Colts’ coordinator corner: Focusing on improving every week

Here’s what the Colts’ coordinators said this week.

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The Indianapolis Colts (7-3) have a chance to put themselves in the driver’s seat when the Tennessee Titans (7-3) come to visit Lucas Oil Stadium for a crucial matchup in Week 12.

This bout will feature the two teams in the AFC South race at the top of the division. The Colts won the first battle in Week 10 during a 34-17 prime-time win at Nissan Stadium.

Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus spoke to the media Tuesday and gave some insight on how they can prepare for a big divisional game.

Eberflus

It hasn’t been long since the Colts faced off against the Titans. There’s just one game between these two divisional matchups. So while the Colts are likely going to try to implement some of the same game plan that gave them success in Week 10, Eberflus said it’s really about making sure their sideline is doing its job.

“We really make this about us, about our team and about our individual improvement. What happened last performance against Green Bay and then how can we improve for our next performance?” Eberflus said.

The Colts defense allowed 28 points in the first half to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers but shut the unit down in the second half, allowing just three points after halftime.

The second-half adjustments have been a huge storyline this season. We saw it against the Titans in Week 10 as well as the Colts held them scoreless in the final two quarters of the game.

“Then go back and look and see what we did well against [Titans] last time and what we need to improve last time – as an individual player and then as an individual linebacking group, d-line group and secondary, and then how can we pull that together as a whole defense?” Eberflus said. “We are going to be focusing on us this week, focusing on our effort and our fundamentals and what we can do better going forward for the next opponent.”

The Titans offense is coming off of a strong performance against the Baltimore Ravens, which should make for another strong matchup this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Sirianni

The Colts offense has been humming since coming out of the bye week. Quarterback Philip Rivers has been enjoying a strong bounce-back season but we also saw a breakout performance from rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, who took 22 carries for 90 yards in Week 11.

Having patience on certain play-calls has led to some success for Taylor, who appeared to making strides when he took over the backfield in the second half against the Packers.

““I think it’s very important, particularly on certain runs more so than others. There are some runs that you just want to pound it in there and just go, and then you’ve got reads obviously on all your runs. There are certain runs that are slower developing reads than the others,” Sirianni said.

Taylor had a rough stretch of three games coming out of the bye week when he was essentially benched. The Colts deem it the hot-hand approach, but Taylor’s play didn’t warrant the need for any playing time.

But we finally saw a strong performance, and now he will be taking another step forward against the Titans as he gets more comfortable.

“So, it’s a very important part of the success of some of the runs and obviously their eyes and the way they read things,” Sirianni said. “Marlon (Mack) was very good at it and these guys are doing a good job of getting themselves more reps and more feel, and they’re just getting more and more comfortable each week.”

The Colts are likely to continue using the hot hand in the backfield but if Taylor continues to improve, the backfield share will come in larger chunks.

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Colts want to see more from DE Ben Banogu

Ben Banogu has been a healthy scratch over the last two weeks.

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There has been an interesting development taking place as the Indianapolis Colts have made defensive end Ben Banogu a healthy scratch in each of the last two games.

Even with Kemoko Turay working his way back from the PUP list, Banogu failed to log much playing time during the team’s first seven games. Then he was downright scratched from the gameday roster against the Ravens and Titans.

While it seemed maybe the Colts were looking to implement more of a run-heavy game plan on defense, it seems the coaches simply want to see more from Banogu in practice.

“I just think that with any player, I think that it’s about practice. You practice well and you produce on the practice field, and then you move on to the game from there,” said DC Matt Eberflus on Tuesday. “Then you have to produce in the game. He’s working to get that done.”

This isn’t the first time this situation has taken place in Indy. The aforementioned Turay went through this during his rookie campaign. It was essentially the case throughout the tenure of 2017 third-round pick Tarell Basham, who never amounted to much before his release. This also happened with Tyquan Lewis, who is enjoying a Year 3 breakout.

So this is not the time to panic or move on from Banogu. His skill set is still intriguing for the Colts defense and he can turn into a solid piece in the rotation. Eberflus noted that they view edge rushers on more of a longer development scale.

“Again, he’s in his – we say on the defensive line, a lot of times it takes two or three years before the light comes on,” Eberflus said. “He just has to keep persevering and have some determination and keep working.”

