Colts vs. Raiders: Week 4 offensive grades

The Colts played an awful game against Oakland, losing 31-24 at home. The offense didn’t play their best game in this one.

The Colts were down a ton of guys today. They were without their best receiver in T.Y. Hilton, their best defensive player in Darius Leonard, and two defensive linemen. Clearly the injuries were too much to overcome. Here is how the offense graded out.

Jacoby Brissett did not follow up his career day last week with a good one today. He threw for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns, but also threw a pick six at the end of the game. He also only completed 52% of his passes. Brissett didn’t get a lot of help from his pass catchers though, as there were several drops.

Running the ball was going to be a big key for the Colts in this one. They did not do it well. Marlon Mack only had 39 yards on 11 carries, the Colts only rushed for 81 yards as a team. This was another disappointing effort from their run game. It’s the second one in a row.

This can’t continue the rest of the season. Running the ball has to be a big part of what this team does. They have to be able to do it effectively to open up the passing game. The offensive line needs to help too, which leads to the next unit.

The offensive line didn’t block very well in the run game. There were no holes open for the backs to get through. They also committed a decent amount of penalties. They had some holdings and had an illegal man downfield penalty. But Brissett was not sacked, so that has to count for something.

This unit did the best they could given the circumstances. They didn’t have their top two guys in T.Y. Hilton and Devin Funchess. Chester Rogers had a couple of drops, but did catch a touchdown. Rookie Parris Campbell fumbled the ball and cost the team points. It was just tough for this unit today.

Eric Ebron had three first half drops that killed drives. He did catch a late touchdown pass, but it was too little too late. He also got called for a holding penalty. Ebron needs to step his game up. Jack Doyle had a solid game, with four catches and a touchdown. But Ebron’s performance was disheartening.

This team has to play better on offense to make up for their putrid defense. It’s the only way they can win games at this point.