INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts (7-3) on Sunday play host to the Tennessee Titans (7-3) in their 2020 Week 12 matchup at Lucas Oil 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 Titans 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, Noah Togiai
» WR: Zach Pascal, DeMichael Harris
» WR: Marcus Johnson
» QB: Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett, Jacob Eason
» RB: Jonathan Taylor, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins
Notes:
» The Colts last Sunday rolled out their short-yardage package exclusively for quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who ended up playing seven offensive snaps in all against the Green Bay Packers. He first came in on a 3rd-and-2 opportunity in the second quarter and handed off to running back Jonathan Taylor, who got just enough to move the chains. In the third quarter, Brissett came in on 3rd and 3 and handed it off to Jordan Wilkins on the read option for a gain of eight and another first down; Brissett stayed in on the next play and got five yards himself on a running play. Later in the period, the Colts faced 4th and 1 from the Green Bay 46, and Brissett came on to run the trusty quarterback sneak, moving the pile — and then some — to get four yards and improving to 12-of-13 earning first downs on QB sneak plays since Frank Reich began calling offensive plays in 2018. Brissett also got another couple snaps in the fourth quarter as Philip Rivers tried to work his way through a toe injury; Rivers quickly returned and finished out the game.
» Nyheim Hines earned his first-career start at running back last Sunday against the Packers, but it was rookie Jonathan Taylor who ended up getting a bulk of the action, thanks in large part to a tremendous second-half performance. Taylor played 46 offensive snaps in all (55 percent) compared to 29 for Hines (34 percent) and nine for Jordan Wilkins (11 percent), but 31 of Taylor's snaps came over the final two quarters of regulation and overtime, when he combined to carry the ball 15 times for 72 yards (4.8 avg.); Taylor, in all, finished with 22 carries for 90 yards.
» Rookie Michael Pittman Jr. paced the wide receivers in offensive snaps for a second straight week, as he was in for 67 total plays (80 percent), followed by T.Y. Hilton and Zach Pascal (51 plays each), Marcus Johnson (38 plays) and DeMichael Harris (16 plays). Pittman Jr., of course, had three receptions for a team-best 66 yards and his first-career touchdown, a 45-yard catch-and-run play in the first quarter.
» The tight ends once again were a favorite target of Rivers' in the crucial situations last Sunday against the Packers, as Jack Doyle and Trey Burton caught two of Rivers' three touchdown passes on the day. Half of Rivers' touchdown passes this season, seven of 'em, have been to tight ends. Doyle, returning to the lineup last Sunday after missing the Week 10 win over the Titans with a concussion, paced all Colts tight ends with 45 offensive snaps (54 percent), followed by Mo Alie-Cox (43 offensive snaps) and Burton (24 offensive snaps).
» Braden Smith last Sunday saw his streak of 37 consecutive starts at right tackle come to an end no thanks to a thumb injury suffered earlier in the week in practice; during those 37 games, which dated back to Week 5 of the 2018 season, Smith missed just one total offensive snap. It was Le'Raven Clark who got the start in Smith's place at right tackle against the Packers, but the Colts utilized a bit of a rotation at the position with Clark and Chaz Green. In the end, however, Green ended up getting a majority of the snaps at right tackle (62) compared to Clark (22).
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DEFENSE
» DE: Justin Houston, Ben Banogu, Kemoko Turay
» DT: DeForest Buckner, Tyquan Lewis
» NT: Grover Stewart, Taylor Stallworth
» DE: 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:
» Defensive end Kemoko Turay was able to make his 2020 season debut last Sunday vs. the Packers, more than a year after suffering a brutal season-ending ankle injury in the Colts' 2019 Week 5 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Turay was on a pitch count last Sunday, and finished with 10 total defensive snaps. The Colts ended up utilizing nine different defensive linemen in the game, eight of which had at least 10 defensive snaps (17 percent). Even 2020 fifth-round pick Rob Windsor, who was making his NFL debut last Sunday, got in the action with two defensive snaps early in the second half; the Penn State product collected his first-career NFL tackle in the process.
» Outside of the defensive line, the Colts went with the bare minimum at the linebacker, cornerback and safety positions last Sunday. Just three linebackers (Darius Leonard, Bobby Okereke and Anthony Walker), three cornerbacks (Kenny Moore II, Xavier Rhodes and Rock Ya-Sin) and two safeties (Khari Willis and Julian Blackmon) logged any defensive snaps on the day.
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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 rookie Isaiah Rodgers out with a knee injury last Sunday against the Packers, the Colts turned to cornerback Tremon Smith to handle the duties at kickoff returner. Smith ended up returning three kickoffs for a combined 73 yards (24.3 avg.), including a long of 33 yards at the end of the second quarter. Smith came into the season with 46 career kickoff returns for 1,262 yards (25.8) and one touchdown, a 97-yard play in 2018 during his rookie season with the Kansas City Chiefs. Not a bad backup option for the Colts.