Banogu has played just 92 snaps on defense this season and with Turay expected to make his debut sometime in the next two weeks, it won’t be a shock if the former continues to be a healthy scratch.

But in order for the TCU product to get back on the field, he has to start showing out more in practice.

Colts coordinator corner: Preparing for the Pack

What the Colts coordinators are saying in Week 11.

The Indianapolis Colts (6-3) are getting ready to defend their home turf in Week 11 when the Green Bay Packers (7-2) visit Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday.

In a game that has been flexed to late afternoon on FOX, this should be an interesting matchup to watch. The Colts opened the week as favorites at home, but this game could swing either way on a dime.

The Colts coordinators spoke to the media on Tuesday, focusing on what they need to do in order to be ready for the surging Packers.

Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus

The biggest challenge for the Colts defense this week will be devising a gameplan that limits Aaron Rodgers, who is far and wide the best quarterback on Indy’s schedule this season. Rodgers is playing at an MVP level with 26 passing touchdowns and just three interceptions.

When it comes to defending Rodgers, the Colts will have to account for his innate ability to feel pressure and make plays outside the pocket.

“Just his longevity in the league and being able to really operate the way he’s operated for so long, it’s really amazing when you think about it. The way he still moves and his arm talent is still awesome and great – where it’s always been. It’s a big challenge for us,” Eberflus said Tuesday. “But instincts are definitely there. He has the arm talent and the instincts of when to throw the ball and when to get out of the pocket. He seems to have eyes in the back of his head to be able to escape a lot of rush. Instincts is definitely one of the words you could use to describe him.”

The Colts will need a complete game from their defense. It will involve the interior collapsing the top of the pocket while the edge contains Rodgers. It will involve the secondary and linebackers keeping their assignments and making plays on the ball.

“We’ll have to be on top of our game. It’s going to take every one of us. It’s going to take the rush as well as the cover and vice versa. It’s going to be so important that we are on the details every single snap and we want to accomplish what we want to get done for each and every play and each and every down,” Eberflus said. “He’ll make you pay if you don’t and he’s proven that over the course of his career and he’s been really good at it, so we’ll have to be on it this week.”

Offensive Coordinator Nick Sirianni

For the Colts offense, they will have to trust Philip Rivers again this week. The Packers offense will likely put up points, which means Rivers and the gang have to come with it on Sunday.

Fortunately for the offense, the Packers defense has struggled to get pressure consistently (18.8%) and have recorded the eighth-most missed tackles (72) in the NFL. Rivers has been improving each week for the past month, which is something Sirianni has taken notice of.

“Just familiarity with players. I’ve thought he’s played really good throughout and just his familiarity with players throughout, his familiarity with the division and players on our team,” Sirianni said. “Again, the plays are pretty similar. There are some new wrinkles, there are some new things, but the plays for him are pretty similar. So there is nobody who has more reps at some of the things that he’s doing than him, right? Some of these concepts he’s been running since 2004. But it is just the familiarity with players – Michael Pittman Jr., DeMichael Harris, etc.”

In Rivers’ last four games, he has completed 66.7% of his passes for 1,168 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. They will need his strong play to continue again in Week 11.

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Colts’ Nick Sirianni among ‘young coaches to watch’

Nick Sirianni listed among the young coaches to watch.

The Indianapolis Colts are likely to be a popular team when the offseason comes around thanks to the work done by coordinators Nick Sirianni and Matt Eberflus.

The latter is one of the hottest names in terms of potential head coaches following the 2020 season. Eberflus has been running the Colts defense since 2018 and has shown he can develop and coach an elite defense—evident by the first half of the 2020 season.

But he doesn’t meet the criteria of Tom Pelissero’s watch list of young coaches (under age 45). Sirriani does, though, and he was again listed among the young coaches to watch.

Sirianni, 39, has good presence, knows offense and holds players accountable. He’s not even the hottest name on the Indianapolis staff at the moment — that’s defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus — but Sirianni has an excellent reputation across the league. He turned down an interview with the Browns two years ago, feeling he needed to focus solely on the Colts’ Divisional Round game, but is ready to interview going forward.

The Colts are likely to field plenty of calls from teams wanting to interview their coordinators. Eberflus has become one of the hottest names in the league thanks to the emergence of the Colts defense as an elite unit in the NFL.

The talk on Sirianni may have cooled a bit since the offense struggled in 2019 and with the unit being streaky in 2020. But Sirianni still has a strong feel for the offense and is well-liked in the locker while showing he can get the most out of his players.

