Connect with us

Indianapolis, IN

Trey Benson flashes potential in Cardinals' sloppy loss to Colts

Published

1 year ago

on

Trey Benson flashes potential in Cardinals' sloppy loss to Colts


INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Trey Benson didn’t necessarily wow the crowd behind eight carries for 21 yards in his team’s preseason opener loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Seeing about the same number of touches in the Cardinals’ 21-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Benson flashed his big-play potential and vision.

In just over a quarter of work, Benson averaged 4.8 yards per carry on his way to 43 yards on nine rushing attempts.

And it could have been much more.

Advertisement

Recording his fourth carry of the night, Benson nearly had a house call. After shaking multiple Colts defenders, the third-round pick turned up the field for a 19-yard gain. Had it not been for safety Nick Cross, Benson had a clear path to pay dirt.

It wasn’t only the Colts defenders Benson had to worry about, though.

On Benson’s final carry of the evening, the running back again made Colts defenders miss as he shifted his way 20 yards to Indianapolis’ two-yard line.

Unfortunately for Benson and the offense, his efforts were for naught thanks to a Christian Jones holding penalty. It was a tough series for Jones, who picked up three straight holding calls.

Benson, who entered the game listed as Arizona’s RB2 behind James Conner, won’t see the lost yardage on the stat sheet. He and the coaching staff will, however, see improved tape.

Advertisement

Much to clean up

While Jones was dinged for numerous penalties, he wasn’t the only one caught having mental lapses.

As a team, Arizona committed 11 penalties for 82 yards.

The sloppiness on display simply cannot happen if the Cardinals hope to improve their win-loss record from a year ago.

“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. One of our modes of play is our brain and we didn’t use it tonight,” Gannon said. “That falls strictly on me.

“I thought we were ready to play physically, violence was on display, good effort and finish, but I just told them we’re not going to beat anybody making those kinds of mistakes and you can’t self-destruct and we did on all three phases. That falls on me and the coaches. We gotta get it cleaned up fast.”

Tune takes Round 2

For a second consecutive week, Clayton Tune outperformed Desmond Ridder, further solidifying his case for QB2.

Completing 80% of his throws (8-of-10) for 79 yards, Tune again looked comfortable operating the offense after getting the starting nod on Saturday.

He capped off a strong first half with a 12-yard touchdown run.

Advertisement

“I feel like I’ve put in some good work,” Tune said postgame. “There’s still work to be done. That’s my mindset. Go in, watch the tape, learn from it, come back next week ready to work and build on it.”

“I feel like I’m playing more on time, playing quicker, getting through my reads, seeing the defense and just being decisive,” the QB added.

Ridder on the other hand completed 60% of his passes (6-of-10) for 71 yards, though saw the majority of his yardage (42) come in the final series of the game.

A false start on Dennis Daley ended the drive and the game, leaving Ridder without another chance at finding the end zone.

“He had some good balls in there. I thought he made some plays with his legs,” Gannon said. “Would have liked to see the last play get off, but we couldn’t get it done.”

Advertisement

The Thomas twins

Saturday night was another strong showing from 2024 fifth-rounder Xavier Thomas.

Recording his second sack of the preseason along with two QB hits and a tackle for loss, Thomas had good pressure on Indianapolis signal callers.

For someone who said their legs were shaking on the first play of the preseason opener against the Saints, Thomas is looking more at home and appears to be trending up the depth chart.

Advertisement

“Today I pretty much knew what to expect and things like that. It’s always good to get more comfortable,” Thomas said postgame.

The rookie wasn’t the only Thomas who stood out on Saturday.

Third-year pro Cameron Thomas was also a factor in the backfield, getting to quarterback Sam Ehlinger for a sack and pressuring fellow signal callers Jason Bean and Valley native Kedon Slovis on multiple occasions.

The Cardinals still have question marks surrounding their pass rush after projected starter BJ Ojulari went down with a reported torn ACL during training camp, ending his season before it began.

