Colts: Why Firing Pep Hamilton Is The Right Move

Poor situational playcalling became the Achilles heel for the Indianapolis Colts under the offensive guidance of Pep Hamilton this season. Now, the Colts look to assistant head coach Rob Chudzinski to right the ship.

There were some noticeable third-down play calls during the Indianapolis Colts overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football. They were noticeable because they were both obvious and predictable. Even worse, these were critical third downs in short yardage situations.

-= Related: Colts’ Putrescent Offense Spells Doom For Pagano =-

Just think about it, if I knew what play was coming, why wouldn’t an NFL defensive coordinator that gets paid millions know that play was coming?

Here’s how it went:

3rd & 1 – running back trap with Ahmad Bradshaw

3rd & 2 – Bradshaw off tackle

3rd & inches – let’s try that trap again…

24 hours later, on Tuesday night, the Indianapolis Colts decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. The Colts brought in Hamilton back in 2013, after then-offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, left to be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Insert Pep Hamilton, who had worked with Andrew Luck during his time at Stanford. The move just made sense given the success Luck had at Stanford and the comfort many felt it would bring for the franchise quarterback.

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Though there were slow starts in previous years, the Colts offense seemed to be a bright spot. Andrew Luck was putting up big numbers, despite the lack of a running game, and Indy also saw the emergence of T.Y. Hilton. The Colts made the playoffs three straight years, advancing one round further each time, and this was supposed to be the year.

However, the Colts started off slow again and now find themselves with a 3-5 record heading into a showdown with Peyton Manning and the Broncos. Two of those wins took place with backup Matt Hasselbeck behind center (granted against Jacksonville and Tennessee), but those turned out to be two really big wins. So what was different?

One thing I noticed is the Colts got the ball out Hasselbeck’s hands a lot quicker. They ran a lot of quick out routes, slants, crossing routes, even dump offs, to protect Hasselbeck from the struggles of the offensive line. With Luck, that’s not happening. Now perhaps Luck just holds on to the ball too long? Maybe he has lost confidence? Perhaps he’s hurt? Or maybe he’s not put in the same positions to succeed.

When Andrew Luck makes a bad throw he’s hurt, but what about when he finds a rhythm? What about when we run the two-minute offense and he drives down the field? What about when a defense softens their coverage, and he picks them apart? Why is Luck not hurt then?

Now I’m not saying that Andrew Luck hasn’t been injured, but I do ask why we didn’t get the ball out of his hands quicker like we did with Hasselbeck. We weren’t forcing the ball down the field to Hilton against a top corner or double coverage. We weren’t running a go route when the defense was bringing an all out blitz. That play-calling was on Pep Hamilton.

It was on Pep Hamilton to put Luck in the best position to be successful. Even if GM Ryan Grigson put a terrible offensive line in front of Luck, it was Pep’s job to give Luck a chance behind that offensive line, just like he did for Hasselbeck.

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Is Pep Hamilton the only one at fault for Indy’s struggles? Of course not. However, he was the first domino that had to fall. The Colts defense has played pretty well given the personnel.

In fact, they’ve kept the Colts in plenty of games, and given them a chance to win. Everyone knew Chuck Pagano was a defensive coach in Baltimore, and though the head coach is the ultimate decision maker, the offensive failures fall on Hamilton, Luck, and the offensive line coach Joe Gilbert.

We know Luck isn’t going anywhere, and Gilbert isn’t a big enough name to make an example out of….hence the firing of Pep Hamilton.

The move now puts Grigson and Pagano on the hot seat. No more excuses. With a bye week coming up after the Broncos, we could see a couple more dominoes fall if there’s another poor performance Sunday.

The Colts had to move on from Pep Hamilton. Associate head coach Rob Chudzinski will take over offensive coordinator duties, and he really has nothing to lose…except perhaps the jobs of his head coach and general manager.

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