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The Indianapolis Colts are set to face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Week 9. They will look to extend their current winning streak to four games and improve to a 6-2 overall record.
Last week, the Colts' offense put together a struggling display against the Denver Broncos. Without T.Y. Hilton in the lineup, the rest of the unit will need to step up in his absence and find ways to improve upon their underwhelming recent results.
The Steelers are not a difficult matchup for the Colts on the defensive side of the ball, but will their offense disappoint?
Here are three bold predictions for the Colts' offense for their matchup with the Steelers.
3. Jacoby Brissett will struggle to produce
After recording 326 passing yards and four passing touchdowns against the Houston Texans in Week 7, Jacoby Brissett's production slowed down sharply in the following week. For reference, he ended up with 202 passing yards and no touchdowns against the Denver Broncos in Week 8.
There have been three performances from the Colts' quarterback with fewer than 200 passing yards and his performance against the Broncos was just barely above this threshold. Considering how he has had fewer great passing displays than not this season, being without the team's top receiving threat should only make things more difficult.
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2. Nobody will fill the void left behind by Hilton
The Colts will be without wide receiver T.Y. Hilton for this game and that should prove to be very problematic for them. He steps up big moments throughout his performances in ways that no single talent is capable of accomplishing on the rest of the team's depth chart.
There is going to be a need for supporting cast receivers like Zach Pascal, Chester Rogers, and Parris Campbell to step up in Hilton's absence. It just remains to be seen how effective they will end up being when leaned upon to shoulder greater responsibility.
1. The Colts will find success running the ball
If it becomes an issue for the Colts to find consistent results through their passing attack, then the Steelers could have an easier time with stopping the run. However, the Broncos struggled to slow down Indianapolis' on the ground as they totaled 127 rushing yards with an average of 4.1 yards per carry.
The offensive line that the Colts have should afford the running game with the necessary conditions to continue to succeed. They will need to find success in this area most likely because while it's certainly possible that they succeed at executing on their passing attempts without Hilton, it shouldn't be the expectation.
