Cowboys-Colts quick thoughts

[GoBigBlue88]

1. Best game I have ever seen Marlon Mack play. Fully realize there were monster holes in the line for him. But his contact balance, patience and decision-making was next-level today. Honestly: this is what frustrates me about Mack in the bigger picture of things. This was a good RB1 caliber performance. He'll have one of these, and then get tripped up and leave yards on the field next 3-4 games. If he can just become consistent...

2. I don't remember the last game Andrew Luck was asked to do less to secure a win. That's nice to see, to say the least.

3. I know it sounds cliche, but so many of the players on this team just have HEART. You know Hilton and Kelly, in particular, are far from 100 percent. Both played tremendously today. During the Pagano era, plenty of players nursed their injuries. This team is something else. Tough, sure. But they legitimately want to be out there for each other.

4. Do the Colts lock up Ryan Kelly this offseason?

5. Mo-Alie Cox may have had the best zero-catch game I've seen from a Colts TE...ever. Really.

6. If you want an example of what makes Reich special as a strategist: Colts come out empty and uptempo. That gets Cowboys in nickel. Then the Colts go big, bring in their TEs and pounds with Mack. That throws off Cowboys. Then Colts get in red zone and bring in receivers but keep their top TEs in. Run from shotgun. Touchdown. Reich was playing personnel chess to Jason Garrett's checkers.

7. That was the strangest first half I've seen in some time. KINDA reminded me of that IND-MIA game in 2009. Colts didn't really look to have an answer against Zeke. They made plays when they had to, though, and really rolled their sleeves up in the second half. Garrett is such a BAD playcaller though. Had Zeke rolling and they didn't draw up anything nearly creative enough to Cooper in the passing game.

8. I normally just talk about Colts here, but we can agree Zeke is REALLY impressive, right? He's on another level from other RBs Colts have faced.

9. The depth of Colts' DL is just staggering. It affords an off day for 1-2 guys, and it allows the Colts to defend so many things. They have a line if you want to go jumbo and run...and they have a line if you want to spread out and pass. They still need a premier pass rusher, obviously, but I don't remember any line outside of Indy's 2005 DL having this much versatility.

10. Denico Autry is locked up another 2 years for $10M total. Just saying.

11. Darius Leonard is a cheat code player. Don't underestimate the importance of the PBU stat. He's had 2 huge ones last two weeks. Guys has some of the longest arms I've ever seen on a linebacker.

12. Quincy Wilson was spectacular today. Hats off to the kid. Colts DBs in general aren't a spectacular unit, but they play SO tough within the scheme. They're disciplined, technically sound and do what each play asks them to do. Break down well in space (although Malik Hooker still can't tackle, if we're being honest). This is an extremely well-coached unit. Fun to watch. Also reinforces to me that this team shouldn't make any monster investments at CB.

13. Only complaint about defense: they've gotta tighten zones against dynamic RBs on third down in the flats, and Anthony Walker has gotta start catching some of these gimme INTs. He's dropped 3 this year.

14. Ryan Grant quietly had a very good day. I think he's gone after this year, but he played well today. Worth acknowledging.

15. NFL officiating has been NOSEDIVING this season. December officiating has been awful. I thought this was a well-played game between two good teams for the most part. The refs tried to insert themselves into it so unnecessarily. It makes it look like they're favoring a team when they're not and can avoid those optics. But more importantly: it's just killing the product and dragging these games out unnecessarily. This should have been a tight, tough class between two similar teams. Instead, entire drives were nuked by complete bullshit. It's a leaguewide problem right now, and the NFL doesn't seem to care to address it.

I used to maintain that NFL officiating was miles better than NBA. I no longer hold that opinion.

16. This broadcast really sucked. FOX missed 2 or 3 plays entirely, including the blocked FG "runback". The analysis was really shallow. Pam Oliver needed to take a sick day. What a bad showing by FOX.

17. Nyheim Hines had another quietly good day. I wonder if he factors into the slot receiver equation going forward?

18. Honestly, even if the Colts miss the playoffs this year, I have had a BLAST watching this team. They're fun again. They've made the city care again. This is a special time, folks. The future is extraordinarily bright. You don't complain about the prospect of 2 picks in the top 40 + $130M in cap space, either.