While quarterback Philip Rivers was in the middle of his 16-year career in San Deigo, Indianapolis Colts head Frank Reich was his offensive coordinator from 2013-2015. They crossed paths in 2014 and 2015 while in San Deigo, and now they’re back and (hopefully) better than ever.
The Chargers went 9-7 in 2013 but were very good offensively. They finished 12th in points per game (24.9), fifth in yards (6,293), and to speak on the chunk plays and efficiency of the offense San Deigo was 22nd in pass attempts, but top five in both passing touchdowns and yards.
In the first season under Reich, Rivers had a career-high season in completion percentage at 69.5% while also throwing 32 touchdowns, which is third-most in his career, and only threw 11 interceptions, third-fewest in his career.
I took a deep dive into the offense of the 2014 Chargers to see how some of their schemes could find their way into the 2020 Colts offense. Here are some plays that the Colts could run in 2020:
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A staple that Reich loves to run, as he did in 2014, was a concept called a “bunch” formation. As you’ll see at the top of the screen, there’s a bunch of receivers. With this bunch look, defenses can’t press those receivers at the line, this allows the offense to stay in rhythm.
Against a Cover-3 look, the deepest Raider will take centerfield, and the furthest Raider to the right will take the sideline. As the play runs, Keenan Allen will run an out route, which occupies the cornerback. That route frees up the sideline deeper downfield, and Michael Floyd runs a corner route to that opening of the field. This creates one of those “shot” plays that Reich talks about hitting every so often in a game.
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Credit first here goes to the Chargers’ offensive line. 2014 wasn’t their best performance but they held up well on this play. A lot of the film showed the Chargers going against a zone defense but here, Reich and Rivers find a way to create a deep shot versus man defense.
Mostly in the red zone, Reich liked to use “pick” routes to free-up a receiver in the end zone. But here they use a “pick” route to create a deep shot. The Bills come out in man defense, and the two top receivers run routes that cross each other. This creates a mesh point, which gets the defense out of position. Floyd runs the out and up route down the sideline, and the Chargers were able to get a big gain on this play.
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Here is one of the more frequent plays that the Chargers ran in 2014 that the Colts will for sure run in 2020.
Whenever the Chargers needed a big play downfield in the passing game, this is the concept they would come to. Against a zone defense in the Oakland Raiders, they will have two deep safeties covering a side of the field, with the cornerbacks covering underneath along the sideline.
What Reich draws up here is great. The Chargers have their slot receiver at the top of the screen run a “go” route, just run straight up the field. That occupies the attention of the safety on the left. San Diego also has the tight end running an “underneath” route to get the linebackers thinking Rivers will throw underneath. This allows Allen to run upfield like he’s also running a “go” route but instead, he cuts to the middle of the field on a “dig” route, and the pass is wide open.
The Chargers would run this a lot, and it worked versus man and zone. With the personnel the Colts have, they will definitely run this, and the rest of the plays, in 2020.
There are plenty of more plays I highlight on my Twitter that you can check out here.