Indianapolis Colts: Rob Chudzinski Makes His Mark as Offense Gets Back on Track

They don't script season-saving wins much better than that. 

With the Indianapolis Colts facing a potential 3-6 start and in danger of losing their lead in the putrid AFC South, a loss against the undefeated Denver Broncos seemed both imminent and soul-crushing. 

But the Colts came up with an improbable, impressive victory over Denver, the kind of win that saves people's jobs and perhaps even turns a previously listless season around. It might sound like wishful thinking, but the Colts have the talent to be a contender. It's just been little things holding them back, things they hope will be helped by a coaching change. 

The Colts fired offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton last week, a necessary move after an extremely disappointing start to the season. The team moved former associate head coach Rob Chudzinski to the position, one where he has had success in the NFL before. 

But on a short week against the best defense in the league, expectations were low for the first outing under "Chud." 

The results could not have been more promising: 365 yards of total offense, 12-of-20 on third downs, 120 rushing yards, touchdowns on three of four red-zone trips and 27 (essentially 30, considering the late field goal that turned into kneel-downs) points scored.

And most importantly, zero turnovers. 

All of that against the best defense in the league.

This Denver defense was first in total yards allowed, first in total points allowed, second in total turnovers forced and first in sacks.

Going into more advanced stats made it even more impressive. Denver was first in defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) by a wide margin, first in yards allowed per drive, first in points allowed per drive, third in turnovers forced per drive, third in drive success rate, second in touchdowns allowed per drive and second in points per red-zone trip, all via Football Outsiders.

There was more than one factor in the Colts' offensive turnaround, but you have to start with the players playing better. 

Andrew Luck had his best game of the season, which was also the best game of any quarterback against the Denver defense this season. T.Y. Hilton played through a foot injury to put up five catches and 82 yards against the best secondary in the league. 

Those kind of things matter, especially when the pair had been struggling to get into a rhythm together earlier in the season. 

But the effect of Rob Chudzinski was felt by anybody watching the game. It wasn't overly pronounced, as the Colts didn't have time to completely change offenses, but there was a difference. 

It began with a quick start, as the offense got out to a 17-0 lead after Luck's touchdown pass to Jack Doyle turned a Peyton Manning interception into seven points. The Colts have routinely fallen behind this season, especially early in games, and scoring quickly was paramount to Chudzinski's ability to maintain a balanced game plan. 

That game plan and preparation was slightly different as well, at least in the end result. 

After struggling against the blitz for most of the season, the Colts stopped trying to go for big plays on every blitz and just took what the defense gave them. ESPN Stats & Information explains: 

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Luck was 16-of-26 for 190 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz Sunday.

Coming into the game, Luck had the third-worst completion percentage against the blitz among qualified passers (48 percent).

Luck went after the blitz with short passes. He averaged 8 air yards per blitz attempt, much shorter than the 12.0 he averaged in his first six games this season.

The Broncos blitzed Luck on 27 of his dropbacks (64 percent of them). That was the fourth-highest blitz percentage against any quarterback in a game this season. Entering Sunday, Luck had been blitzed on 35 percent of dropbacks.

When the Broncos blitzed a defensive back, Luck was 5-of-6 for 92 yards and a touchdown. In his first six games this season, Luck completed 36 percent of such passes (29th in NFL) with more interceptions (2) than touchdowns (1).

"

Against a team with a ferocious pass rush, the Colts allowed just one sack. Luck made a clear effort to get rid of the ball more quickly in this game, whether it was throwing the ball away or hitting a player underneath. Even when his receivers were limited in yards after the catch, avoiding negative plays was a key element. 

But the play-calling itself was affected as well. 

Pep Hamilton's play-calling was a point of contention among Colts fans this season, as the offense never seemed to get into a rhythm—at least, it didn't seem to get into a rhythm until late in the game when it went no-huddle. 

But on Sunday, Chudzinski did a fantastic job mixing up the plays, staying committed to the run while using a healthy dose of play-action, quick passing plays and varying route combinations. The result was an offense that had eight of its 11 drives include six plays or more. Unlike other weeks, the offense never felt completely stagnated, even during a four-drive stretch of punts between the second and third quarters. 

The tendencies were slightly shifted as well. The Colts ran a large amount of jumbo sets, using fullbacks or motioning tight ends as lead blockers, a staple of Chudzinski's offenses in the past. Sure, many of these sets were ones that we've seen before in Hamilton's offense, but Chudzinski put an emphasis on them we hadn't seen recently. 

In the same vein, the Colts still used some spread-offense, empty-backfield looks, but not to the extent they had under Hamilton. Against a Broncos defense with an extremely stout secondary, it worked out beautifully. 

Certainly, players executing makes Chudzinski look good, particularly Luck bouncing back for an impressive outing. 

But good play-calling is a definite boost, and Chudzinski has long had a good reputation in that area. 

Now, Chudzinski will get a chance to tweak the Colts offense even more as the team goes into its bye week. The Colts will have a chance to get a win streak going in the second half of the season with a relatively soft schedule, and they'll want to take advantage.

But if Sunday was any indication, there may not be as much tweaking necessary as we originally thought.