Does anyone even know what Colts’ offensive identity is?

The Colts have no offensive identity, and their future is up in the air. Otherwise, solid season!

Are the 2020 Colts officially the Bears of the AFC? I’ll hang up (and slam my phone angrily into the glass booth) and listen.

Entering the season, we had some thoughts on how the offense could be molded in Philip Rivers’ image temporarily while still setting Indianapolis up for the future, but the ideas we claimed would be complementary have turned into the whole shebang. We can’t even certify, at this point, that any members of the wide receiving corps have earned guaranteed 2021 jobs, let alone emphasis in any system. Marcus Johnson’s been great in limited duty, but we don’t have enough faith to call him a No. 2 with any assurance. Michael Pittman has shown flashes; Parris Campbell hasn’t even shown that.

Mo Alie-Cox is a behemoth and perfect red zone target, until he’s not. Trey Burton is the hinge this entire offense flows through, until he only makes a single catch against the Ravens.

What are we doing here? Nyheim Hines was supposed to be the change of pace, not the entire pace.

Somehow, we’re now half a franchise, riding a dominant and energized defense for large portions of the game before handing the ball off to an offense that doesn’t know itself.

“Rivers-as-gunslinger” got plenty of play this offseason, but ducking and chucking certainly isn’t any kind of identity, especially without a defined No. 1 wideout. Nick Sirianni’s backfield was supposed to be a three-headed monster, but when Marlon Mack went down with an injury Week 1, so did the narrative.

Jordan Wilkins and Jonathan Taylor have now seen their carries split somewhat equally, with nary a mention of a bell cow. Hines has become the team’s most electric receiver and the one responsible for the few highlights in recent weeks, but that’s not how Darren Sproles was ever viewed in Rivers’ previous regime. Hines has to be the spice, not the dish.

So, what are we left with? A dull offensive effort with a QB past his prime that also has a 21-0 comeback under its belt against the Bengals, which confuses the whole narrative.

Yes, for one week, everything was working. Every downfield heave was being hauled in. The momentum laid firmly in the Colts’ corner.

But a hurry-up flurry isn’t an identity; if anything, it’s the shedding of any pretense of an identity, simply telling a bunch of talented football players to speed up and ignore the playbook.

We had plenty of thoughts about who could emerge for the Colts before this season began, and two-thirds of the way through it, almost no one has. It’s time to start asking Sirianni what he intends to accomplish this season, or whether he’s simply kicking the innovation down the road for when Rivers has already departed.

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