mind.With two regular-season games left
https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Matthias-Farley-Jersey , the Indianapolis Colts quarterback insists he’s paying no attention to playoff possibilities, scoreboards or other teams’ schedules. Instead, he’s focused on the only thing he considers important this weekend — beating the New York Giants on Sunday.“I’ve been a part of teams where you sit and say, ‘We need this to happen with this.’ It doesn’t work like that,” Luck said. “You’ve got to handle your own business.”Article continues below ...Few teams can match what the Colts (8-6) have done lately. They’ve rebounded from a 1-5 start to win seven of eight and put themselves back in the postseason hunt. After losing their first two home games, they’ve won five straight at Lucas Oil Stadium, and if they can beat the Giants (5-9), they could control their own playoff path.Coach Frank Reich doesn’t do business that way, though.The former NFL quarterback simply asks his players to do their jobs: keep two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and Offensive Rookie of the Year contender Saquon Barkley in check; prepare for the possible return of Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr.; and expose the holes in New York’s defense.New York, meanwhile, hopes it can continue a strong second half after starting 1-7. While winning two of three and four six, the Giants already have knocked off NFC North champion Chicago and playoff hopeful Washington. They will be playing spoiler at Indianapolis.“You’re chasing wins,” Manning said. “We’re football players and this is what we do. We play football
Christine Michael Sr Jersey , that’s our passion, that’s our job, and we’re going to go out there and do it well and be able to celebrate some wins.”It won’t be easy.Indy pitched its first shutout in four years while rushing for 178 yards against Dallas’ No. 3-ranked run defense last week. Luck is playing the best football of his career and the defense looks as stout as it has in almost a decade.The combination has made Indy a trendy pick as the team nobody wants to play, and if the Colts can win their last two, they could end a three-year playoff absence. But the Colts know they must stick to the plan.“I am just very convinced there is no other way to approach it,” Reich said. “I have been around a lot of good coaches, a lot of good players (and) that is just what I have come to believe, experience and learn. There can’t be any wavering from that (focal point).”SACK HAPPYIt’s been feast or famine when it comes to sacks for the Giants. They had 14 in the first 11 games, and then picked up five each in the next two weeks against Chicago and Washington.The added pressure resulted in four interceptions, including touchdown returns by linebacker Alec Ogletree against the Bears and Curtis Riley against the Redskins. Things got back to the norm in last week’s shutout loss to Tennessee when New York had one sack and no interceptions.Facing the Colts might not help. Indy has allowed just 16 sacks this season, tied for fewest in the league.TACKLE WATCHRookie linebacker Darius Leonard acknowledged he was “heartbroken” not to make the AFC’s Pro Bowl team this week despite leading the league with 146 tackles.And he hopes to take out his frustration on the Giants this weekend. Leonard says his weekly goal is to get 25 tackles, though he’s upped the ante this week by saying he’s hoping to finish with 40. If he hits either mark, Leonard will break Jeff Herrod’s 27-year-old franchise record for tackles in one season.Leonard needs 15 tackles to move past Herrod (160).BARKLEY REBOUNDSPro Bowl running back Barkley was held to 31 yards on 14 carries in the loss to the Titans
Pat McAfee Color Rush Jersey , his second-lowest total this season. The rookie ran for just 28 yards against Dallas in Week 2.The second pick overall in the draft also had 56 yards from scrimmage last week, marking the second time in 14 games he’s been held below 100.Despite the bad game, Barkley is third in the league in rushing with 1,155 yards and he is not looking for a break even though the Giants have been eliminated from playoff contention.“I would love my workload to be whatever it can be to help the team win,” Barkley said. “I’ve said multiple times, if that’s 10 carries or if that’s 40 touches. I bumped it up to 40 this time.”THE COMEBACK KIDLuck’s comeback season has been better than expected.His completion percentage (67.3) is at a career high and he’s six completions away from a career best in that category, too.What else? Luck heads into the final two games needing 810 yards and seven TD passes to break his previous career highs. INDIANAPOLIS — Coach Frank Reich expects the Indianapolis Colts to run efficiently each week. So after being grounded for two consecutive games, Reich went back to the basics.He challenged his players to clean up mistakes, clear out running lanes and re-establish their edge. The response: a head-turning win Sunday night in Kansas City.