It will be interesting to see what will happen with the coordinators for the Colts after the 2020 season but both of them should be generating interest during the offseason.

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Matt Eberflus on replicating Lamar Jackson in practice: ‘You really can’t’

Colts will do what they can to prepare for Lamar Jackson.

The Indianapolis Colts (5-2) will be preparing for a big game in week 9 when they host the Baltimore Ravens (5-2) and game-changing quarterback Lamar Jackson.

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Typically throughout the week of practice, the Colts will replicate the style of the opposing quarterback. When it comes to preparing for Jackson, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus told the media that there really isn’t a way to replicate his style.

“You don’t, you really can’t. You can’t really replicate that or the speed of it. That’s typical of every week but it’s more so this week because of the different ways they run the football with the option phases to it and all that. We’ll do the best we can,” Eberflus said. “We’ll have different guys in there at different times and we’ll do the best we can. Our show team has done a really good job this year of giving us great looks and I know they’ll do a great job this week as well.”

Coming off of his MVP campaign, Jackson has regressed a bit as a passer. He’s completing 60.5% of his passes for 1,343 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. The efficiency is still there in the raw numbers but his touchdown rate has expectedly fallen from 9.0% down to 6.3%, which is still pretty strong.

But where Jackson changes the game is with his legs. Even that has regressed a bit as Jackson is averaging 58.7 rushing yards per game, which is down from his 80.4 average yards per game from 2019.

Even with a bit of regression, the Colts know just what kind of challenge Jackson will be from a rushing perspective.

“When you’re dealing with a guy that can run all phases of the running game from A to Z, it’s always a challenge. A guy that can run that fast, can run sideline to sideline, can run inside the tackles – it’s a big challenge for us and we’re going to need all of our team’s speed this week,” Eberflus said.

The Colts have been strong in limiting quarterbacks throughout the season, but they haven’t seen one yet like Jackson and they likely won’t for the rest of the season.

Keeping him limited in the run game while forcing him to make decisions under pressure will be vital if they want to come out with an upset on Sunday.

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Stock up, stock down from Colts’ 41-21 win over the Lions

Stock report in Week 8.

The Indianapolis Colts (5-2) will be moving on to the most difficult part of their schedule now following the 41-21 win over the Detroit Lions (3-4) on Sunday, which was an encouraging victory on the road.

We saw a bit of a change in the backfield as the Colts rode the hot hand of Jordan Wilkins in the second half, benching rookie Jonathan Taylor. We also saw another strong performance from quarterback Philip Rivers.

As is the case every week, the stock report can fluctuate on a weekly basis. Sometimes it’s a bit reactionary from just the previous week. Other times it can be taking notice of a trend taking place.

Here’s a look at the stock report for the Colts following the Week 8 win:

Colts defense looking to return to stingy form in 2020

Colts DC Matt Eberflus harps on the importance of limiting big plays.

Throughout the 2019 season, the Indianapolis Colts defense continued to earn the moniker of a “bend but don’t break” unit. Given their zone-heavy approach, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

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However, an area in which the Colts relatively struggled—compared to the season prior—was limiting big plays. The 2018 defense was in the top-five for allowing big plays whereas the 2019 unit was middle of the road.

With some new additions to the unit and another season of experience in the system, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is hoping to get back to that 2018 form.

“But the elimination of big plays, it is hard to score (and) go all the way down the field without a big play. So it is important we decreased their scoring opportunities with that category in terms of eliminating the big plays,” Eberflus told reporters this week. “We stress that a lot with different principles in our defense, but we certainly want to be in the top five again this year in that category.”

For the most part, the core of the defensive unit is still intact. They are returning 10 of their starters on that side of the ball. The big change comes in the form of defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who will be working at the three-technique.

Getting production from that three-technique defensive tackle position will be the engine of sorts for the entire unit. Denico Autry was that to an extent in 2018, but the entire interior dropped off a cliff when it came to production in 2019.

That’s why the addition of Buckner—a Pro Bowl talent—is so vital to the unit’s success in 2020.

“So the trickle-down effect to answer that is whenever you have a defensive line – DeForest, Justin (Houston) and different guys up front – that can dominate their spot up front, it is easier to play linebacker and easier to play in coverage because everything is sped up and the line of scrimmage is changing for the run game,” said Eberflus. “So there are a lot of things that are beneficial in having a really good 3-technique.”

