3 things that went wrong for Colts in blowout loss to Jaguars in Week 6

1. Colts didn’t establish the run game

Shane Steichen being a first-year head coach has rarely been pointed out throughout the first six weeks, because he hasn’t given much reason to question any of his calls or tactics. However, that changed on Sunday. Steichen, the offensive play caller, decided to make the Colts a passing offense against the Jaguars. That decision didn’t really pay off.

At halftime, Indianapolis had dropped back to pass 27 times, and had only handed the ball to the running backs eight times. Jonathan Taylor had four carries and Zack Moss had four. It wasn’t like Indy was struggling to run the ball, though, because Taylor had 15 yards on those four carriers and Moss had 14. That’s just under four yards a carry for each back.

Still, Steichen opted to pass the ball, a lot. That made Indianapolis one dimensional offensively, and as the lead grew for Jacksonville, the Jaguars were able to sit back and wait on the passes from Minshew. In the end, Minshew passed 55 times, and was sacked on three other dropbacks. Moss finished with seven carries for 21 yards, and Taylor had eight carries for 19 yards.

It’s hard to understand why the Colts wouldn’t want to lean on this elite backfield, arguably the best backfield in the NFL. Moving forward, the offense needs to go through the run game. The offensive line has been playing great and Taylor and Moss are two really good running backs. Once they get rolling, things will be much easier for Gardner Minshew and the offense.

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