Colts’ Offensive Issues Are Quite Clear

Although the Indianapolis Colts have a decent defense and have steadily improved with GM Chris Ballard, Sunday’s home loss to the Baltimore Ravens proved the offense still needs upgrades.

INDIANAPOLIS — In citing the Indianapolis Colts’ analogy that the NFL regular-season grind is like a 16-round boxing match, Sunday’s 24-10 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens can be summed up as a painful unanimous decision that for now removes the home team from the AFC elite conversation.

This really shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise.

It’s not that the Ravens (6-2) don’t have flaws, too, but they were a more complete team. They’ve been humbled in home losses to Pittsburgh and Kansas City, but this was an impressive bounce-back road victory from a loss to the Steelers. The Ravens had never won at Indianapolis before in six trips, and extended their road winning streak to an NFL-best 10 games.

The Colts (5-3), quite simply, hadn’t played a really good team yet. This was the first time.

For half of the game, the Colts threw some punishing shots, mostly on defense as the Ravens’ No. 1-ranked rushing offense gained just 18 yards, and generated just 55 total for two quarters. Colts head coach Frank Reich on Monday described his defense’s first-half performance as “flawless.” 

The Colts were ahead 10-7 and leading on the proverbial boxing scorecard.

Then they got buried in the second half by a series of haymakers. And that was because of the offense failing to score a point and being unable to sustain drives until the end.

Quarterback Philip Rivers jogs off the field after Sunday's loss :: Robert Scheer/USA TODAY Sports

A Colts defense that had played so impressively spent too much time on the field and wore down from being overworked. We were reminded of the importance of teams playing complementary football. The Ravens did that. Despite the visitors’ anemic offensive output before halftime, their defense generated a touchdown on a 65-yard fumble return.

That’s why, focusing on the big picture, this game was a reminder that the Colts still have a ways to go to trade punches with a legit playoff team and prove it can go the distance.

The Colts need more offensive weapons — they have some young ones who are promising and require seasoning — but general manager Chris Ballard is going to have to find the right quarterback as well as more playmakers if this franchise is going to take the next step.

That’s not to say 17th-year quarterback Philip Rivers, at 38, won't do enough to make the playoffs. It’s still possible. And, for the record, Rivers’ only interception in the third quarter, which he admitted was a bad throw, shouldn’t have been overturned from an incompletion because cornerback Marcus Peters never seemed to have control of the ball while taking three steps backward.

The Ravens capitalized on the turnover and drove for a go-ahead score to make it 14-10. But that controversial challenge isn’t why the Colts lost. Even without it, the Ravens still scored 10 more points after that and would have won because the Colts offense went nowhere.

The Colts gained just 138 total yards in the final two quarters, and that makes it seem better than it was. Seriously, 63 of those yards came on the final drive before time expired, when the Ravens had this decision secured. That’s called “garbage time” for a reason.

Reich insisted on Sunday he’s never been more confident that this Colts team has everything it needs to go all the way. He basically said this is the best of his three squads. He also said there’s plenty of offensive weapons to make this work, especially young talent like rookie wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.

Rivers kind of shrugged when asked pointedly about the offensive issues, saying the unit was good enough in five of eight games. But look at the five games where the offense did enough. That was against the Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, and Detroit Lions — who after Sunday’s games have a combined record of 13-27-1.

That’s why the Ravens loss shouldn’t have come as a shock. Anybody suffering from overwhelming disbelief has ignored too many of the warning signs.

This Colts offense struggles on third down and in the red zone. The Colts converted 2-of-12 (17%) third downs and was 1-of-2 (50%) in the red zone. That the Colts didn’t have more red-zone chances should be troubling.

This offense ranks 28th on third downs (38%) and 24th in the red zone (57.14%).

This offense doesn’t have a genuine No. 1 wide receiver. Since 2012, the Colts fell to 1-10 when T.Y. Hilton doesn’t play. And Hilton isn’t putting up four-time Pro Bowl numbers anymore.

And a rushing offense that has dropped off dramatically from finishing seventh in the NFL last season evidently can’t trust rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, the promising second-round selection, who was punished after losing that second-quarter fumble which allowed the Ravens to tie the game. It was the rookie’s first fumble. He had gained 26 yards on five carries. He was given only one carry which gained one yard in the second half.

Reich has repeatedly been a Rivers apologist when the gunslinger has reverted to risk-taking form and made some terrible mistakes, but the head coach sure seems to be overly harsh on Taylor, who make no mistake, is this team’s best running back.

Don’t be so quick to write Taylor off, which the Colts have now done in back-to-back weeks by giving him only one carry after halftime in both games. And don’t write the Colts off from the postseason just yet.

But should the Colts make the playoffs, they won’t go far. The defense can only take this team so far. For what it's worth, All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard was outstanding, finishing with 15 tackles including an NFL-best 13 solos.

What we wanted to see was a Colts team that, at the very least, had enough to take the Ravens down to the wire. In the first of four consecutive statement games, the Colts’ statement fell far short of encouraging.

Now they have a short week before visiting the AFC South Division-leading Tennessee Titans (6-2) on Thursday night. Then quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (6-2) come to Lucas Oil Stadium. Then the Titans visit Indianapolis after that.

If anyone still can’t see the reality of this Colts situation, please watch the next three games more carefully.

Hopefully, they aren’t all one-sided like Sunday’s second half, but don’t be shocked if the Colts provide more proof about what needs to be done in the offseason to improve the offense and make it a legit playoff team.

(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.)