New England Patriots After another disappointing loss to the Patriots Indianapolis Colts T-Shirt , the Colts are left licking their wounds. This team faces an uphill battle with injuries and that only got worse when starting right guard Matt Slauson was placed on the injured reserve after fracturing two vertebrae during the third quarter of Thursday night¡¯s game. This will puteven more pressure on young offensive linemen, as it all but certainly pushes Braden Smith into a permanent starting role. Stampede Blue¡¯s Zach Hicks put together a nice film breakdown on Smith¡¯s performance at right tackle earlier this week. Today we will look at Quenton Nelson¡¯s performance, primarily as a pass blocker. We also get some bonus clips of Nelson throwing players to the turf ¡ª if you¡¯re into that sort of thing.One of the most difficult pass rush concepts to defend is the inside stunt from an edge defender. When the timing is right, it is difficult for offensive linemen to get in good position. On this play, neither Nelson or Kelly were able to react quickly enough to get a body on Adrian Clayborn (#94), which led to pressure and ultimately a hit on Luck. Rather than look at his target before releasing a throw, Luck tossed the ball where he guessed Nyheim Hines would be and missed wide right. This was an easy interception and an embarrassing play for the Colts.While Matt Slauson ultimately bails Nelson out on this play, this is another example where he is beat by a lateral move. Trey Flowers (#98) initiates contact on Nelson¡¯s outside shoulder and gets him off balance. He uses Nelson¡¯s momentum to make a move to the inside. By the time Flowers gets around Ryan Kelly in the middle of the field, Slauson is there to pick him up. If Slauson wasn¡¯t there, Luck takes a hit.There have been a number of questionable calls or no-calls throughout the season. Some of these calls have gone against the Colts and some have been to the team¡¯s benefit. This is a prime example of defensive holding. If not for the holding, Clayborn doesn¡¯t get a free shot at Luck. Due to the holding, Luck takes a hit. This will go down as a bad snap for Nelson but it should have been an obvious penalty.Nelson does a really nice job blocking on this play. Deatrich Wise (#91) attempts to rush to Nelson¡¯s outside shoulder. Nelson¡¯s initial instinct is to pass Wise off to Le¡¯Raven Clark, in order to be in position for Kyle Van Noy (#53) who is lurking at the second level. Clark fails to engage and in past games we have seen this turn into pressure or a hit on Luck.On this play, Nelson sticks with the block and gets a strong kick slide to recover and keep the pocket clean.This play is an example of Nelson¡¯s anchor and brute strength. Adam Butler (#70) attempts to gain inside leverage on Nelson and gets shoved out of the pocket and across the field. He has no chance to impact Luck on this play.Here, Nelson is tasked with negating an outside move from Kyle Van Noy and has to react to the stunt inside by Adrian Clayborn. Unlike the earlier clip, Nelson handles both defenders with ease and keeps Luck clean. The ball is long gone by the time Clayborn is in position to pressure the quarterback.This play is a bit of a win and loss. Trey Flowers is able to get inside leverage on Nelson and get into Luck¡¯s face but he is unable to get around him. Nelson¡¯s second-effort and ability to maintain position gives Luck time to escape and get rid of the ball. Flowers is a legitimate NFL pass rusher and he won¡¯t often come up empty handed if he gets an opponent in this situation. He came up empty against Nelson.This is another fantastic combination block from Nelson where he and his teammates shut down Flowers and Clayborn on the left side of the line. Flowers gets passed to Clark and Clayborn hits a wall with Kelly only to have Nelson finish him off and drive him well wide of the play. This is a pretty looking piece of film if you¡¯re an offensive line coach reviewing the game.This may very well be Nelson¡¯s best pass blocking rep of the night. Here he dismisses Wise to the outside, allowing Clark to take over, and engages Clayborn one-on-one coming across his face on the stunt. Notice that it takes a hard kick slide to stay in front of Clayborn and make up for the fact that he is at a sprint. It also takes an incredible amount of agility for a man his size to commit so hard to his inside and still plant his outside foot and get his body into position before Clayborn can turn the corner. This is another example of a play that very few NFL guards make. This is an example of the type of ability that separates Nelson from many of his peers.Bonus time. If you like watching Nelson finish blocks, steamroll opponents, or drive them into the turf ¡ª this is your portion of the film review. On this play the defender trips over the 25-yard line after Eric Ebron does his best matador impression. The edge defender is looking for a helping hand to stay upright. Nelson is pleased to greet him and run over him like a rolling pin. Kyle Van Noy attempts to gain outside leverage to pressure the quarterback. He fails, miserably. Nelson controls him throughout the entire play and slams him into the ground as punishment.I know, I know, this is a running play. It is also a running play that asks Quenton Nelson to pull. I like these plays.Here, Nelson gets to the second level and meets Adrian Clayborn. He pivots his body and anchors to keep Clayborn from making a play on the ball carrier. At the end you will see that a mass of bodies hits the turf and Nelson has completely planted his body to drive Clayboard into the turf. We have kids who visit our website so we try to keep things appropriate. We¡¯ll let you imagine how the rest of this play went.CONCLUSIONSIn all, this was a dominant blocking performance by Nelson. This is the first defensive line he has faced this year that is somewhat pedestrian. Outside of a couple of issues on stunts and a couple of challenging snaps against Trey Flowers, Nelson played an important role in keeping the left side of the pocket clean. It will be worth monitoring how the left side of the line looks when Anthony Castonzo returns to the field, and it looks like that could be as early as Sunday¡¯s match-up against the New York Jets.Bold Predictions: Indianapolis Colts 2018 Season Edition The 2018 NFL season is officially here. We are just five days away from meaningful football games. The Colts¡¯ home opener is a chance for Frank Reich to get his first season off to a great start. But just what will that season