The hot question of the week for Colts fans is going to be whether Frank Reich made the right call to go for it on 4th down Matthias Farley Jersey , late in overtime, with the game tied and the Colts on their own 43 yard line. In this article, Brett Mock and I will argue for each side.Andrew Aziz — It was the right callI believe it was the right decision. It was aggressive, and sometimes aggressive decisions don’t pay off, but they make a positive difference in the long run. If the Eagles weren’t aggressive, they probably don’t win the Super Bowl last year. If the Titans weren’t aggressive against the Eagles in Week 4, they probably don’t come out with a win. The Colts need to adopt an aggressive mindset, because the previous coach never played aggressive football and it not only angered fans, but it cost the Colts some games. The decision was met with criticism (obviously), but the entire football team stood behind and supported their coach and the decision. The players loved the decision and if this move brings this team closer and makes them more united, then I don’t mind sacrificing a game if it means stronger performances in the future. When a team rallies behind their coach, only good things come out of it.I feel that the fans are overlooking the two main issues: the play call and the ensuing Texans play. The play call wasn’t good. Against press coverage, I don’t like Chester Rogers’ chances fihgting for the football. Luck is used to making that throw with TY, so Rogers was essentially thrown into the fire and was expected to make a play that Hilton is used to making. Chester Rogers isn’t TY Hilton, so I thought a swing pass to a running back and making a defender miss in the open field or some sort of crossing pattern (to beat man coverage, which is what the Texans played underneath) would have been a lot more appropriate. Issue number two is the most serious issue and that was the Deandre Hopkins catch and run after the turnover on downs. The Colts struggled mightily defending the pass against the Texans. Hopkins and Will Fuller (before he was injured) absolutely torched the Colts secondary. Even Keke Coutee had a field day against the secondary. In short, the Colts struggled defending the pass. So, with the game on the line, the secondary laid an egg. They allowed a short catch from Hopkins to turn into a 24 yard gain to set up an easy field goal. I love Darius Leonard and he has been a stud through 4 games, but with the game on the line, I don’t want him lined up in the slot covering Deandre Hopkins, one of the best receivers in the game. That’s a mismatch and the Texans exploited that. Deandre Hopkins killing a linebacker in the slot with the game on the line IS THE BIG ISSUE!That was an error on the part of Matt Eberflus and that was the crucial error that costed the Colts the game. Another minor point to add is that a punt doesn’t necessarily end the game. While it definitely makes a tie the more likely outcome, there was a decent chance the Texans could’ve driven down the field to kick a FG to win. At the very worst, they could’ve had a Hail Mary chance. Let’s say the Texans fair catch the ball at the 15 yard line (which makes sense considering Sanchez’s averages) http://www.authenticsindianapoliscolts.com/cheap-clayton-geathers-jersey , that would mean that the Texans would have about 20 seconds to drive approximately 47 yards. While it is unlikely that they drive those yards and make a 55 yard field goal, it is possible and it can’t be written off as it has happened plenty of times in recent history. Heck, I’ll never forget the Falcons doing it to the Seahawks in the 2012 WildCard round. They had two timeouts, but the situation was essentially the same and they almost could’ve driven the field and hit the field goal without the timeouts. The drive can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHSWp7U6U7I and by skipping ahead to 2:00:35. Point is, those sort of drives do happen, despite how unlikely they might seem. To recap, I like the fact that we have an aggressive minded head coach who is wiling to make gutsy decisions. I also feel that analysts and fans should focus on the real issue which is the Hopkins 24 yard catch and run after the turnover on downs after he got a juicy matchup in the slot against a linebacker. The play call choice could’ve been better as well. The players loved the decision and so do I!Brett Mock — It was the wrong decisionIt’s important to make it clear that I’m all for aggressive play-calling. I think Frank Reich has set the appropriate tone early in the season going for it on fourth down on numerous occasions. It has been refreshing after Chuck Pagano and Jim Caldwell were both very conservative minded head coaches. I think it establishes the right culture and is good for a young football team.I don’t agree with the decision to go for it on 4th-and-4 on your own 43 yard line with 27 seconds left in a sudden death overtime. The Texans had almost no chance to win the football game after they took their last timeoutbefore the fourth down play. A punt would have pinned them deep in their own territory