Off Monday night win, Colts now head to Arizona
Dallas Clark's early 80-yard TD catch set the tone for a wild contest in Miami on the 39th anniversary of Monday Night Football. Indianapolis scored last to top the Dolphins 27-23, and now have a short week to prepare for a trip to Arizona. Peyton Manning and the Colts' offense were on the field less than a quarter of Monday's game while the defense was left gasping for air, unable to stop the Dolphins' ground game.
There might not be enough oxygen in the atmosphere to help the Indianapolis Colts defense right now.
The Colts had their hands full Monday night with the Miami Dolphins and the Wildcat offense, who held possession of the ball for over 45 minutes and racked up over 400 total yards. And yet Peyton Manning still had enough time to throw two deep touchdown passes in a 27-23 victory. Indianapolis cashed in as a 3-point road favorite; the final score eclipsed the posted total of 41 points which made a lot of Beat the Prick contestants very happy.
All those weary defenders now have to make the short turnaround and play again next Sunday night, not to mention their long flight west to visit the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 (8:20 p.m. Eastern, NBC). The Cardinals’ offense just got finished putting the boots to the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-17 in Jacksonville. Kurt Warner had a near-perfect day at quarterback, completing 24 of 26 pass attempts and finding the end zone twice. Tim Hightower (4.8 yards per carry, one TD) and Beanie Wells (6.3 yards per carry) were impressive on the ground. And Arizona had no trouble getting to the pay window as a 3-point puppy.
The very early betting odds for Sunday night have the Colts as 1.5-point favorites with a total of 49.5. Each team in this matchup is 1-1 ATS (Indianapolis has two SU wins) and the over/under is also split down the middle. This is the first time the Colts and Cardinals have done battle since the 2005 season finale; the Colts (-7.5) won 17-13, but that’s hardly of any use to us. Jim Sorgi was the quarterback for Indianapolis as Manning rested for the playoffs, and Josh McCown was playing what turned out to be his last game for Arizona. Head coach Dennis Green had also yet to be replaced by Ken Whisenhunt.
So we return to the overworked Colts defenders. They had almost no answer for Ronnie Brown, who picked up 62 of his 136 rushing yards in the Wildcat formation and scored twice. Ricky Williams tacked on another 69 yards as the Dolphins ran the ball 49 times. The Colts weren’t all that great at run defense in 2008, ranking No. 18 in the league in terms of efficiency. That appears to be the case again in 2009 with Larry Coyer taking over as defensive co-ordinator. Although Indy won its season opener 14-12 over the aforementioned Jaguars, it was mostly on the strength of Coyer’s blitz packages. The Jags still managed to rush for 114 yards on 4.4 yards per carry, most of that by Maurice Jones-Drew, who is no longer splitting carries with Fred Taylor (now with the New England Patriots).
The Cardinals have so much more to offer on offense than both the Jaguars and the Dolphins. Hightower and Wells are moving the chains as a 1-2 combo, and Warner remains world-class at age 38. WR Steve Breaston returned to action this week and caught five passes for 83 yards, joining Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in an embarrassment of riches for Warner to enjoy.
That’s just one side of the ball, of course, although that’s the side we’re more concerned with given the added workload Indy’s defenders had to endure Monday night. Manning will be very fresh after a light day of work with zero sacks; the Colts’ offensive line is still very good at keeping their meal ticket healthy (Manning was sacked just once in the opener), even if the run blocking leaves much to be desired at this point. Without Anthony Gonzalez (sprained knee) in the slot, Manning was nonetheless able to find TE Dallas Clark seven times for 183 yards, including an 80-yard TD on the first offensive play of the game.
That was against a Miami secondary with some holes to fill. The Cardinals can also be beaten downfield; they made the Super Bowl last year despite placing 25th in the league in pass defense according to efficiency. That justifies Sunday night’s large total and gives Indy a puncher’s chance on Sunday – like every other Sunday with Manning in uniform.
Off Monday night win, Colts now head to Arizona
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