How the Indianapolis Colts Can Re-Establish Their Offensive Identity

The Indianapolis Colts are slipping closer and closer to losing this season.

That seems like a drastic statement to make two games into a 16-game season, but these last two weeks have been drastically disappointing. The Colts offense, which is supposed to be its strength, has been abominable. Even against two strong defenses, scoring just 21 points in two games is simply unacceptable.

While the Colts have put resources into the defense and special teams, there is no question about where the strength of this team lies. But if the strength of the team can't perform, the team loses.

This doesn't look like a team that is guaranteed to win the AFC South. It certainly doesn't look like a team that is anywhere close to returning to the AFC Championship Game.

There is still hope, of course, but it must lie on the offense getting back to at least 2014 levels, if not the high levels of potential the team exuded over the offseason. So how can the Colts rebound, and truly rebound? Playing well against the Tennessee Titans is one thing, but that won't necessarily indicate a long-term solution.

So what substantial changes can the Colts make to put together a cohesive, consistent offense?

There could be lineup changes, such as putting Joe Reitz in a starting guard position for Lance Louis or even Todd Herremans. Donte Moncrief could get more snaps than Andre Johnson, whose age and lack of mobility is clearly a problem at the moment. The Colts could ride Frank Gore a bit more, utilizing him in the passing game and easing back on the snaps for rookies Josh Robinson and Tyler Varga. 

Some executional improvements would certainly help as well. Simple things like avoiding penalties, missed field goals and non-contact fumbles (I'm looking at you, Frank Gore) would have directly resulted in 13 more points over the last two weeks.

But the biggest improvement that must be made is that Andrew Luck must be better. Part of that is simply on him playing at a higher level, being more aware and careful with the football while also having more accurate throws.

That's something that should revert to normal levels. But the Colts also should be trying to put Luck in the best possible position, especially after the personnel that was acquired in the offseason. The Colts clearly value Luck and want to give him tools, but what is the point of those tools if the offensive identity is disjointed?

On one play, the Colts will run a jumbo set, running two or three receivers down the field and putting maximum protection in front of Luck to account for blitzers. On the next, they'll run an empty backfield with five wideouts and no extra blockers to help pick up the blitz. 

It's similar to the old Stanford sets that Pep Hamilton and Luck used to thrive on. The problem is that this team isn't Stanford. This is a team with a below-average offensive line and above-average skill position players. It's a group with a bunch of new skill position players who are getting used to each others' speeds and skill sets.

And in the end, it's a unit with zero rhythm and consistency, and a large part of that comes from the fact that it is trying to do too much.

A great example of the disconnected play-calling came in the first quarter of the team's 20-7 loss to the New York Jets.

Down 7-0, the Colts started at their own 24-yard line. They had two-tight end or heavy jumbo formation on the entire drive and did a great job running the ball and getting play action. They ran the ball three times for 35 yards and got a 30-yard play-action pass to Donte Moncrief.

Then they had a 2nd-and-2 on the Jets' 11-yard line. They ran a play-action pass to Joe Reitz, an offensive lineman, and then switched to a shotgun, three-wide receiver formation and ran a fade to T.Y. Hilton (covered by Darrelle Revis).

Why the sudden change? Stick with what works instead of trying to outsmart the defense on every play.

The Colts, starting with Luck, need to get into a rhythm running 11 personnel in a no-huddle offense for a game or two.

They need to get their young, fast wide receivers stacked up to create mismatches with the route combinations. Let T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and Phillip Dorsett stretch the field while Dwayne Allen and Frank Gore eat over the middle and in the flats. Andre Johnson, as good as his career has been, should not be a focal point in the offense.

Let that offensive core get a large portion of the reps together to build that consistency and rhythm.

Dorsett, in particular, needs to get more repetitions with Luck. Perhaps he's overwhelmed with Pep Hamilton's offense, but there's nothing wrong with giving him a more well-defined role. He has enough speed to make problems for the defense just by running go routes and drags across the field.

What seems to make the most sense is to let Luck run the no-huddle early, both to keep the offense in a rhythm as well as to keep defenses from being able to tee off with all kinds of different blitzes every play.

The biggest goal for Indianapolis right now is to get Andrew Luck into a rhythm. The best way to do that is to get a running game going and to throw quick, easy throws that are created because of well-schemed route combinations.

It seems like a lot of suggestions, but it really comes down to one thing.

Simplify.

There are a lot of new pieces with little chemistry. It's an offense that must get into a rhythm. There's enough talent there that the personnel groupings don't have to get cute.