Indianapolis Colts vs. Cincinnati Bengals Ten In-Depth Observations

Jan 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard (25) gets past Indianapolis Colts inside linebacker D’Qwell Jackson (52) in the first half in the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

5. Dan “Boom” Herron fumbled the ball twice and earned a brief benching after his second fumble, though he seemed to be down by contact. In any case, Herron racked up plenty of yardage when he was on the field, churning out 56 yards on just seven carries against a beat-up Bengals linebackers corps that lost veteran Rey Maualuga to an injury during the game. Herron’s biggest impact, though, was in the passing game, and the Colts dialed up short passes to him several times on the opening drive, which was their first opening drive  that led to a touchdown in the 2014-15 season.

Herron caught ten passes for 85 yards on 11 targets in this one, and he looked quick in the open field, consistently picking up nice chunks of yardage in both phases of the game. The Bengals were one of the worst teams in the regular season at covering running backs, and he definitely took full advantage of the opposition yesterday afternoon.

6. I already went over Giovani Bernard’s stats from the game, but I don’t think they do justice to how well he played as a receiver in this one. Bernard didn’t average many yards per reception, but yards were clearly hard to come by for the Bengals offense. Again, Bernard, with just 46 receiving yards, was the team’s leading receiver, and he did it by making plenty of defenders miss. With time winding down in the second and fourth quarters, the Bengals simply meandered to the line of scrimmage and continued to throw short, easy passes, and they mainly relied on Bernard to fight for first downs.

Bernard isn’t the most efficient rusher around, but it’s hard to find many third-down backs in the league who are as good as him. Not only is he one of the most agile players in the NFL today, but he’s also arguably the toughest of these agile backs. There was one play in particular that impressed me. On this play, Bernard could have went out of bounds for a safe chunk of yards, but he decided to go for the first down by splitting between two defenders. He fought to move the chains, and it worked, which is especially important in a game that saw the Bengals earn just 14 first downs and 4.3 yards per play.

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