What to Expect From the Colts New Offense
By Evan Reller
May 22, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano (middle) talks to quarterback Andrew Luck (12) during organized team activities at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Since Chuck Pagano took over the Indianapolis Colts, he has time and again spoken about how important it is to run the ball and stop the run in the NFL. That statement led to the, at the time, puzzling signing of Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator.
Arians favors a system that aggressively pushes the ball down field with many deep passing routes. This sort of system can potentially lead to a lot of big plays, a lot of third-and-long conversions, and, unfortunately, a lot of three-and-outs. The system demands an offensive line that is very good at pass blocking.
That was something the Colts lacked last year. It led to Andrew Luck getting hit, a lot, as he waited for his receivers to get open. It was much like watching the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger scrambling around trying to get open. Lots of big plays and lots of disappointment. That system led to Roethlisberger being one of the most injured QBs in the NFL.
The addition of Pep Hamilton as offensive coordinator seemed to echo Pagano’s sentiment. Hamilton’s system, at least in the past two years at Stanford, featured a heavy rushing attack even when Luck was the QB. In his senior season, Luck’s Cardinals ran the ball 55-percent of the time.
Hamilton coordinated an extremely effective offense with Luck at the helm and the two seem to be on the same page consistently. Hamilton’s style is much more about ball control and management.
He has said he doesn’t want to abandon the vertical passing game, and with Darrius Heyward-Bey and TY Hilton on the roster why would you want to? Even after watching practice, its hard to gauge how the offense will look.
The one takeaway is that Luck will have a lot more safety options to dump the ball off to if the play doesn’t develop, something that was missing last year. A two-yard gain is better than a sack any day of the week.
Running the ball more will also lead to less opportunities for defenses to tee off on Luck as well. But is the offensive line improved enough to allow for a power running game? It doesn’t look like it yet, as the defense has been dominating the line for the majority of training camp.
That could mean one of two things. One, the d-line is vastly improved over last season (this could be true as NT’s Josh Chapman and Aubrayo Franklin have been demanding double tems. Or two, the o-line hasn’t improved at all and might actually be worse.
If the latter is true, then running the ball more might be a pipe dream. Running the ball more will also directly correlate with how well the defense performs. A strong D that doesn’t give up so many points will mean that the Colts won’t be fighting from behind and therefore needing to pass more.
After looking at last season’s stats, it’s easy to see why Pagano wants a strong rushing attack. Six of the top ten running teams made the playoffs. The Super Bowl champs had the 11th best rushing game in the NFL.
The NFL is still dominated by quarterbacks, despite what the statistics say. The last time a team won a Super Bowl without a franchise quarterback was 2003 (Brad Johnson led the Buccaneers back then). Baltimore decided that Joe Flacco was worthy of franchise money after an unreal postseason performance this past year.
Minnesota rode into the playoffs on Adrian Peterson’s strong legs. But without QB Christian Ponder, the Vikings were dumped from the playoffs by the Packers and Aaron Rodgers (and the 20th best rushing game in the NFL).
Two of the top four teams, Washington and San Francisco, utilized the read option. This is the type of play that saw RGIII lying face down in pain in the opening round of the playoffs, and also took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. It is not something that the Colts will utilize in the coming season.
The most important thing the Colts need to have is an efficient passing game. The rushing attack is nice, it wears out opposing defenses and chews up clock, but picking apart a defense with the pass can demoralize opponents. The rush should be used to set up the pass for the 2013 Colts, adding a devastating play action attack (like the 2003-04 Colts) could really put this offense over the edge.
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