Could either Thomas find a more prominent role in the rotation? A strong showing next week in Denver could press the issue.

Advertisement

Aside for the Thomas twins, Victor Dimukeje was another name getting added pressure against the Colts and narrowly missed out on a pair of sacks.

Give me that!

Kei’Trel Clark and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson provided an added boost in Arizona’s secondary on Saturday, each forcing a turnover and flipping the field in the Cardinals’ favor.

Clark put the hammer down on wide receiver Anthony Gould to force a fumble in the waning moments of the first quarter.

The second-year pro flew around the football field for most of the night, a positive development in a cornerbacks room where roles are still up for grabs.

“I thought he looked violent, physical. He had a couple good coverages in there, forced the fumble,” Gannon said. “He looked good in there and he played two spots today, so it was good to see.”

Advertisement

It was Taylor-Demerson, better known as Rabbit, who had the play of the evening.

With 1:51 left in the first half, Taylor-Demerson snagged a pass near the sideline intended for wide receiver D.J. Montgomery and managed to keep his feet inbounds.

Had it not been for the duo’s takeaways, the score would have looked a lot different in Gannon’s eyes behind the mountain of penalties.

Advertisement

“The takeaways were good. That’s the reason we stayed in the game,” Gannon said. “Without those takeaways, I think we get the brakes beat off of us, truthfully. I gotta watch the tape, but I know the interception was a phenomenal play. I thought he had a couple tackles in there. He looked good.”





Source link

Advertisement
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Indianapolis, IN

Halftime: Pacers trail Bucks by three

Published

1 day ago

on

November 3, 2025

By

Halftime: Pacers trail Bucks by three


INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Pacers head into halftime trailing the Bucks, 56-53.

Myles Turner is playing his first game back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse after he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason. Turner played the first ten years of his career with the Pacers.

Pacers fans greeted Turner with a lot of boos — and some cheers — during his tribute video. He was met with a lot of boos throughout the first half.

The Pacers were down by as many as 11 in the first half, but battled back to take the lead in the second quarter.

Advertisement

First half stats

Pacers

Pascal Siakam: 14 points, 5-11 FG, 2 assists

Isaiah Jackson: 13 points, 5 rebounds

Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo: 19 points, 8-10 FG, 8 rebounds

Advertisement

Myles Turner: 7 points, 2 rebounds



Source link

Continue Reading

Indianapolis, IN

Daniel Jones, Colts just provided plenty of fuel for their doubters — how will they respond?

Published

2 days ago

on

November 3, 2025

By

Daniel Jones, Colts just provided plenty of fuel for their doubters — how will they respond?


PITTSBURGH — All Braden Smith could do was watch. The mistake was made. The damage was done. The carnage laid before him.

Daniel Jones was on the ground, the ball was gone, and Smith was partly — if not mostly — to blame. The Indianapolis Colts’ starting right tackle had been lined up against Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end T.J. Watt, one of the best pass rushers of his generation. He showed why in the second quarter on Sunday, when he dipped under Smith’s arm, pulled Jones to the ground and snatched the ball away from him, too.

“I have to look at it a little bit more on the film,” Smith said of the sack he gave up in Indy’s 27-20 loss. “But I needed to get a little bit more depth. Gave a little bit of a short edge (to Watt), and you can’t do that. Obviously, he made a play, and that’s what he does.”

After the turnover, Watt popped to his feet and pounded his chest. Thousands of Steelers fans waved their signature Terrible Towels in approval, a fitting gesture amid the Colts’ terrible, turnover-filled day. Indianapolis’ loss snapped a four-game winning streak, and it gave fuel to all the pundits who believe everything that came in the season’s first eight weeks was a mirage.

Advertisement

“It’s the NFL, sometimes these things happen,” said running back Jonathan Taylor, who was held to a season-low 45 yards on 14 carries. “But the great teams find a way to figure out how to overcome this.”

The doubters, though, have all they need at the moment. They’ll point to the Colts’ six turnovers — their most in a game since Peyton Manning threw six interceptions in a loss to the then-San Diego Chargers in 2007. Great teams don’t do that.

