The Indianapolis Colts’ run game hit a wall on Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings defense.
As a team, the Colts would rush for only 68 yards at 3.6 yards per attempt. This included the Vikings’ front bottling up Jonathan Taylor, who entered the game as one of the league’s more productive backs this season. On 13 carries, Taylor totaled just 48 yards.
Prior to this game, we discussed the importance of the Colts’ being able to get the run game going against the Minnesota defense.
The struggles on the ground resulted in numerous second and third-and-long situations, putting the Colts’ offense in predictable passing situations. While the offensive line held its own against the blitz-heavy Vikings, Minnesota’s usage of coverage and pressure disguises left the Indianapolis passing game disjointed and highly unproductive.
Running the ball against Minnesota was always going to be a difficult task. Following Sunday’s game, they rank third in the NFL in yards per carry allowed.
However, making matters more difficult for the Colts was that they didn’t have Anthony Richardson under center. With Richardson’s ability as a ball carrier, defenses can’t defend Taylor and the other running backs as aggressively.
Play-call-wise, Shane Steichen has the ability to really stress opponents horizontally–which can create better spacing–with the one-two punch that is Richardson and Taylor in the run game together.
While being mindful of the small sample size, Zach Hicks of SI’s Horseshoe Huddle pointed out that Taylor is averaging 3.6 yards per rush with Joe Flacco as the quarterback compared to 5.2 yards per carry with Richardson.
In the one game against Pittsburgh where Taylor played with both Richardson and Flacco that week, he averaged 6.0 yards per rush with Richardson at quarterback versus 3.6 with Flacco.
While Flacco’s presence is supposed to provide more stability to the passing game, success for the Colts’ offense as a whole still begins with being able to move the ball on the ground.