09-05-2021 Ravens Preview - Flipbook - Page 16
NFL2021
16
INDIANAPOLIS
COLTS
COACH
Frank Reich (4th season with team, 29-22)
LAST SEASON
11-5 (2nd in AFC South; lost in wild card round)
Record since 2011: 83-77 (4-5 in playoffs)
2020 TEAM STATISTICAL LEAGUE RANKINGS
2020 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
SCORING OFFENSE
9th of 32 (28.2 ppg)
RUSHING
Jonathan Taylor: 232 carries, 1,169 yards, 11 TDs, 77.9 ypg
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SCORING DEFENSE
10th of 32 (22.2 ppg)
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
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RUSHING OFFENSE
11th of 32 (124.8 ypg)
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
PASSING OFFENSE
11th of 32 (215.5 ypg)
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
PASSING
Philip Rivers: 369-543, 4,169 yards, 24 TDs, 11 ints, 260.1 ypg
SCORING
Rodrigo Blankenship, PK: 139 points (32 FGs, 43 PATs, 8.7 ppg)
Stats from pro-football-reference.com
Backing it up
Colts QB Jacob Eason finally showed coach
Frank Reich what he’s been waiting to see
By Joel A. Erickson
The Indianapolis Star
T
he throw was the kind of throw the
Colts have been waiting for Jacob
Eason to make.
A gorgeous deep ball, laid out perfectly
to Parris Campbell, streaking ahead of
Panthers cornerback Jalen Julius by a step
in 1-on-1 coverage, landing with a feathery
touch in Campbell’s hands.
ThesortofinstanthighlightEason’sincrediblearmiscapableofproducing,andthekindof
throw he hadn’t made enough in the first two
weeks of training camp, opening the door for
Sam Ehlinger to turn the battle for the Colts’
backup job into a two-horse race.
But Eason made the throw this time, and it
led to a handful of other gorgeous throws in
the first half of a 21-18 Indianapolis win over
Carolina to open the preseason.
Eason completed 15 of 21 throws for 183
yards, putting on a showcase of the possibilities his golden right arm presents because
he didn’t have to second-guess where the
ball was supposed to go.
“I knew it pre-snap,” Campbell said. “Me
and Jacob actually talked about it on the
sideline. We both had the same thought
process. We saw the linebacker pushed
over, we knew they were going to roll over
to 1-high (a single deep safety).”
Eason knew where the ball was supposed
to go the moment he surveyed the Carolina
defense, and as a result, the ball came out of
his hand on time and in rhythm, an event
that hasn’t always happened enough on the
practice fields at Grand Park in this training camp.
Although the former fourth-round pick
is in his second season in Indianapolis, he is
essentially a rookie, and Eason has had some
growing pains getting the ball out on time
against the Colts’ starting defense, leading
to incompletions and sacks.
“There’s times where it needs to be better,”
Colts head coach Frank Reich said.
But the first NFL game of Eason’s career
was different.
“It just felt like there was a clearer image,”
Eason said. “There was a lot less clutter.
You don’t have the coaches behind you, the
defensive coaches behind them. There’s a lot
less of that out there, and it’s just 11-on-11.”
Eason wasn’t perfect.
Under pressure behind a Colts offensive
line that struggled, particularly at the tackle
position, Eason took three sacks, fumbled
once and misfired a couple of times, unleashing the full power of his four-seam fastball at
times when he could have taken off a little
bit of velocity in order to put the pitch in the
strike zone. The ball came out a little late a
few times.
Colts quarterback Jacob Eason throws against the Panthers during the first half of a preseason
game Aug. 15 in Indianapolis. AJ MAST/AP
2021 SCHEDULE WEEK 14 BYE
WEEK 1
Sept. 12
WEEK 2
Sept. 19
WEEK 3
Sept. 26
WEEK 4
Oct. 3
WEEK 5
Oct. 11
WEEK 6
Oct. 17
WEEK 7
Oct. 24
WEEK 8
Oct. 31
WEEK 9
Nov. 4
WEEK 10
Nov. 14
WEEK 11
Nov. 21
WEEK 12
Nov. 28
WEEK 13
Dec. 5
WEEK 15
Dec. 19
WEEK 16
Dec. 25
WEEK 17
Jan. 2
WEEK 18
Jan. 9
SEA
1 p.m.
FOX
LAR
1 p.m.
FOX
@TEN
1 p.m.
CBS
@MIA
1 p.m.
CBS
@BAL
8:15 p.m.
ESPN
HOU
1 p.m.
CBS
@SF
8:20 p.m.
NBC
TEN
1 p.m.
CBS
NYJ
8:20 p.m.
FOX
JAX
1 p.m.
CBS
@BUF
1 p.m.
CBS
TB
1 p.m.
FOX
@HOU
1 p.m.
CBS
NE
TBD
TBD
@ARI
8:15 p.m.
NFL
LVR
1 p.m.
CBS
@JAX
1 p.m.
CBS
Note: This section was printed before final roster cuts, so personnel are subject to change; all times are Eastern and subject to change