COLTS INSIDER 2020 CNHI SPORTS INDIANA WEEK 5 THIS WEEK STATISTICS THROUGH 4 GAMES PASSING ATT COM PCT YDS TD INT Rivers 121 88 72.7 984 4 3 TEAM 125 90 72.0 1,001 4 3 OPP. 117 73 62.4 703 5 7 at X FACTOR RUSHING NO. YDS AVG LONG TD 4:25 p.m., CBS Rhodes-Beckham subplot adds juice to showdown with Browns Taylor 65 250 3.9 16 2 Wilkins 27 94 3.5 22 0 Hines 23 73 3.2 12 1 GEORGE BREMER TEAM 131 461 3.5 22 3 CNHI SPORTS INDIANA OPP. 86 308 3.6 16 1 SCHEDULE RECEIVING NO. YDS AVG LONG TD Sept. 13 INDIANAPOLIS — Xavier Rhodes Alie-Cox 11 194 17.6 45 2 Jaguars 27, Colts 20 and Odell Beckham Jr. have a bit of Hilton 13 162 12.5 28 0 history. Pascal 10 129 12.9 36 1 Four years ago, when Rhodes was Hines 16 97 6.1 15 1 Sept. 20 Taylor 10 90 9.0 35 0 with the and TEAM 90 1,001 11.1 45 4 Colts 28, Vikings 11 Beckham was a soaring star with the OPP. 73 703 9.6 33 5 , the veteran corner- Sept. 27 back played a lead role in one of the NO. YDS AVG LONG TD Colts 36, Jets 7 Carrie 2 47 23.5 47 1 worst days of OBJ’s career. Rhodes Rhodes 2 44 22.0 44 1 continually goaded the explosive wide Willis 1 43 43.0 43 0 Oct. 4 receiver, challenging him verbally Moore 1 16 16.0 16 0 Colts 19, Bears 11 TEAM 7 165 23.6 47 2 and physically from the opening snap. OPP. 3 34 11.3 22 0 The result was one of Beckham’s SACKS Oct. 11 at Cleveland worst games in New York. He finished Houston...... 3.5 4:25 p.m., CBS with just three catches for 23 yards, Autry ...... 2 Buckner ...... 1.5 drew one unsportsmanlike conduct TEAM ...... 10 Oct. 18 vs. Bengals penalty in retaliation and suffered OPP...... 4 1 p.m., Fox a miscommunication with former TACKLES quarterback that led to SOLO ASST COMB Nov. 1 at Lions Leonard 17 10 27 an easy for Rhodes. Walker 20 5 25 1 p.m., CBS In the NFL, four years counts as a Buckner 10 8 18 lifetime. Both men are in different Willis 13 4 17 TEAM 144 46 190 Nov. 8 vs. Ravens places, literally and figuratively. OPP. 188 64 252 1 p.m., CBS But they figure to again play major PUNT RETURNS roles when the Indianapolis Colts RET FC YDS AVG TD Nov. 12 at Titans (3-1) visit the Cleveland Browns (3-1) Hines 9 3 94 10.4 0 8:20 p.m., FOX in Sunday’s showcase showdown. TEAM 10 4 106 10.6 0 OPP. 3 4 18 6.0 0 Rhodes broke into laughter when SCORING Nov. 22 vs. Packers asked about his previous engagement RUSH REC RET TD FG XP PTS 1 p.m., Fox with Beckham this week. Blankenship 0 0 0 0 12 9 45 “I knew that question was coming Hines 1 1 0 2 0 0 12 Taylor 2 0 0 2 0 0 12 Nov. 28 vs. Titans sooner or later,” he said. Alie-Cox 0 2 0 2 0 0 12 1 p.m., CBS After being cut by the Vikings in TEAM 3 4 2 9 12 9 103 March, Rhodes reunited with defen- OPP. 1 5 0 6 4 4 56 Dec. 6 at Texans sive backs coach Jonathan Gannon in 1 p.m., CBS Indianapolis. And, through the first four games, the 30-year-old has been WHO’S HOT Dec. 13 at Raiders rediscovering his form. 4:05 p.m., CBS Quarterbacks have completed just 9 of 18 targets in Rhodes’ direction, Zach Bolinger | Associated Press Dec. 20 vs. Texans and they have a rating of 52.1 when Indianapolis Colts Xavier Rhodes (27) celebrates a TBD, TBD challenging him. The physical cor- safety against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 20 at Lucas Oil Stadium. nerback is tied for the team lead with After being cut by the Vikings in March, Rhodes reunited with defensive five passes defensed and two inter- Dec. 27 at Steelers backs coach Jonathan Gannon in Indianapolis. And, through the fi rst 1 p.m., CBS ceptions, one of which he returned 44 yards for a . four games, the 30-year-old has been rediscovering his Pro Bowl form. After a slow start this season, Jan. 3 vs. Jaguars the same span are 4-8. said. “He does a really good job. Beckham appears to be in vintage 1 p.m., CBS Cleveland gained a measure of They’ve got some game-wreckers on form as well. He caught five passes respect by going on the road and defense, (and) obviously the best run- Mo Alie-Cox, tight end for 81 yards and two and rushing for 307 yards against the ning game in the NFL. It will be a big The 27-year-old