Indianapolis Colts' cornerback Kenny Moore II was fantastic against the Miami Dolphins in week seven. Pro Football Focus gave the veteran slot cornerback an 83.4 grade on the day and charted him as allowing just one catch for two yards on four targets.
Moore is no stranger to high level play, as the former Pro Bowler has been a weapon in the slot for the Colts since 2017. He has struggled a bit with injuries to start this season, but this game against the Dolphins appeared to be his get-right game on film.
From the little things in coverage to making plays on the ball, Moore was the Colts' most impactful defender against a struggling Dolphins' offense.
A Defensive Weapon
Moore was the Colts' defensive weapon this past game. He made several impact plays from his outside corner spot on base downs and stuffed the Dolphins' offense twice on third down in the passing game. He also flashed as a blitzer on occasion, even providing a quarterback hit in the third quarter on Dolphins passer Tyler Huntley.
Arguably his best coverage rep came on the second play of the game. The Colts were in cover two and the Dolphins called play-action in an attempt to get an easy completion over the middle. Moore clearly recognized this look from his film study, as he completely shut down the two main pass options on the play.
Moore began the rep by undercutting Tyreek Hill on the bang-8 concept over the middle. Once that option is taken away, Moore passed off Hill to Zaire Franklin over the middle and rolled to the deep over route developing behind him. Those two options on the pass play were completely taken out of commission by Moore's awareness, leading to a throwaway.
Moore's best traits are his awareness and his eyes in off coverage. He can be a risk taker at times, but he generally understands his assignment in coverage and knows how to make the big play when needed.
The Dolphins targeted Moore again on the very next play of the game, this time on a middle screen to Malik Washington. Moore quickly recognized what the Dolphins were trying to accomplish with this route concept and crashed downhill to make a play on the pass catcher. The Dolphins are able to complete the pass, but it ends up well short of the sticks on third down.
The Dolphins were driving down the field late in the second quarter with a chance to take a two touchdown lead on this next clip. They went empty on this third and short play in an attempt to create separation to the stacked side with a switch release off of the line.
Shutdown Samuel Womack III and Moore played this stacked set perfectly out of banjo technique. Womack was physical enough with Hill off of the line to disrupt the rub route, and Moore crashed downhill perfectly to undercut the quick slant to the inside. Moore got his hand in just enough to get the pass breakup on the play, leading to another failed third down attempt by the Dolphins' offense.
Moore's impact in the pass game extended beyond pass coverage as well. He also provided value as an extra rusher, notably on this blitz late in the third quarter.
The Colts mixed in a nice sim pressure with Moore coming hard off of the edge. The Dolphins recognized the blitz and kept in an extra tight end to account for the blitz call. Moore played this rush perfectly, however, and long-armed the extra blocker into the pocket while keeping outside contain on Huntley's right side.
Once Huntley began to bail outside the pocket, Moore tracked down the mobile passer for a hit on the play. This hit led to another failed third down attempt for the Dolphins and notably knocked out Huntley for the remainder of the game.
The Bottom Line
The Colts' secondary has been a welcomed surprise this season and veteran Moore has been the leader of the impressive group. He is the Colts' ultimate weapon on defense and games like this have become expected by the veteran at this point in his career.
