Colts’ Stats of the Game: Week 5 vs. Titans

Gardner Minshew 3-0 when playing over 50% of the snaps

Anthony Richardson has the potential to become an elite quarterback in the NFL one day, but in order to do so he has to stay on the field consistently. So far he has missed over 50% of the snaps, and will miss at least 3-4 games more dealing with a grade 3 AC joint sprain after taking a hit on a designed run. Last season this would have meant a death sentence for the team, with either Sam Ehlinger or Nick Foles taking the quarterback spot, but now the team has Gardner Minshew, who is inarguably now the best backup quarterback in the NFL, and is now 3-0 in a Colts’ uniform. Minshew is unspectacular, he will not get that big run, and he has a tendency to miss wide open receivers in favour of taking the checkdown, but he will move the ball consistently and not turn the ball over, which is good enough with a solid supporting cast around him.

Zack Moss 195 scrimmage yards, two touchdowns

The day where it was all supposed to be about Jonathan Taylor, and his return to the team after signing the contract extension, Zack Moss stole the spotlight, getting almost 200 scrimmage yards and scoring twice. I expect Taylor to take over the starting job completely over the course of the next two weeks, but Moss definitely deserves his fair share of snaps moving forward.

Colts’ quarterbacks 20 of 26 on passing attempts

The Colts’ passing game struggled to get into any sort of consistency against the Rams, so it was nice watching it go both with Richardson and with Minshew, as both quarterbacks combined for over 75% completion rate. The equation seems rather simple, though it is a small sample size, the offense moves the ball down the field more with Minshew, but lacks the big play potential and red zone efficiency it has with Richardson.

Derrick Henry held under 50 yards, just 3.3 yards per carry

The Titans’ offense lives and die by Derrick Henry, as even with DeAndre Hopkins exploding for 8 catches and 140 yards the Titans scored just a single touchdown. The wheels appear to be falling off for Henry, who has just 330 rushing yards and two running touchdowns through the first five games of the season.