But ultimately, Bradshaw needs to get the lionshare of the carries. The numbers speak for themselves. Bradshaw will always need a player to spell him, as he’s been one of the more injury prone runners in the league. That is where Trent Richardson should make his niche, as a complementary back able to spot-start, but best suited as a 7-12 carry back who can support a smaller, more diminutive lead runner who can’t carry the load.

Other Notes:

CJ Moseley had a wonderful game with 15 total tackles and a pass deflection. He’s been a revelation for the Ravens defense...Eugene Monroe was brutalized all game by Bjoern Werner. Werner, after a tough rookie season, looks to be settling in nicely replacing Robert Mathis who is out for the season...The Ravens offense was stagnant for most of the game, converting only 1 of 11 third downs, although they did show some continuity when they went no-huddle. Gary Kubiak must go back to that much sooner to get Joe Flacco in rhythm...Speaking of sacks, Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro did a poor job of pass protection in the backfield. That’s one aspect from Ray Rice that will be missed.

The Indianapolis Colts are one of the up-and-coming teams in the NFL. After going 2-14 in 2011, the Colts drafted Andrew Luck first overall and have since made the playoffs in each of the past two years.

The Colts have a good mix of young talent and proven veterans, but they’ll need some of their guys to break out in 2014 if they’re going to take the next step and reach the AFC Championship Game.

The sleeper for the Colts this year indeed came from the 2012 NFL Draft, just like Luck—but he wasn’t drafted by the Colts.

The third pick in the draft that year, Trent Richardson was supposed to be an elite running back. But so far, he’s done nothing but disappoint.

As a rookie with the Cleveland Browns, Richardson was solid. He ran for 950 yards and caught 51 balls for another 367 yards. He also tallied 12 scores, with 11 coming on the ground.

While Richardson produced some solid numbers as a rookie, he averaged just 3.6 yards per carry and fumbled three times. He also never ran for more than 32 yards on a single carry.

Entering his sophomore season, Richardson was supposed to be the star of the Browns’ offense. So it came as a huge surprise when Richardson was traded to the Colts for a 2014 first round pick. At the time, it looked like the Colts took advantage of the Browns, but after seeing Richardson play 14 games in a Colts uniform, more people are calling him a bust and don’t think he was worth a first round pick.

Considering he hasn’t topped 1,000 rushing yards or averaged more than 3.6 yards per carry in a single season, Richardson hasn’t lived up to the hype he had coming out of college just yet. But this will be the year he breaks out and proves he’s worth every penny.

Sure, we all saw T-Rich struggle after being traded last season. He looked lost on the field, and there might be a good reason for that. He said he struggled to understand the Colts’ playbook last year, but he’s learned it now.

People expect a running back to just get the ball and run straight ahead. But in a complex NFL offense, that’s not how it works. If you don’t understand what the line is trying to do and exactly where the holes should be, you’re going to hesitate for a fraction of a second (like we often saw Richardson do last year). That can be the difference between a seven-yard gain or a three-yard loss in the pros—and we saw how damaging that can be last year.

However, Richardson has had almost a full year to learn the playbook now, and he should feel comfortable in Indianapolis now. And that’s not the only reason he could return to form in 2014.

Despite his struggles last year, Richardson remains firmly entrenched as the Colts’ lead back. In June, the team said that he has a chance to be a three-down back (https://linkonym.appspot.com/?http://http://www.footballnation.com/content/indianapolis-colts-player-most-likely-to-break-out-2014/30393/www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24598202/report-colts-trent-richardson-has-chance-to-be-3-down-back)—a rare breed bordering on extinct in the NFL today. And that was before one of his competitors, Vick Ballard, tore his Achilles and was ruled out for the year.

With Ballard out of the picture, the Colts are relying on Richardson and the injury-prone Ahmad Bradshaw (he’s only ever played in 16 games once). Without much competition at the position, Richardson should remain Indy’s guy.

In addition to the fact that Richardson could be given 225-275 carries by default, he should have a better offensive line in front of him.

The Colts’ O-line was absolutely atrocious last year. Whether it be pass protection or making holes for Richardson and the team’s running backs, the line struggled to do much of anything. How many times did we see Richardson hit before he reached the line of scrimmage? The answer: a lot.

The team spent its top pick on guard Jack Mewhort out of Ohio State. The team will also get Donald Thomas back from an injury. There’s a decent chance these two will start for the Colts and will be a considerable upgrade over what the team had last year. Combine them with two solid tackles in Anthony Castonzo and Gosder Cherilus, and the Colts should be able to give Richardson some holes to run through.

Despite the fact that he looked like such a stud coming out of college, Richardson has been written off by far too many people. We’ve seen backs struggle after a midseason trade before they come back the next year to play well again. Why can’t Richardson do it?

The best comparison for Richardson is Marshawn Lynch. After being traded from the Buffalo Bills to the Seattle Seahawks in the middle of the 2010 season, Lynch failed to live up to the billing. He ran for just 573 yards in 12 games (165 carries), averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. That’s’ pretty similar to Richardson’s decline.

But Lynch was able to bounce back after a full offseason with the Seahawks, posting 285 carries for 1,204 yards and 12 touchdowns and 28 catches for 212 yards and another score the following year. He was the fifth-best fantasy back that year.

If Richardson could have a similar year, the Colts would be ecstatic about the trade they made. And why shouldn’t he? He just as physically gifted as Lynch (10 pounds heavier, faster 40-yard dash) and is playing in an offense with an even better passing attack. The Colts have a ton of offensive firepower, meaning Richardson shouldn’t face too many stacked boxes.

With Colts GM Ryan Grigson calling Richardson out earlier this week, it’s time for the stud running back to finally break out and reach his potential in Indy.