The Indianapolis Colts lost on Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars in blowout fashion, allowing the Jaguars to put up a regular season franchise record 51 points while the Colts managed to score just 16 points themselves - thanks to three Adam Vinatieri field goals and a defensive touchdown.
It was an ugly and embarrassing loss for the Colts, and with that pretty much summing things up nicely, let's take a look at the snap counts from the game and draw some notes and observations from them.
Offense:
Player | Pos. | Snaps | Percent |
Joe Reitz | T | 72 | 100% |
Hugh Thornton | G | 72 | 100% |
Jack Mewhort | G | 72 | 100% |
Jonotthan Harrison | C | 72 | 100% |
Denzelle Good | T | 72 | 100% |
T.Y. Hilton | WR | 61 | 85% |
Donte Moncrief | WR | 60 | 83% |
Matt Hasselbeck | QB | 58 | 81% |
Coby Fleener | TE | 51 | 71% |
Frank Gore | RB | 45 | 62% |
Andre Johnson | WR | 41 | 57% |
Dwayne Allen | TE | 30 | 42% |
Phillip Dorsett | WR | 25 | 35% |
Zurlon Tipton | RB | 14 | 19% |
Charlie Whitehurst | QB | 14 | 19% |
Dan Herron | RB | 12 | 17% |
Jack Doyle | TE | 10 | 14% |
Griff Whalen | WR | 8 | 11% |
Quan Bray | WR | 3 | 4% |
Phillip Dorsett returned to the field for the first time since his injury on October 25, and in his first game back he saw 25 snaps on offense (fourth-most among wideouts for the Colts). Despite the fact that he was in for a notable amount for his first game back (35% of snaps), he didn't record a catch nor was he targeted.
The wide receiver depth chart was going to be interesting, and Sunday showed us what the Colts are thinking about doing at the position as the season nears an end (and it shouldn't come as any surprise at all): T.Y. Hilton, who had a good day on Sunday and is having a good season, is the team's top wideout, while Donte Moncrief is the number two receiver. Andre Johnson has slipped noticeably behind those two but is still the number three guy, while Phillip Dorsett now slides in at number four. I wouldn't be surprised to see him continue to cut into Johnson's snaps as he works his way back. Then at the number five receiver was Griff Whalen, who only played eight snaps, and then at the number six wideout spot was Quan Bray, who actually saw three offensive snaps. The real interesting question at the position will come when the Colts don't have six injury inactives and one "not-injury related" inactive, as the question becomes whether they will keep six active wideouts. I would doubt it, so then the question is whether it would be Whalen or Bray inactive, and with Bray being their returner, Whalen might be the odd man out. We will have to wait and see what the Colts decide to do, however.
Behind Frank Gore, Zurlon Tipton and Boom Herron continue to split the reps at the number two running back spot. Tipton saw 14 snaps, while Herron saw 12. Herron rushed four times for 16 yards and caught two passes for five yards, while Tipton rushed one time for seven yards and caught four passes for 50 yards. It hasn't been talked about much in the last 24 hours, but Tipton actually had a pretty good game on Sunday and helped the Colts out, showing why he's in the mix at the number two back spot.
The tight ends continue to be hard to figure out, as Coby Fleener (51 snaps) and Dwayne Allen (30 snaps) both played a good amount and yet combined to catch just three passes (on seven targets) for three yards. Jack Doyle, meanwhile, played just ten snaps.
For the second straight week, Matt Hasselbeck was unable to finish the game due to injury, so Charlie Whitehurst saw some action to close the game, this week playing 14 snaps.
Defense:
Player | Pos. | Snaps | Percent |
D'Qwell Jackson | LB | 65 | 100% |
Mike Adams | SS | 65 | 100% |
Vontae Davis | CB | 64 | 98% |
Jalil Brown | CB | 57 | 88% |
Kendall Langford | DE | 53 | 82% |
Dwight Lowery | FS | 52 | 80% |
Josh McNary | LB | 46 | 71% |
David Parry | NT | 46 | 71% |
Jonathan Newsome | LB | 39 | 60% |
Zach Kerr | NT | 38 | 58% |
Robert Mathis | LB | 37 | 57% |
Trent Cole | LB | 36 | 55% |
T.Y. McGill | DT | 27 | 42% |
Darius Butler | CB | 27 | 42% |
Billy Winn | DT | 21 | 32% |
Bjoern Werner | LB | 18 | 28% |
Clayton Geathers | FS | 15 | 23% |
Sio Moore | LB | 8 | 12% |
D'Joun Smith | CB | 1 | 2% |
Filling in for Greg Toler, Jalil Brown (who was re-signed last week after being waived-injured earlier in the year) played 57 snaps, clearly the number two corner on the day. Perhaps most interesting, however, was the fact that D'Joun Smith played just one snap. It was all Brown on Sunday filling in for Toler.
