clear after another loss last week.聽He expects the Indianapolis Colts to clean things up.Whether it’s missed throws Marlon Mack Jersey , dropped passes, penalties or turnovers, just about every glaring flaw that could strike has, and it’s left the Colts in a major early-season bind.“Basically, what he’s talking about is we’ve got to stop making self-inflicted mistakes, the penalties, things that we can control, ball-handling and things like that,” running back Robert Turbin said Monday.“If we can execute, obviously, it’s not going to be perfect, but we’d definitely like to execute more times than not and definitely not beat ourselves.”Until the Colts start making more plays 鈥?and fewer mistakes 鈥?the results aren’t likely to change.Indy (1-4) has lost three straight, falling two games behind AFC South co-leaders Jacksonville and Tennessee.And with just a few corrections, things could look very different.Cincinnati snuffed out one comeback chance when usually sure-handed tight end Jack Doyle fumbled in the final minute of the season opener. The Bengals returned the fumble 83 yards for a touchdown to seal a 34-23 victory.Two weeks later, at Philadelphia, Luck again had Indy in position for the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes left 鈥?only to be sacked on fourth-and-3 from the Eagles’ 4-yard line.In Week 4, at home against Houston Quenton Nelson Color Rush Jersey , receiver Marcus Johnson failed to haul in a third-down pass on the opening possession of overtime, forcing the Colts to settle for a 44-yard field goal. Luck’s errant throw on fourth-and-4 from his 43-yard line allowed the Texans to drive for the winning field goal as time expired.On Thursday, Luck’s strong second half cut a 21-point deficit to seven until Zach Pascal‘s inability to make a catch at the聽New England 38-yard line led to an interception.聽The Patriots converted the turnover into a TD and a 38-24 lead.“That was one game, that was the last game,” receiver Chester Rogers said, referring to a long pass he dropped against the Pats.聽“We’ve got to fix that. It’s fixable, you know, something that’s just been happening. We’ve had some drops. We’ve got to fix it, plain and simple.”While the receivers’ miscues certainly have been in the spotlight, they are far from Indy’s only problem.Luck’s postgame comments began with a self-critique. Since returning from surgery on his right shoulder, Luck has thrown a league-leading 245 passes with eight touchdowns and five interceptions and blamed himself for misreading a blitz the only time he was sacked Thursday.Only eight teams have committed more penalties than Indy’s 38.“I saw Andrew’s statement about kind of getting out of our own way. Certainly, that is apropos,” coach Frank Reich said Friday.聽“We’ve just got to play cleaner football. We’ve just got to play good football. We talk about it all the time. We believe in our players, we believe we have the talent to win games.”It would help if the Colts could get some of their playmakers back on the field.The offense played Thursday without Doyle, Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton,聽both of its starting offensive tackles and starting running back Marlon Mack.The defense began the game without rookie Darius Leonard, the NFL’s leading tackler through four weeks https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Andrew-Luck-Jersey , and cornerbacks Kenny Moore II, Quincy Wilson and Nate Hairston. It finished without safety Clayton Geathers (concussion), linebacker Anthony Walker (concussion), defensive tackle Denico Autry (hamstring) and safety Mathias Farley (hamstring).Reich 鈥?and everyone else inside the team complex 鈥?hopes a few extra days off between the loss to New England and Sunday’s visit to the New York Jets will help get some key players back.“Two weeks ago, it was pretty stiff, but now it feels pretty loose when I go out there,” Mack said Monday. “Each and every day they add more stuff for me.”Leonard also believes he’ll play this weekend.But the Colts know the actual solution is less about who is on the field and more about just playing smart football.“I think when we look at ourselves, we’re going to have to learn how not to lose before we can give ourselves a chance to win,” Luck said Thursday night. “It’s frustrating, the stuff out there. We’re all frustrated, but I don’t think anybody’s losing the belief.”NOTES: The Colts signed defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad and safety Tray Matthews to the practice squad Monday. Muhammad was originally claimed by the Colts off waivers from New Orleans following the final cutdowns and played in two of Indy’s first four games. Matthews was an undrafted rookie who was cut by Minnesota on Sept. 1. … Indy also re-signed tight end Mo Alie-Cox to the practice squad late last week.100View Gallery Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj Mehta The Indianapolis Colts advanced to the Divisional round of the playoffs after defeating the division winning Houston Texans 21-7 in the first round of the playoffs. The Colts’ hot streak has been more than impressive, rattling off 10 wins out of their last 11 games to turn a 1-5 start. As the year progressed, the team slowly transitioned from quarterback Andrew Luck having to carry the team to a bully ball squad led by a strong run game and resilient defense. One of the main benefactors of this new mentality by the Colts is running back Marlon Mack. After playing a fairly limited role last season, he started the year slow, missing four of the team’s first five games. It didn’t take long for things to starting picking up behind a surging offensive line. He finished the regular season with 908 yards rushing on 195 rushing attempts and 9 touchdowns in just 12 games played. Over the course of an entire 16 game season, his stat line would have been 260 carries for 1,210 yards and 