look like? That¡¯s what we¡¯re here to talk about. I¡¯m going to take my best stab at some bold, but not absurd predictions for the Colts¡¯ 2018 season. If I¡¯m right Indianapolis Colts Hats , I¡¯ll be sure to let you all know. If I¡¯m wrong, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll all be sure to remind me as well. So with that said, here are my bold predictions for the 2018 Indianapolis Colts this season:Andrew Luck wins Comeback Player of the YearPhoto by Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesWe¡¯re starting from the tamest to the craziest of my predictions. The NFL loves a narrative, and they¡¯ve loved none quite as much over the last few months as discussing whether or not Andrew Luck can ever so much as lift his coffee mug with his right arm again. Without the benefit of actual evidence, most have speculated wildly and some even still refuse to view his play up until now as any kind of sign that he could return to form.However, once he takes the field and starts putting on shows for the world to see, it will get pretty hard to ignore. The Colts don¡¯t have a ton of prime time games, but all the same, Luck¡¯s return to the field and any success he finds there will almost certainly earn him media attention. There will certainly be other candidates who could challenge him for this award, but given his time away from the game, and the ability he has to change the game, this one seems like a pretty strong possibility.Marlon Mack finishes the season with at least 1,500 yards from scrimmagePhoto by Otto Greule Jr/Getty ImagesThis one might be my most likely prediction to fail, because assigning a number to something makes it immediately harder to hit. However, I¡¯ve been very confident in Mack since last season, a feeling which was bolstered by the news that he had played 2017 with a torn labrum. Mack was poorly utilized in 2017 in an uncreative offense which set him up to fail. Inside the confines of Frank Reich¡¯s offense, that will not be the case. Mack is a home run threat every time the ball is in his hands, and the Colts have made significant improvements to their run blocking which should allow him to get through to the second level more frequently. When you add in Reich¡¯s likelihood of integrating in the short passing game and utilizing his running backs as a part of that game, this seems like the perfect situation for Marlon Mack to have a breakout year.The main hurdle for him to achieve this will be the tendency toward a committee approach at the running back position, but I expect that Mack will still get the lion¡¯s share of the looks give his abilities.Eric Ebron will lead all tight ends in receiving touchdownsPhoto by Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesWhen I say I¡¯m making bold predictions, I¡¯m not messing around. This one is bold bordering on foolishness. Last year, Jimmy Graham held the honor of most touchdowns scored by a tight end with 10. Zach Ertz was next with 8. Neither of those guys looks to be in a much worse situation, in fact, Graham is now catching passes from Aaron Rodgers, so he is likely prime competition to derail this prediction. Ebron¡¯s production hasn¡¯t come close to these kinds of numbers. In his best season, 2015, he had 5 touchdowns to his credit. That means this is a huge jump from what he has done in the past. The difference this season is that Ebron finds himself in a group with fewer high quality targets than past years. With the Lions he has competed with Golden Tate, Marvin Jones Indianapolis Colts Hoodie , Anquan Boldin, and Calvin Johnson for red zone looks. This year¡¯s Colts won¡¯t have as many options to compete with, and Luck showed throughout camp that he and Ebron had developed an easy chemistry that could prove potent once the season gets under way. Production on this level would be a huge win for this team as well as for Ebron, who has struggled to live up to his status as a 10th overall pick.The Colts¡¯ defense will send 2 players to the Pro BowlBrian Spurlock-USA TODAY SportsWhile the Pro Bowl itself doesn¡¯t matter much, this one would be a big win for the Colts¡¯ defense, and I think it is absolutely in the realm of possibility. Safety Malik Hooker is obviously the most likely candidate to make the Pro Bowl, but I think there are a few others who could as well. Jabaal Sheard has consistently been a very good player during his time in the league, and the Colts have made a shift in defensive scheme that should play to his strengths. He can now make it his primary duty to get after quarterbacks, which they¡¯ll definitely need him to do. If he has a year like he is capable of, a Pro Bowl is certainly within his reach.Another player who has shown all the makings of a Pro Bowl talent thus far in the offseason is linebacker Darius Leonard. Leonard has flashed all over the field as a rangy, dangerous player. If that playmaking ability and nose for the football carry over to the regular season, it would not be hard to envision the rookie making a Pro Bowl appearance in his first year in the league.The Colts will win a playoff gamePhoto by Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesThat¡¯s right. You may be all doom and gloom about the Colts this season, but you won¡¯t find that attitude coming from me. I¡¯m not declaring them a contender or anything, but the conclusion that Andrew Luck paired with a good offensive mind can turn a team from a tough watch to a playoff team really quickly isn¡¯t even that much of a stretch (eg. 2012 Colts). Sure, the division is better than it was in 2012. However, the Jaguars managed to win just 10 games to take the division, and that was with a lot of things breaking their way. I¡¯ve predicted that the Titans were going to be the best team in the division for the past two seasons, and they¡¯ve disappointed. I don¡¯t think they can stay healthy, and that has shown to be an issue already this season for them. The Texans have a formidable group, but have also struggled with health issues across the roster, and they¡¯ve proven that if they lose a few of their key players, they struggle mightily.That means that this division is wide open. While I¡¯m not predicting a division win for the Colts, I do think they have the potential to sneak into the playoffs, and once there, earn a win against the Bengals, because Marvin Lewis wouldn¡¯t be Marvin Lewis if he didn¡¯t get bounced out of the first round of the playoffs. There you have it, my 2018 Bold Predictions for the Indianapolis Colts. What are your predictions for this team?