Colts’ Monday Morning Awards: Week 7 vs. Dolphins

Not pretty at all, but back over .500 nonetheless.

MVP of the Game: Grant Stuard

Talk about a breakout game from a linebacker no one expected. Injuries to E.J. Speed, and then Jaylon Carlies meant plenty of snaps for special teams’ ace Grant Stuard, who led the team with 18 combined tackles, and looked to be playing at a different speed from the rest. The Colts’ linebacker group is perhaps the weakest position on the defense, so perhaps Stuard earned himself more playing time going forward.

Dud of the Game: Zaire Franklin

I have chosen a hill to die on and it is this one. Zaire Franklin is not a good NFL linebacker, he is not even average by any means. We all knew that he was not good at causing turnovers (just five through 39 games), and not good in pass coverage, but his strength against the run was the reason he kept playing. First of all, in today’s NFL run stopping linebackers are a dime a dozen, and even so, Franklin looked much better against the run because he had arguably the best defensive line against the run last season with Ebukam / Buckner / Stewart / Paye. Take out two of those four, and Franklin is getting exposed big time. Anytime opposing players got their hands on him he got completely wiped out of the play, and his tackles came 7 yards down the field, when the damage was already done. Look at the game, look at what Stuard was doing and what Franklin was doing. Once you see it you realize it happens on nearly every single run.

Best play of the Game: Olubi’s forced-fumble and recovery

This was the play that changed the game for the Colts and put them back in the driver’s seat. On first and 10 and after Mostert had already gotten seven yards, Olubi punched out the ball, recovered it, and had a nice return that put the Colts in excellent field position and ultimately resulted in Tyler Goodson’s touchdown.

Worst play of the Game: Dolphins’ touchdown on 3rd and 10

For the second week in a row the Colts’ defense seemed to just give up on the drive on 3rd and goal near the endzone. While this one was not as blatant as last week’s, on such a close game the defense cannot allow stuff like this to happen, especially when you already have the opposing team beat.

Unsung Hero: Tyler Goodson

I have been rooting this season for Tyler Goodson after his key 4th down drop last year, and wanted to see how hard he would work to bounce back. He has clearly been the better back in JT’s absence, and yesterday finished with 14 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown.

Best position group: Secondary

I understand they were facing the backup, and then the backup of the backup, but this is a defense that has struggled a lot against backups in the past. The Dolphins’ passing game could never get in a rythm, and the Colts held Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to just two catches for 19 yards combined.

Rookie of the Week: Laiatu Latu

Latu got himself his second sack of the season, and was the Colts’ most productive pass-rusher on the day once again. He will benefit a lot from having Buckner drawing attention on the inside again.