with no timeouts and a mile to get into field goal range. I get that crazy drives have happened in history but outside of a fluke big play on the boundary or a big play touchdown, the game is over if you punt.Realistically, the only chance the Texans had to win the game is if you go for it and fail. If you do that, you give them the ball with manageable distance to get into field goal range. Once they get the ball at that point on the field, their odds to win the game sky-rocket. It becomes probable that they will win the game. It becomes improbable that your defense gets a stop.Now, should the defense have stopped the Texans from getting into field goal range? Sure. Did anyone actually think they would? I didn’t. The safeties had been playing very loose coverage all day long and underneath routes were easy pickings for Houston. Two of your top cornerbacks were out of the game. The Texans were given the ball with an open playbook and the defense was put in a position to be on its heels. I think a smart coach realizes that the bid to win the game on offense ended when Marcus Johnson dropped the third down pass that hit him in the hands. At that point two outcomes were likely. The most likely outcome was a tie. The second outcome in your favor is forcing the Texans into the same position — playing to win the game against horrible odds. In those situations you might get a bad decision and you have a chance to make a defensive play on the ball. In Texans territory with the field spread out to try to get out of bounds with no timeouts? Now there is something you can work with if you can make a big defensive play.I think completing the 4th and 4 play would still make the odds of a Colts win marginal at best. Going for it and failing is setting up your team to lose.Now, the biggest reason this is the wrong decision isn’t even because of the argument we’re having about what could have happened. The reason this is the wrong decision is because it is reckless to simply give away a game in your own division. Ties are better than losses when it comes down to records, period. It is my belief that this team is better than its record. It is my belief that if the offense can play anywhere close to the way it did in the second half against Houston, this team’s defense has already proven that it can be dangerous. It is my belief that this team still has a fighters chance to get something good going in the second half of the season and can push for a wild card spot. If I’m right, the tie or loss can make a difference. If I’m wrong it doesn’t matter. But if I’m the coach, the front office, I play to “win” by putting my team in the best chance to make a run in the playoffs. The decision against the Texans unnecessarily made the odds of making the playoffs lower. I bet you anything that if this young team fights and claws its way to the playoff bubble and falls just short because of their 4th-and-4 call in overtime against the Texans, the locker room will have a different attitude. But hey, maybe they’ll not win enough games for that to even matter so who cares, right?What is your opinion on the play? Should the Colts have gone for it and the win or should they have punted the ball away and play for the tie? Vote in the poll and comment below.Colts Film Room: How the Colts are scheming their tight ends open Through five weeks of the Indianapolis Colts 2018 season, we’re seeing some interesting trends. Offensively, the Colts have done about what we presumed they would in Frank Reich’s system: heavy usage of their tight ends and running backs in the passing game.Focusing on their tight ends, the Colts have targeted them on over 27 percent of Andrew Luck’s attempts. Through the first three games of the season that number was up to 31 percent White Ryan Grant Jersey , and lately that’s down just a bit to around 25 percent in the past two weeks. With Jack Doyle being out in these last two games, that makes sense as the Colts have had to use Mo-Allie Cox and Erik Swoope as stand-ins in attempt to replace some of that production.Today, we’re going to look at some of what the Colts have been doing to scheme their tight ends open, and creating favorable matchups without Doyle in the lineup. You’ll see clips against man coverage (predominantly from Thursday night) as well as zone looks and how these concepts have worked.Smash versus man coverageErik Ebron has had to shoulder the load without Doyle in the lineup whereas in the first few games he had been used more sparingly for the most part. Andrew Luck has racked up 121 attempts in the past two weeks and Ebron has been targeted heavily as a result. Here we see the Colts using a smash concept which is quite effective versus a man-coverage look, and especially when that matchup features a physical mismatch for receiver being targeted.For this clip, Ebron is set up split out a bit from the line, and inside the slot receiver (Chester Rogers) and the outside receiver (Ryan Grant). There are different variations of the smash, but here both of the outermost receivers are set to crash the middle of the field on short in routes. Versus