12 touchdowns.He continued his strong play in the Wild Card game as he rushed 24 times for 148 yards and one touchdown. Whether it is a direct result of the offensive line play or his progression as a player under RB Coach Tom Rathman Josh Ferguson Jersey , Mack is producing when called upon.Film ReviewThe first play clips shows a staple of the Colts’ offense; a sweep with a pulling guard or center. Center Ryan Kelly leads the way with an excellent pull block while both Mo Alie-Cox and Anthony Castonzo create a huge running lane for Mack. I am most impressed by the burst that Mack shows through the hole. He sees the hole quickly and doesn’t hesitate to get to the sideline and work up-field. Great finish on the run too by lowering his shoulder into the cornerback rather than stepping out of bounds. Reinforcing the bully ball mentality.Mack has improved in a few areas this year but I am most impressed by his continued leg drive and patience in the hole. This play is initially blown up by linebacker Zach Cunningham— despite an excellent block by Alie-Cox on the trap motion— but Mack is able to still make it a positive gain. With an excellent jump cut— which he is pretty stellar at— and continually driving his legs through contact, Mack is able to evade the tackle in the backfield and turn it into a really solid gain. Love his patience to not give up on the play upon seeing the linebacker fill the hole and how he makes something out of nothing. Notice that he finishes the run falling forward too. The little things are so important. Next is the touchdown run that gave the Colts a two score lead early in the game. Another sweep where the line paves the way for an easy touchdown. Mack does a great job of getting to the corner quickly and cutting up field when necessary to get the touchdown. He likely could have cut sooner behind Kelly but the play resulted in a touchdown so you can’t critique it too much. Great block by Joe Haeg on Jadeveon Clowney, as that opened the lane for the score. The next play is an outstanding cut, along with excellent burst around the corner. The play is designed to be a run up the gut but Clowney reads is perfectly and beats Castonzo inside. Mack recognizes this immediately and runs to the vacated edge. He then displays excellent cornering ability to beat linebacker Zach Cunningham to the edge and is nearly able to turn the corner for more yards. He finishes the run with his patented stiff arm that sends Cunningham falling to the ground. Where Mack continues to struggle a bit is with his vision and finding holes, especially on sweep or stretch plays. When the hole is obvious, he is great and accelerates for big gains. When it isn’t, well this happens. Mack simply reads the hole wrong. He cuts up field once he sees JJ Watt shed the block of Alie-Cox. If he trusted his blockers more and followed them on the sweep, Kelly would have picked up Watt and Mack could’ve had the corner for a big gain.This next clip shows how much easier it is to play running back in the NFL with a dominant offensive line. Mack does a nice job of getting up field quickly and gaining yards but look how much room there is here. Mark Glowinski drives his defensive lineman seven yards off the line of scrimmage while Kelly and Braden Smith take care of the linebackers. The result is a huge gain up the gut where Mack isn’t touched for eight yards. Perhaps the most impressive play on Saturday was Mack’s next run. Hats off to the phenomenal pull block by Smith. Mack is able to slide around the block with agile feet and burst to get to the second level. He then performs two incredible jump cuts in the open field on Texans’ defensive backs, including one that broke the ankles of former Pro Bowler Tyrann Mathieu. A truly nasty play that deserves to be shown over and over again. Runs like this make me think that we are only scratching the surface with what he could be.Another area where Mack has really improved this year is getting skinny through the hole. In his rookie season, too often he would try to bounce plays outside. This year, he is trusting his blockers more on inside runs and driving his legs through smaller and smaller creases to create yardage. There is almost no room for him to squeeze through here yet he is able to continually drive his feet and create yardage. Great job of shedding the tackle by the defensive lineman in the hole to get to the second level. He nearly makes Mathieu miss again in the secondary. Excellent run.Last clip is my personal favorite run of the game. This is the run that put the game on ice. Much of the offensive line gets pancakes, starting with right tackle Braden Smith. However, the pancakes aren’t immediate and Mack has to be patient in diagnosing the hole. He stays on his toes and is able to sift through the traffic and get to the second level. Once he bursts through the line, it is one-on-one yet again with his favorite safety in Tyrann Mathieu. Mack gives him his patented stiff arm— the same stiff arm that dropped Clowney last season— before sliding down in bounds to clinch the game. AnalysisMarlon Mack thoroughly impressed for most of this game. He appears to be getting better and is making the most of his opportunities behind a dominant offensive line. On Saturday, Mack showed a ton of traits that make me optimistic for his future in the Colts’ backfield. I am most impressed by his ability to turn nothing into something.The coaching staff deserves a ton of praise for this performance. Mack was used on a lot of trap and pull plays rather than ones that required zone blocking. The coaching staff drew up a perfect gameplan that allowed their lineman to bully the Texans’ defense and Mack to play his style. To beat the top team in the AFC this weekend, the coaches and Mack are going to have to bring their “A” game yet again. I like their chances with this rushing attack.
