Can Colts' Passing Game Continue Recent Success vs Tennessee Titans?

The Indianapolis Colts' offense finally showed some signs of life in week six, as they exploded for 34 points against a Jacksonville Jaguars' defense that shut them out back in week two.

There is plenty of praise to go around for this offensive output. Quarterback Matt Ryan looked like the near MVP-version of himself. The offensive line held up for the first time all season. The young skill position players were phenomenal. Even Frank Reich, the man that a majority of the fanbase wanted run out of town after week two, called an excellent game to get the offense moving.

With that game firmly in the rearview, can the Colts' offense carry this success into week seven against the Tennessee Titans? Today, I dive into what worked for the Colts' passing game against the Jaguars and discuss how it could lead to some success against the Titans this upcoming week.

Frank Reich Channeling His Inner Tom Moore

Tom Moore was the Colts' offensive coordinator during the glory years of this franchise. With Peyton Manning at the helm, Moore had this team's offense putting up record-breaking numbers year in and year out.

Frank Reich did spend a lot of time learning under Moore, as he was on the Colts' coaching staff from 2006-2011 (Moore was the team's OC from 1998-2009). It is safe to say that Reich picked up a few things in his time with the legendary offensive coordinator.

Moore was famously known for his simplistic playbook. He had his few concepts that worked, and he peppered defenses with them until they showed that they could stop it. One of Moore's, and Peyton Manning's, favorite pass concepts was Levels.

Levels is a route combination that attacks the middle of the defense with high-low routes. This route combination works especially well against zone defense, as it puts linebackers in a bind over the middle.

Reich did throw in a few levels concepts on Sunday, which worked to great success:

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— Not Zach’s Burner (@NotZachsBurner1) October 20, 2022

In true Tom Moore fashion, Reich did expand on this play concept and mix in some variations to attack the Jaguars' defense. One simple variation to levels is a route combination called Drive.

Drive works similarly to levels, as it features one receiver running a drag route underneath with another running an intermediate dig route. The purpose is a lot like levels, as it is designed to put those linebackers in a bind over the middle of the field.

Frank Reich and the Colts used switch releases to free up Michael Pittman Jr on Drive multiple times in this game. The Jaguars' defense kept sitting back on the dig route, which left Pittman Jr wide open underneath for some run after the catch moments:

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— Not Zach’s Burner (@NotZachsBurner1) October 20, 2022

Isolating the Defenses

The other way that Reich attacked the Jaguars' defense was by isolating his playmakers against their defenders in man coverage. Essentially, Reich trusted his skill position players to win those one on one match-ups and, for the most part, they did.

The main benefactor here was rookie Alec Pierce. When the Colts' saw the Jaguars in press coverage, Reich would isolate the young receiver on the backside of 3x1 sets. This would leave Pierce on an island, usually against top cornerback Shaquill Griffin.

Pierce handily won this match-up, and it wasn't even close. Kylen Granson also smoked first round pick Devin Lloyd for a third down conversion before half out of this look.

If a defense is going to sit back in cover one and play man, isolating your playmakers on the backside of a 3x1 is the best way to make the defense pay. Reich understands this, and it led to a great amount of success for the offense.

Loved how the Colts attacked the Jags MOFC looks on Sunday. They used 3x1 sets and attacked that backside man coverage in a lot of ways.

Indy trusts their skill position players to win these looks. Alec Pierce beat Shaquill Griffin multiple times, Kylen Granson beat Devin Lloyd pic.twitter.com/YNLS6m7IB0
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) October 20, 2022

Can It Continue vs The Titans?

Surprisingly enough, on paper, the Jaguars' defense was a tougher match-up for the Colts last week than the Titans should be in week seven. The Jaguars' defense is one of the best at pressuring opposing quarterbacks, while the Titans are more average at generating pressure.

Opposing quarterbacks are completing over 67% of their passes against the Titans this year, and the Titans' have allowed the ninth-most passing yards in the league (even with having their bye week already).

The Colts had plenty of success throwing against the Titans back in week four as well, as Matt Ryan threw for 356 yards and two scores in the loss.

The Colts' offense is coming into this game in a much better place than they have been this season. While the Colts shouldn't overlook the Titans by any means, their offense should be able to duplicate the success they had this past week (and the success they had in the second half of week four) if the offensive line can hold up.

This is a must-win game for the Colts, and I believe this offense is in a place to give the team a chance to win.

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