Colts’ C Ryan Kelly the X-Factor in Matchup vs. Titans

While the Colts’ defense will have their hands full with Derrick Henry, it will be up to Kelly and the offensive line to fix their issues so the offense can get rolling.

When the Indianapolis Colts face off with the Tennessee Titans each season, the conversation focuses on how the Colts can stop Titans running back Derrick Henry.

The reason for this is that Henry has been arguably the best running back in the NFL for several seasons. Henry led the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns in 2019 and 2020 and was on pace for another incredible season in 2021 before a foot injury sidelined him for half the year. He was the only running back to rush for over 100 yards against the Colts when Matt Eberflus was the defensive coordinator.

And while Henry will still be the top priority for the defense, the Colts are well equipped to take on the challenge. The Colts’ rush defense has been lights out to begin the 2022 season. Led by Grover Stewart on the interior, the Colts are only allowing a league-best 2.6 yards per carry. The 77 yards per game the Colts are giving up on the ground is the third best in the NFL.

While the battle between Henry and the Colts’ rush defense is sure to be a good one, the matchup that will decide the game is on the other side of the ball. The Colts’ offensive line will attempt to protect Matt Ryan and open up holes for Jonathan Taylor against a Titans defensive line hungry to wreck the game.

It is no secret that the Colts’ offensive line has had its issues to begin the season. The Colts have given up the fourth most sacks this season with 12 and are allowing Ryan to be pressured on 28% of his dropbacks. This is an offensive line that has two Pro Bowlers and is being paid a league-high $42.2 million this season. Their performance has simply not been good enough.

“Most teams lose games in the NFL and certainly we didn’t play up to our standards the first two weeks,” Ryan Kelly said last week. “We know we have the guys to do it, we have the urgency to do it. So, it’s all about going out there and doing it.”

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Kelly spoke those words before the Colts took on the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday. The Colts came away with the 20-17 win, but Ryan was pressured all day, once again. The Colts gave up five sacks and ten QB hits against the Chiefs, only saved by Ryan’s heroics late in the game to lead a game-winning drive.

But if the Colts continue to block as they did on Sunday, wins will be hard to come by. Too many times there would be a free blitzer coming at Ryan that was not accounted for, or players would simply get beat from the snap of the ball. It makes things much more difficult for an offense when the offensive line cannot get any push.

So, how can the Colts fix their protection issues? It starts with Kelly. Kelly has not been the worst player on the offensive line for the Colts this season, far from it actually. But Kelly, along with All-Pro Quenton Nelson, is one of the leaders of the unit and has seen what it takes for the Colts’ offensive line to be dominant.

Kelly, along with Ryan, is in charge of calling out the Colts’ protections during the game. While at the line of scrimmage, Kelly is surveying the defense with Ryan and deciding where the protection needs to shift, if any blitzers need to be accounted for, and making sure everyone is on the same page.

Until the Colts can figure out their protection issues, the questions will continue to be asked. Head coach Frank Reich knows how important the offensive line is to the success of this team, and he is fully aware that they have not played up to their standards. But the protection issues stem from the entire offense, not just the offensive line.

“It’s been a very big emphasis, it’s very uncharacteristic,” Reich admitted. “It’s very uncharacteristic of our teams but we have to own that we put that on tape. So, I think we all take that pretty personal. It’s not just – we talked about this, it’s all 11 guys. Obviously, we talk about the o-line but it involves all 11 guys. Tight ends are involved in it, quarterbacks, running backs, receivers getting to the right spot at the right time. It’s a collective effort.”

It's a collective effort that needs to be fixed right away. The Titans have a very stout defensive line capable of taking over the game. Led by Pro Bowler Jeffrey Simmons, former Colt Denico Autry, and pass rusher Bud Duprey, the Titans’ defensive front can attack from anywhere and have guys up and down the line that must be accounted for on every play. Reich knows the importance of getting the protection back on track this week.

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“This is a good week to try and get that back on track because this front, with Simmons and Denico and with all the pressure packages that they have," Reich explained. "They have all this simulated pressure, a lot of zone-dogs simulated pressure stuff, man pressure. They do it all and they disguise it exceedingly well. You can’t tell what’s coming, you can’t tell what’s not coming. So, we’re really going to have to be on point.”

“Yeah, he's absolutely right that we need to (fix it) and we're going to prepare hard and practice and work,” Nelson said, echoing his head coach. “I mean, we're all about solutions and fixing issues and we know what the issues are. We've addressed them and what needs to change in order to play better to fix those issues. We're going to go try to do that to the best of our ability out at practice today.”

From everything Reich, Kelly, and Nelson have said publicly, it seems the Colts know what the issues are and have a plan to correct them. Until they can prove that the issues are fixed, however, teams will continue to test the Colts, and you will see more and more blitzes against the offense. They will have to show it on the field.

“Until you stop it and you show you’ve stopped it, and we’ve shown we’ve stopped it on film before, we just didn’t do it on a couple of plays,” Ryan admitted. “It starts today.”

While Kelly is not the biggest culprit of the issues, he is one of the most important factors in fixing them. Kelly’s leadership will be on full display as he tries to get his unit to play as one. Kelly and Ryan will also need to be in tune with one another as they make the correct protection calls on Sunday.

If the Colts can clean up the protection issues, the offense could be poised to take off soon. However, if they remain this Sunday, the Colts could find themselves 0-2-1 against the AFC South.

Want more Colts content? Check out the first episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast below as Chad Jensen and Andrew Moore give their gut reaction to the Colts upset of the Chiefs!

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