How the Colts Can Stop Jeremy Hill, Bengals Rush Attack

Back in October, the Indianapolis Colts dominated the Cincinnati Bengals en route to a statement 27-0 victory.

It was arguably the Bengals' worst loss of the season and easily the Colts' best victory, on paper. Despite giving up a few 40-point games this season, the Colts defense also showed it could be dominant at times, and the Colts' Week 7 win over Cincinnati was a prime example. 

The Bengals struggled across the board on that Sunday, but the Colts' defensive domination started up front, where they held the Bengals to just 32 yards rushing, easily Cincinnati's worst rushing game of the year. 

Opponent	W/L	Attempts	Yards	YPC
Ravens	w	26	79	3.0
Patriots	L	18	79	4.4
Colts	L	12	32	2.7
Browns	L	22	86	3.9
Steelers	L	21	86	4.1

With Andy Dalton at quarterback, the Bengals simply aren't built to be a one-dimensional passing team. With no threat of the running game, the Colts were able to tee off on Dalton with blitzes and stunts, making him uncomfortable throughout the game.

Having no A.J. Green available just made things worse for the Bengals, who employ a few "screw it we're just going to throw it to A.J." plays each week. 

But no Green was a side problem to the Bengals rushing attack. The Bengals ran for over 134 yards per game in 2014, the sixth-largest average in the league. Dalton's 523 dropbacks was 19th in the league, with no other quarterback who started 16 games having fewer dropbacks. The Bengals need the running game to succeed. 

So how did the Colts shut down the Bengals earlier in the season, and can they do so again? 

The Bengals have been rolling on the ground as of late as they've transitioned to Jeremy Hill as the main back. Hill finished the season with three consecutive 100-yard games, and averaged at least 4.3 yards per carry in eight of the last nine games. 

This, of course, is radically different than the loss in Indianapolis, where Hill ran just four times for 15 yards. 

The Bengals have made a concentrated effort to feature the running game in the second half of the season, and Hill's emergence has been a major factor in that emphasis. 

So let's take a look at the difference between the Bengals run game in October versus in December. 

In the Colts' win over Cincinnati, the Bengals ran fairly straightforward run plays, with Hill and Giovani Bernard running stretch, toss and lead plays with simple man and zone-blocking concepts.

These runs counted on the Bengals offensive line pushing the Colts defensive line back and opening up lanes for Bernard and Hill, but the Indianapolis linemen were stout at the point of attack. As a result, Hill and Bernard rarely saw an open lane. 

Take this run, for example. In the second quarter, the Bengals faced a 2nd-and-10 and ran a singleback Iso play, a simple downhill run:

NFL Game Rewind

In this alignment, the right guard and right tackle are responsible for the two inside linebackers, but help on the down linemen first to keep them from shooting inside and blowing the play up:

NFL Game Rewind

Unfortunately for Cincinnati, neither the guard or tackle was able to disengage from their initial blocks cleanly or quickly, and as a result the hole was quickly filled. This led to a 3rd-and-long situation where the Colts defense was able to get off the field. 

When rushing outside, the Colts defensive line did a good job of staying disciplined and riding their blocks down the line, giving the linebackers room to maneuver around block attempts by wide receivers and tight ends on their way to the ball-carrier:

NFL Game Rewind

In the first quarter, for example, the Bengals ran a crack toss on 2nd-and-4. The two receivers are cracking back to hinder Cory Redding and D'Qwell Jackson enough for the right side of the line to get out in front of Bernard. The center, meanwhile, passes Chapman, the nose tackle, off to the left guard and moves to the second level to take out Jerrell Freeman. 

Things don't go quite according to plan for Cincinnati:

NFL Game Rewind

It starts on the edge, where Erik Walden is able to hold his ground against right tackle Andre Smith, giving Bernard no room to bounce outside. The crackback blocks by the wide receivers fail miserably, as Cory Redding blasts Dane Sanzenbacher back into Bernard's running lane and D'Qwell Jackson dodges Mohamed Sanu completely, further filling the hole. 

Back on the line, Chapman holds the Cincinnati center long enough for Freeman to fill to the cutback lane, giving Bernard absolutely nowhere to turn. 

The Bengals simply didn't have the power to single-block the Colts front line, and the linebackers were able to make simple reads to get the runner throughout the day. 

Now, contrast that to the Bengals' running in a huge 37-28 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 16. 

Comfortable in their running-game change, the Bengals ran much more misdirection against the Broncos. Instead of relying on raw power, the Bengals seemed to have realized that the offensive line isn't suited for overpowering defensive linemen and got more creative. 

By using pulling guards and more traps, the Bengals were able to break Jeremy Hill open for a few big runs against the Broncos. As a result, they gained over 200 yards on the ground. 

Yards Gained	Number	Total Yards	Average	Successful	Success Rate
0 or less	10	-13	-1.30	0	0%
1-4	16	33	2.06	2	33.3%
5-9	6	45	7.50	6	100%
10+	5	142	28.40	5	100%
Total	37	207	5.59	13	35.1%

The Broncos actually slowed the Bengals run game pretty well for most of the day with strong defensive line play, but the Bengals took advantage of mistakes by the Denver linebackers. 

On this play, for example, the Bengals ran a play that looks like a traditional one-back power running play. But instead of the pulling guard (and tackle) leading the way through the hole created by the tight end kicking out, the pulling linemen go all the way to the outside:

NFL Game Rewind

The Denver linebacker tried to shoot the gap, but Hill keeps going outside and finds plenty of daylight to outrace everybody for an 85-yard touchdown run:

Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth and left guard Clint Boling have done an excellent job of run blocking over the back half of the season, as has right guard Kevin Zeitler. The three lead Cincinnati in grades from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), all with a positive-9.2 grade or better in run blocking.

Those three are athletic enough to pull successfully, but Whitworth can also hold his own by sealing his edge and giving the Bengals running backs cutback lanes. 

Take this fake jet sweep play, for example:

NFL Game Rewind

The Bengals use a fake jet sweep by the wide receiver to freeze the linebackers long enough for Hill to get to the outside here, as well as getting the cornerback to dart upfield after the wide receiver coming across:

NFL Game Rewind

The play leaves Hill with nobody to beat, but it wouldn't be successful without Whitworth sealing the OLB inside, which he does easily as DeMarcus Ware tries to cheat inside. 

The end result is a 10-yard gain by Hill and a first down inside the red zone. The Colts have to avoid giving up chunk yardage like that on the ground. A.J. Green can provide enough of that by himself without giving up more on the ground as well. 

But in order to avoid that, the Colts will need disciplined play from its linebackers, both inside and outside, to go along with continued strong play at the point of attack from the defensive line. It's certainly a possibility for Indianapolis, but it will be a team effort to do it when it counts.