“The best teams I’ve been on have always been able to run the football and run it effectively,” Reich said Monday on a conference call with local reporters. “It’s never easy. You get excited about what we just did and then the next week you play somebody – you really have got to go out and prove it every week.”The Colts (3-2) appeared headed in that direction after opening the season with 370 yards rushing in road games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans. Over the next two weeks, home games against Atlanta and Oakland, Indy ran for just 160 yards.But instead of changing the game plan, Reich stuck with it — and the results were even better than the Colts expected.Third-year running back Marlon Mack logged 29 carries for 132 yards. The traditionally pass-happy Colts ran 45 times for 180 yards and Indy controlled the ball for all but 7½ minutes in the second half
https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Jack-Doyle-Jersey , steamrolling the Chiefs‘ injury-battered defensive line.Meanwhile, reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes spent most of the second half watching harmlessly from the sideline as Mack attacked holes like a speeding truck.“That’s the best way (to win),” quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. “That’s when you know you take a team’s will, when they know you’re running the ball and we know we’re running the ball. But we believe our guys were better and (Sunday night) that was the case.”Reich believes the Colts can now win consistently by grinding out yards and wearing down defenses.Why not?When general manager Chris Ballard plugged All-Pro Quenton Nelson in between two first-round draft picks, left tackle Anthony Castonzo and center Ryan Kelly, the offensive line started establishing itself. And when Ballard struck gold with right guard Mark Glowinski, a waiver wire pickup, and second-round pick Braden Smith at right tackle, the Colts suddenly had one of the league’s strongest units.The combination convinced Reich that the Colts had the perfect ingredients to be a top-five rushing offense — long before Andrew Luck suddenly retired in August.Now, everybody appears to be on board.Brissett didn’t mind throwing 29 passes for 151 yards Sunday, given the outcome. And Reich explained Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton and Pro Bowl tight end Eric Ebron were as excited to throw blocks in Kansas City as they were catching passes.It could be the Colts’ new blueprint for success.“What’s a reasonable ‘perfect’ game? It’s 150 yards rushing, 250 passing and mixing it up like that,” Reich said. “When you get in the game and you factor in how good their offense is and the idea of controlling the ball
Adam Vinatieri Jersey , controlling the line of scrimmage, playing in that environment to take the crowd out of it, all of those factors, then that’s when you have to move that dial the other way. The perfect game in Arrowhead (Stadium) is probably something more like what we saw last night.”WHAT’S WORKINGThrowback football. In a league where wide-open, high-octane offenses have become all the rage, the Colts are winning with an old playbook: running the ball and stopping the run.WHAT NEEDS HELPStretching the field. While Brissett has kept the turnovers down and put points on the scoreboard, he’s averaging 6.4 yards per throw and ranks near the bottom of the league in yards passing (212.4 per game).STOCK UPJustin Houston. The longtime Kansas City pass rusher had quite a homecoming, recording four tackles including a first-half sack of Patrick Mahomes and a fourth-down stop to set up the field goal that gave Indy an insurmountable 19-10 lead late in the fourth quarter.STOCK DOWNColts receivers. Hilton caught four passes for 37 yards Sunday night but the receiving corps as a whole had six receptions for 52 yards.INJUREDDE Kemoko Turay will miss the rest of the season with a broken and dislocated left ankle. He will finish his second NFL season on injured reserve after becoming an emerging threat in the Colts’ pass rush.KEY NUMBER36 — The Chiefs’ rushing total was the fewest yards allowed by an Indy defense since the Minnesota Vikings rushed for 34 yards in December 2016.NEXT STEPSThe bye week comes at a perfect time for players like Hilton (quad) and All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard (concussion) to get healthy. But the Colts also need to take advantage of the next four games on the schedule: hosting AFC South co-leader Houston and the Denver Broncos before heading to Pittsburgh and returning home to face Miami.
