{"id":156509,"date":"2023-12-29T10:15:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T15:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=156509"},"modified":"2023-12-29T00:04:03","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T05:04:03","slug":"how-the-indianapolis-colts-can-topple-the-las-vegas-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/12\/29\/how-the-indianapolis-colts-can-topple-the-las-vegas-raiders\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Indianapolis Colts Can Topple the Las Vegas Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Week 17, the Indianapolis Colts will play at home against the Las Vegas Raiders. The two teams faced each other last season with Indianapolis winning 25-20<\/a> on the road.<\/p>\n

That was the only win for interim coach Jeff Saturday. Jonathan Taylor rushed for 147 yards and even Matt Ryan had a rushing touchdown in the victory.<\/p>\n

Indianapolis is coming off a tough 29-10 loss<\/a> to the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>. Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew finished with no touchdowns and an interception. Taylor, who returned from a three-game injury, rushed 18 times for only 43 yards.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Raiders came away with an impressive Christmas Day win over the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>. They managed to win despite quarterback Aidan O\u2019Connell not completing a single pass after the first quarter. The Raiders shockingly scored two defensive touchdowns in seven seconds.<\/p>\n

The 8-7 Colts are tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans for the best record in the AFC South. This is a highly-important game for Indy as they try to assume sole possession of the division lead.<\/p>\n

This is also a must-win for the 7-8 Raiders. If they lose, they\u2019ll be officially eliminated from playoff contention.<\/p>\n

How the Indianapolis Colts Can Beat the Las Vegas Raiders<\/h2>\n

The Colts\u2019 Defense Needs to Step Up<\/h3>\n

Heading into Week 16, the Colts ranked third in the NFL in both sacks and takeaways. They only produced one sack and zero takeaways, though, against the Falcons.<\/p>\n

Defensive end Kwity Paye recorded the Colts\u2019 lone sack. He dropped quarterback Taylor Heinicke early in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Indianapolis missed tackles left and right, especially against the Falcons\u2019 Bijan Robinson. The eighth overall pick in this year\u2019s draft finished with 122 all-purpose yards, including 72 rushing yards (six yards per carry).<\/p>\n

Robinson had an electric 32-yard run on his first carry, leaving defenders in the dust. Atlanta Running back Tyler Allgeier also pulled off a 31-yard run in the game.<\/p>\n

During the upset road win over Kansas City, Raiders running back Zamir White ran all over the Chiefs\u2019 defense. The second-year pro rushed for a career-high 145 yards while averaging nearly seven yards per carry.<\/p>\n

The Colts\u2019 D must step up against Las Vegas. The Raiders, who scored a ridiculous 63 points in Week 15<\/a> against the Los Angeles Chargers, can be a force to be reckoned with at times.<\/p>\n

A Big Performance From Michael Pittman Jr.<\/h3>\n

Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is having a fantastic campaign. He\u2019s set to become the first Colt since Reggie Wayne (2012) to finish a season with at least 100 catches and 1,100 receiving yards. The <\/span>USC product has recorded 99 receptions for 1,062 yards this year.<\/p>\n

Pittman missed the Falcons game due to a concussion. His absence was felt as Minshew and the Colts\u2019 offense struggled mightily.<\/p>\n

Fellow receivers failed to get the job done. Josh Downs had six catches for only 39 yards. Alec Pierce had just 3 catches for 30 yards.<\/p>\n

Pittman is expected to return for the New Year’s Eve matchup with the Raiders. He is still in concussion protocol, but progressing well<\/a>. The Colts need him to be healthy. They also need him to come through with a big-time game and spark the offense.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: [Robert Scheer\/IndyStar] – USA Today Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coming off a disappointing loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Colts will look to pick up a much-needed win against the Las Vegas Raiders. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":156634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,54],"tags":[4810,56,6237,848,6056],"class_list":["post-156509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colts","category-editorials","tag-gardner-minshew","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-jonathan-taylor","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-michael-pittman-jr"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}