The Tantalizing Ten: Titans Edition
Intro: Each week, we will take a look at 10 players that will have a big impact in the game. Who are the ???Tantalizing Ten??? when the Colts welcome the Titans to Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon?
Chuck Pagano didn't waste much time this week in naming Shipley the starter in Week Four, despite Khaled Holmes back healthy. Shipley has proven to be much more than a stopgap guy for the Colts and his presence in the middle of the line is a major reason why the unit is among the league's best pass protection groups. Shipley and the interior will be tested on Sunday though with All-Pro defensive end Jurrell Casey across the line in the 3-4 Titans scheme.
Coming off his third AFC Offensive Player of the Week award of his career, Luck will face a stiff test in Week Four. The Titans pass defense is ranked second in the NFL and have three proven veterans at the backend of their defense. Last year, Luck didn't throw a touchdown pass against the Titans. Will that change for the league leader in touchdown passes this season?
It's pretty remarkable that Luck leads the NFL with nine passing touchdowns, yet Wayne has been held out of the end zone. Smart money has that goose egg changing very soon. Sunday also marks the 200th game played for the 14-year veteran as he's on target to break Peyton Manning's franchise record for games played (208) with the Colts.
With Jerrell Freeman ruled OUT, McNary is your starter again at inside linebacker. Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt said that the power running game will be a focus this week so McNary and D'Qwell Jackson should be in the thick of things in trying to stop Shonn Greene and Bishop Sankey.
Casey begins a stretch of three elite interior guys the Colts offensive line will face (Baltimore's Haloti Nagta and Houston's J.J. Watt). Listed at 305 pounds, Casey is an exceptional pass rusher with 5.5 sacks in his last seven games. Casey had a pair of sacks in last year's meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium.
After back-to-back weeks of some near misses in bringing down opposing quarterbacks, Walden finally got into the action against the Jaguars. Walden has been the most consistent pass rusher for the Colts in 2014 and now we will see if the Indianapolis defense can begin to string together some of the games we saw on Sunday off the edge.
Just like Wayne, Hilton has been held out of the end zone in 2014 despite joining No. 87 with a team-high 16 receptions this year. Hilton is working back from groin and ankle injuries but he was the Colts leading receiver on Sunday against the Jaguars (five catches for 80 yards).
Any definitive reports on Locker from Titans headquarters have been pretty hush-hush this week. He was limited at practice on Thursday and veteran backup Charlie Whitehurst continues to take the first team reps. Whitehurst hasn't thrown a regular season pass since 2011, so the status of Locker should be monitored closely this weekend.
Bradshaw has been one of the early surprises of the 2014 season. Showing no ill effects from a season-ending neck injury, Bradshaw has flourished for the Colts in averaging six yards per carry and snagging three receiving touchdowns. Chuck Pagano made it clear earlier this week, the Colts will continue to rotate Bradshaw and Trent Richardson as both are backs that can handle all three downs of work.
Wright is known as a burner but his 8.6 yards per catch (on 14 receptions) aren't as eye-popping as many would expect this year. Tight end Delanie Walker has been the Titans top receiving threat but for this offense to become more consistent, guys like Wright and Justin Hunter have to emerge.