Even with the likely upgrade at quarterback, the Colts can’t solely rely on their offense like they could in the past. The defense will have to continue stepping up and being stingy when it comes to big plays.

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Giants head coaching search: 15 potential candidates

The New York Giants have fired head coach Pat Shurmur, so here’s a look at 15 candidates who could replace him.

As many things change, so many stay the same — especially in East Rutherford, where the New York Giants have fired head coach Pat Shurmur and are once again on the prowl for a replacement.

The Giants now need to hire their fifth head coach since 2015 and since they got a late start, there’s a lot of ground to make up.

Here’s a look at 15 potential head coaching candidates.

Editor’s note: Having gone over several of these names previously, there’s no real reason to completely rehash everything just for the sake of doing it, so we’re going to blockquote out previous analysis and commentary, and add to it if needed.

Matt Rhule

Rhule is drawing interest from the Carolina Panthers and others, but rumors suggest he’s looking for a place where he can control personnel or he’s not leaving college. Are the Giants that team? Ehh…

Rhule has had success just about everywhere he has gone, and his time at Baylor has been no exception. With the school dealing with some very serious issues, he’s brought it back from the ashes. Not only that, Rhule has a familiarity with the Giants and team ownership, having served as their assistant offensive line coach in 2012. He’s generated head coaching interest in recent years and very nearly landed the Jets job prior to the hiring of Adam Gase.

Forgetting about his desire to control personnel, Rhule has no NFL head coaching experience to speak of, which is something the Giants may look to avoid this time around.

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Who is Taysom Hill and why is he so important?

Who is Taysom Hill?

In youth football, for those who had the pleasure of playing the game, it was not really about offensive schemes or play calling. At least at the earliest levels it was all about who had the most athletic player that could do it all; running around, reversing, field, and basically just out-performing all other 21 kids out there.

This type of do it all player disappears as a young athlete progresses through the levels of football. Granted you might be a star receiver who also returns kicks in college, but we see less and less big time players play multiple positions. The Saints however found a diamond in the rough who does just about everything, a rarity in today’s game.

Meet Taysom Hill. The quarterback, running back, receiver, kick returner, punt returner, special teams specialist, and tight end. At 6’2″ and 220 pounds, Hill is highly athletic with the ability to beat anyone in open space and can be a matchup problem wherever he lines up.

Hill was the starting quarterback at BYU and went undrafted in 2017. He was claimed by the Packers and spent the preseason in Green Bay before being waived and picked up by the Saints shortly after. After starting out on special teams, Sean Payton knew they had a unique playmaker on their roster.

The Saints love to get creative with Hill as well. They line him up at quarterback in the wildcat formation, which keeps defenses on their toes because of his strong arm and quickness. He has one rushing touchdown in 2019. He also tends to line up at wide receiver and has four receiving touchdowns on the year as well.

The Colts will have to be conscientious of wherever Hill lines up on the field Monday night. Many defenses do not account for his versatile skill set and can get burned, especially in the red zone. The Saints creative play designs make it easy for Hill to be wide open.

Matt Eberflus needs to always have someone spying on or covering this dynamic playmaker all game if the Colts want to have any success against this multi-faceted and talented offense. His fitting nickname with New Orleans media is “the human Swiss Army knife.”

7 candidates to replace Giants coach Pat Shurmur

The New York Giants are unlikely to fire head coach Pat Shurmur, but if they do, here are seven candidates to replace him.

The New York Giants have no plans to fire coach Pat Shurmur this year or at any point during the offseason, meaning that his job could be safe through 2020.

Of course, Giants ownership let similar information leak when it came to former coach Ben McAdoo, and we all know how that ended up playing out.

So while it’s unlikely the Giants move on from Shurmur over the next calendar year, there’s no denying he’s put himself firmly on the hot seat. Accordingly, we’re here to examine seven candidates who could eventually replace him.

Tom Coughlin

Yep. We’re starting out in controversial fashion, but let’s not pretend that forcing Coughlin to step down wasn’t the first in a long string of poor decisions that led these Giants to where they are today. The real question would be whether or not Coughlin would want to come back to New York. Or, at this point, whether he even desires a return to the sideline at all.

Bottom line: The Giants need an old-school disciplinarian leading the way because the whole player-friendly thing is clearly not working.

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