Colts Offensive Coordinator Nick Sirianni: Philip Rivers Will Thrive
INDIANAPOLIS — What was quarterback Philip Rivers most excited about in joining the Indianapolis Colts for 2020?
Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni gave an obvious answer.
“Yeah, I think the big part of Philip being here is Anthony Castonzo, Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Braden Smith, Mark Glowinski,” Sirianni said Monday in a Zoom video conference call. “Those guys are our studs.”
That would be the Colts offensive line, the NFL’s only unit that didn’t miss a start in 2019 and returns intact. After 16 years with the Chargers, Rivers agreed to a one-year, $25-million contract to quarterback the Colts.
“That’s something (Rivers) kept mentioning after we signed him of how valuable those guys were to him,” Sirianni said.
Rivers didn’t have quality protection last season with the Chargers, who finished 5-11. He took 34 sacks and the constant pressure prompted him to force throws, hence 20 interceptions.
The Colts have gone to great lengths to give Rivers weapons this offseason. They drafted USC wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor in the second round.
After watching him from the other sideline, Rivers is particularly excited to be working with four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver T.Y. Hilton.
“When the Chargers in 2016 played in Indianapolis, it was a good game. We felt Jason Verrett, a corner at the time, was a heck of a football player just going against him every day in practice,” Sirianni said. “T.Y. Hilton annihilated him that game. No offense to Jason, T.Y. has done that to a lot of guys.
“We talked about that and then Philip saying – that was one thing he said when he signed and we were able to talk to him like, ‘Man, remember that game in 2016? T.Y. was a nightmare.’”
Another plus is the familiarity Sirianni and head coach Frank Reich have with Rivers, who played well when working with them as Chargers assistants from 2013 to 2015.
“Frank has called plays for Philip before and that’s a big dynamic,” Sirianni said. “There’s not a lot of questioning going in. Philip knows how Frank thinks. Frank knows how Philip thinks. That’s something to do with it, but again it’s those five guys up front, T.Y. and not to mention all our other weapons.”
Rivers has rarely enjoyed the offensive balance with a strong rushing game. The Colts ranked seventh in rushing last season. Sirianni recalled how Rivers played with the Chargers when the run game flourished.
“I was in the AFC West when Philip had a couple of those top-10 rushing teams,” the coordinator said. “I just remember how deadly he was. You had to stop the run and then you also had to deal with this quarterback who could push the ball down the field with the play-action game, and they were deadly.
“So I get excited about that with our running attack combined with how good Philip is in the play-action game. That’s obviously very exciting for us because – right, they can’t stack the box. If they stack the box, Philip can make them pay with our receivers and tight ends. They don’t stack the box and they keep the two-high look, we can run the football. Obviously, very exciting and we become even more multiple of how we attack a defense, which is always to our benefit.”
The Colts ranked 25th in total yards per game, 30th in passing, seventh in rushing and 16th in points scored in 2019. The year before with quarterback Andrew Luck, the Colts ranked seventh in total yards, sixth in passing, 20th in rushing and fifth in scoring.
One obvious area of emphasis for 2020 is having more explosive plays. The Colts ranked 30th in that category last season.
“We like the addition of (Michael) Pittman Jr. to our group of players and just (GM) Chris Ballard and his staff adding just the talent that he’s added with Jonathan Taylor,” Sirianni said. “Then with the addition of our guys that we already have, we’ll elevate in that area with explosive playmakers that we have.
“Again, the more you run the ball, be able to run the football, the more they play one-high safeties, and we have one of the best big-play wideouts in the NFL with T.Y. Hilton. With the addition of Jonathan – with him and Marlon (Mack) being able to attack defenses – and (running backs) Nyheim (Hines) and Jordan (Wilkins), we just feel like again, you’re going to see more one-high safety. We know that Philip can make them pay when they have that.”
Expect Hines, who has proven himself a capable pass-receiving back with 107 receptions for 745 yards and two TDs in two seasons, to enjoy working with his new quarterback.
“Yeah, where I think Philip is really outstanding, he has this great ability to find the running back out of the backfield whether we’re scheming for that guy or whether it just happens within a protection, where he goes through his progression and finds that back,” Sirianni said. “So I think for sure Nyheim (Hines) will benefit from that. Just like, we had Danny Woodhead when Frank (Reich) and I were together with the Chargers, and I think one year Danny had 80 catches. Yeah, Nyheim is going to benefit big time from playing with Philip Rivers. There’s no question about that.”
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)