The Indianapolis Colts have been the subject of immense hype this offseason following a trip to the AFC divisional round, coupled with the addition of a high-upside draft class. But there are still areas to improve from the 2018 campaign.
There’s no denying the Colts’ trajectory is pointing as high as any team in the NFL. They are likely the favorites to win the AFC South entering the preseason, but there are still aspects of the game that must be improved upon if they want to become a truly elite team.
Here are five areas the Colts must improve in 2019:
Consistent ground attack
The Colts have made it one of their top priorities this offseason to find a way to increase the consistency of production when it comes to running the football. Head coach Frank Reich wants the offense to feature a top-five rushing attack when 2019 is all said and done.
Doing so means they have to improve upon the consistency of the ground game. They finished 20th in rushing yards per game (107.4), 21st in yards per carry (4.2) and 24th in rushes of 20 or more yards (nine). Finding some of that second-half magic the Colts found with their run game is vital.
The Colts had more than 150 rushing yards as a team six times in 2018, but too often it was followed by a dud of 40 or 50 rushing yards the next week. All of those came after Indy found its ideal starting lineup on the offensive line.
Finding consistency in the run game will not only improve the offense as a whole, but it will also put Andrew Luck in more favorable positions.
Dropped passes
Granted, I’m not a huge proponent of drops. Most of the time, drops have a very little impact on the outcome of a game. Sometimes it does play a role, but it happens so few and far between that the majority of the time, it doesn’t hurt the team in the long run.
The Colts dropped 28 passes in 2018—the third most in the NFL. Out of 644 pass attempts as a team, only 28 resulted in a drop. That means 4.35% of pass attempts ended with a drop. Want a bigger number to fit the narrative of drops? Of the 212 incompletions for the Colts in 2018, 13.2% ended in a drop. That’s still a very minuscule number.
Now—all that being said—the Colts will want to improve upon that total. Being one of the top three teams in the league in drops isn’t something to be proud of.
Pass-rush efficiency
The Colts defense took a monumental step forward during the second half of the 2018 season. Sure, some of it should be attributed to a schedule that lacked a number of strong offenses. While they dominated, for the most part, the pass rush is an area that must be improved if the entire unit is to find success in 2019.
Indy finished the season 19th in sacks (38). That was certainly an improvement from 2017 in large part due to the switch up front to a gap-shooting scheme. Still, it was the bottom-half. It gets worse, though, as the Colts’ pressure rate on opposing quarterbacks was a measly 31.4%—good for 10th lowest in the NFL.
This led to the Colts bringing in veteran Justin Houston in free agency and drafting Ben Banogu in the second round.
If the defense is to take any kind of step forward in 2019, the pass rush has to lead the charge. If it doesn’t improve, the Colts are going to have a much tougher time against this slate of opposing quarterbacks.
Defensive penalties
Surprisingly, the Colts finished the 2018 season having committed the second-most defensive penalties in the NFL with 131—just five behind the leading Pittsburgh Steelers.
Of course, penalties are often subjective, especially if they come in the form of a judgment call. However, it can never hurt to be a more disciplined unit defensively. Coordinator Matt Eberflus has done a splendid job making sure the effort levels are there throughout the game, and the unit should take a step forward with the additions made this offseason.
Still, making some improvements with penalties could go a long way with a young unit.
Third-down defense
There were many aspects about the Colts defense that had encouragement in 2018. Getting off the field on third downs was not one of them. The Colts allowed opposing offenses to convert third-down attempts 41% of the time—tied for the ninth-highest rate in the league.
A good defense typically strives to be around the 35% mark in terms of third-down percentage. One way the Colts can work toward achieving this mark is by improving the pass rush, especially seeing as most third-down attempts appear to feature the passing game.
The Colts defense was strong in many aspects during the 2018 campaign, but keeping teams off of the field was not one of them.
