Where the Indianapolis Colts Can Improve During Bye Week

The Indianapolis Colts have had a strong start to the season, going 6-3 in the first nine weeks and producing one of the league's best offenses to go along with a streaky defensive unit. 

Naptown will take that, especially with a second-half schedule that's one of the softest in the league. 

But the team isn't perfect, not by a long shot. Fortunately, Indianapolis had a bye in Week 10, giving them time to work on some issues that could have caused problems in their second-half run. The Colts coaches have had a tremendous season, but they'll need to have used the extra preparation time very wisely in order to defeat the New England Patriots in Week 11 and launch a run to end the season.

There are multiple things the Colts can work on, but a couple of big ones stick out. 

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

Running the Ball on Third Down

It's no secret that the Colts have been the most pass-heavy team in the league this season, and by a notable margin. 

There's obviously a good reason, as the Colts' personnel and strengths simply are more conducive for an effective passing attack than they are running the ball. So, on third or fourth down, when Indianapolis absolutely needs a productive play, the Colts tend to trust Andrew Luck and his wealth of pass-catchers more than the team's young, inconsistent offensive line. 

Despite the fact that the Colts average the league's fourth-shortest third-down situation (6.52 average yards to go), they have the league's 10th-highest pass-to-run ratio, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.

For the most part, that's worked well, as the Colts have converted 45.7 percent of their third or fourth downs when passing, the fifth-highest mark in the league. But during the few situations when the team has attempted to run the ball, things haven't exactly been peachy: The Colts have converted just 37.5 percent of their third downs when running the ball, the fourth-lowest in the league.

There's a number of reasons for this. 

First, Andrew Luck hasn't been as efficient scrambling or sneaking this year, both due to his own mistimed scrambles and the offensive line's inability to get a push in short-yardage situations (or keep a pocket clear of defenders). 

In 2012-2013, I found Luck to have around a 77 percent conversion rate when using his legs on third down, which included scrambling and QB sneaks. This year, he's converted just five of 10 attempts, including converting just one sneak on four chances.

I'd expect this number to get closer to the 70 percent mark as the season goes on and there is a bigger sample size, but the Colts' inability to utilize an effective QB sneak in those 3rd-and-1 situations has been concerning. 

But outside of Andrew Luck, the Colts rushing game has been almost nonexistent on third down. Dan Herron was 0-for-4, but was used solely in garbage time.

The Colts have handed the ball off just seven times on third downs that mattered, all to Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw converted four of those. 

What's interesting to me is that the Colts haven't trusted Trent Richardson to run the ball at all on third down this year, which is odd considering his strength. You would think that Richardson would be a short-yardage weapon with his physical strength, especially since he's converted 10 third downs of two or less yards to go in just 15 attempts since coming to Indianapolis. 

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

But offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton hasn't called his name yet in 2014 for whatever reason. Perhaps it's because the Colts like to pass out of those heavy sets and Bradshaw is more versatile. 

No matter the case, the Colts need to figure out how to better utilize the running game on those short third downs. The Colts are a respectable ninth in the league in third and fourth-down conversions, but could be up in the top five if they can improve the running efficiency. 

The passing is great, and most people will always feel more comfortable with the ball in Luck's hands. But this ridiculous pass-run ratio won't work in a deep playoff run. The Colts have to be able to run the ball in short-yardage situations, at the very least to take some of the load off of Andrew Luck's back.

Player	Attempts	Yards	Conversions
Ahmad Bradshaw (run)	6	54	4
Andrew Luck (sneak)	4	1	1
Andrew Luck (dropback)	23	250	14
Trent Richardson (2014)	0	0	0
Trent Richardson (2013)	16	39	11

Letting Luck sling it will work fine in the regular season, and it will get the Colts to the playoffs. But in the playoffs, against better defenses and better coaches, the Colts have to be able to use the ground game to pick up key first downs. 

Maybe that's using Luck on QB keepers, like they did against Kansas City last year. Perhaps it's occasionally letting Richardson take a crack in short-yardage situations. Maybe the offensive line just needs a bit more experience. 

This doesn't mean building a rushing attack that can take the entire load and carry the Colts through an entire game. That isn't happening with this team. Luck will always be the engine. But if the Colts can get a couple more first downs every game on the ground, that won't allow opposing defenses to cheat on third down once the playoffs come around. 

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Defending Tight Ends and Running Backs in the Passing Game

This point has been beaten to death among Colts analysts (including myself), so we won't go as in-depth on this one, but the team has struggled to defend tight ends all season. Perhaps a little less-known struggle has been the Colts' inability to cover running backs out of the backfield as well. 

According to Football Outsiders' DVOA, the Colts have been the least efficient defense in the league against running backs in the passing game and are 29th against tight ends. 

In the AFC, this must improve. The Colts are 6-3, but against teams with strong tight ends and receiving running backs, the defense has struggled. 

Remember the Denver Broncos, who used Julius Thomas to terrorize the Colts' linebackers in Week 1? Or the Philadelphia Eagles' unleashing of Darren Sproles on the Colts defenders in Week 2? Heath Miller of the Pittsburgh Steelers had his best game of the season against the Colts, catching seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. Delanie Walker of the Tennessee Titans has had just two games of over 60 yards, one of which was a five-catch, 84-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Colts. 

In the AFC, that's not going to fly. Not when you have the Broncos (Julius Thomas, Peyton Manning's affinity for using running backs in the passing game), New England Patriots (Rob Gronkowski, Shane Vereen), San Diego Chargers (Antonio Gates, Ryan Mathews/Branden Oliver) and Steelers (Le'Veon Bell, Heath Miller) to potentially go through in the postseason. 

Fortunately, the Colts will have a litmus test early in the second half of the season, facing the New England Patriots at home in Week 11. If they can limit Gronkowski, they should have a shot at beating New England and getting in the driver's seat for the second seed in the AFC. 

If Gronkowski continues on his torrid pace, the Patriots will likely go back to Foxborough with another win, and the Colts will have to go back to the drawing board.