Losers of four of their last five, the Indianapolis Colts head down to Florida for the first of two trips to the sunshine state this month (great time to go down there). This week they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an inter-conference matchup.
In the first half of the last game for the Colts, they were able to move the ball well against a good Tennessee Titans defense—four drives got into Titans territory—but they settled for only 10 points. Against the Buccaneers this week, the Colts will need a better performance from their offense if they want to win.
Let’s take a look at some keys to the game for the Colts offense:
1. Consistent passing game
In the first half of the Tennessee game Jacoby Brissett was finding guys wide open all over the field but in the second half, things changed. The Titans started blitzing more and got Brissett off his spot and eventually forced Brissett into two costly turnovers late in the game.
This week has a very favorable matchup for the pass offense going against Tampa Bay. Overall, the Buccaneers are 31st in the NFL in pass yards allowed per game, and the sample size is there. Teams throw all over Tampa, an average of 42 attempts per game most in the NFL.
Don’t expect Reich and the offense to attempt over 40 passes even though they did it last week. The final two possessions the Colts attempted nine passes after going down 24-17 with three minutes left. But if the Colts want to have success on offense, they must attack through the air.
2. Involve all the running backs
An area that the Colts try to establish but seem to always leave a guy out is in their running back group. There is a chance Marlon Mack plays but if he doesn’t, it will be Johnathon Williams, Jordan Wilkins, and Nyhiem Hines in the backfield for the Colts on Sunday.
After watching the film on the Buccaneers, they struggle to guard running backs out of the backfield, they have good linebacker play but struggle against backs coming out in the passing game. The Colts should look to exploit that on Sunday.
A subplot to what happened last Sunday was why Johnathon Williams got benched in the second half, leading to Jordan Wilkins and Nyheim Hines getting all the snaps. Williams averaged 1.8 yards per rush, while Wilkins was at 4.3. Reich likes to go with the hot hand, but Indianapolis should get all their guys involved on Sunday.
3. Convert third downs
Indianapolis is still one of the best teams at converting on third down, ninth-best at 44%, but this week they will face another stingy third-down defense in Tampa Bay.
Surprisingly, the Buccaneers have the fourth-best third-down defense in the NFL. They only allow a conversion rate of, 33% but the Colts must stay on their 44% mark if they want to win on Sunday.
This must be attained by getting into favorable third down and distance situations. If they face a third and medium or third and longs all day, it could be difficult to keep the offense on the field.
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