Play 5
Situation: 3rd and 6 at HST 16
Description: Q2 - (1:54) (Shotgun) T.Savage pass deep right to D.Hopkins ran ob at IND 49 for 35 yards.
The Colts line up on this play with a single high safety and man coverage across the board. Hopkins is getting one-on-one coverage against Greg Toler and Savage identifies this immediately.
When Savage drops back he knows exactly where he’s going with this ball. He makes a very mature play here by taking the snap and freezing the safety on this play.
Savage quickly looks towards Hopkins, sees him get around Toler, and throws up a ball for him to go grab. The safety can’t cover enough ground to disrupt the pass and Toler is outright beaten by Hopkins on this play.
Play 6
Situation: 3rd and 1 at IND 40
Description: Q2 - (1:06) (Run formation) T.Savage pass incomplete short right to A.Foster (J.Newsome).
Savage didn’t call the right protection on this play. Jonathan Newsom comes in unblocked and easily disrupts the pass.
Play 7
Situation: 3rd and 9 at HST 21
Description: Q3 - (13:33) (Shotgun) T.Savage pass short middle to A.Foster to HST 29 for 8 yards (D.Jackson).
Quick set and fire from Savage. He makes the correct throw getting the ball to Foster on the quick slant and hits him in the chest on the throw. This was a conservative play call that almost netted the first down thanks to the quick release by Savage.
Play 8
Situation: 3rd and 4 at HST 13
Description: Q3 - (9:18) (Shotgun) T.Savage pass short left to R.Griffin pushed ob at HST 16 for 2 yards (J.Freeman). Penalty on IND-E.Walden, Defensive Offside, 5 yards, Enforced at HST 14 - No Play.
Savage steps into the open space and fires it quickly to the tight end running the flat. Even though there was a penalty on the play Savage showed good awareness here by stepping into space and throwing on the mark to Griffin. What he failed to do was recognize that the defender had jumped offside and attempt a bigger play. He needs to get better at recognizing situations like that so that he can use his great deep ball more often.
Play 9
Situation: 2nd and 6 at HST 46
Description: Q3 - (7:38) (No Huddle, Shotgun) T.Savage pass short right to R.Griffin, pushed ob at HST 49 for 3 yards (B.Werner).
Savage’s first read on this play is Hopkins on the spot route. Savage sees that Hopkins is covered and moves to his next progression and completes the pass to Griffin. However, Savage set his feet far too early on this play. He set like he was going to throw to Hopkins, but then changed his mind and went to Griffin and had a bit of an off balance throw. I’d like to see him keep his feet active in that situation so that he can turn and fire a better pass, even though this one was perfectly placed for Griffin to make the catch.
Savage also missed a chance hit another deep ball. DeVier Posey at the bottom of the screen is in one-on-one coverage with absolutely no safety help. He beat his man off the line, but Savage was so fixated on the right side of the field that he never even saw the route.
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