SUB WARFARE
BACKUPS IN KEY ROLES FOR TITANS-COLTS SHOWDOWN
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts spent all week preparing for Derrick Henry, and it still might not have been enough time.
Facing the NFL’s leading rusher with a decimated defensive front only makes the challenge more daunting.
However, with standout defensive tackle DeForest Buckner out after being placed on the COVID-19 reserve list this past week, starting defensive end Denico Autry still inactive after going on that list the week before and starting linebacker Bobby Okereke out with an ankle injury, Colts coach Frank Reich wasn’t changing his tune.
He’s bringing back an old refrain for today’s home game against the Tennessee Titans.
“This is normal in the NFL, and good teams overcome it,” he said. “That’s what we need to do. Sure, every player is important and adds a unique combination to the game, and when players go down, you miss them. But I’ve seen it happen so many times through the years — the good teams overcome it, and that’s what we need to do.”
Especially with so much at stake for the division rivals.
Both teams are 7-3 and share the lead in the AFC South standings. The Colts have the head-tohead advantage after beating the Titans 34-17 on Nov. 12 in Nashville, and another win would give them a one-game lead plus a tiebreaking season sweep.
A victory by the Titans would give Tennessee a one-game lead with five to play, a split in the series and a tiebreaking edge because of a better division record.
As for the Colts, without Autry, Buckner and Okereke, the league’s second-stingiest defense won’t look the same, and some believe it could give the run-heavy Titans a significant advantage up front. Henry doesn’t buy it.
“I think they play very hard. They fly to the ball,” said Henry, who led the league in rushing last season and has 1,079 yards on 229 carries this season, averaging 4.7 yards per carry and 107.9 rushing yards per game.
Henry, whose ninth rushing touchdown of the season was a 29-yarder for an overtime road win last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, also described Indianapolis defenders as “guys that play great together collectively, good tacklers.”
Reich believes those traits will continue to be on display despite being without their best run stuffer, sacks leader and fourth-leading tackler. The Colts are confident the only that will change about their defense this week is the names in the lineup, although Pro Bowl linebacker Darius Leonard said “there’s no question” that Buckner will be missed.
“It is what it is,” Leonard said. “The other guys have to do the preparation, because it’s not one guy, it’s 11 guys.”
Henry became the league’s first 1,000-yard rusher of the 2020 season when he hit the milestone at Baltimore. It’s the third straight year he has reached that level, finishing the 2018 regular season with 1,059 yards on 215 carries and the 2019 regular season with 1,540 on 303.
He has hit the 100-yard mark in six games this season, including each of the past two weeks, and has run for 100 or more yards in seven consecutive road games. Henry had 103 yards in the first meeting with the Colts, and last season he rushed for 149 yards in a rare Tennessee victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Henry doesn’t expect the workload to decrease this time.
“We have that mindset that it’s playoff football right now,” he said, “and just be locked in every week.”
For Indianapolis, veteran Nyheim Hines and rookie Jonathan Taylor have taken turns sharing the load on touches out of the backfield.
Hines has 51 carries for 179 yards and two touchdowns plus 36 catches for 296 yards and four scores, and he is one of nine players who has three or more multiple-touchdown games this season. He had one on the ground and another through the air in the most recent meeting with Tennessee.
Taylor, who rushed for 90 yards in last Sunday’s 34-31 overtime victory against the Green Bay Packers, leads the Colts with 518 rushing yards and four touchdown runs.
The news was good late in the week for Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, with the NFL veteran in his first season with Indianapolis on pace to make his 235th consecutive start. Rivers returned to practice Friday, his first on-field action since injuring the big toe on his right foot in the win against Green Bay.
“I thought Philip looked good and had a good day out there,” Reich said.
Rivers has not missed a start since 2006, when he became the starter for the San Diego Chargers, and if he starts against the Titans, he will break a tie with former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning for the 10th-most starts in league history and tie retired defensive back Charles Woodson for ninth on that list.
As is the case for many teams at this point in the season, the injury news has been a mix of bad and good for the Titans, but they could receive a needed boost if three-time Pro Bowl punter Brett Kern makes a successful return. He was activated from injured reserve on Saturday, having gone on the list after hurting his wrist in a Nov. 1 road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He missed the most recent meeting with the Colts, and things didn’t go well on special teams, with the troubles in that department a major reason Tennessee lost.
Kern’s replacement, Trevor Daniel, struggled in the second half, shanking one third-quarter punt for 17 yards and having another blocked and returned for a touchdown just a few minutes later. Four-time Pro Bowl kicker Stephen Gostkowski also missed a 44-yard field-goal try wide right in that game, his fifth miss of the season on seven attempts from 40 to 49 yards. Gostkowski made all three of his field-goal attempts in the Titans’ win at Baltimore, including a pair of 40-yarders.