Indianapolis Colts at Las Vegas Raiders: 3 Raiders to watch in Week 14
Darren Waller
Darren Waller is coming off a career game and one of the best performances by a tight end in league history. He finished with 13 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns, which accounted for 45% of the team’s total yards on offense.
He is second in the league behind Chiefs’ Travis Kelce for receiving yards and touchdowns by a tight end and has fully established himself as one of the elite pass catchers at the position. And the Raiders will need another big performance from him if they want to beat the Colts, however, Waller will be facing a much more stingy defense this Sunday.
The Colts enter this game as one of the best units when it comes to neutralizing tight ends. According to PFF, Indianapolis hasn’t allowed more than 65 yards to a tight end this season and has only given up one touchdown.
Players like linebacker Darius Leonard help the Colts control the middle of the field and overall the team has been stingy against the pass ranking top five in defensive DVOA and 8th in passing yards allowed per game.
It is unrealistic to expect Waller to put up the historic numbers he did last week, but Gruden and the coaching staff need to make sure he gets at least 9 to 12 targets. Obviously, the Colts will have Waller as their number one priority in the passing game, but great players should never be totally schemed out of games. Gruden and Derek Carr have shown all season that they know how to get Waller the ball, but this will be their toughest test yet.