How week 1 injuries could affect Colts play calling

Week 1 is officially on Sunday, and there are a couple injuries the Colts are dealing with. How will those injuries affect the offensive play calling come Sunday?

The Colts might be without two key players on offense come Sunday. Those players are starting running back Marlon Mack and starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo. Missing those two key pieces would affect the play calling dramatically.

Without Mack, the Colts lose a playmaker who can spread the field as a receiver out of the backfield or as a dynamic runner. Without him, the Colts will probably call fewer running plays because they don’t have an effective back behind him that can be relied on.

But then you add losing Castonzo into the equation. If the starting left tackle can’t play, then the team loses their best offensive lineman and blind side protection for Andrew Luck. That would mean calling fewer deep passes and getting the ball out of Luck’s hands quickly.

Doing that reduces the amount of big plays that the Colts can have. Without the deep ball, the Colts would have to go on long, sustained drives. It remains to be seen if they can do that on a consistent basis. They would need to execute six, eight, and ten yard plays effectively.

Getting the ball out of Luck’s hands quicker was always a part of what Frank Reich wanted to do. But he might have to take away some of Luck’s playmaking ability in order to keep him upright. He wouldn’t be able to make as many plays out of the pocket without Castonzo.

We don’t know the status of either player yet for week one. But there could be worse opponents to face without those players. The Bengals aren’t a top shelf team, so the Colts could still win the game without both starters.