At 2-3 and 0-2 in the division, this may not quite be a must-win game for the Indianapolis Colts because there still is a lot of season left, but it’s an important one in Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans.
Offensively, there’s been a lot of good from the Colts this season. The offensive line has been one of the best units in football, and collectively, the offense has been one of the best at generating big plays–more on that in a second.
However, oftentimes, inconsistency in moving the ball is still something that the Colts have to overcome.
Every week in the game of football, there is always a lot to watch for but the eventual answers to these three questions will carry a lot of weight in determining the outcome of this game.
Can the Colts connect on big plays?
The explosive play, oftentimes through the air, has been the catalyst behind a lot of the Colts’ points this season. Indianapolis will enter Sunday’s game with 37 total explosive plays–good for the third-most in the NFL.
However, this week they face a Titans’ defense that have been one of the best at limiting the big play. The 19 big plays surrendered by the Titans are the fifth-fewest, and accounting for the bye week, the 4.8 explosive plays per game ranks as the ninth-fewest.
Collectively on the ground, Tennessee is allowing 4.2 yards per rush, which ranks 10th, and just 5.0 yards per pass attempt–the second-lowest average this season.
Something will have to give on Sunday.
Now, this doesn’t mean the Colts shouldn’t take their deep shots in this game. One of my criticisms of last week’s performance was that the Colts didn’t try to push the ball down the field until down by 14 in the final five minutes of the game. This ability is a clear strength of this team, so take some chances to capitalize on it.
With that said, this can’t be their only avenue for moving the ball either.
Can the Colts lean on the run game?
Speaking of one of those other avenues, let’s talk about the run game. As mentioned, the Titans have been quite good at limiting yards on the ground. In the middle of that Tennessee front is the formidable duo of Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat.
Struggling in the run game will put the offense behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations–giving an already physical and stingy Titans’ secondary the upper-hand in coverage. And as we’ve seen this season, regularly dealing with long down-and-distances leads to short drives and puts more on the plate of the Indianapolis defense.
On the flip side, moving the ball on the ground regularly creates short down-and-distance scenarios and can help open up opportunities in the pass game, with the defense forced to defend both the run and pass on a given play.
In terms of overall consistency for the Colts and being able to sustain drives, that likely begins right here in the run game.
Who is going to be available?
The good news is that it looks like Ryan Kelly will return this week. He has been a full participant in both practices on Wednesday and Thursday. It also looks like Anthony Richardson is trending in that direction as well after being a full participant on Thursday.
However, there’s the possibility that the Colts could be without three of their top playmakers on offense as well.
As of now, Friday’s practice hasn’t happened yet, but Jonathan Taylor hasn’t been on the field either of the last two days–although he did say he’s feeling much better this week. Josh Downs has also been sidelined the first two practices of the week, and a report from Adam Schefter says that Michael Pittman is expected to miss “multiple weeks.”
Being without even one of those players will have an impact on any game, but potentially not having two or even three of them will be a lot to overcome.