Coming off a win on Sunday over the Tennessee Titans, where do the Indianapolis Colts now land in ESPN’s Week 17 power rankings?
This season, we’ve seen the Colts ranked as high as 18th, and that came just a few weeks ago following their win over New England. However, we’ve also seen them as low as 28th following an 0-2 start, and they’ve really been everywhere in between this season.
After a loss to Denver in Week 16 dropped the Colts to No. 22 in ESPN’s rankings, they made a slight jump with this week’s win to 21st overall.
Determining these rankings for ESPN are more than 80 writers, editors, and TV personalities evaluating each team’s performance and then ranking them from 1-32.
Against the Titans, the Colts put together a historic performance on the ground from the franchise’s perspective, rushing for 335 yards, a new single-game high for the organization.
Jonathan Taylor would lead the way with 218 rushing yards, which included 65 and 70 yard touchdown runs. Anthony Richardson also rushed for 70 yards of his own.
Obviously, we aren’t going to expect that kind of performance each week, but this game did show us why success for the Colts’ offense goes through the running game.
To stat the obvious, the combination of Taylor and Richardson in the backfield together is a real stressor for opposing defenses, particularly stretching defenders horizontally, which creates more space for the offense to operate in.
In addition to that, when moving the ball on the ground, there is a huge positive trickle-down effect to the rest of the offense. It’s not a coincidence that with the run game rolling, the Colts were a very efficient 8-of-15 on third downs. Moving the ball steadily in the run game keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and in manage down and distances.
Then, after a rocky start for the passing game, Richardson finished an efficient 7-for-11 passing with the rushing attack often opening up opportunities through the air.
Since Richardson has returned to the starting lineup, there has been a much greater emphasis from Shane Steichen on getting him involved on designed runs and in leaning on the run game more in general.
With their playoff hopes still hanging on by a thread, the Colts travel to New York to face the Giants in Week 17. The Giants are ranked 32nd in ESPN’s power rankings this week.