Game Preview: Colts vs. Steelers, Week 12 - Colts.com

5 Things To Watch

Who shines in the national spotlight? With Pro Bowl voting open through mid-December, Colts players will have an opportunity to showcase themselves in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football (and six days later, when the Colts face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football). Folks watching on TV will be well-acquainted with guys like running back Jonathan Taylor and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, but by the end of the night should know the names of defensive tackle Grover Stewart (one of the NFL's most dominant run defenders) and linebacker Zaire Franklin (the NFL's leading tackler entering Week 12). And for wide receiver Parris Campbell, these next two games will be an opportunity to show football fans just how good he's been this year – and how good he can be when he stays healthy.

Saturday talked with his team this week about the opportunity in front of them – "Embracing the moment, having fun with it, appreciating it and then performing at your best when you have these moments and opportunities," he said.

Can the Colts push the ball downfield? Only two teams have allowed more pass plays of 15 or more yards than the Steelers (73), while Ryan has the lowest average depth of target (6.3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage) among starting quarterbacks in 2022. There isn't one singular reason why the Colts haven't been able to dial up downfield throws with more consistency, but it's something the offense, collectively, certainly wants to do – if the opportunity is there.

"I think part of it is just you have to have enough time to be able to do some of the things you want to do, to push the ball down the field," Ryan said. "We just haven't been consistent enough throughout the year. I really think we've made some strides. We did some good things last week, we made too many mistakes. But we have to find ways. We've got to find ways to stretch the field vertically, get some chances, create explosive plays. It becomes difficult when every drive you're not getting those chunk plays. So, I think Parks (Frazier) has done a good job the last couple of weeks. We've got to continue to look during the week to find ways to try and do that and hopefully we can be better at that."

Better execution in the red zone. The Colts were frustrated by their lack of execution in a goal-to-go set of downs at the Eagles' five-yard line in Week 11, where a sack on third down led to the offense having to settle for a field goal. Instead of extending their lead to 10 points, the field goal bumped it to six with just under five minutes to go. That cracked the door open for Philadelphia's offense, which marched downfield to score the game-winning touchdown with about a minute and a half left.

The Steelers are allowing opposing offenses to score touchdowns on 54 percent of their possessions that reach the red zone, 15th in the NFL. The Colts are converting 43 percent of their red zone drives into touchdowns, 30th in the league. And this team knows it needs to execute better in the red zone to have a chance at turning this season around with six games left.

"You've got to maximize the opportunities that you have," Ryan said. "I think across the board, when you look at the scope of the entire year, I think part of it is we've each kind of taken our own turn. It hasn't been just one thing but at different times, we've each taking our own turn. So, we just have to be more consistent. You have to believe. I do think there's a sense of even though it hasn't gone our way, there has to be a belief that when you get down there, you're going to find a way to punch it in. However that looks whether it's running it, throwing it, whatever we have to do to find a way to put it in the end zone."

Bernhard Raimann vs. Alex Highsmith. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt has almost exclusively rushed the passer against opposing right tackles this season, so it'll be on Braden Smith to keep him out of the pocket on Monday. But opposite Watt is Alex Highsmith, who has nine sacks this season and will present a strong challenge for rookie left tackle Bernhard Raimann.

One of Highsmith's most effective pass rushing moves this season has been a Dwight Freeney-esque spin technique, where he threatens the tackle with speed to the outside and then rips a spin move inside to get to the quarterback. Highsmith has four sacks on inside spin moves this season, per Pro Football Focus.

(Left guard Quenton Nelson may be able to help in stopping this move.)

Raimann was solid in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders and had an up-and-down game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11. But the Colts are committed to giving Raimann – along with 2021 seventh-round right guard Will Fries – the space to develop this season, and have seen growth in the Central Michigan product over the last few weeks.

"The effort is there, the technique is getting there, they're getting better every week," Saturday said. "And I think you continue to get better each week when you get reps and you get activity and you see things happen that you can now apply to the next week. It's not gonna be perfect, no player is. But my expectation is they take strides each and every week of being better players."

The Colts' plan for Kenny Pickett. The Colts have face a few young quarterbacks – like Houston's Davis Mills Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence – but Pickett will be the first rookie Gus Bradley's group will take on in 2022.

Pickett has had an uneven Year 1 with three touchdowns to eight interceptions while averaging 5.8 yards per attempt and taking a little over three sacks per game on average. But when the Colts turned on the tape to prepare for Pickett, they saw a rookie making strides over the last few games.

"Knowing he's a young quarterback, he's getting the hang of it," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "He's been playing better the last couple weeks, they scored some points last week, so he's been playing a lot better. But getting after him, giving him a bunch of different looks, knowing that he ain't much of a wealth of knowledge as everybody else does and show him some different stuff. And just trying to make him uncomfortable back there."

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2022-11-27 18:43:21Z
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