Can the Colts Find Balance, Return Andrew Luck to Form in Final 2 Games?

It wasn't that long ago that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was being mentioned as a leading candidate to be named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. Over the first two months of the 2014 season, Luck racked up yardage and touchdowns through the air at a record-threatening pace.

However, in recent weeks Luck and the Indianapolis offense have scuffled a bit. It didn't stop the Colts from bringing home the AFC South title for a second straight season, but should these struggles continue into the postseason the Colts could find themselves once again a one-and-done playoff team.

Since carving up a pathetic Washington secondary for 370 yards and five scores back in Week 13, Luck's numbers have been positively pedestrian.

Comp.	Att.	Pct.	YPG	TD	INT	Rating
42	87	48.3	240.5*	4	3	68.2

OK, pedestrian by his standards. There are plenty of teams that would kill for those numbers (say, oh, Cleveland. And Luck at the helm of the Arizona Cardinals would be...interesting).

In fact, over his last two games Luck is completing less than half of his passes. He's thrown three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.

Frankly, the turnovers have been something of an issue all season long. For as well as Luck has played for much of the 2014 campaign, his 14 interceptions are the third most in the NFL. Luck has also fumbled an eye-popping 12 times, losing six.

You want a quick and disappointing trip to the playoffs? Turn the ball over.

Of course, some of Luck's struggles of late aren't necessarily on him. For starters, his pass protection has backslid of late. The Colts rank a very respectable 21st in sacks allowed this year (26), but nearly half of those sacks (11) have come in the last month.

There have been issues in the receiving corps as well. Reggie Wayne, who just set a franchise record with his 209th game played, can say he's healthy until he's blue in the face. But, the 36-year-old's 12 catches for 70 yards over the past four weeks tells another story.

Hakeem Nicks caught a 26-yard touchdown pass in Sunday's win over the Houston Texans, but the sixth-year pro has been a non-factor this year. Star wideout T.Y. Hilton injured his hamstring Sunday, but thankfully ESPN's Mike Wells reports an MRI was negative.

Then there's the running game—or lack thereof.

For the second straight season, Trent Richardson has been thoroughly underwhelming, averaging a whopping 3.4 yards a carry. And that's half-a-yard better than the fourth-year pro managed in 2013.

Third-year pro Dan Herron has played surprisingly well since the Colts lost Ahmad Bradshaw for the season, averaging 5.1 yards per tote on just over 60 carries. Still, as Rotoworld's Nick Mensio pointed out, the Colts are still bafflingly giving Richardson more playing time:

Add all those circumstances together, and it's made the Indy offense far too one-dimensional and predictable. Not only do opponents not have to respect the running game (especially when Richardson's on the field), but there's only one wide receiver (Hilton) who teams are forced to contend with.

Help appears to be coming in the latter regard. Rookie Donte Moncrief has added his name to the ever-growing list of first-year receivers making a big dent in 2014. The youngster was held off the stat sheet in Week 15, but in the three games preceding that Moncrief made 10 catches for 205 yards and two scores.

Moncrief credited his teammates for his quick maturation while speaking with Stephen Holder of The Indy Star:

"

Learning defenses, learning how to release (off the line of scrimmage), how to be patient. I just sit back and watch T.Y. (Hilton), Reggie (Wayne) and Hakeem (Nicks) and how they play without the ball in their hands. That's the part that's amazing. When you're good even when the ball's not in your hands, you're really doing something.

"

However, Moncrief can't help the team's run game. The scheduling gods appear to be doing their best to do so, though. In Week 16, the Colts face a Dallas Cowboys defense that ranks a middling 15th in the NFL against the run.

It gets even better after that, when the Colts face the Tennessee Titans and their league-worst run D.

Unfortunately, the Colts don't seem inclined to do the one thing that would appear to have the best chance of goosing the ground game by giving Herron the ball more at Richardson's expense. That's despite the mountains of evidence suggesting it would be advisable.

And there are those who think that may be their undoing:

Granted, many will see this as nitpicking, an attempt to find problems that don't actually exist. However, the fact of the matter is that the Colts have already been beaten by the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots in 2014.

As good as Andrew Luck is, an offense trending in the wrong direction isn't going to help their chances of winning a rematch.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.