One-Dimensional Offense Hamstringing Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts may be first in the league in yards per game, with 451.2 on average, but getting there certainly hasn't been a task shared evenly by the passing game and the run game. 

Heading into Sunday night's matchup against the New England Patriots, Andrew Luck and the Colts were averaging 337.4 passing yards per game but just 113.8 rushing yards per game. They were No. 1 overall in passing output but ranked No. 14 in rushing. 

On Sunday night, that ratio was thrown even further out of balance. Luck passed for 303 yards against New England, but the Colts only managed to put up 19 total rushing yards. 

Fifteen of those came from Luck. Ahmad Bradshaw contributed four. Trent Richardson carried the ball seven times and seemingly impossibly had zero yards on the night. Zero. 

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

To add insult to injury, New England's Jonas Gray had one carry that went for 20 yards, in between his four touchdowns. 

Richardson has struggled all season in Indianapolis, to be sure. He hasn't rushed for more than 79 yards in any game and is averaging just 3.6 yards per attempt. But he wasn't the only problem on Sunday. 

If the Colts' rushing offense continues to be this ineffective, it's going to start affecting Luck's play, as well as its No. 1 standing in passing yards per game. Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton's play selection was woefully out of balance Sunday; Indianapolis attempted 39 passes to just 17 rushes.

	Passing Attempts	Rushing Attempts
2013	582	409
2014 (10 games)	436	272
2014 (Extrapolated for 16 games)	698	435

That means the rushing offense comprised just 30.4 percent of Indianapolis' play-calling against New England. The Patriots defense was able to capitalize on that fully and make life difficult for Luck, with play action rendered ineffective and by lightening the box in order to play two-high safeties. 

If opposing defenses consistently play the pass that heavily, causing Luck to take more time in the pocket to search for open receivers, the Colts' passing game will struggle as a result. Luck has a completion percentage of 68.2 when his time in the pocket is 2.5 seconds or less, but that drops to 59.1 percent when he is in the pocket for 2.6 seconds or more per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

But as long as the Colts can't run the ball effectively, opponents will dare Luck to pass, taking away more options and forcing him to spend more time in the pocket searching for an open target. 

Luck has never been a quarterback who necessarily needs play action to be successful—per Pro Football Focus, his completion percentage with it this season is 53.2 compared to 66.1 without it—but getting favorable reads is essential.

If defenders aren't kept honest by some semblance of an Indianapolis rushing threat, Luck will continue to see favorable reads disappear, an assessment Colts Authority co-founder and Bleacher Report Lead Writer Kyle J. Rodriguez noted:

Has Hamilton changed his offensive strategy? In 2013, the Colts endeavored to establish a power-running game. It didn't work out the way they had hoped. 

This offseason, Hamilton seemed to indicate Indianapolis would rely on Luck's arm a little more. "We’re going to be a score-first team," Hamilton said, per ESPN.com's Mike Wells. "We’re going to do whatever we need to do to score one more point than our opponent." 

It's alarming that both facets of the Colts' run game—Bradshaw's breakaway potential and Richardson's power run game—fell flat against New England. While the Patriots' run defense certainly looked formidable Sunday night, it has been middle-of-the-pack this season, allowing an average 120.0 rushing yards per game, 22nd in the league. 

If Indianapolis struggled against New England's run defense, how will it fare against Washington, Houston and Dallas—all ranked higher?

While Sunday was clearly a low valley in a season that has seen some hills, it is still worrisome for Indianapolis to think about the first-round pick it traded for Richardson, only to see the undrafted free agent Gray rack up four touchdowns for New England. B/R's Tyler Brooke noted Richardson's dismal performance:

"

7 carries. 0 yards. One first-round pick given up for him. Trent Richardson, everyone.

— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) November 17, 2014"

And though the Colts' offensive line isn't rock-solid, it does grade out as No. 10 in the league in run blocking by Pro Football Focus. It should be doing a passable job for Bradshaw and Richardson to find some holes. 

Suffice it to say, the Colts were none too pleased with their performance Sunday night. Luck voiced it bluntly after the game (via NFL Network): "Thankful this isn't the last game of the season. We would be truly sick to our stomachs."

He's shouldering a lot of the blame, but he shouldn't have to. 

Luck has looked sharp this season and has the second-most yards among quarterbacks. But he can't put this entire offense on his shoulders without a run game to take some of the pressure off. And if the Colts can't become more two-dimensional on offense, their 6-4 record, while it may win them their division, won't get them far into January.