Hilton unsung big-play star for Colts
The company line is that the Indianapolis Colts always make a concerted effort to get the football to Pro Bowl wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, and nothing has changed in the past month.
But the numbers suggest otherwise. Nobody in the NFL has more receiving yards than Hilton’s 556 yards in the past four games, which included nine catches for 199 yards in Sunday’s 24-21 Colts win at Houston. The victory kept playoff hopes alive for the Colts (7-6), who host the Dallas Cowboys (8-5) on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Initial questions about Hilton touches stemmed from when the four-time Pro Bowl star had only one 34-yard catch at Oakland on Oct. 28. The Colts enjoyed a bye that enabled him to rest chest and hamstring injuries. In the five games since, he’s caught 36 passes for 633 yards and two touchdowns including three games of 125 yards or more.
Hilton shrugs when asked about what’s changed.
“Just taking what the defense is giving me,” he said on Wednesday. “The coaches are doing a great job of moving me, putting me in position to thrive and me and (quarterback) Andrew (Luck), after that, we do what we do.”
The Colts like to move Hilton all over the field, be it outside on either side or in the slot. Asked for more specifics, Hilton simplified by saying it’s all about whether he draws single coverage.
“If they leave me,” he said of one-on-one, “that’s a matchup we like.”
Although Luck missed all of last season due to shoulder surgery, it didn’t take him any time to get back on the same page with his favorite receiver.
“It’s probably obvious to anybody watching what kind of spark T.Y. provides for our team when he gets the ball in his hands,” Luck said.
The Colts have won six of seven games, in large part, because of Hilton’s emergence. For much of this season, newcomer tight end Eric Ebron garnered his share of attention. Ebron caught his career-best 12th touchdown pass on Sunday to set franchise record for scoring receptions by a tight end.
When the ball was going Ebron’s way, Hilton would quietly play good teammate and remind, “Pick your poison.”
The Titans chose to focus on Ebron on Nov. 11 and Hilton continually burned single coverage in catching all nine of the passes he was targeted for 155 yards in a 38-10 home rout.
“T.Y. has a unique way of doing things that I don’t think many others can quite replicate,” Luck said. “He does things very, very well. He does those things very, very well. … This is our seventh year together and I appreciate what he brings to the table specifically on the football field. He does some really, really cool stuff. Obviously, he’s a great teammate and a great friend, but he does some things maybe a little differently than other guys would, but it works.”
Luck is referring to how Hilton can get open, be it with 4.3-second speed in the 40-yard dash or the shifty elusiveness of knowing when to break off a route and read a defense to find open spaces.
“I probably fell into this trap when I first got here that you think T.Y. is the speed way,” first-year Colts head coach Frank Reich said. “He’s the guy that can get over the top, and what you learn after being around him is this guy is an elite route runner. I mean, he’s an elite route runner.
“He has instincts and Andrew told me that right from the start. ‘Frank, he does some unorthodox things in his route running, but I’m just telling you you’re going to learn to trust him like I’ve learned to trust him. He has this unique ability to understand leverage and spacing.’ This was Andrew speaking, ‘I’ve just learned to trust him, I have a feel for him and you are going to see it.’ And he was exactly right.”
Not that Hilton will say much about it. He’s arguably the most understated player in the locker room when reporters invade with questions. The Colts can downplay the trend, but it’s just the fourth time in franchise history that a receiver has had five consecutive games with at least 75 yards receiving.
“We’ve got a lot of matchups that create problems for everybody,” Hilton said.
But he’s reminding the NFL that his days as a decoy are few and far between. He needed just 11 games to eclipse his 2017 no-Luck numbers with 62 catches for 986 yards and six touchdowns.
“He’s special,” Luck said. “You go out the first day and you pick up where you left off. I know how to read his body language. He knows how to read mine and that only comes with years and years and years of reps.”
SERIES HISTORY: 16th regular-season meeting. Cowboys lead series, 10-5 and have won the last three, most recently 42-7 in 2014 at Dallas. The Colts last hosted the Cowboys in 2010, a 38-35 overtime loss. The last Colts win was 20-3 at home in 2002. The most memorable meeting between the franchises came in Super Bowl V in Miami in 1971, when the Baltimore Colts prevailed 16-13 as Jim O’Brien kicked a 32-yard field goal with five seconds remaining.
