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Colts offensive line has already been significantly better than it was last year

As the Indianapolis Colts try to turn things around, their biggest problem from a year ago: the offensive line, seems to be significantly better.

By Jaleel Grandberry

Indianapolis Colts v Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts v Houston Texans / Carmen Mandato/GettyImages
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Last season was horrendous for the Indianapolis Colts, winning just four games, and playing a lot of really bad football. Chris Ballard and Jim Irsay knew they needed to correct things quickly, and that’s why Indy moved on from Frank Reich as head coach and Matt Ryan at quarterback. While transitioning to Shane Steichen and Anthony Richardson was definitely the right move, the biggest problem for the Colts a year ago was the offense line.

All of Indianapolis’ problems in 2022 started with the offensive line. They couldn’t protect the passer, which led to bad quarterback play, and they couldn’t run the ball, which just made the offense one of the worst in the league. Despite how bad things were, the Colts kept the same offensive line. With the commitment made to the starting linemen, Indy really couldn’t revamp the line; the franchise just had to gamble on them being better.

So far, that gamble is paying off. It’s only been two games, but the offensive line looks like a significantly better unit on all accounts.

Colts offensive line is playing well through two games

In Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis gave up four sacks. However, those were mostly scrambles by Anthony Richardson, where he went out of bounds before reaching the line of scrimmage. In Week 2 against the Houston Texans, Indy allowed zero sacks. In addition to the line improving, Shane Steichen’s offense helps keep QBs clean with quick passing and RPO passing.

From a running standpoint, the offensive line has been elite at opening lanes for the quarterback run, and they were dominant in Week 2 against Houston in the traditional run game. That’s why Zack Moss ran for 88 yards on 18 carries in his first game back from injury.

In addition to the box score, the Colts are one of the highest-graded run-blocking units by ESPN and PFF. It’s Indy and the Philadelphia Eagles that have separated themselves away from everyone else so far— that’s great company. If the Colts can maintain this level of production from the offensive line moving forward, they should be able to win far more games than anyone expected coming into the year. That’s especially the case if Jonathan Taylor is added back into the mix— this Colts offense could get dangerous.

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