FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Recalling his roots as a walk-on linebacker at the University of Iowa in 1999 from Twin Rivers high school, Dallas Clark acknowledged that, at that fledgling stage of his football career, he never could have imagined the level of scrutiny which accompanies a Super Bowl game.
But if the Indianapolis Colts' tight end was taken aback by the crowds circling his podium during the daily interview sessions this week, he likely would be shocked by the degree of attention he has drawn in the Chicago Bears' defensive game-plan meetings.
Doug Benc/Getty Images
Dallas Clark has become the go-to guy for the Colts in the postseason.
"He's become kind of the X-factor in their passing game, a guy they've really focused on in the playoffs, and someone who has had a big impact on what they've done," said Bears' defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. "You expect to spend time worrying about the two wide receivers, but Clark has made most of the big plays. He presents a pretty big challenge. They are certainly looking to him more and more."
And Clark, who went from being a walk-on linebacker nearly eight years ago to a first-round tight end in the 2003 draft, has delivered.
In the Colts' three playoff victories, Clark has registered a team-best 17 receptions, and his 281 receiving yards are tops among all players who have participated in the postseason. Of those 17 catches, all but three have produced first downs and six of them moved the chains in third-down situations. Included was a 21-yard grab on third-and-18 against Kansas City in a wild card victory and a 14-yard reception on third-and-five in the divisional-round win at Baltimore that helped the Colts chew up the clock on their final, 13-play possession.
Averaging a heady 16.5 yards per catch, Clark has five receptions of 20 yards or more and three of 25-plus yards. His 52-yard reception in the AFC championship was one of the key plays in Indianapolis' comeback victory over the New England Patriots.
Not bad for a player who has never posted more than 37 catches in a season and who was held to 30 receptions during the 2006 regular season because of a knee injury that limited him to a dozen appearances.
"He's always been an important part of what we do," said wide receiver Reggie Wayne, "but because of the way defenses are playing us now, he's got more opportunities. The things he is doing now, really, he's always done them. He's always been an important part of our passing game. But, you know, everything is magnified in the playoffs."
And right now, Clark, who has three of the 11 games in franchise playoff history in which a Colts player had 100 receiving yards, is huge for the Indianapolis offense.
He's a huge headache, too, for Rivera and the Chicago defense because his versatility presents a difficult matchup. Clark can align as a conventional, in-line tight end, but because the season-ending Achilles injury suffered by Brandon Stokley has left the Colts without a consistently effective No. 3 wideout to team with Wayne and Marvin Harrison, the offense has essentially functioned in the playoffs with Clark as the third receiver.
On slightly more than 65 percent of the Colts' postseason snaps, Clark has been aligned in the slot. There also have been occasions on which he has flanked far to the sideline, like a wide receiver, with Wayne moving to the slot.
In either of those formations, Clark mandates a tough decision by opposing defenses, which must react to his alignment. Trying to check Clark with a strongside linebacker in coverage can be disastrous for a defense because he is too quick. That means defenses must move a safety out in coverage or use a nickel cornerback on him. And in some cases, Clark's size (6-feet-3, 252 pounds) allows him to muscle through smaller defensive backs.
Clark is at his best working the seam areas between the hashes, where his combination of size and speed make him a formidable interior presence. But if opponents overplay him and squeeze the middle of the field, Clark will run out patterns or go to the short flat. He is a clever receiver who, coupled with the braininess of quarterback Peyton Manning, just seems to find a way to uncover himself in the secondary.
Because he is so flexible and can line up in so many different spots, Indianapolis basically can morph from a two- to a three-wide receiver set without substituting. And that often means a defense is caught with its base personnel on the field. The rare vertical dimension he lends the Colts cannot be underestimated.
And neither can he.
The suspicion this week is that Chicago will rely heavily on a nickel cover alignment, with No. 3 cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. drawing Clark. Manning is undersized, but feisty, and if that is the matchup on which the Bears' defensive brain trust settles, it should be a pretty intriguing one.
"I think I've seen just about every kind of coverage possible lately," Clark said earlier this week. "So I'm sure they're going to have something up their sleeves. And, frankly, no one sticks with the same thing all the way through the game. They're a great defense. They'll mix it up. They've had two weeks to get ready, so we're not going to surprise them with anything that we do."
On the subject of surprises, it's mildly shocking that Clark, 27, is even playing in the postseason, let alone excelling. In a Nov. 26 victory over Philadelphia, he suffered a partial tear to the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee and Indianapolis officials, already scrambling because of injuries to the receiver corps, feared he might be lost for the balance of the year.
But team orthopedist Dr. Arthur Rettig, upon examining Clark's knee, recommended to club officials that they hold off moving the tight end to injured reserve, which would have ended his year. The Colts took Rettig's advice and gambled that Clark might be recovered in time for the playoffs.
"The Lord just works in strange ways," Clark said. "When I hurt my knee, I thought that was it, that I was done. But it got stronger over the weeks of (rehabilitation), I was able to get back on the field and play well, and now here I am with this crowd in front of me."