They’ll point to Jones committing a career-high five turnovers, bringing back memories of the jittery quarterback the New York Giants jettisoned. MVP candidates don’t look like that (granted, that Manning guy turned out to be pretty good).

They’ll even point to the Colts’ schedule. Five of their seven wins this year have come against teams with losing records. Real contenders don’t just beat up on the bottom dwellers.

“Losing makes you better in the long run as long as you f—ing learn from it,” star left guard and team captain Quenton Nelson said. “And that’s what we’re gonna do. I think our preparation has been really good throughout the whole entire year, and there’s nothing I would change that we did during the week. The game plan is good and everything (else). We just gotta go out there and execute better.”

Advertisement

Nelson has plenty of reason to believe Indianapolis will rebound, regardless of how anyone on the outside feels, because flukes usually don’t keep popping up for this long. Entering Sunday, the Colts offense was operating at a historic level. Their 3.46 points per drive was the second-most by a team this century through its first eight games (behind only the Tom Brady- and Randy Moss-led Patriots in 2007).

Asked if Sunday’s loss changed his opinion of his team, and particularly its offense, wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. dismissed the notion.

“Winning is tough. You come to a place like this, with a hostile environment, versus a tough team, I mean, it’s really tough to win 17 (games),” said Pittman, who tied fellow receiver Alec Pierce for the team high with 115 receiving yards. “And honestly, I think that the adversity is good. I wouldn’t want to go into the postseason 17-0. There’s only been one team (the 1972 Miami Dolphins) that’s actually done that and won.”

A perfect season has been off the table ever since Indianapolis’ first loss, against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4. But if there is a lesson to be gleaned from the team’s second defeat, it’s the same one every team in the NFL already knows: Turnovers can uplift you or they can bury you, and on Sunday the Colts threw a lot of dirt on themselves.

“(If) we don’t turn the ball over, I think we’ll be moving the ball up and down the field and scoring a lot of points again,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said of his team’s performance. “I got a ton of faith in our offense and our guys, for sure.”

Advertisement

For what it’s worth, Indianapolis totaled 368 yards of offense, 143 more than Pittsburgh, but its six turnovers — the most of any team in a single game this season — were too much to withstand. Wide receiver Josh Downs coughed up the first on a muffed punt in the first quarter. The ball bounced off the Acrisure Stadium turf and hit him in the chest as he tried to get out of the way, and cornerback Brandin Echols recovered it to put Pittsburgh at Indianapolis’ 11-yard line. The Colts’ defense forced a turnover on downs to mitigate the damage, but that trend wouldn’t hold up.

The Steelers scored touchdowns on the Colts’ next three turnovers, with Jones at the center of it all. The veteran QB finished 31-of-50 passing for 342 yards and one touchdown, plus another 1-yard rushing TD on the Colts’ first drive. But he also threw three interceptions and lost a pair of fumbles on strip-sacks. The first interception was arguably the worst of the bunch, as Jones failed to diagnosis the coverage and threw it straight to linebacker Payton Wilson.

That was one of Jones’ worst passes of the season, especially considering he’d thrown only three interceptions though his first eight games, but it’s worth acknowledging how often he was under siege. Jones was pressured a season-high 18 times, completing just six of his 13 passes for 88 yards and two picks when under those circumstances, per Next Gen Stats. He was also sacked five times — he was sacked only nine times through his first eight games.

“Obviously, that’s on me. I gotta protect the ball better and make sure we’re giving ourselves a chance,” Jones said. “I thought we did some good things at times, but just turnovers and some of those things, I gotta clean up.”

The Colts are still 7-2, but the narratives are coming, about a quarterback whose troubling past isn’t too far behind him; a team that hasn’t won the AFC South since 2014; and a franchise trying to return to “the upper quartile of winners,” as former Colts owner Jim Irsay once said.