already has carried the ball twice for 73 yards, Cowboys last week. The Colts won an challenge for us going on the road. set career highs with 11 STANDINGS including a 50-yard touchdown run, old-fashioned brawl with the previ- Our preparation is key.” receptions and 194 yards. during the Browns’ 49-38 victory AFC South ously undefeated last Browns defensive end Myles Gar- He’s scored a touchdown in against the last week. week and held the home team to just rett already has five sacks this season, each of the last two weeks, W L T PCT On the year, OBJ leads Cleveland 28 rushing yards. two tackles for loss and six quarter- and has tied his career high Tennessee 3 0 0 1.000 with 236 receiving yards and three Football geeks will be entertained back hits. in that category as well with scoring receptions. Indianapolis 3 1 0 .750 by the glitzy Rhodes-Beckham Cleveland’s game plan is simple: two. With injuries hampering His matchup with Rhodes promises matchup, but they’re really looking Control the game clock with the run- the depth at , Jacksonville 1 3 0 .250 to be a juicy subplot during a game forward to a battle between two of ning game, get plays in the passing Alie-Cox should remain a Houston 0 4 0 .000 both teams hope to use as validation the NFL’s most improved units — game with Beckham and quarterback crucial piece of the attack. for their respective hot starts. the Browns’ earth-moving offensive Baker Mayfield when needed and But Rhodes doesn’t expect any car- line against Indianapolis’ dominant send Garrett after opposing quarter- WHO’S NOT ryover from his previous battle with defensive front. backs who feel pressured to make the BIG NUMBER Beckham. No matter how memorable Cleveland ranks No. 1 in the league most of their limited possessions. it was. with 5.9 yards per carry but will play The Browns defense is opportunis- “That was in the past, man,” he without leading rusher Nick Chubb. tic, forcing turnovers on an NFL-high said. “This is a new year, and more The Colts rank sixth with an average 22.7% of opponents’ possessions. than likely we’re probably just gonna of 3.6 yards surrendered per rush- It all adds up to the toughest chal- go out there and play ball. We’re older ing attempt but have questions in lenge Indianapolis has faced this guys, and we just wanna go out there the front seven after four linebackers year. 8 and try to get the win.” appeared on the injury report this One the Colts relish. Combined margin of victory for the Colts in the last three Both teams come in riding three- week. “Our defense has been unbeliev- games against the Browns. game winning streaks after both It’s strength against strength with able,” Indianapolis quarterback Running Game Indianapolis leads the all- suffered disappointing losses in Week potential implications for January. Philip Rivers said. “We’ve done The Colts rank near the time series 17-16, and the 1. The winner would have a tie-breaker enough offensively to win. We found a middle of the league with 461 individual games have been The similarities don’t end there. in the AFC wild-card race, if needed. way collectively to win the game three rushing yards, but their 3.5- just as tight. The Colts won The Browns’ opponents during their “I have a lot of respect for (first- out of the first four (weeks). That’s yard average per carry ranks the most recent meeting win streak have a combined record of year head) Coach (Kevin) Stefanski,” the objective each week, however it last among the 32 teams. It’s 31-28 at Lucas Oil Stadium 3-8-1. Indianapolis’ opponents over Indianapolis head coach shakes out.” not where a team that prides in 2017. Cleveland’s last win itself on bullying opponents on was a 27-19 decision in 2011. the ground wants to be, and INSIDE THE GAME WITH CNHI SPORTS: Colts writer George Bremer joins CNHI Sports writers it’s one of the biggest areas from across the country for a new sports show available on our website at heraldbulletin.com. targeted for improvement.

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