The Indianapolis Colts (8-4) are on the road again in Week 14 as they visit the Las Vegas Raiders (7-5) at Allegiant Stadium for what should be a big matchup with playoff implications.
Entering the weekend as 2.5-point road favorites, this game should be close between two teams fighting for a wild-card spot. Before the matchup, offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus touched on a few topics.
Darren Waller is special
Each week the Colts have a few key targets on either side of the ball in which their game plan typically revolves around. When it comes to the Raiders, there is one player on offense that they will be prioritizing. That would be the tight end in Waller.
The 28-year-old has revived his career and is now one of the best receiving tight ends in the NFL. He has 77 receptions for 742 yards and seven touchdowns and is coming off of a 200-yard performance against the Jets. Stopping Waller will be a tough task for the Colts defense.
“The challenge every week is to defend the guys that get the football the most and (Darren) Waller is one of those guys. It’s certainly a tough match for everybody in the league,” Eberflus said. “This guy is special, he is one of the special guys in this league and this is what makes this league fun to watch – guys like him and the guy we played last week. It’s going to be all hands on deck to try to play good, solid defense against him and the Raiders.”
The Raiders offense is centered around getting Waller as many looks as possible. He’s a mismatch in the passing game given his size, length and athleticism and should be a fun challenge for the likes of Bobby Okereke, Darius Leonard and Kenny Moore.
Quarterback Derek Carr has been enjoying a solid season, and one of the biggest reasons has been the continued emergence of Waller as one of the most explosive tight end threats in the NFL.
The rookie is being decisive
It has been a roller coaster of a season for rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, but things seem to be pointing up. He has 114 and 125 scrimmage yards in each of his last two games while showing plenty of developments as a runner with four games remaining.
There’s a lot that goes into why a rookie running back may struggle to break out but part of the reason for Taylor has been his decisiveness. Understanding which holes to hit is part of the equation but being decisive is part of the battle as well. Sirianni sees a more confident runner in Taylor when making those decisions on hitting the hole.
“Yeah, I think he was and I think he is just continuing to get a little bit better each day and each week. I think that is pretty typical of a rookie that’s just finding their way through and seeing all the different looks they could get and being able to adjust off the things they get,” Sirianni said. “I was really pleased with the way he ran the football. He really hit it, he really looked good running the football.”
Sirianni also believes the coaching staff is getting a better feel for which play calls benefit the rookie the most.
“Yeah, I think that is kind of with any play or any player – what we want to do or how we want to attack, but it really has to start with what the players do best. I think that goes through the season, right?” said Sirianni. “As guys get better at doing things, you want to do them more and you want to do them in different ways. 100 percent you have to figure out what they do best and you want to see what they have success on and build upon that.”
Taylor has another juicy matchup to prove his worth as the Raiders are allowing 4.5 yards per carry to opposing offenses.
George Odum deserves his respect
The Colts may have other players getting the majority of attention in other phases of the game, but Odum is a star in the making on special teams. The third-year safety currently leads the league in special teams stops and is making his case for a Pro Bowl roster spot.
Special Teams coach Bubba Ventrone believes Odum’s success comes from his toughness and his willingness to work.
“I’ll say one thing about George (Odum), he is a tough kid now. This kid is tough. He is willing to do anything you ask him to do. He’s very productive, instinctive, he does a good job – he just finds the ball, consistently finds the ball in all these coverage units and he has improved in the return game,” Ventrone said. “He’s been a great guy for our unit overall and obviously, the production has been outstanding this year. That’s one thing – to be able to lead the league in tackles at this point in the season is a testament to him and his hard work and his toughness.”