Grown-Men Matchup
November 26th, 2021
Click to shop Black Friday pricing at BillCurrieFord.com. Bill Currie Ford GM Sean Sullivan is ready to give you the Ira Kaufman discount AND help you PERSONALLY with whatever you need — service, body work or a new F-150 and more. Just ask!
BY IRA KAUFMAN
When Bucs equipment manager Brad Berlin packs the gear for Sunday’s matchup at Indianapolis, he has to bring Tampa Bay’s big boy pants.
This game won’t be won by trickery and guile. There’s no mystery about Frank Reich’s offense. The Colts will do what they do, unleashing Jonathan Taylor behind a powerful offensive line.
The Bucs answer with the NFL’s No. 1 rush defense.
For fans of the trenches, this should be a 3-hour extravaganza. Few teams even try to run against Tampa Bay, for good reason. The Bucs allow only 78.4 rushing yards per game and opponents have attempted an NFL-low 20.6 carries per game through a 7-3 start.
But here come the Colts, averaging 29 carries while daring rush defenses to stop Taylor from keeping Indy ahead of the chains.
“Doesn’t matter what defensive front they bring, what pressure,” Taylor said after burning the Bills for five TDs last week. “Those holes were really big.”
In this pass-happy era, the Colts are one of the few teams truly committed to the ground game. The Titans loved to pound away before Derrick Henry suffered a foot injury and Cleveland’s offense remains run-oriented.
Vita Vea’s potential return on Sunday represents perfect timing for the visitors.
“Vita Vea is the best run stuffer in the league,” says NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger, “and he keeps his linebackers free to go make tackles.”
Indy’s prolific running attack is no accident.
In 2016, the Colts drafted center Ryan Kelly in the first round. In 2018, Indy’s first pick was guard Quenton Nelson. In Round 2 that year, the Colts took guard Braden Smith, who now starts at right tackle.
Left tackle Eric Fisher, discarded by the Chiefs in the off season, was the first overall choice in the 2013 draft. Right guard Mark Glowinski, a former fourth-round pick by Seattle, has been a 4-year starter for the Colts.
The tight ends and the wide receivers also excel as blockers in front of Taylor, who somehow lasted until the second round of the 2020 draft despite breaking records at Wisconsin. Give Indy’s front office credit — the Colts traded up three spots to select Taylor at No. 41 overall.
Taylor now leads the NFL in rushing yards and his presence has taken much of the burden off Carson Wentz, who has thrown 18 TD passes and only 3 picks. Couple that with an opportunistic defense that leads the league with 25 takeaways and it’s little wonder why the Colts sit at the top with a plus-15 turnover differential.
It’s a simple formula that has graphically turned around a franchise. The Colts have won 5-of-6 after a 1-4 getaway.
Buffalo boasted the league’s No. 3 rush defense before Indy came to town as a 7-point underdog. After three quarters, the Bills trailed 38-7 and the Colts owned the line of scrimmage. Overall, the Colts ran 46 times and threw only 20 passes.
With Vea and Ndamukong Suh manning the interior, Tampa Bay’s gives away nothing to Indy from a physicality standpoint. Tom Brady faces a defense that has allowed an NFL-high 25 TD passes and weather will be no factor, so there’s a chance the Bucs roll early.
That would be a trend-buster because Tampa Bay averages 23.6 points per game in the opening half at home, compared to only 9.4 points on the road in the first two quarters.
Holding Ground
Todd Bowles has been thinking about Taylor’s fire and rain since Bowles drove home from Monday night’s victory against the Giants. During Indy’s dramatic surge, Taylor has averaged 20 carries and 133 yards, rushing for 9 TDs.
This Buc rushing defense under Bowles has a ton of pride. Dalvin Cook (102) is the only back to top 100 yards against Tampa Bay in the past 38 games, so Taylor will earn his yards on Sunday.
As he goes, so go the Colts. If the Bucs hold their ground in the trenches and play smart football, they should improve to 3-3 on the road and 8-3 overall.
This is a matchup designed for grown men, a test of wills and mental toughness.
Whatever you do, don’t forget your big boy pants … and your hard hat.
Yes, that warranty includes USED vehicles!
Ira drives a 2020 Ford Escape (cherry red).
November 26th, 2021 at 3:59 am
You are the best since Tom McEwen Ira, love your stuff man. Hopefully, Vita will put your man crush Quenton Nelson on his butt all game long…
November 26th, 2021 at 6:15 am
We can’t allow them to control the time of possession and keeping Tom off the field.
