Playoff Hopes Stay Alive Through Week 15

The Colts dominated the Cowboys this weekend and I could not be happier that it happened. They beat them soundly in every phase of the game. The Cowboys, who had looked phenomenal on a 5 game win streak, were hapless. They had no answers on offense or defense. Dak Prescott looked terrible; Ezekiel Elliott looked good, but was held to under 100 yards rushing; and Amari Cooper might as well not have been on the field. The Cowboys offensive line gave up 3 sacks while their defense was held to 0 sacks. Meanwhile, Leighton Vander Esch played well but couldn't take the game over as he has in recent weeks. The Cowboys were overmatched from the first quarter, basically from the blocked field goal on (Thanks, Denico Autry).

Going into this game, one of the bigger storylines was having 2 of the 3 leading defensive rookie of the year candidates on the field and in my mind one impressed while the other didn't (before you argue, the stats back that up). Going into the game Leighton Vander Esch was on a hot streak, or at least I though he was until I looked at his stats, but he only had 6 combined tackles against the Eagles and 8 against the Colts with 0 passes defensed, 0 sacks, 0 interceptions, and 0 tackles for a loss. LVE has been very good, but you can definitely tell he plays for the Cowboys (overhyped?). With all this said, he will be very good, but he was not the best rookie linebacker on the field on Sunday. Darius Leonard was. After the game during Matt Taylor's interview with Anthony Walker and Darius Leonard, Leonard stated that he did not feel well - had some kind of stomach bug and said that he did not play well as a result. Darius Leonard was all over the field for the Colts. He finished the game with 11 combined tackles (9 solo!) and two passes defensed. He impressed in coverage and is well on his way to winning defensive rookie of the year, or at least he should be. But then again, as we've all seen, the media loves the big market names of Derwin James in Los Angeles and LVE in Dallas.

Marlon Mack was so unbelievably good on Sunday, rushing for a career high of 139 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Colts offensive line; Costanzo, Nelson, Kelly (first week back from injury), Haeg (in place of Mark Glowinski) and Smith owned the Cowboys defensive line. Even LeRaven Clark played well as the team's swing tackle. TY Hilton, despite missing practice all week, crossed the 1000 yard threshold for the 5th time in his 7 year career. Andrew Luck didn't have to win the game on his own, which was fantastic to see since he has had to be Superman throughout his 7 year career.

The Colts defense was dominant, beginning with the defensive line. Rookie Tyquan Lewis had 2 sacks, Denico Autry had 1 sack and a blocked field goal, and the group as a whole helped hold Ezekiel Elliot, the league's leading rusher, to only 87 yard on the ground. The linebackers were also very good, being paced by Darius Leonard. Anthony Walker also had 8 tackles. The front seven did a good job of keeping Zeke in check, held him to 128 scrimmage yards which is just below his season average of 135 yards but they didn't let him in the end zone once while also making Dak uncomfortable all day. The secondary, led by starters Kenny Moore, Pierre Desir, Clayton Geathers, and Malik Hooker; held the Cowboys' receiving corps and Dak in check. Backup rookie safety, George Odum made an outstanding play on a 4th down during the Cowboys last drive to secure the shutout. Prescott only completed 61.54% of his passes for 4.13 yard/attempt. Amari Cooper, the Cowboys number 1 receiver, only caught 4 of his 7 targets for 32 yards and no touchdowns.

The Colts did all this while being hamstrung by poor officiating. The refs definitely seemed to have a strong bias in favor of the Cowboys especially in the second quarter. When they ignored, I mean missed, a blatant pass interference and called an illegal block that should have gone uncalled based on the circumstances against Anthony Castonzo. There was one holding in the second quarter that they called against Ryan Kelly that was deserved but other than that, there were several very suspicious calls that definitely helped the Cowboys but they couldn't get out their own way so, in the long run, it didn't matter.

The Colts dismantled the Cowboys and their playoff chances look better than they have all season. As long as the Chargers/Saints do what they should this coming weekend and the Colts win out, the Colts will secure the 6th seed and likely travel to New England or Houston during the wildcard round. There isn't a team in the league who wants to play the Colts right now.

Tyquan Lewis hauls down Dak Prescott for one of his two sacks (Image courtesy of the Indystar)