It's an existence to which Clark might want to become quickly accustomed. Because he's apt to draw a pretty big crowd on Sunday night, too.
But if the Indianapolis Colts' tight end was taken aback by the crowds circling his podium during the daily interview sessions this week, he likely would be shocked by the degree of attention he has drawn in the Chicago Bears' defensive game-plan meetings.
Doug Benc/Getty Images
Dallas Clark has become the go-to guy for the Colts in the postseason.
"He's become kind of the X-factor in their passing game, a guy they've really focused on in the playoffs, and someone who has had a big impact on what they've done," said Bears' defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. "You expect to spend time worrying about the two wide receivers, but Clark has made most of the big plays. He presents a pretty big challenge. They are certainly looking to him more and more."
And Clark, who went from being a walk-on linebacker nearly eight years ago to a first-round tight end in the 2003 draft, has delivered.
In the Colts' three playoff victories, Clark has registered a team-best 17 receptions, and his 281 receiving yards are tops among all players who have participated in the postseason. Of those 17 catches, all but three have produced first downs and six of them moved the chains in third-down situations. Included was a 21-yard grab on third-and-18 against Kansas City in a wild card victory and a 14-yard reception on third-and-five in the divisional-round win at Baltimore that helped the Colts chew up the clock on their final, 13-play possession.
Averaging a heady 16.5 yards per catch, Clark has five receptions of 20 yards or more and three of 25-plus yards. His 52-yard reception in the AFC championship was one of the key plays in Indianapolis' comeback victory over the New England Patriots.
Not bad for a player who has never posted more than 37 catches in a season and who was held to 30 receptions during the 2006 regular season because of a knee injury that limited him to a dozen appearances.
"He's always been an important part of what we do," said wide receiver Reggie Wayne, "but because of the way defenses are playing us now, he's got more opportunities. The things he is doing now, really, he's always done them. He's always been an important part of our passing game. But, you know, everything is magnified in the playoffs."
And right now, Clark, who has three of the 11 games in franchise playoff history in which a Colts player had 100 receiving yards, is huge for the Indianapolis offense.
He's a huge headache, too, for Rivera and the Chicago defense because his versatility presents a difficult matchup. Clark can align as a conventional, in-line tight end, but because the season-ending Achilles injury suffered by Brandon Stokley has left the Colts without a consistently effective No. 3 wideout to team with Wayne and Marvin Harrison, the offense has essentially functioned in the playoffs with Clark as the third receiver.
On slightly more than 65 percent of the Colts' postseason snaps, Clark has been aligned in the slot. There also have been occasions on which he has flanked far to the sideline, like a wide receiver, with Wayne moving to the slot.
In either of those formations, Clark mandates a tough decision by opposing defenses, which must react to his alignment. Trying to check Clark with a strongside linebacker in coverage can be disastrous for a defense because he is too quick. That means defenses must move a safety out in coverage or use a nickel cornerback on him. And in some cases, Clark's size (6-feet-3, 252 pounds) allows him to muscle through smaller defensive backs.
Clark is at his best working the seam areas between the hashes, where his combination of size and speed make him a formidable interior presence. But if opponents overplay him and squeeze the middle of the field, Clark will run out patterns or go to the short flat. He is a clever receiver who, coupled with the braininess of quarterback Peyton Manning, just seems to find a way to uncover himself in the secondary.
Because he is so flexible and can line up in so many different spots, Indianapolis basically can morph from a two- to a three-wide receiver set without substituting. And that often means a defense is caught with its base personnel on the field. The rare vertical dimension he lends the Colts cannot be underestimated.
And neither can he.
The suspicion this week is that Chicago will rely heavily on a nickel cover alignment, with No. 3 cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. drawing Clark. Manning is undersized, but feisty, and if that is the matchup on which the Bears' defensive brain trust settles, it should be a pretty intriguing one.
"I think I've seen just about every kind of coverage possible lately," Clark said earlier this week. "So I'm sure they're going to have something up their sleeves. And, frankly, no one sticks with the same thing all the way through the game. They're a great defense. They'll mix it up. They've had two weeks to get ready, so we're not going to surprise them with anything that we do."
On the subject of surprises, it's mildly shocking that Clark, 27, is even playing in the postseason, let alone excelling. In a Nov. 26 victory over Philadelphia, he suffered a partial tear to the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee and Indianapolis officials, already scrambling because of injuries to the receiver corps, feared he might be lost for the balance of the year.
But team orthopedist Dr. Arthur Rettig, upon examining Clark's knee, recommended to club officials that they hold off moving the tight end to injured reserve, which would have ended his year. The Colts took Rettig's advice and gambled that Clark might be recovered in time for the playoffs.
"The Lord just works in strange ways," Clark said. "When I hurt my knee, I thought that was it, that I was done. But it got stronger over the weeks of (rehabilitation), I was able to get back on the field and play well, and now here I am with this crowd in front of me."
It's an existence to which Clark might want to become quickly accustomed. Because he's apt to draw a pretty big crowd on Sunday night, too.
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