QB Matt Hasselbeck, Indianapolis Colts

HT: 6-4, WT: 220, Born: 9-25-1975, College: Boston College, Drafted: Round 6

2013 Projections

Outlook

The Colts felt the need to have an experienced and capable quarterback back up starter Andrew Luck. When 14 year pro Matt Hasselbeck became available, the Colts pounced on the opportunity. Hasselbeck has over 34,000 career passing yards and just over 200 touchdown passes. He may not be as nimble as he once was, but he brings peace of mind to a backup role that was a question mark heading into the off season. Hasselbeck should have no problem securing the role over Chandler Harnish, who is entering his second year in the league and has yet to throw a pass in a regular season game. Hasselbeck has a winning record in his 14 year career and recently went 9-7 as a starter for the Titans in 2011 and 2-3 as a backup in 2012. In a pinch, he is an experienced option for the Colts at quarterback in the event Andrew Luck is forced to miss time. On the bright side, Luck took every snap for the Colts in 2012.

2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Hasselbeck led a drive down to the 1 yard line when he first came into the game. He used Kendall Wright on two receptions, but then on the goalline, he overthrew a wide open Hawkins and then missed Cook on a call that many Titans fans thought was a PI. Replay however, showed that it was probably just a great play by Chung to keep the ball from Cook. On the next drive, Hasselbeck continued to show rust, missing a number of receivers. Perhaps he’s on the downhill slope of his career, but on this day, he didn’t live up to his title of “league’s best backup QB”, as he was far more erratic throwing the ball than Jake Locker was.

Week 4 - Matt Hasselbeck replaced an injured Jake Locker on the Titans' second offensive series and was not able to keep the Titans in the game despite a good rushing day from Chris Johnson. Hasselbeck completed 65% of his passes for a respectable 7.7 yards per attempt. The problems came from taking untimely sacks (3 for 18 yards) and three turnovers including two interceptions returned for touchdown which effectively put the game out of reach. Hasselbeck's best throw came on a touchdown toss to Craig Stevens wherein he fired a hard pass between two defenders to Stevens who powered his way forward for the score. Hasselbeck also looked to the outside of the field on short routes to Chris Johnson and Damien Williams that typically are not favored by Jake Locker, who is more of a downfield passer.

Week 5 - The Titans offense was terrible against Minnesota and the poor play started with Matt Hasselbeck, who was filling in for starter Jake Locker. Hasselbeck had difficulty finding time in the pocket due to the Vikings pass rush all day. His passes – normally crisp and on target – often off the mark and too short to create substantial gains. While Hasselbeck did throw the ball an astounding 43 times, he barely completed more than half of his passes and was picked off once. Hasselbeck did complete six passes for more than ten yards but spent much of the day looking to his hot reads and outlet receivers. His best throw came on a late touchdown to Jared Cook. On the play, Cook lined up split to the left and ran a go route up the left seam. Hasselbeck threaded the ball between three defenders over Cook's right shoulder for the score.

Week 6 - It was clear early on that Tennessee wanted to exploit Pittsburgh via the air. Missing Troy Polamalu in the defensive backfield and LaMarr Woodley to negate the passing game via the pass rush, Hasselbeck picked apart various portions of the Pittsburgh defense. While some plays were made outside the numbers, it was clear that Tennessee wanted to attacked backup safety Will Allen. Hasselbeck was effective for much of the game but appeared to not be on the same page as Kenny Britt on multiple occasions. Aside from a couple drops by Britt, he and Hasselbeck had some other misfires that appeared to stem from a lack of communication. While he’s clearly not on the up-slope of his career, Hasselbeck’s veteran presence and decision-making were apparent. He checked down to running backs when he needed to and took calculated risks downfield when they were available. This is still going to be Jake Locker’s team, but Hasselbeck showed he’s a top-notch backup quarterback – especially when given a couple practices to prepare as the starter.