November 26th, 2021 at 6:39 am
Do Ira’s “Big Boy Pants” have an inseam more than 25″ ?
November 26th, 2021 at 7:39 am
Awesome stuff Ira. Nice to know that someone still appreciates ‘the big uglies’ for more than just pass-blocking.
Bucs lost at the Rams, at the Saints & at Washington because all 3 of those teams punched us in the mouth and stole our lunch money. We lost all 3 of those games in the trenches because those teams played better smash-mouth football than we did. We got beat up in every one of those games. Indy has the bodies to do the same thing to us … IF we let them. Bucs can be a finesse team, but we can also win dogfights IF that’s how we decide to play it from the very first play to the very last play.
Indy can be beaten, but not if we let them control the game. If they win the Turnover Battle & the TOP Battle … which is typically how they win … they’ll kick our ass. Another slow Bucs’ start by our offense (like in our 3 losses?) won’t bode well. And our defense needs to get a couple of takeaways, limit the explosive plays, and force them out of their game plan. In other words, Bucs need to punch them in the mouth early & often, and take command from the git-go.
November 26th, 2021 at 8:38 am
If we can stop jumping offsides I believe we can keep them behind the chains
November 26th, 2021 at 8:42 am
Yes the Bucs take pride in defending the run but Dalvin Cook wasnt the last back to rush for a 100 yards on us in the last 38 games, it was just a month ago when the Bears Khalil Herbert ran for exactly 100 yards due to our defense went into a lackadaisical mode n weren’t hyped up for the rush. Now In 2019, all the hype was on Christian McCaffrey on a Thursday night game in Carolina when our defense were pumped n ready n limited him to 37 yards rushing. He had a Johnathan Taylor type season against other defenses. Fast forward same year n we were again pumped up for all the hype on beast mode Derrick Henry as we limited him to 75 yards rushing. They took the game away from us with a bad call by the refs when Titans tried a fake field goal spied out by DWhite with a big hit on the runner stopping him short of the first down that resulted to a Bucs fumble recovery td that was called back. My recommendation for the hype on JTaylor is to play him the same way we’ve played other top tier rb the past two seasons. LET’S GO!!!!
November 26th, 2021 at 8:42 am
Yes the Bucs take pride in defending the run but Dalvin Cook wasnt the last back to rush for a 100 yards on us in the last 38 games, it was just a month ago when the Bears Khalil Herbert ran for exactly 100 yards due to our defense went into a lackadaisical mode n weren’t hyped up for the rush. Now In 2019, all the hype was on Christian McCaffrey on a Thursday night game in Carolina when our defense were pumped n ready n limited him to 37 yards rushing. He had a Johnathan Taylor type season against other defenses. Fast forward same year n we were again pumped up for all the hype on beast mode Derrick Henry as we limited him to 75 yards rushing. They took the game away from us with a bad call by the refs when Titans tried a fake field goal spied out by DWhite with a big hit on the runner stopping him short of the first down that resulted to a Bucs fumble recovery td that was called back. My recommendation for the hype on JTaylor is to play him the same way we’ve played other top tier rb the past two seasons. LET’S GO!!!!
November 26th, 2021 at 10:29 am
Get a two-score lead early and the longer you hold it, the less significant Indy’s running game becomes.
November 26th, 2021 at 10:29 am
The Colts O deserves mega-credit for a ground job well done.
But the real reason for Colt’s success is that +15 turnover difference.
If the Bucs eliminate the slop and penalties—a tall order based on this season’s results—they should be fine.
That said, the O needs to score TD’s on every possession. I can’t get a handle on how good their D is, whether lucky/opportunistic or solid.
November 26th, 2021 at 11:40 am
I have been watching the Colts because I have Johnathan Taylor in 2 FF leagues.
Their OLine is Stellar in run blocking but quite suspect in pass pro.
I think they are going to turn JT into a screen catcher when they can’t run between the tackles. We stop that, we win.
November 26th, 2021 at 1:11 pm
“…Taylor’s fire and rain…”
#hat tip
November 26th, 2021 at 8:12 pm
As go the trenches, so will the game.
The team that plays more physical will win.
November 27th, 2021 at 8:25 am
Maybe give them a dose of their own medicine, or Pete’s. Let’s run some on them. We have a pretty good O line too, with playoff Lenny, and playoff Rojo. Let’s show them who’s champs.