A second-quarter surge by the Indianapolis Colts’ run game turned the tide in their Week 16 matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
It was a slow and rocky start for the Colts’ offense, particularly for Anthony Richardson and the passing game. The first possession ended after four plays and included two missed throws from Richardson on passes to Mo Alie-Cox and Michael Pittman.
On Indianapolis’ second possession of the game, the Colts were moving the ball and found themselves just outside of the red zone. However, the drive ended abruptly with Richardson throwing an interception on a pass to Drew Ogletree up the seam that appeared to come out a touch late.
At this point, the Titans already had a 7-0 lead and made their way into field goal range. From an offensive perspective, things couldn’t have started much worse for the Colts.
However, on their next possession, that aforementioned tide would turn very quickly and that spark was provided by Shane Steichen not only going back to the run game, but leaning into it heavily.
It’s not as if the run game was forgotten about on the first two possessions. The Colts would run six passes to five runs to start the game. But on their third drive, it was all Taylor and Anthony Richardson on the ground.
After a missed field goal attempt by Tennessee’s Brayden Narveson, the Colts offense started with good field position. After two consecutive hand-offs to Taylor for 16 total yards, Richardson faked a pitch to Taylor and kept it himself, rushing for 29 yards.
Taylor would then get the ball on two more consecutive runs following that explosive gain by Richardson, and picked up seven yards which put the Colts at the Tennessee five-yard line. Then facing a 3rd-and-3, Richardson ran it into the end zone behind Quenton Nelson on another designed run.
Just like that, the Colts had put together a six play scoring drive where they ran the ball on every play.
Very quickly, the Colts’ offense would get the ball back following a three-and-out by their defense. And again, Indianapolis picked up where they left off, leaning heavily on the run game, running the ball on the first three plays of that drive. Then with a fresh set of downs following a first down pickup by Taylor, he broke a big 65-yard touchdown run.
At one point in this quarter, the Colts would run the ball on 12 straight plays, which leaked into their third possession of this quarter, a drive that ended in a field goal, giving Indianapolis a 17-3 lead.
Being able to move the ball on the ground was always going to be the path to success for the Colts’ offense. For starters, the combination of Taylor and Richardson in the backfield can be a real stressor for opposing defenses and really stress them horizontally, which creates more space for the offense to operate in.
The trickle down effect of picking up yards on the ground is that it often keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations. It’s not a coincidence that with all the success Indianapolis had in the run game that they also had one of their more efficient third down performances of the season as well.
A strong run game can also help open up opportunities in the passing game, something else that we saw in the second quarter. After routinely moving the ball on the ground, the defense begins to creep up in an effort to limit the run game,
When the Titans did this, we saw Richardson connect with AD Mitchell downfield for a 36 yard gain–a completion that put Indianapolis in field goal range. Then following a Kenny Moore interception, a quick pass to Josh Downs left him in a one-on-one matchup, and after making that defender miss, he ran it in from 27 yards out for a touchdown.
So just like that, in the blink of an eye, the Colts went into halftime with a 24-7 lead and it all started with the run game. Even the big passing plays that they connected on in that quarter, were set up by the ground game.
While this second quarter surge from the run game turned the tide and ultimately put this game away early, their success on the ground continued into the second half, with Taylor rushing a for a 70 yard touchdown on the first play of the third quarter.
When it was all said and done, Taylor rushed for 218 yards on 7.5 yards per attempt. Richardson added another 70 yards of his own, and collectively, the Colts set a new franchise record for rushing yards in a single game with 335.