INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts (8-4) on Sunday travel to take on the Las Vegas Raiders (7-5) in a critical AFC matchup at Allegiant Stadium — and, accordingly, it's time to take a look at the team's unofficial depth chart for the game.
Here is a position-by-position look for the Raiders matchup, with some notes for each unit:
OFFENSE
» WR: T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman Jr., Dezmon Patmon
» LT: Anthony Castonzo, Chaz Green
» LG: Quenton Nelson
» C: Ryan Kelly, Danny Pinter
» RG: Mark Glowinski
» RT: Braden Smith, Le'Raven Clark
» TE: Jack Doyle, Trey Burton
» TE: Mo Alie-Cox
» WR: Zach Pascal, DeMichael Harris
» WR: Marcus Johnson, Ashton Dulin
» QB: Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett, Jacob Eason
» RB: Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins
Notes:
» Jonathan Taylor had his best half of football over the final two quarters (in regulation) of the Colts' Week 11 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers, but then was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, forcing him to miss his first-ever game in Indy's Week 12 loss to the Tennessee Titans. But he certainly picked up where he left off last Sunday against the Houston Texans, leading the team in rushing with 13 carries for 91 yards and also adding three receptions for 44 yards and his first-career receiving touchdown. Taylor also played the most snaps (33) of any running back last Sunday, compared to 23 for Nyheim Hines and 13 for Jordan Wilkins.
» T.Y. Hilton used to do damage playing almost every offensive snap for the Colts, but he found a really nice balance in his role last Sunday against the Texans. While Michael Pittman Jr. (58 offensive snaps) and Zach Pascal (55 offensive snaps) played more, Hilton, at 43 snaps, was extremely efficient, finishing with by far his best outing of the season, with eight receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. And, of course, Hilton did it against the Texans; in 18 career games against Houston, including a postseason contest, Hilton has tallied 98 receptions for 1,732 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Ghost is back.
» With Anthony Castonzo out due to a knee injury suffered the previous week against the Titans, the Colts went with fifth-year veteran Le'Raven Clark at left tackle to start last Sunday's game against the Texans. But just five offensive snaps into the game, Clark would go down with what has since been diagnosed as a season-ending Achilles injury; Chaz Green, the Colts' third left tackle, took over from there. He ended up playing 64 of a possible 69 offensive snaps, and earned a season-best 65.7 overall game grade from Pro Football Focus, including a very solid 77.7 grade as a run blocker. The Colts will likely rely on Green at left tackle moving forward until Castonzo, who is considered week-to-week, is able to get back in the lineup.
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DEFENSE
» DE: Justin Houston, Ben Banogu, Kemoko Turay
» DT: DeForest Buckner, Tyquan Lewis
» NT: Grover Stewart, Taylor Stallworth
» DE: Denico Autry, Al-Quadin Muhammad
» WLB: Darius Leonard, Matthew Adams, Jordan Glasgow
» MLB: Anthony Walker, Zaire Franklin
» SAM: Bobby Okereke, E.J. Speed
» CB: Rock Ya-Sin, T.J. Carrie
» FS: Julian Blackmon, George Odum
» SS: Khari Willis, Tavon Wilson
» N: Kenny Moore II, Isaiah Rodgers
» CB: Xavier Rhodes, Tremon Smith
Notes:
» DeForest Buckner might've missed his first game of the season in Week 11 after being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, but you would've never known it by his performance last Sunday against the Texans. Buckner played his usual amount of snaps — 83 percent of them (53 in all) — and had a monster day: four tackles (two for a loss) with two sacks and three quarterback hits. His dominant presence up front also helped Justin Houston have his best individual game in years: four tackles, three sacks, and one forced fumble, and he also caused a safety for the fourth time in his career, tying the NFL all-time record (three of those safeties have come in the last two years with the Colts, with two of them happening this season alone).
» And, real quick, for those keeping an eye on Kemoko Turay's usage now in his third game back off the Physically Unable to Perform list, the third-year Rutgers edge rusher played nine total defensive snaps against the Texans and finished with two tackles.
» With Bobby Okereke missing his second straight game as he deals with an ankle injury, the Colts, for a second straight week, saw both Darius Leonard and Anthony Walker play every defensive snap last Sunday against the Texans. Walker finished with a team-best 10 tackles and added a pass defensed, and also had the fumble recovery of all fumble recoveries when the Texans were in a goal-to-go situation with just more than a minute left and threatening to score a go-ahead touchdown; quarterback Deshaun Watson couldn't handle a low snap, and Walker was right there to jump on the ball to seal the big win for Indy.
» The Colts mixed it up at cornerback much more than usual behind starters Kenny Moore II (who had an All-Pro-like performance) and Xavier Rhodes last Sunday against the Texans, as T.J. Carrie played 36 defensive snaps, while Rock Ya-Sin played 29. Carrie had a tackle and a pass defensed, while Ya-Sin finished with two tackles on defense and one special teams stop.
» Kudos to Tavon Wilson for stepping in at strong safety in place of Khari Willis, who missed last Sunday's game against the Texans with back and quad injuries. The veteran Wilson played 61 of a possible 64 defensive snaps and had four tackles on the day; in fact, he earned a season-best 82.7 tackling grade from Pro Football Focus.
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SPECIALISTS
» P: Rigoberto Sanchez
» PK: Rodrigo Blankenship
» H: Rigoberto Sanchez
» LS: Luke Rhodes
» KR: Isaiah Rodgers
» PR: Nyheim Hines, Isaiah Rodgers
Notes:
» With Rigoberto Sanchez on the mend after having surgery earlier in the week to remove a cancerous tumor, Ryan Allen made his Colts debut at punter last Sunday against the Texans, and had a solid outing, with five punts total for 235 yards (47.0 average; 38.0 net average) with one kick downed inside the 20. Allen also was the holder for one Rodrigo Blankenship field goal and three extra points.
