With Matt Ryan at controls, are the Colts evolving into a pass-first offense?

INDIANAPOLIS – In his final highschool recreation at Philadelphia’s William Penn Constitution College, Matt Ryan threw a grand complete of eight passes.

That is the way it went in his workforce’s run-first offense, a scheme that did not precisely require a lot heavy lifting from the quarterback’s arm.

“I used to be a 170-pound, triple-option quarterback,” Ryan instructed ESPN in 2017.

Now, 20 years later, the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback is coming off a recreation wherein he threw as a lot as he ever has. Ryan’s 58 move makes an attempt in Sunday’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars was the second-most in his 15 NFL seasons. However what’s extra notable is that this: The aggressive passing method the Colts employed to win that recreation may be one thing they will replicate on a smaller scale as they attempt to discover their offensive footing.

The Colts, among the many NFL groups most devoted to working the soccer in recent times, are already taking a a lot totally different offensive posture this season. For quite a lot of causes, they’ve successfully flipped the script on their play choice. They’ve gone from some of the run-heavy groups throughout coach Frank Reich’s earlier 4 seasons to some of the pass-happy golf equipment within the league in 2022.

Think about the info: Over Reich’s first 4 seasons (2018-2021), the Colts ranked twenty seventh within the share of offensive snaps which can be thought-about designed passing performs (59%). This season, the Colts are calling passes at a charge of 67.3% — fifth-highest within the league getting into Week 7.

Which may not appear to be an enormous uptick, however let’s put the numbers in a little bit extra context. The Colts averaged 31 move makes an attempt per recreation final season. To date in 2022, they’re averaging 42.

The present tempo of move makes an attempt is doubtlessly skewed by a few lopsided scores. Additionally, the usage of the no-huddle offense towards Jacksonville led to a better variety of offensive performs for Indianapolis. However essentially the most vital impression has been the Colts’ lack of ability to run the ball successfully. The identical workforce whose offensive linemen as soon as proudly donned hats that featured their “Run the Rattling Ball” motto, the identical one which led the NFL in speeding yards per try in 2021, immediately cannot produce a constant push within the working recreation.

Of their effort to search out options, the Colts did one thing that after would have been unthinkable: With prime working backs Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines sidelined by accidents, all of them however deserted their working recreation and the outcomes have been, nicely, improbable.

“We’re nonetheless looking for our approach a little bit bit within the run recreation, and within the meantime, we’ve to do what we are able to to attempt to win video games,” Reich stated.

Anticipating many video games with 58 move makes an attempt may be a bit excessive. And there shall be matchups that aren’t favorable for the Colts to throw so aggressively.

“We’re not going to throw it 50 instances each week,” Ryan stated. “It is not gonna occur.”

However the dramatic turnaround within the offense this previous Sunday cannot be neglected. So, listed below are just a few questions to contemplate: Are we simply witnessing a determined workforce doing what it should to generate much-needed offense? Or might this be a part of a longer-term shift? Ought to it’s?

Time will inform, however here is what we all know: The Colts have been the lowest-scoring workforce within the league by 5 weeks earlier than going pass-heavy and scoring a season-high 34 factors towards the Jaguars — a workforce that shut them out in Week 2.

Moreover, the Colts have expended loads of effort this season making an attempt to reassert their speeding dominance, solely to be stymied. They rank thirtieth in speeding yards per try (3.51). What number of treasured performs have the Colts wasted alongside the best way?

In the meantime, Ryan entered Week 7 second within the league in passing yards behind the Buffalo Payments’ Josh Allen. Why not lean into that?

“I’ve all the time felt like if we’ve to do it, I belief myself, I belief our (receivers) and I belief our guys up entrance,” Ryan stated.

Should you nonetheless assume that is nothing greater than a response to the Colts’ struggling run recreation, Reich has really been wrestling along with his philosophy for fairly a while.

As he watched final season’s postseason play out with quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes and Allen profitable video games with aggressive passing assaults, Reich checked out his personal workforce and questioned whether or not it had the flexibility to do the identical. Of the highest 10 groups in passing yards per recreation in 2021, 9 made the playoffs.

That is hardly the one statistic that makes the case that an efficient passing recreation is what issues most, and Reich appears to grasp that.

“You do not see groups which have this ground-and-pound run recreation win championships,” he stated in August. “You simply do not.”

He added, “If we occur to play groups which can be mild towards the run and are struggling to play the run, we’ll strap up and dominate within the run recreation and throw it 20 or 25 instances. However that is simply not going to final. And you are not going to win a championship like that.”

If Reich felt this fashion even earlier than encountering his workforce’s current struggles within the working recreation, he may be much more solidified in his emotions after Sunday.

Will Ryan find yourself trying 58 passes on Sunday on the Tennessee Titans (1 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS)? Unlikely. However given the best way the Colts’ offense is trending, he must also be able to throw just a few extra instances than he did again within the day at Penn Constitution.