The Indianapolis Colts leave Week 6 with a 31-27 win over the Arizona Cardinals to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Let’s dive into our instant takeaways from the Colts’ performance.
– The Colts have cruised to some easy wins this season, but this one tested them — and it’s good to have those challenges throughout a season, especially when you come out on top.
– The depth of the Colts’ cornerback room was tested. Already without Kenny Moore, Charvarius Ward was ruled out pre-game with a concussion. This left Mekhi Blackmon and Johnathan Edwards as the two outside starters. It looked like the Colts were trying to limit any downfield opportunities, which allowed Jacoby Brissett to find a lot of success underneath.
– The Colts’ run defense held up well, with the Cardinals averaging under 4.0 yards per run. However, as mentioned, the Arizona pass-catchers were able to get into space underneath, which set up YAC opportunities.
– PFF had the Colts’ defense with 29 pressures. However, they totaled just two sacks. With the ball coming out quickly, generating sacks becomes difficult.
– The Cardinals’ defense came into this game ranked fourth in points per game allowed. This was certainly the Colts’ toughest defensive test of the season. For a passing game that typically is very good at getting guys in space, that did not come easily in this game.
– Where the Colts’ offense did find success was in the run game, which gave them something to lean on. However, moving the ball solely on the ground is a tough way to live — it requires stringing together a lot of long drives in order to score.
– In his first game as the Colts’ kicker, Michael Badgley provided stability at the position.
– Nick Cross is flying under the radar around the NFL, but he’s playing some really good football this season.
– Short-handed on defense, we saw some unique alignments from Lou Anarumo, which included Ashton Dulin blitzing, Austin Ajiake at defensive end, and some other different defensive alignments.
– Our weekly Tyler Warren post — what a difference-maker he is for the Colts’ offense. Not only in the passing, but as a blocker and what he helps create for other pass-catchers with his versatility.
– This was the second game in a row where Josh Downs was featured heavily in the passing game after a quieter start to the season.
– As expected, Germaine Pratt was thrown into the mix right away at linebacker next to Zaire Franklin.
– Rigoberto Sanchez is such a weapon at punter.
– Third downs were a big difference in this game. The Cardinals were quite efficient while the Colts were not. The early down success for each team played a key role in determining those results.
– After two sloppy games with penalties, the Colts were much cleaner this week.
(Please note that this article will be updated.)
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Instant analysis of Colts Week 6 performance vs. Cardinals
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
