Week 11 Flash In The Pan Alert: Pierre Garcon

As I noted in my Start/Sit recommendations this week, the Ravens defense is adept at eliminating the first and even second option that a quarterback relies on to move the ball. For the Colts, those top two options are Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. Even without the services of Terrell Suggs, you have to be confident that the combination of the pass rush and the focus on those two receivers will force Peyton Manning to look in other directions.

Peyton Manning is robotic on the field. He is the closest thing to a real-life Madden video game player on the field. He calls audibles and hot routes and always seems to get the ball away to the right guy who is running open. This week that player will be Pierre Garcon. Any other quarterback would begin the game looking longingly down the field for Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, waiting patiently for them to get open. Any other quarterback would be getting carted off the field this week against the Ravens defense.

Expect Manning to use Garcon early as a means to free up Wayne and Clark. He will shift his primary target to Garcon in the hopes that the Ravens will leave Wayne in single coverage for a single play, and he will make them pay on that exact play. But the Ravens are very disciplined. While you expect a guy like Wayne to still get some numbers, Manning will be compelled to keep targeting Garcon because the Ravens will simply be unwilling to live with Wayne and Clark beating them.

Garcon is already the 33rd most targeted receiver in the league. As the 3rd option in Indy, he enjoys the benefit of single coverage and space underneath all day. He is in the top 50 in the following major categories among NFL wide receivers: Receptions, Receiving Yards, Receiving TD’s and Targets.

You know Peyton is going to put the ball in the air, and you know the Ravens are going to funnel those opportunities away from Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. For that reason, I like Pierre Garcon to be this week’s Flash In The Pan. Should the Colts dominate Baltimore in their own house this weekend, it will be because Manning connects with Garcon, with great success.