mind.With two regular-season games left https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Matthias-Farley-Jersey , the Indianapolis Colts quarterback insists he’s paying no attention to playoff possibilities, scoreboards or other teams’ schedules. Instead, he’s focused on the only thing he considers important this weekend — beating the New York Giants on Sunday.“I’ve been a part of teams where you sit and say, ‘We need this to happen with this.’ It doesn’t work like that,” Luck said. “You’ve got to handle your own business.”Article continues below ...Few teams can match what the Colts (8-6) have done lately. They’ve rebounded from a 1-5 start to win seven of eight and put themselves back in the postseason hunt. After losing their first two home games, they’ve won five straight at Lucas Oil Stadium, and if they can beat the Giants (5-9), they could control their own playoff path.Coach Frank Reich doesn’t do business that way, though.The former NFL quarterback simply asks his players to do their jobs: keep two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and Offensive Rookie of the Year contender Saquon Barkley in check; prepare for the possible return of Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr.; and expose the holes in New York’s defense.New York, meanwhile, hopes it can continue a strong second half after starting 1-7. While winning two of three and four six, the Giants already have knocked off NFC North champion Chicago and playoff hopeful Washington. They will be playing spoiler at Indianapolis.“You’re chasing wins,” Manning said. “We’re football players and this is what we do. We play football Christine Michael Sr Jersey , that’s our passion, that’s our job, and we’re going to go out there and do it well and be able to celebrate some wins.”It won’t be easy.Indy pitched its first shutout in four years while rushing for 178 yards against Dallas’ No. 3-ranked run defense last week. Luck is playing the best football of his career and the defense looks as stout as it has in almost a decade.The combination has made Indy a trendy pick as the team nobody wants to play, and if the Colts can win their last two, they could end a three-year playoff absence. But the Colts know they must stick to the plan.“I am just very convinced there is no other way to approach it,” Reich said. “I have been around a lot of good coaches, a lot of good players (and) that is just what I have come to believe, experience and learn. There can’t be any wavering from that (focal point).”SACK HAPPYIt’s been feast or famine when it comes to sacks for the Giants. They had 14 in the first 11 games, and then picked up five each in the next two weeks against Chicago and Washington.The added pressure resulted in four interceptions, including touchdown returns by linebacker Alec Ogletree against the Bears and Curtis Riley against the Redskins. Things got back to the norm in last week’s shutout loss to Tennessee when New York had one sack and no interceptions.Facing the Colts might not help. Indy has allowed just 16 sacks this season, tied for fewest in the league.TACKLE WATCHRookie linebacker Darius Leonard acknowledged he was “heartbroken” not to make the AFC’s Pro Bowl team this week despite leading the league with 146 tackles.And he hopes to take out his frustration on the Giants this weekend. Leonard says his weekly goal is to get 25 tackles, though he’s upped the ante this week by saying he’s hoping to finish with 40. If he hits either mark, Leonard will break Jeff Herrod’s 27-year-old franchise record for tackles in one season.Leonard needs 15 tackles to move past Herrod (160).BARKLEY REBOUNDSPro Bowl running back Barkley was held to 31 yards on 14 carries in the loss to the Titans Pat McAfee Color Rush Jersey , his second-lowest total this season. The rookie ran for just 28 yards against Dallas in Week 2.The second pick overall in the draft also had 56 yards from scrimmage last week, marking the second time in 14 games he’s been held below 100.Despite the bad game, Barkley is third in the league in rushing with 1,155 yards and he is not looking for a break even though the Giants have been eliminated from playoff contention.“I would love my workload to be whatever it can be to help the team win,” Barkley said. “I’ve said multiple times, if that’s 10 carries or if that’s 40 touches. I bumped it up to 40 this time.”THE COMEBACK KIDLuck’s comeback season has been better than expected.His completion percentage (67.3) is at a career high and he’s six completions away from a career best in that category, too.What else? Luck heads into the final two games needing 810 yards and seven TD passes to break his previous career highs. INDIANAPOLIS — Coach Frank Reich expects the Indianapolis Colts to run efficiently each week. So after being grounded for two consecutive games, Reich went back to the basics.He challenged his players to clean up mistakes, clear out running lanes and re-establish their edge. The response: a head-turning win Sunday night in Kansas City.