QB’S feet kept Indianapolis on the chase
INDIANAPOLIS — Colts linebacker Robert Mathis was drenched and said it felt like he had just run “about 5.3 miles. I am very, very tired.”
Mathis and his teammates were chasing Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor all day, as Pryor’s version of the option in the read-option was almost always to take off. His first three runs against an Indianapolis defense that didn’t face a similar quarterback all of last season went for 9, 29 and 13 yards.
On the 29-yarder, he ran by linebacker Kelvin Sheppard in the middle of the field as if Sheppard were there only to scare away crows. Pryor repeatedly turned the corner on keepers when it looked as if defenders were there, and finished with 112 yards on 13 carries.
“The option was the option,” Indianapolis head coach Chuck Pagano said. “They did a nice job with their scheme, and he had the two long runs on the read option coming out to the open side.
“You watch the tape and you watch the preseason, and it’s really hard to gauge. We talked about it all week and the guy was making plays.”
Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson watched a lot of tape on what the 49ers did with Colin Kaepernick, and has been adding wrinkles to Pryor’s package all training camp. The original plan was to have Pryor come into the game for Matt Flynn and use the read-option, but then Pryor beat out Flynn for the starting job.
Now Olson really can have some fun. The Raiders lined up in the pistol formation, too, and Pryor hit Marcel Reece for a 9-yard gain.
The Colts’ defense intercepted two of Pryor’s passes, the first when he threw late and then the one at the end of the game when safety Antoine Bethea admittedly baited him into a dangerous throw to Rod Streater.
“The main thing, if I was writing in your notepad,” Pryor said, “would be I didn’t throw the ball away down there.”