Advertisement

The only way to extinguish the doubt is to respond. Indianapolis’ next opportunity will be in Berlin against the Falcons. On Sunday, Atlanta lost by a point to the Patriots, who are tied with the Colts for the best record in the AFC.

“(We’ll) come back to work a little pissed off,” Nelson said. “And like I said, losing is a part of life, and it makes you better as long as you learn from it.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Indianapolis, IN

14 things to watch as streaking Colts offense takes on reeling Pittsburgh defense

Published

3 days ago

on

November 2, 2025

By

14 things to watch as streaking Colts offense takes on reeling Pittsburgh defense


The toughest stretch of the Indianapolis schedule begins with a trip to a place that has been an intermittent house of horrors for the Colts over the years.

Indianapolis hasn’t won in Pittsburgh since 2008.

Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor and the rest of the Colts will try to end that streak at 1 p.m. Sunday in Acrisure Stadium (WTTV-4) against a reeling Steelers team hoping to bounce back from disheartening losses to Cincinnati and Green Bay.

Advertisement

Plenty is at stake for both teams. Indianapolis (7-1) placed itself in the driver’s south for the AFC South title and potentially the No. 1 seed with its fast start, and Pittsburgh (4-3) is trying to hold onto the lead in an ugly AFC North this season.

1. Pittsburgh is typically known for defense. Not this Steelers team. These Steelers rank 30th in the NFL in yards allowed (386.0 per game), 32nd in passing yards (273.3), 18th against the run (112.7), and they’re not much better on a per-play basis. Pittsburgh ranks 22nd in scoring defense, giving up 24.1 points per game, but the wheels are coming off there, too — the Steelers allowed 33 and 35 points in their last two games. Their reward is facing a Colts offense that is the No. 1 attack in the NFL, leading the league in yards (385.3) and points per game (33.8) while sitting in the top 10 in essentially every major category.

2. The Steelers made a trade to upgrade their defense this week, picking up strong safety Kyle Dugger from New England for a low pick. Dugger was once considered one of the NFL’s best up-and-coming safeties, earning him a four-year, $58 million extension from the Patriots, but he’s fallen out of favor in New England due to issues in coverage. Pittsburgh may need Dugger to play right away; normal starting strong safety DeShon Elliott is out with a knee injury this week.

3. Rookie tight end Tyler Warren should be licking his chops. Warren leads all NFL tight ends with 492 receiving yards through the first eight games, averaging an impressive 13.3 per catch, and now he gets to go up against a Pittsburgh defense that will likely counter with Dugger and free safety Chuck Clark, who is allowing opposing quarterbacks to produce a 144.4 quarterback rating when he’s the nearest defender in coverage. Pittsburgh has given up 555 yards to tight ends this season, the third-worst mark in the league, and the Steelers are susceptible to players who can make plays downfield like Warren.

Advertisement

4. Then again, Indianapolis wide receivers Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce and Josh Downs are going to get their opportunities. Pittsburgh has allowed the third-most catches and sixth-most yards in the NFL to wide receivers this season. The Steelers doubled down on experience by picking up aging star cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay, but both players are allowing opposing quarterbacks to post ratings of more than 100 when they’re the nearest player in coverage. Indianapolis can beat secondaries in a variety of ways with Pittman, Pierce and Downs, and Jones has been excellent at spreading the ball around, making the Colts’ tendencies difficult to gauge.

5. Pittsburgh’s old defensive formula was to overwhelm offenses with the pass rush, and the Steelers are tied for eighth in the NFL in sacks this season with 22, but the pressure has been far from consistent. Pittsburgh ranks 14th in the league in pressure rate, getting pressure on 35% of dropbacks, and the Colts have been one of the league’s best at avoiding sacks this season, giving up just nine sacks through the first eight games.

6. The edge tandem of T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig drives the Pittsburgh rush. Herbig has 4.5 sacks, Watt has four of his own and the two outside linebackers each have 27 pressures this season, a number that ranks firmly within the top 10. Indianapolis will counter with the excellent tackle tandem of Bernhard Raimann and Braden Smith, who have been solid in pass protection all season long.

