Monday Morning Awards: Week 12 Vs. Bucs

MVP of the Game: Carson Wentz

Despite the turnovers, which were not entirely his fault, Carson Wentz easily takes home the MVP award. His accuracy and timing were on point, and the deep ball to Asthon Dulin for the 62-yard touchdown was just beautiful. What seems to be the case with Wentz, is that he is good for 30 pass attempts per game. Ask more of him and mistakes just tend to happen.

Dud of the Game: Eric Fisher/Nyheim Hines/AQM

Left tackle will be the top need this offseason, along with edge rusher. Fisher was just atrocious once again yesterday. His struggles against speed rushers are evident now. The strip-sack he allowed changed the course of the game, giving back all the momentum to the Bucs. Perhaps the Colts should try out Pryor at left tackle, or move Smith to the left and Pryor back at RT, Fisher is just not it. Nyheim Hines gets the award because his muffed punt happened at the worst possible time, and his mistake is a big reason why the Colts lost the game. The dude should really be getting that extra practice fielding punts, or the Colts should try out a different returner. As for AQM, what more is there left to say about him? He played on 85% of the defensive snaps, did not get a single pressure, and had just one tackle. Is this guy really better than Banogu? I feel it’s impossible for the Colts to get less production from that spot.

Best Play of the Game: T.Y. Hilton’s TD catch on 4th down

With the first half winding down, and the Colts set to receive the second half kickoff, Frank Reich made a ballsy call and went for it on 4th down in the red zone. Wentz threw a perfect pass to T.Y., who caught the ball to put the Colts up double digits before halftime.

Worst Play of the Game: Barrett’s strip sack

1st and 10 in the Bucs 20-yard line, the offense was driving the ball down the field and set to go up at least 13 points, until Eric Fisher. Barrett easily blew by the Colts’ mediocre left tackle, stripped the ball away from Wentz, and recovered. From that point on, it was all Tampa Bay. Left tackle is a big need this offseason.

Best Position Group: Cornerbacks

Tom Brady just could not connect with his receivers, as the Colts manage to hold Evans/Godwin under 50 combined yards. The cornerback group has been a big surprise this season. Rock Ya-Sin has improved tremendously, Kenny Moore is his usual dominant self, and Isaiah Rodgers took a big step forward and looks set to win the starting job next season.

Unsung Hero: Xavier Rhodes

While he has not been good at all this season, and I still would like to see Rodgers get more snaps than him, Xavier Rhodes was pretty good yesterday, and the Colts really needed a game like this from him. Sadly, Brady was still able to hit his tight ends and his running backs, but Rhodes did a fine job securing his side of the field.

Rookie of the Week: Kwity Paye

Yet another solid game from Paye, who got his third sack in a row. The rookie out of Michigan is slowly but surely coming into his own as a pass rusher, as it finally seems like the Colts were able to land a talented defensive end in the draft.