Off-Topic » Thus far the Indianapolis Colts appear to have backed into the

right choice in first-year head coach Frank Reich. Of course we don’t truly know how things would be right now if Josh McDaniels wouldn’t have reneged on the job Youth Chester Rogers Jersey , but finding anyone who isn’t impressed with what Reich has done to this point is going to be difficult to say the least. Reich and his Colts currently stand at 4-5 as they prepare for their second AFC South game in as many weeks, and a realistic shot at landing in the postseason if they can take advantage of their remaining schedule.Combined, the Colts’ opponents record is 25-30 (.455) with the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans being the only two squads who are currently holding winning records. Defensively, the Colts are a mixed bag. They’re in the bottom third of the league in yards allowed per game, but are in top half in yards per play allowed. They’re allowing a ton of first downs per game, and have fallen off from their impressive start to the season on third downs. On the other hand, they continue to make big plays when the team needs them, have been the driving force in a couple of the team’s wins this season, AND they are currently 6th in the NFL allowing only 3.9 rushing yards per attempt. We knew there would be some inconsistency — at a minimum — this season with a new scheme, but you can certainly see that the speed and energy they bring is something that will be fun see the continued construction of in the near future.Offensively, the Colts sit at sixth in the league in scoring per game (28.9 points per game), are the best third-down team in the NFL, are top-10 in yards per game, and in the top half of the league in yards per play. Andrew Luck is at the top of his game, the running game is showing legitimate improvement in comparison to years past, and the offensive line is considered to be one of the best in the league.Additionally, Reich’s play design and ability to stay level, and get this roster to completely buy in to what they’re building is already paying dividends. As stated, he’s gotten a very solid start to his career in Indianapolis despite having a very average record right now. But, the real challenge for him will be to see what he can put together in this pivotal second half to the season. Chuck Pagano obviously caught lightening in a bottle with the drafting of Luck and rode his coattails to three straight postseason berths. The last four seasons http://www.thecoltsfootballauthentic.com/t.y.-hilton-jersey-authentic , though, one of his largest issues was struggling to get the team to lock anything up in the final eight games of the year. Between 2014-2017, Pagano went 18-14 in the second half of the season, went 8-5 within the division, and 6 of those 14 losses were by 20 points or more. This is something that Reich must avoid at all costs. I don’t think anyone realistically expects Reich to be 8-0 in his final eight games of the year, but a winning record SHOULD be expected with what they have left to battle. Earlier this season the Colts lost to the Texans in overtime after spotting them 14 points earlier in the game due to two miscues inside their own 10-yard line. They lost to an Eagles team — who is clearly not to be mistaken with the Super Bowl champion team from a year ago — by only 4 points in their worst offensive yardage output of the season, and lost to the Bengals after a Jack Doyle fumble was returned for a touchdown as the Colts were driving and in control of their own destiny.You can make several arguments for these losses being understandable in a coach’s first season at the helm. But, he’s no longer a rookie coach in the eyes of anyone in Indianapolis after seeing what he can put together, and these sort of missed opportunities cannot scar the second half of the season if Reich truly wants his first season to be a building block for the future. Would anyone freak out if they did? Probably not, and they really shouldn’t either. But, Reich will be held to very high standards before you know it, and we’ll be dissecting this season in the near future to see exactly what the Colts have on their hands. The Colts need to be good within the division, they need to beat the teams they should beat, and they can’t afford to give any wins away if they have any dreams of being a playoff team. I’m in the camp that says that all you have to do is get in. Especially with the high-powered offense that Luck leads, and the potential that we see in the defense from time to time.If the Colts defense could continue to hold down opponent’s rushing yardage per attempt, tighten up their zones as the season progresses, and can continue to make big plays, there is no reason that Luck and Reich can’t lead this team to the playoffs and beyond. Reich’s coaching ability will be put to the test, and I for one am excited to see him break expectations down the stretch. The Indianapolis Colts came into Week 8 with some great momentum after blowing out Buffalo at home in Week 7. This matchup against the Oakland Raiders seemed to be the perfect stepping stone to