With their next two games coming against last place opponents, the Indianapolis Colts have forced themselves into must win mode. That’s following the Colts Week 5 loss at Cleveland, in which Philip Rivers threw two interceptions and no touchdowns.
Frank Reich’s team will take on Cincinnati this Sunday at home. Then they’ll head to Detroit on November 1.
Although the Colts most recent problems have started with the quarterback position, some additional flaws have now been exposed. Monday on The Ride with JMV, a caller made the point that things have gone downhill for Indianapolis offensively since losing running back Marlon Mack to a torn achilles.
“There’s not a lot of margin for error here with the quarterback that you have,” JMV responded. “If you want to be the most productive, you can’t be behind the chains or have these third-and-long situations. (Rivers) has been good with quick throws over the middle, but when you get outside that realm it’s up for grabs.”
JMV also talked about the tight end usage since Trey Burton made his Colts debut in Chicago two weeks back. Burton was the lone tight end in the group with him, Jack Doyle, and Mo Alie-Cox to pick up a catch on Sunday. In week 4 at Chicago, both Doyle and Alie-Cox only had one catch.
“You’ve got to find a way to implement tight ends in this,” JMV added. “You can’t have a tight end situation where Burton gets all the looks, then Doyle and Alie-Cox get nothing. Can’t have days like that.”
Without key role players such as Anthony Castonzo and Darius Leonard in the lineup, the Colts weaknesses were on display. If they don’t take care of business against the Bengals and Lions, the four-week stretch afterwards that features Baltimore, Green Bay, and Tennessee twice will get even more difficult.
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