The Indianapolis Colts are entering a rough stretch of games within the next four weeks. Three out of their next four opponents are teams with the top records in the league. For the Colts to avoid a major slump, they need to get their offense in check. Early this season, the major concern surrounded the defense and its inability to stop anyone. Now, that concern has shifted solely to the offense and primarily to the quarterback. Although the concern is certainly warranted, the real issue is not being pushed to the forefront. For the Colts to bring back some positivity to this offense, it will start with head coach, Shane Steichen.
Steichen is in his second year as the Colts head coach and play-caller on offense. While he certainly has proven his worth to this organization, things have not been clicking as of late. Certainly, some of these struggles fall on quarterback, Anthony Richardson, but he is not the sole issue.
2 Issues With Shane Steichen’s Offense Limiting Colts
Play-Calling Hurting Colts
The biggest issue for this offense is the play-calling and this falls on Steichen’s shoulders. Even though he is the head coach, Steichen is the one who also calls the offense. When he was brought in from the Philadelphia Eagles, his philosophy was simple. He wanted to “throw to score points and run to win”. Through eight weeks, they have four wins which is solid, but it has not been at the hands of his philosophy. In their four wins, they have averaged 99.75 yards per game by running backs. This is completely unacceptable as it goes against Steichen’s philosophy.
To put things into perspective, the Colts average nearly the same passing attempts as they do rushing attempts. The issue with this is that the Colts, especially with Richardson, are not a consistent passing attack. They are, however, solid running the football, and running the football is what they do best. The Colts have had a significant break by getting their wins against Justin Fields, Caleb Williams, Will Levis, and Tyler Huntley. These are not the type of quarterbacks that a team should be proud of beating as these guys aren’t going to the playoffs.
With the stretch of games coming up in the next four weeks, Steichen will have to lean into this running game.
He has to put Richardson in a position to succeed by opening up the field. The best way to open up the field for an inexperienced quarterback is to run the football, especially early on downs.
This does not mean just running up the gut from an eye-formation. This means simply implementing plays in which the offensive line can push the line of scrimmage and get positive yards. This can also be implemented by designed quarterback runs or end-arounds. There is a lot of creativity and strategy when it comes to drawing up run plays.
Shane Steichen is about as creative as they come and, therefore, has to do better for his offense.
Colts Tight Ends Struggling to Produce
Once again, the Colts are struggling with their tight ends. Coming into the season, they had four guys who were vying for the top position. Through eight weeks, it’s clear why none of these receivers was a clear-cut winner. The Colts leading tight end right now is Mo Alie-Cox and he has a total of 100 yards receiving. Behind Alie-Cox is Drew Ogletree with 56 yards, Kylen Granson with three receptions, and Will Mallory with just two.
Needless to say, this unit is about as bad as they come. For any inexperienced quarterback coming into the league, two things are his friend. The first is a strong running game and the second is a reliable tight end. Shane Steichen has not helped out his inexperienced quarterback with running the football and his quarterback has not had any reliability at tight end. Thus, Richardson’s numbers are very unimpressive through eight weeks. This is not, at all, to excuse Richardson’s bad performances or mistakes, but rather to bring awareness to the fact that the offensive woes are not solely on him. His tight ends have not done enough to help him succeed, and his head coach/play-caller has not done enough.
Main Photo: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
