It has been the overarching question surrounding the Indianapolis Colts through the first five weeks of the 2020 season. What is wrong with the Colts offense?
Over the past two games, the Colts have scored two touchdowns on offense in 22 total possessions, and the unit scored only 17 points against the lowly New York Jets.
In what has been the easiest portion of the Indianapolis schedule, they’ve struggled to not only score but to move the ball—indicative by their 5.6 yards per play average (22nd in NFL).
So what is the reason for the struggle of the offensive group so far? Here are the three main reasons:
Below Average Offensive Line Play
With two, and arguably three Pro Bowl caliber offensive lineman—three that were first-round picks—the Colts are 31st in the NFL in yards per carry in the running game, averaging 3.6 per play.
Since taking over in Week 2 for Marlon Mack, rookie Jonathan Taylor has faced the fifth-most stacked boxes (eight or more defenders within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage) in the NFL.
Roughly 27% of Taylor’s rushing attempts have come with a loaded box according to ESPN Next Gen Stats. For context, last season Marlon Mack faced a stacked box only 12.2% of his carries.
Another issue is pass blocking. According to ESPN Next Gen Stats, Philip Rivers has the fifth-lowest time to throw per pass play with only 2.5 seconds. Some of that is due to the quick rhythm passing, but for this stat, it’s mostly on the offensive line not giving the QB time to throw.
Injuries
Every NFL team has injuries, and it’s no excuse for a team to use for why they aren’t playing good, but it is a reason to why the Indianapolis offense hasn’t been as potent this season.
The Colts are missing multiple starters. Marlon Mack, Michael Pittman, and Parris Campbell are all down with injuries. Before going down with an Achilles tear, Mack had seven touches on 11 offensive snaps. Campbell led Indianapolis in receptions Week 1 before getting hurt in Week 2. And, Pittman was seeing an increase in his targets before getting hurt in Week 3.
Now Mack won’t be back this year, but early indications are that Pittman will return soon while the team is holding out hope for Campbell. Once Indianapolis gets those two guys back, the offense should be much improved.
Horrible Situational Play
Currently, the Colts are 29th in the NFL in red-zone offense, scoring touchdowns on only 42% of drives. They’re also 27th in third-down offense, converting on only 35% of the time.
Now the offensive struggles aren’t entirely on Rivers, but here are the Chargers’ numbers from the last five years on third down, and in the red zone.
| Year | Red Zone | 3rd Down |
| 2015 | 7th (63%) | 8th (42%) |
| 2016 | 22nd (51%) | 9th (42%) |
| 2017 | 28th (46%) | 12th (40%) |
| 2018 | 10th (64%) | 16th (39%) |
| 2019 | 22nd (53%) | 6th (42%) |
These numbers aren’t completely on Rivers but according to the chart, the Chargers were roughly average to below average in third-down offense, and average in red-zone offense.
If the Colts can improve this part of their offense, it will have the biggest impact overall on the outlook of the team.