Indianapolis Colts Football

DEPTH EMERGING IN THE PASSING GAME

With 88 catches and 1,156 receiving yards on the season, Reggie Wayne has been the focal point in the Colts passing attack all year long.

Wayne has had at least nine targets in 11 of 12 games this season, yet Andrew Luck’s 503 pass attempts has allowed the rookie quarterback to incorporate several targets at different positions throughout the season.

Behind Wayne is Donnie Avery (49 catches for 675 yards), who is putting career-high numbers in his fifth NFL season while providing numerous ‘chunk’ plays for the Indianapolis offense.

A pair of rookies rank third and fourth on the Colts receiving list this season with T.Y. Hilton among the league’s best rookies with 39 catches for 588 yards and five touchdowns.

Hilton admitted that he’s had a few rookie moments this season but his four 100-yard receiving games tells otherwise.

“It’s very important because we know Reggie is going to get double-teamed, triple-teamed,” Hilton said of his opportunities. “We know we are going to see looks that we haven’t seen before. For us to be in the right spot on timing, we’ve got to be perfect.”

Dwayne Allen has provided a versatile impact in the Colts offense with his 36 catches for 435 yards leading all rookie tight ends.

Allen pointed out two more rookies who made an impact in the win over the Lions that have also benefited from the attention that No. 87 gets on a weekly basis.

“Spreading the ball around it makes it hard on the defense,” Allen said. “You can’t always double-team Reggie or when you do it’s LaVon (Brazill) getting open deep for a touchdown or me catching one in the flats or catching a screen and taking it wherever, or (Coby) Fleener getting a one-on-one matchup.”

“Being able to spread that ball around is definitely what has this offense dangerous late in games because guys can’t double-team and shut down certain players.”

As the Colts head into the final quarter of the season, the depth at the receiver position is beginning to show and perhaps the most important point moving forward is you won’t hear anyone griping for the ball.

“The selflessness of this team, the receivers, that’s really the reason we are able to spread the ball around like we do because if you have one guy that’s harping about getting more balls or needing more touches than that can really bring an offense down but we don’t have guys like that in this offense,” Allen said.