increased success after their Week 9 bye, but the Raiders had another outcome in mind.The Raiders took the lead 14-10 with 6:24 left in the second quarter and continued to keep the lead — or remain tied with the Colts — until the Colts defense forced their first point of the second half at the 9:20 mark of the fourth quarter.This was the turning point in the game.The Colts scored using Jack Doyle heavily to take the lead with 5:28 to go Womens Margus Hunt Jersey , then Darius Leonard forced a fumble on the Raiders first play of their next possession and converted that into points a couple minutes later, giving the Colts a 42-28 lead that would stick.Here are a few takeaways from the Colts 42-28, Week 8 victory over the Raiders.Colts broke 100 rushing yards by halftime.. again?That’s right folks, for the second straight week, the Colts broke 100 rushing yards by the end of the first half. Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines had 46 and 47 yards respectively, and Jordan Wilkins added 14 on 2 carries. Collectively they averaged 5.1 yards per carry, but Hines was by far the most successful in the first two quarters of the game with an average of 9.4 yards per carry. Mack greatly improved his average from just over 3 yards per carry in the first half, to 6.3 yards per carry with his huge 49-yard run on his first carry of the second half. Mack finished the day with well over 100 rushing yards (132), Hines amassed 78 rushing yards as well and all of the sudden it looks like the Colts actually have a very good rushing attack that could help them make a push towards a playoff berth.In all, the Colts totaled 222 yards on the ground. It’s still possible, don’t rule it out.Inman becoming quite the trusted weapon for Luck, and in big spotsMost of the success today came from the tight ends, and it was glorious. The threesome of Jack Doyle, Eric Ebron and Mo Alie-Cox each caught a touchdown, but another target has seemingly become a favorite for Andrew Luck. Dontrelle Inman was targeted 7 times, hauled in 6 catches for 52 yards. That’s not all that impressive — I mean it’s a solid day for a guy who was just signed to the roster. But, when he’s been targeted is what’s been pretty interesting. Today Inman was targeted 4 times on third down situations, he caught 3 of those and all three were conversions. That’s nearly a third of the team’s third down attempts for the game.He has been a very heads up player, with good route-running skills and that matters. Reich has familiarity from his days in San Diego and let’s say he made a very good decision in bringing him in to help out a struggling receiver group this year.He also caught a tipped ball late in the third quarter which became the difference in a third-and-long, and a third-and-short. In a game like this one Youth Joe Haeg Jersey , that is an enormous help.Vinatieri makes history just before halftime The G.O.A.T finally got his record. Adam Vinatieri was successful in taking over the all-time scoring record just before halftime with a field goal to pass Morten Andersen’s mark of 2,544 career points. Vinny has been with the Colts since 2006 and racked up a ton of those points while wearing a horseshoe on the side of his helmet.He holds more records than that, though.Vinatieri had already solidified his spot in Canton, Ohio as a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee, but holding the scoring record might be just the cherry on top. His 1361 total points with the Colts is 173 more points than he totaled in his time with the New England Patriots. We can only imagine that he’ll enter “the Hall” as an Indianapolis Colt.Colts pass rush, pass defense was beyond unacceptableIn the first several games of the season, we were talking about how the defense was keeping the Colts in games and the offense showed very little aggression. The Colts, at one point, were also in the top-5 in the league in sacks. If you watched them today you would have guessed that this was the Colts years past with their lack of pass rush and wide open zones at the second and third levels of the field. Derek Carr diced up the Colts for 244 passing yards, but that wasn’t really the issue. The real issue was that he only had 4 incompletions until their last drive of the game, and at one point rattled off 17 straight completions. The Colts only had 1 QB hit, zero sacks and 1 pass defensed for the entire game — and Carr finished 21-of-28 and 3 touchdowns. There is no way that sort of performance can sit well with Frank Reich and Matt Eberflus. The safety position suffered big time without Malik Hooker back there to police the secondary as Jared Cook feasted (ZING!) on Corey Moore and finished with 4 catches, 74 receiving yards and a touchdown. Seth Roberts got behind the deepest safety for a 31-yard touchdown catch as well. This simply cannot happen.Additionally, the Colts didn’t notch a single tackle for loss on the day. No sacks, 1 hit and no TFLs? There better be some accountability during the bye week from the coaching staff. After all, the Colts were facing a Raiders O-line without Osemele and two rookies as the bookends.