“The best teams I’ve been on have always been able to run the football and run it effectively,” Reich said Monday on a conference call with local reporters. “It’s never easy. You get excited about what we just did and then the next week you play somebody – you really have got to go out and prove it every week.”The Colts (3-2) appeared headed in that direction after opening the season with 370 yards rushing in road games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans. Over the next two weeks, home games against Atlanta and Oakland, Indy ran for just 160 yards.But instead of changing the game plan, Reich stuck with it — and the results were even better than the Colts expected.Third-year running back Marlon Mack logged 29 carries for 132 yards. The traditionally pass-happy Colts ran 45 times for 180 yards and Indy controlled the ball for all but 7½ minutes in the second half https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Jack-Doyle-Jersey , steamrolling the Chiefs‘ injury-battered defensive line.Meanwhile, reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes spent most of the second half watching harmlessly from the sideline as Mack attacked holes like a speeding truck.“That’s the best way (to win),” quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. “That’s when you know you take a team’s will, when they know you’re running the ball and we know we’re running the ball. But we believe our guys were better and (Sunday night) that was the case.”Reich believes the Colts can now win consistently by grinding out yards and wearing down defenses.Why not?When general manager Chris Ballard plugged All-Pro Quenton Nelson in between two first-round draft picks, left tackle Anthony Castonzo and center Ryan Kelly, the offensive line started establishing itself. And when Ballard struck gold with right guard Mark Glowinski, a waiver wire pickup, and second-round pick Braden Smith at right tackle, the Colts suddenly had one of the league’s strongest units.The combination convinced Reich that the Colts had the perfect ingredients to be a top-five rushing offense — long before Andrew Luck suddenly retired in August.Now, everybody appears to be on board.Brissett didn’t mind throwing 29 passes for 151 yards Sunday, given the outcome. And Reich explained Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton and Pro Bowl tight end Eric Ebron were as excited to throw blocks in Kansas City as they were catching passes.It could be the Colts’ new blueprint for success.“What’s a reasonable ‘perfect’ game? It’s 150 yards rushing, 250 passing and mixing it up like that,” Reich said. “When you get in the game and you factor in how good their offense is and the idea of controlling the ball Adam Vinatieri Jersey , controlling the line of scrimmage, playing in that environment to take the crowd out of it, all of those factors, then that’s when you have to move that dial the other way. The perfect game in Arrowhead (Stadium) is probably something more like what we saw last night.”WHAT’S WORKINGThrowback football. In a league where wide-open, high-octane offenses have become all the rage, the Colts are winning with an old playbook: running the ball and stopping the run.WHAT NEEDS HELPStretching the field. While Brissett has kept the turnovers down and put points on the scoreboard, he’s averaging 6.4 yards per throw and ranks near the bottom of the league in yards passing (212.4 per game).STOCK UPJustin Houston. The longtime Kansas City pass rusher had quite a homecoming, recording four tackles including a first-half sack of Patrick Mahomes and a fourth-down stop to set up the field goal that gave Indy an insurmountable 19-10 lead late in the fourth quarter.STOCK DOWNColts receivers. Hilton caught four passes for 37 yards Sunday night but the receiving corps as a whole had six receptions for 52 yards.INJUREDDE Kemoko Turay will miss the rest of the season with a broken and dislocated left ankle. He will finish his second NFL season on injured reserve after becoming an emerging threat in the Colts’ pass rush.KEY NUMBER36 — The Chiefs’ rushing total was the fewest yards allowed by an Indy defense since the Minnesota Vikings rushed for 34 yards in December 2016.NEXT STEPSThe bye week comes at a perfect time for players like Hilton (quad) and All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard (concussion) to get healthy. But the Colts also need to take advantage of the next four games on the schedule: hosting AFC South co-leader Houston and the Denver Broncos before heading to Pittsburgh and returning home to face Miami.