The Colts’ running game hasn’t been consistent at times this season. They need their bell-cow to do some work on Sunday if they want to win though.
The Colts will play the Steelers on Sunday. That Steelers team has a top 10 defense and has been playing with a lot of confidence lately. One way to dash that confidence early is to establish the run game. So the Colts will try to do just that with Marlon Mack.
Mack started out this season with a couple of big games against the Chargers and Titans. Since then, he’s been good but not great. He might need to be great again for the Colts to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday. They need to ride him early.
Having Mack be successful early will open up the rest of the playbook. It will also take a lot of pressure off of Jacoby Brissett. Brissett has his work cut out for him against a team that forces a ton of turnovers. Having Mack gain some yards early will help him settle in.
Mack may have to run behind an offensive line that could be missing their best player. Quenton Nelson right now is questionable because of a hip injury. He didn’t practice today. I would expect Nelson to play, but that’s something worth monitoring.
Pittsburgh has given up some big runs this season, so Mack can still have an effective game. He just needs to make sure that he follows his blocks well. They need to run right more to switch up their running scheme.