The Indianapolis Colts pulled out a big win in Week 6 thanks to an explosion from the offense that entered the game as the league’s worst unit.
Through the first five games of the season, the offense for the Indianapolis Colts has been incredibly hard to watch. They entered Week 6 averaging a league-worst 13.8 points a game and also routinely turned the ball over and gave up sacks. It became clear that Indy wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything this season unless the offense turned things around. Well on Sunday, they did just that against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After going down 14-3 early, the offense finally woke up behind a strong performance from veteran quarterback Matt Ryan. Indianapolis won the game 34-27 and the 34 points scored is the most the Colts have scored since Week 11 of last season. It was also Indy’s first time scoring more than 20 points since Week 16 of last year. What led to this big day from the offense? Let’s take a look at the people responsible for the promising performance.
3. Frank Reich had the right game plan against Jaguars
Head coach Frank Reich is also the offensive play caller and that means he gets a lot of praise or blame for how the offense performs. So far this season, it has been all blame. Many fans have been calling for Reich to give up play-calling duties and some have even called for Reich to be fired. However, on Sunday, Reich called a game that resulted in the Colts scoring 34 points.
Reich’s plan was to pass the ball. Down Indy’s top two running backs, Indianapolis didn’t try to force a run game that has been struggling this season. Instead, the team turned to Matt Ryan Early and often. The veteran quarterback threw the ball 37 times in the first half alone. That’s the most of any quarterback in a first half since Peyton Manning in 2013. Ryan finished the game with 58 pass attempts.
However, these weren’t just straight dropbacks with long developing routes. Reich made sure to draw up plays that got the ball out of Ryan’s hands fast so that he wouldn’t be under duress like he has been much of this season.
Reich kept this up all game, even towards the end when the team was in field goal range and could’ve run the ball to settle for a game-winning field goal attempt. Instead, the Colts decided to be aggressive, putting the ball in Ryan’s hands on third-and-13 with the game on the line. Ryan connected with Alec Pierce for a 32-yard game-winning touchdown.
2. Colts’ offensive line finally showed up
Indy’s offensive line has hands down been the team’s worst unit and one of the worst units in the league in general. Every game, the offensive line has several miscommunications or is simply beaten straight up and it results in Matt Ryan on the ground. That’s why Indy entered Week 6 with 23 allowed sacks, the most in the NFL.
However, on Sunday, the Colts didn’t give up a single sack and Matt Ryan spent the majority of the game on his feet for the first time since he joined Indianapolis. Part of that was play-calling and Ryan getting the ball out fast but the offensive line also played their best game of the season.
Indianapolis has been experimenting with offensive line combinations all season and they may have found something on Sunday. From left to right, Indy started the game with Bernhard Raimann, Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Matt Pryor, and Braden Smith. Early in the game, the Colts brung in Dennis Kelly for Raimann at left tackle.
All of this resulted in a game where Matt Ryan dropped back 58 times to pass and wasn’t sacked once. Again, part of that is because Ryan was being quick with his decisions and accurately got the ball out and the other part is because the offensive line is gradually improving. As long as the line keeps moving in the right direction, the offense should be able to have more days like Sunday.
1. Matt Ryan played like the QB the Colts were expecting
When Matt Ryan arrived this offseason, his presence brought a lot of expectations. He was compared to Peyton Manning, and everyone in the organization raved about him extensively. But, his play didn’t meet expectations through the first five weeks. He did have some promising moments but he also had inexcusable turnovers, especially for a veteran quarterback.
On Sunday, however, Ryan played like the quarterback that had everyone excited about his arrival. Offensively, the game was put in his hands and he delivered. Ryan completed 42-of-58 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns. He didn’t fumble the ball, throw any interceptions, or take any unnecessary sacks.
He connected with eight different pass catchers, including Michael Pittman Jr. 13 times for 134 yards. He also found Parris Campbell, who has been quiet this year, seven times for 57 yards and a touchdown. Ryan even got the ball to his two rookie pass-catchers, Jelani Woods and Alec Pierce, for touchdowns.
It’s probably not sustainable to ask a 37-year-old quarterback in his 15th season to play like this every week and Indy likely won’t ask that of him weekly once Jonathan Taylor returns. However, it is good to know that Ryan can deliver this kind of game for the team when necessary. If the offense can build off this performance and play similarly moving forward, the rest of the season will be really promising for Indianapolis.
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