With their playoff hopes officially dashed, the Indianapolis Colts will have to find another source of motivation as they play in their second to last game of the season. Coming to town on Sunday are the Carolina Panthers, who are looking for a strong end to their struggling season.
On Monday night, the Colts were greatly embarrassed by the New Orleans Saints in a 34-7 defeat and there was little to no positives from that game. But as they say, “today is a new day.”
Here are three key matchups to watch in Colts’ Week 16 bout:
RB Christian McCaffrey vs. Colts’ defensive front seven
In what is easily this game’s biggest matchup, the Colts are facing one of the most dynamic and versatile offensive players this league has seen in a long time. Third-year running back Christian McCaffrey is literally having an all-time season and at one point, he was even considered a front runner for this year’s MVP award.
Between his incredible efforts as a runner (1,307 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns) and receiver (94 catches and 814 receiving yards), McCaffrey forces defenses to always keep their eyes on him, which allows other Panthers offensive targets to play in favorable situations.
The Colts’ defense, especially linebacker Darius Leonard, has to play with an extra burst and anticipation while defending McCaffrey. This has to be done because one mistake could literally turn into a game-changing play for the Stanford product.
In fact, McCaffrey is actually 388 total yards (2,121) away from tying the record of most scrimmage yards gained in a season (2,509), set by former Tennessee Titan Chris Johnson in 2009.
WR DJ Moore vs. Colts DB’s Pierre Desir and Rock Ya-Sin
In a league filled with young, talented wide receivers, it’s always possible for someone to be overlooked. While other circumstances can contribute to that happening, there are quite a few receivers who’ve been putting in a lot of work this season and don’t get recognized as much. One of them is DJ Moore.
After producing a solid rookie season last year, by having 55 catches and 788 receiving yards, the second-year target proved he wasn’t falling victim to a “sophomore slump.” Through 15 games, Moore has caught 86 passes for nearly 1,200 yards and four touchdowns and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.
Even though this Colts’ secondary has faced its share of high-quality receivers this season, it doesn’t their pending matchup vs. Moore is one to take any lightly. Cornerbacks Pierre Desir and Rock Ya-Sin must prepare for a very busy afternoon against a receiver, who’s been averaging at least 10 targets per game since the start of November.
The Panthers haven’t shied away from forcing Moore the ball, so don’t expect that to change on Sunday.
WR’s T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal vs. Panthers’ secondary
Even though the Panthers’ passing defense is ranked higher than the Colts’ passing defense (16th vs. 21st), I brought this matchup up because of some potential changes to the Colts’ offensive gameplan by head coach Frank Reich, who said as such this week.
If the Colts actually follow through on those changes, then I would assume more focus is being placed on the intermediate-deep passing game. With T.Y. Hilton being back in the lineup and Zach Pascal having proved his worth as a trust-worthy target, then the Colts could/should attack opposing secondaries more.
This makes a lot of sense because teams are becoming more determined to stop their running game and force quarterback Jacoby Brissett to beat them. So if you know what’s going on, then why not switch it up on your opponents?
