Imagine that you’re Jordan Belfort back in the day on Wall Street. You’re getting towards Christmas and the holiday season, working hard, and looking forward to celebrating big with your family and friends.
The week before the big holiday break, you have the most impactful sales period of the year; Closing it out on a high note. You’re about to go run the yacht and get into what the Wolf of Wall Street does.
That’s what just happened to the Indianapolis Colts in the Lone Star State.
With the club’s 31-0 shutout of the Houston Texans, the Colts can now rest and recover before they face the New England Patriots on December 18. When we looked back in the pre-season of the Blue and White having Week 14 as their bye, it was slightly concerning. But with the way this year has worked it, it couldn’t come at a better time.
As Frank Reich said on Hard Knocks a couple weeks back, that plane ride home from Texas was a bit heavier on Sunday. Not because of any Jordan Belfort-esque things, because it was filled with respect.
1) Takeaways – It’s What They Do.
How does a league high 29 defensive takeaways sound? Pretty damn good.
Kenny Moore was fantastic. Having Khari Willis back was huge. And the Colts dominated in all areas defensively. Now don’t get us wrong, playing Tyrod Taylor and whatever the Texans call “offense” helps, but the NFL is a week-to-week league. If the Colts got caught off guard, that would have been dreadful.
Thankfully that was not the case. And what could be taken as more importantly, the 40 takeaway goal set by Matt Eberflus and the defensive core is absolutely attainable. They’re just going to need to put in some serious work.
Can the Colts find a way for 11 takeaways versus Mac Jones, Kyler Murray, Derek Carr and Trevor Lawrence? Only one way to find out.
2) Return of Rodrigo…?
In a shutout win, there’s not a whole lot that you can pinpoint going wrong. The only piece of negativity really surrounding the game was a missed 35-yard field goal by Michael Badgley.
We haven’t heard from Rodrigo Blankenship in a while.
The last time we even got a look at him was the disaster of Monday Night Football versus the Baltimore Ravens. Blankenship struggled, got hurt, and was subsequently placed on injured reserve.
When Reich has been asked about Blankenship, the one thing he has said about Badgley is they are riding the hot hand, (or foot), in his case. Reich has also pointed out many times that the Colts’ new kicker has not missed, so they’re sticking with him.
That was the first miss of The Money Badger’s career inside 40 yards.
If healthy come playoff time, now that Badgley has missed a kick, does he lose the job back to Blankenship? That’s an enticing question when the Colts get back in the building for game week versus the Patriots.
3) Bring on New England.
Get some rest, fellas.
But keep in mind the next opposing coach you’ll see on the sideline is Bill Belichick. I pointed out a couple weeks ago that the Colts haven’t beaten Tom Brady since 2009; Well, that’s the case for Bill too.
Of course, Brady was wearing that patriotic helmet the last time the Colts defeated the Patriots.
Something different than the last time Belichick even saw the Colts though is Indy has welcomed a guy named Jonathan Taylor. JT is on a hell of a run; Ten straight games with a touchdown. That’s the best marker since LaDainian Tomlinson scored in 18 straight.
Taylor continued to feast down in Houston. After all of that work, I’m sure plenty of ice baths, massages, and sauna sessions are part of this bye week for him. Let’s get JT cooking again when those horseshoe helmets take the field again.