Week 7 - Hasselbeck and the passing offense fired right out of the gate on Sunday, going six for six for 63 yards on the opening TD drive. It was clear Tennessee wanted to use the passing game early to open up some of the rushing lanes for Chris Johnson. Hasselbeck looked to Kenny Britt early, hitting him on an in for 16 yards. Hasselbeck went no huddle immediately, finding Britt again out of the slot for nine yards on the very next play. Hasselbeck continued to attack the middle with two nice throws to TE Craig Stevens, one of which was nullified by a Bills holding penalty. After a swing to Darius Reynaud in the flat for nine yards, the Titans tried to go no huddle again. Hasselbeck went back to a dragging Britt from the slot, but Buffalo’s defense did a nice job, limiting Britt to a short gain. Experiencing little to no pressure and attacking a defense clearly on its heels and reeling, Hasselbeck went back to work on the third TD drive. Hasselbeck continued to attack the middle, taking advantage of an obvious size advantage with his TEs versus the much smaller Bills’ safeties. On 3rd down, Hasselbeck found Jared Cook on a post for eight yards. Hasselbeck looked to Britt on the next play, but CB Stephon Gilmore had great coverage on the comeback route and Britt was unable to make the contested catch. Not to be deterred, Hasselbeck converted another 3rd and long. With all day to throw, Damian Williams sat down in the middle of the zone and Hasselbeck found him for 19 yards. After a short completion to Kendall Wright, Buffalo finally was able to get pressure up the middle and force an incompletion. Again facing 3rd down, Hasselbeck was allowed to sit in the pocket all day and wait for a crossing Cook to get down the field for a 29-yard gain. Hasselbeck completed another short throw on play action to Wright before the running game finished the drive off. Hasselbeck and the Titan offense slowed down in the 2nd half considerably after scoring TDs on three of four drives in the first half. Taking advantage of a short field on a Buffalo fumble, Hasselbeck worked a quick screen to Wright and a slant to Williams, both for 11 yards before the running game again finished the drive off with a TD. After forcing a punt and a turnover on downs, Hasselbeck was able to use poor Buffalo tackling and the run game to get into scoring position on the Titans final drive. Facing a 2nd and 18, pressure on Hasselbeck forced a quick throw to Washington. Washington was well short of the marker, but a missed tackle allowed the WR to pick up 17 yards. After a long Chris Johnson run, Hasselbeck threw what should have been a game ending INT. Feeling pressure and locked into a slanting Washington, Hasselbeck was well off target and the pass sailed right into camping safety George Wilson’s stomach, but he was unable to hold on to the pass. Hasselbeck’s best throw of the game came two plays later as he hit Washington on a vertical from the slot, placing the ball perfectly for the game winning 15-yard TD. Hasselbeck wasn’t spectacular, but did enough, especially early to ensure Buffalo could not stack the box. He looked good on the short underneath throws, but struggled getting the ball down field, including underthrowing both Washington and Williams (both open on their respective plays) and badly overthrowing a wide open Britt which should have been a 44-yard TD. Hasselbeck struggled when pressure came, but fortunately for the Titans, Buffalo wasn’t able to consistently bring it.

Week 8 - Hasselbeck filled in admirably again for Jake Locker. However, despite completing 22 of 29 passes and no interceptions, Hasselbeck had difficulty overcoming untimely penalties and missed third down conversions. Hasselbeck continues to be excellent spreading the ball around completing passes to nine different receivers. His best throw came on a 23 yard deep toss to receiver Kendall Wright. On the play, Hasselbeck placed the ball where only his receiver could catch it. Wright did an excellent job tapping his toes to the end zone for the touchdown. Otherwise, Hasselbeck had 4 completions of longer than 14 yards in the air. He did have three long completions that were all nullified by offensive pass interference penalties, some questionable. The accuracy issues that plagued him at the end of last year appear gone as he is no longer overthrowing receivers regularly. That said, the Titans offense as a whole appears out of sync with penalties, long third downs, and missed opportunities leading to the team's demise. Despite spreading the ball around, Hasselbeck clearly trusts Kendall Wright and Kenny Britt most on short to mid routes and Nate Washington and Kendall Wright on deep routes.

Week 9 - Despite losing by 31 points, Matt Hasselbeck actually didn’t play as bad as you would think. He did have an awful throw that Urlacher returned for a TD. But other than that, he played solid, threw accurate passes, and did a decent job managing the game, despite a great defense. The problem for the Titans was fumbles. They lost FOUR fumbles, many of which came after Hasselbeck had completed the pass. Hasselbeck did a great job of finding the open receiver, and spreading the ball around. His 30 yard lob to Nate Washington was perfectly placed and was his only TD of the day. I don’t know if any team could overcome the loss of four fumbles and a blocked punt for a TD. Hasselbeck certainly wasn’t great, but he wasn’t the reason the Titans lost.