Colts Vow To Not Take Dolphins Lightly
The Indianapolis Colts are early 10-point favorites to dispose of the Miami Dolphins at home on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
But coming off a loss at Pittsburgh, the Colts (5-3) have an unsettled lineup due to injuries, not having Pro Bowl wide receiver T.Y. Hilton and possibly needing to turn to backup quarterback Brian Hoyer in the wake of Jacoby Brissett suffering a left MCL knee sprain.
Hilton is expected to miss his second consecutive game with a calf strain, and since he was drafted in 2012, the Colts are 0-6 without him.
So the Colts are adamant that they aren’t taking their next opponent lightly, although the Dolphins (1-7) won for the first time on Sunday and statistically shouldn’t present a stiff challenge.
“Unfortunately, it should be easy for us not to have them overlook them because we just lost,” Colts head coach Frank Reich said. “I don’t think we would have either way, but coming after a loss, man, this business is brutal. You lose in this week and you feel the sting of it and you feel like your back is against the wall and we have to respond.
“So I’m trusting our guys have the maturity to understand that and know that in this league, every opponent is a good opponent. We respect every opponent that comes in here, no matter what the record is. We’ve got to play good football.”
The Colts should be understandably bitter after the 26-24 loss to the Steelers. They had every opportunity to win their fourth consecutive game and stay atop the AFC South Division, but played sloppy in every phase with turnovers, five sacks allowed, missed tackles, costly penalties and two missed kicks including Adam Vinatieri’s 43-yard field goal attempt late that could have won it.
So the Colts need this win to pull even with the Houston Texans (6-3) in the division. But they also need to rebound at home from an ugly effort that isn’t befitting a playoff contender.
Linebacker Darius Leonard, who was flagged twice for costly personal fouls and by his own standards didn’t play well, conceded players have a salty taste in their mouths and are eager to get back on the field.
“Yeah, almost definitely,” he said. “You want to go back out and prove that what you put on display last week wasn’t us. So we definitely want to go out and get a victory and get this nasty taste out of our mouth.”
Mistakes eat at players, especially Leonard, who led the NFL in tackles last year but by his own standards has had a couple of rough games in his second season.
“Yeah, we always say that if we play great sound ball in all three phases, we win each game,” he said. “When you don’t do that, we lose. Of course when you see the mistakes you do on film, you say you wished you had it back.”
The Colts will want to establish their ninth-ranked rushing attack (129.8 yards per game) against a Dolphins defense that ranks 31st in rushing defense (150.8 yards per game). That would make life easier on whomever starts at quarterback.
Hoyer entered for Brissett in the second quarter and played well for the most part with a career-high three TD passes, but he also threw a pick-six and lost a fumble. An offensive line that blocked well in a productive run game wasn’t as stout in pass protection in allowing five sacks.
Brissett was limited in practice on Wednesday and will have to show enough this week to prove to Reich, coaches and the medical staff that he’s physically capable of suiting up. If not, the Colts would promote Chad Kelly from the practice squad to back up Hoyer.
“For me, if I do play, this is the first time I’m starting since 2017,” Hoyer said. “This is the most important game for me right now. You can call it cliche, but literally through 11 years I realize everybody is beatable on Sundays. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter who you play. If you don’t come to play, the other team, they’re getting paid, too.
“Their record might be what it is, but when you watch the film … they’re NFL players, they’re NFL coaches. … So it doesn’t matter what someone’s record is. If you overlook anybody in the NFL, they’re going to make you pay for it.”
