Eagles-Colts: Five Things You Need to Know

September 13th, 2014 by Kyle Lutz | Filed under Eagles, Football, General.

Here are five things you need to know prior to the Eagles-Colts Monday Night Football game at Lucas Oil Stadium next week.

01. Home/Away

Andrew Luck, in two seasons in the NFL, is 13-3 (while just 9-8 away from home) at home. His home/away splits are pretty incredible, as are most quarterbacks in the league. At home, in his career, he has 32 touchdown passes to just 12 interceptions, while on the road he has a TD-INT ratio of just 16-17. This is Luck’s first-ever NFL start against Philadelphia. The last time the Eagles have beat Indianapolis in Indianapolis was December of 1993, when the Colts played at the old Hoosier Dome.

(Wade Payne/AP Photo)

Nick Foles, in his career, actually owns a better record on the road than at home; 6-4 to 5-6. On the road he’s been fantastic,  to say the least, with a TD-INT ratio of 24-3, a quarterback rating of 112.8 and an average of 270.3 passing yards/game. Meanwhile, at home Foles has had a TD-INT ratio of 9-4, with a quarterback rating of 87.4. Foles’ biggest road game to date occurred last November, at the Oakland Coliseum vs. the Raiders, when he threw for 406 yards and tied an NFL single-game record with seven touchdown passes.

It’ll be imperative for Foles and the Eagles’ offense to score first, that way they can take the home crowd in Indy out of it early and gain an early momentum swing, unlike what they did vs. Jacksonville in the first quarter/half. This is also a big factor, seeing as how Indy’s one of the best home teams in the league.

(Ben Margot/AP Photo)

02. Defensive Line

The Colts’ defensive line has been desperately trying to pick up the pieces after losing 2013 AFC Defensive Player of the Year, defensive end, Robert Mathis to a four-game suspension this past off-season, for violating the league’s drug policy. Then, to add fuel to the fire, it was reported a day ago that Mathis suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon injury to boot, caused from his private workout regiment. The Eagles don’t necessarily have the league’s best pass rush or defensive line, but, albeit vs. a poor Jacksonville team, they sure looked solid on Sunday, especially vs. Toby Gerhart and the Jags’ running game.

Jacksonville’s running game vs. Philadelphia’s defensive line on Sunday proved to be ineffective, as the former averaged just 2.6 yards/rush. Gerhart only had an average of 2.3 yards/attempt, with 42 rushing yards on 18 attempts. Indianapolis relies mostly on their passing game in order to be effective and win, but if Philadelphia’s defensive line can shut down Indianapolis’ running back Trent Richardson (as well as backup, and former Giant, Ahmad Bradshaw) like they did Gerhart and co. it won’t hurt. Despite Philadelphia’s overall poor defensive play last season, they ranked 10th best in fewest team rushing yards/game allowed, with 104.2.

On the flip side, in attempting to contain Lesean McCoy and Darren Sproles, Indianapolis will have to find a way to slow the duo down if they want to win. Indianapolis ranked 26th last year in team rushing yards allowed/game defensively, with 125.1. Philadelphia in 2013 ranked first overall in rushing yards/game, with 160.4, while Indy ranked tied for 20th (with Houston) in the same category, with 108.9 a game. Although Nick Foles and Andrew Luck are widely regarded as two of the best (young) quarterbacks, the ground game will prove to be just as vital for both teams’ success.

Although he only averaged 63.3 rushing yards/game that year, in his rookie year (2012) with Cleveland, Colts’ running back Trent Richardson had 11 touchdown runs, good enough for fifth in the league that year. Despite the number of touchdowns he ran for, he’s only averaged 3.3 yards/attempt in his, albeit short, NFL career. Regardless of the small amount of rushing yards/attempt Richardson’s had throughout his career and his inconsistencies, the Eagles can’t take him lightly by any means.

03. Win/loss

Andrew Luck is 10-0 in his career following a loss. He has a TD-INT ratio of 11-4 in those games. Despite his solid TD-INT ratio, he has a quarterback rating average of 54.5 in those same 15 games. On the flip side, following a win, Nick Foles is 6-3 in his career. Foles’ TD-INT ratio is spectacular in those games, at 13-2. Luck has the talent and arm strength to put his team in a good position to rebound after the Denver loss and win on Monday Night, while Foles has the consistency (as does Luck) to maintain a winning streak.

04. Inside look

Foles, in his career, has only played in three dome games in his career; he’s 1-2 in those games (a loss at Dallas in 2012, a loss at Minnesota in 2013 and a win at Dallas in 2013). Not including home starts, Luck in his career is 2-2 at dome stadiums. Prior to this season, the Colts are a combined 28-12 (70%) at home the previous five seasons. Prior to this year, in his last five full seasons at home (2008-2012), Colts’ wide receiver Reggie Wayne has averaged 77.1 yards/game.

05. Offensive line

Coming into Monday’s game, the Eagles’ offensive line is depleted, to say the least. Pro Bowl left guard Evan Mathis is out with an MCL sprain, which he suffered midway through the last game vs. Jacksonville. There’s not a confirmed timetable for his return yet, but he’s expected to miss a significant amount of games and extended period of time. It is believed to be a Grade-3 sprain (complete tear), which would sideline Mathis for approximately four to eight weeks. The injury, however, is still being evaluated.

(Matt Slocum/AP Photo)

In addition, right tackle Allen Barbre left the Jacksonville game as well with a high-ankle sprain. Barbre was filling in for the former number-four-overall pick, the suspended Lane Johnson. Both Mathis and Barbre are expected to see specialists later in the week to further evaluate their injuries. Backup center David Molk filled in for Mathis at left guard the remainder of the game Sunday, while left tackle Andrew Gardner filled in for Barbre at right tackle. Barbre, unfortunately, is now out for the season. Johnson will return from his four-game suspension in little over three weeks, for the Eagles’ home game on October 5th vs. St .Louis.

To make up for offensive lineman out with injuries, the Eagles earlier this week signed former Pro Bowl guard/tackle, and 11-year veteran, Wade Smith. The silver lining in this game, for the Eagles’ sake, is that the two backups filling in for Mathis and Barbre won’t have to face the defensive monster that is Robert Mathis.

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