7. With Jones at the helm, Indianapolis simply hasn’t turned the ball over this season. The Colts have committed just four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble), trailing only Philadelphia and Green Bay for the NFL’s top spot. Pittsburgh has forced 10 turnovers, tied for eighth in the NFL and a big reason why the Steelers’ tendency to hemorrhage yards hasn’t hurt them as bad as it could have this season. If Pittsburgh is going to make life tough on this Indianapolis offense, the Steelers are going to have to force a few Jones mistakes, but when Pittsburgh took on the Packers last week, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love carved up the Steelers instead of turning the ball over.

Advertisement

8. Taylor has forced his way into the MVP discussion this season because he’s been remarkably consistent, producing something special in almost every game. Pittsburgh’s run defense is probably better than its numbers; the Steelers have been solid in five games this season, giving up big days on the ground to only the Jets and Bengals. Taylor’s a different kind of test, though; the Colts superstar leads the NFL with 850 rushing yards and 14 total touchdowns even though he’s faced five defenses ranked higher in rush defense than Pittsburgh.

9. With Taylor on the ground and Jones finding Taylor, Warren, Downs and Pittman through the air, the Indianapolis offense has been a nightmare for opposing linebackers this season, and according to the numbers, Pittsburgh’s primary passing tandem of Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson looks ripe for the picking. Queen has allowed a rating of 132.7 when he’s the nearest defender in coverage, and Wilson isn’t far behind at 111.9. Expect Jones to attack the soft underbelly of the Pittsburgh defense as often as possible.

Can the Colts stop Aaron Rodgers?

10. Aaron Rodgers could be a problem for the Indianapolis defense. Decimated by injuries at the cornerback position, the Colts have struggled against the pass this season, ranking 29th in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game (252.0) even though they’ve been 13th in yards per dropback (6.4). Rodgers has been good, completing 68.3% of his passes, averaging 7.2 yards per attempt and posting a 104.4 quarterback rating while taking just 12 sacks through the first seven games. Green Bay was able to put Rodgers under fire in the second half last week, but the Packers pass rush is far more dominant than Indianapolis has been. Making matters worse, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is going to have a hard time confusing Rodgers, who has seen just about everything in his career by this point.

11. D.K. Metcalf is a problem for young Colts cornerbacks Mekhi Blackmon, Johnathan Edwards and Cameron Mitchell. Metcalf is volatile, but he’s also racked up 461 yards and five touchdowns on just 27 catches this season, and his combination of size and speed makes the former Seahawk a difficult matchup for any Indianapolis cornerback. If third-year cornerback Jaylon Jones is finally ready to make his defensive debut after missing the first half of the season due to recurring hamstring injuries, he will help, but it will also be his first action of 2025.

12. Indianapolis has Warren at tight end. Pittsburgh has Jonnu Smith (22 catches, 134 yards), Pat Freiermuth (16 catches, 200 yards) and mammoth red-zone target Darnell Washington (9 catches, 84 yards). The Colts have struggled against tight ends, allowing the third-most catches and second-most yards to the position. With Rodgers at the helm, Indianapolis safeties Nick Cross and Camryn Bynum must be on top of their games.

Advertisement

13. Pittsburgh’s running game has been fairly pedestrian this season. Running backs Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell are both averaging 4.5 yards per carry, but the Steelers rank just 22nd in the NFL in yards per carry (4.07) and 25th in rushing yards per game (94.3). If Indianapolis can jump on Pittsburgh early, it might take the running game out of it entirely, but if the Colts start a little slow, nose tackle Grover Stewart might be able to take the Pittsburgh running game out of it by himself.

14. The Steelers have been incredible in the red zone, converting 73.68% of their chances into touchdowns, the third-best mark in the league. Indianapolis has been a middling defense in the red zone, allowing scores on 61.54% of its chances to rank 18th, and Anarumo is going to need a plan to limit Rodgers when Pittsburgh starts sniffing the goal line.

Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending