Will the Colts be a “Run First” Offense Under Pep Hamilton?

Aug 11, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) during the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills during their pre-season game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

At Stanford, Pep Hamilton’s offense was certainly not void of passing the football, but with a budding star at quarterback in Andrew Luck, it’s hard to believe the Colts could be a ‘run first’ offensive attack.

“We want more balance, obviously.  A little bit has to do with the defenses that you’re seeing,” coach Chuck Pagano said.  “There were probably a few more runs called that you go to the line with a, ‘Check with me.’ Rather than just slam your head into a brick wall, they force you into a run-pass check.  You get out of run and maybe throw a quick gain.  Having said that, we need more balance and we’ll work on that this week.  We don’t want to be 16 runs and 47 passes, ever.”

The Colts certainly will have the personnel to be able to be a run-first offense, but with Luck and some of the playmakers he has on the outside, it’s hard not to get excited about what this team can accomplish in the passing game. More than likely, we are going to see the Colts use the run to set up the pass. Sometimes at Stanford, the offense looked very vanilla but it was always successful, taking shots when the time was appropriate and not just always slinging the ball around.

“We feel like it takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback if we can of course run the football and force defenses to pack the box. That’s going to open up opportunities to create big plays in the passing game so it’s a two-fold effect,” Hamilton said.

“The run game opens up the passing game and vice versa so we are hoping that this Sunday night we are going to have an opportunity to go out and execute all the plays that we call on game day.”

We’ll get an extended look of the Colts’ offense against the Giants on Sunday, probably a couple of series. We’ll get a better idea of what to expect from the Hamilton offense then.