The Colts crushed the Panthers 38-6 yesterday. Even in a dominating effort, there are still some questions on the offensive side of the ball.
The game was never close. After forcing the Panthers to a three and out on their first drive, the Colts marched down the field and scored. Carolina never led in a big time blowout. Even though the offense played well, there are still some questions that need answered.
Most of those questions surround Jacoby Brissett. Despite the team putting up 38 points, Brissett wasn’t responsible for any of them. In fact, he only threw for 119 yards on 14/27 passing. There were times where he had some good throws and other times where he looks lost.
That seems to be the story of Brissett’s season. It also seems increasingly likely that the Colts will have to look for a different quarterback of the future in an upcoming draft. Whether that’s in the 2020 or 2021 draft, we don’t know yet. But Brissett doesn’t seem to be the long-term answer.
The running backs had their best game in awhile. Indy ran for an astounding 218 yards as a team. 95 of that was from Marlon Mack on 16 carries. He added a score as well. Mack passed the 1,000 yard mark on the season in the game too. Jordan Wilkins added another 84 yards on just 9 carries and another score. This doesn’t even mention how good Nyheim Hines was in special teams too.
I challenged the offensive line before the game to go out and play up to their potential. They did that in the running game. They opened up big holes all game long. Unfortunately, they also gave up 3 sacks, but one of those was on Brissett. This was still a much better performance from the O-line than in weeks passed.
The tight ends caught four passes between them for a total of 57 yards. They weren’t great in the passing game, but didn’t need to be. Their impact was in the blocking game. They were part of the dominating effort from the running backs as well.
T.Y. Hilton caught 3 passes for 26 yards in a game that can prepare him for next season. But in total, this unit didn’t do a whole lot. Again, most of that was due to the great running effort. Brissett’s poor play obviously affects them as well.
Despite how good the team played, the questions at quarterback loom over this team. It’s going to be an interesting offseason.