Josh McNary got the start in place of Jerrell Freeman (and Nate Irving) and played 46 snaps. Something that mildly surprised me is that Sio Moore played just eight snaps on the day, something I thought would be more with the injuries at the position.
After being inactive for the past several weeks, Bjoern Werner was active on Sunday due to the injury to Erik Walden, and while he didn't start (that was Jonathan Newsome, playing 39 snaps), Werner did get in on 18 snaps. Take note of those plays that he's in on with the Colts, as I'm not sure how much more of them we're going to see.
The Colts' pass rush has been heavily criticized this year (and for very good reason), but early on in Sunday's game it showed up. Trent Cole had his best game as a Colt and also made his best play, recording a strip-sack of Blake Bortles after he easily blew past the Jaguars' line. That was good to see. Another pass rusher, Robert Mathis, recovered a different fumble in the end zone for his second career score. On the day, the Colts recorded three sacks - one by Cole (the strip-sack), one by Mike Adams also a strip-sack), and one by D'Qwell Jackson.
Special Teams:
Player | Pos. | Snaps | Percent |
Clayton Geathers | FS | 34 | 89% |
D'Joun Smith | CB | 28 | 74% |
Amarlo Herrera | LB | 25 | 66% |
Jack Doyle | TE | 25 | 66% |
Sio Moore | LB | 24 | 63% |
Josh McNary | LB | 22 | 58% |
Griff Whalen | WR | 19 | 50% |
Quan Bray | WR | 19 | 50% |
T.Y. McGill | DT | 18 | 47% |
Billy Winn | DT | 18 | 47% |
Zurlon Tipton | RB | 18 | 47% |
Jonathan Newsome | LB | 18 | 47% |
Pat McAfee | P | 16 | 42% |
Jalil Brown | CB | 13 | 34% |
Colt Anderson | SS | 12 | 32% |
Matt Overton | LS | 11 | 29% |
Dan Herron | RB | 10 | 26% |
Trent Cole | LB | 8 | 21% |
D'Qwell Jackson | LB | 8 | 21% |
Kendall Langford | DE | 8 | 21% |
David Parry | NT | 8% | 21% |
Dwayne Allen | TE | 7 | 18% |
Mike Adams | SS | 7 | 18% |
Bjoern Werner | LB | 6 | 16% |
Lance Louis | G | 4 | 11% |
Todd Herremans | G | 4 | 11% |
Joe Reitz | T | 4 | 11% |
Hugh Thornton | G | 4 | 11% |
Jack Mewhort | G | 4 | 11% |
Jonotthan Harrison | C | 4 | 11% |
Denzelle Good | T | 4 | 11% |
Adam Vinatieri | K | 4 | 11% |
Darius Butler | CB | 1 | 3% |
Donte Moncrief | WR | 1 | 3% |
Zach Kerr | NT | 1 | 3% |
A lot of players were in on special teams on Sunday - 35 of them, to be exact (46 are active on gameday).
Rookie safety Clayton Geathers played by far the most special teams snaps with 34.
Chuck Pagano said on Monday that the team's top gunner, Winston Guy, woke up on Sunday morning with a migraine that was causing him to throw up before the game, thus the reason he was inactive.
The Colts allowed another punt return touchdown yesterday, their second in as many weeks and their third kick return score this season. According to FOX59's Mike Chappell, that's tied for the most given up by the team in a single-season in franchise history.
Something to keep an eye on is the Colts' usage of both Griff Whalen and Quan Bray as punt returners on the same play in an attempt to confuse the kicking team. It hasn't worked as the Colts would like so far, but it's something to watch.