man you can see how this works so effectively. With Ebron running the corner route — outside of being bumped at the line of scrimmage — this leaves the 6-foot-4, athletic tight end in a matchup against the 5-foot-10 safety Devin McCourty. Ebron should win this battle each and every time, given the pass is on target. Swoope, who is also 6-foot-4 and very athletic and could be used in this manner effectively whereas we may not see much of this from Doyle given the contrast in speed.I really like this concept for what the Colts have in terms of overall talent at the receiver position, and there are some simple alterations that can be used to open up, both, the running backs and receivers. Short crossers in conjunction with verticalsThis isn’t a concept that is as effective against a man look as it is versus some zone coverages. In this clip, though, we see a cover-2 from the Houston Texans. Most of what happens here depends on the quarterback recognizing which coverage he’s seeing, and the receiver’s ability to pick it out as the route progresses. Here, Luck is getting verticals out of his X and Z receivers, a hitch from Ryan Hewitt and a drag route from the target, Ebron. Aside from the tight end, here, everyone is used to either draw the coverage downfield to set up Ebron with a one-on-one opportunity to make a play after the catch. The alternative — against this zone look — Ebron is to be used as the eye candy for the corner and linebacker, while the field side receiver is to passed the corner and sit down underneath the safety, or break in on a shallow post route.It didn’t work out that way as Luck was more concerned with getting into a rhythm and takes the tight end as soon as he passes the opposite hash. This is still a safe option for Luck versus the zone White Kenny Moore Jersey , it’s just not the optimal one in terms of eating up yardage and beating the Houston zone. This either produces something short and simple, or potentially a big play down field if the receiver can beat the safety after the catch. Expect to see some of these combinations go for big yardage throughout the season at some point.Play action mismatchesEveryone wants to call out RPOs now with this look, but this is indeed simply just the Colts using effective play action to move one defender, and send out a mismatch versus another. The Colts attempted to use this same play from the other side of the formation with Cox in Week 4 as well, but this clip shows more of what the idea behind the play is.This one is pretty straight forward as well. Luck recognizes man coverage here, and uses the play to take advantage of this simple completion with very little resistance. Nyheim Hines lines up to the right of Luck to pull his coverage with him.After the snap, you see Luck eyeballing the linebacker. If he doesn’t go with Hines, Luck will likely try to hit him out in the flat. If the linebacker does follow Hines, though, Luck easily throws behind him to Ebron and gets an easy 10-yard completion deep in Texans’ territory. Of course the latter happens, and you can see that the linebacker completely vacates the middle of the field and how much area Luck has to make this quick throw. Simple design, easy execution.Post-wheel combinationMost of the time we hear of wheel routes coming from the running backs. Ultimately this is out-and-up from the Swoope, but the concept is the same. Here the Colts find themselves going up against a man look over the top, a single-high look from the safety with some zone from the linebackers underneath. At the bottom of the screen we see Swoope lined up upright near the line and Zach Pascal out wide with the idea of stretching the coverage they’re facing. This simply titled post-wheel combination is exactly what it sounds like. Pascal takes his coverage deep and to the middle of the field to occupy the corner and the safety, while Swoope executes more of an out-and-up version of the wheel route in attempt to get his coverage watching the quarterback and beat him deep.This works out nearly to perfection throughout the process of the routes. Swoope’s coverage doesn’t bite on the out portion of the route, but Swoope is able to beat his man deep with no help over the top. This is a perfect throw from Luck to the front corner of the end zone and Swoope makes a beautiful catch and nearly gets credit for the touchdown. In closing, we see that Reich is trying to use the position to create mismatches and different advantages in all areas of the field. The Colts’ once strength at the tight end position has diminished a bit with injuries and roster movements, but they still have a steady set of concepts that they can use to continue the success of the tight ends in general. How these concepts progress when Doyle returns to action will be equally interesting to watch, but you have to like what we’re seeing so far. The Colts tight ends have been on the receiving end of half of the team’s passing touchdowns (6) thus far, and they continue to be legitimate targets in all areas of the field. I’d say the position is actually producing remarkably well with all things considered.