Colts’ Matt Ryan, Offensive Line Silence Critics in Win vs. Jaguars
As the Indianapolis Colts walked off the field on September 18th, the criticism began to fly their way.
After being shut out 24-0 by the Jacksonville Jaguars in a “revenge” game for the Colts, the words used to describe their performance were uninspired, embarrassing, and flat-out pathetic.
The offensive line was in shambles, allowing five sacks and constant pressure all day. Quarterback Matt Ryan looked washed, fumbling the ball once and throwing three interceptions. The Colts looked like a team destined to fail, and an abysmal season was on the way.
Fast forward to Sunday, and the Colts would have to take on the Jaguars again. While at Lucas Oil Stadium for this matchup, the offensive line was still trying to figure things out, and Ryan had racked up 11 fumbles and seven interceptions in five games. Did I mention the Colts would have to capture their first divisional win without All-Pros Jonathan Taylor and Shaquille Leonard?
But after 60 minutes, it did not matter. The offensive line? Solid. Matty Ice? Brilliant. Altogether, it resulted in a Colts 34-27 victory to bring the Colts to 3-2-1.
“Great team win,” head coach Frank Reich said after the game. “What we just talked about it in there, is team wins come in all shapes and sizes, right? Sometimes it's 12-9, you know, sometimes it's 34-27, but they're all good team wins. So, I feel great about that we’re doing what it takes in all three phases to win two tough games in a row to create a little bit of momentum.”
The Colts’ offense looked like one of the worst in football just a week ago against the Denver Broncos. The offensive line was a turnstile, and Ryan was a turnover machine. While they got the victory on the back of their defense, the Colts’ offense looked like a lost cause.
But Reich, Ryan, and the offense went back to the drawing board. The Colts utilized no-huddle and quick passing concepts all afternoon. The result was an eruption for 434 yards and 34 points, the most points the Colts have scored all season.
“We've been talking about it for a couple weeks,” Reich admitted about the no-huddle offense. “About two weeks ago, as a coaching staff, we said we knew the Jacksonville game was coming up and we were just talking about stuff and we kind of earmarked this game to give it a shot, try to create some momentum with it. So, glad it worked out well. Matt handled it perfectly.”
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The Colts have used the no-huddle sparingly throughout the year. The offense does not normally go into no-huddle until they need to. However, Reich felt the no-huddle offense would help neutralize the Jags’ pass rush, helping alleviate pressure on the offensive line and allowing Ryan to get the ball out quickly. Both worked to perfection.
The offensive line came into today’s game giving up a league-high 21 sacks in five games. After a huge shake-up that saw new starters at three different positions against the Broncos, they switched things up again with Matt Pryor moving inside to right guard and Braden Smith moving back out to right tackle. Bernhard Raimann started at left tackle for the second game in a row.
The Colts’ offense started slow. The offensive line was holding up okay but not getting the protection or push that they needed. Then Dennis Kelly came into the game at left tackle, and things began to change.
Kelly is a ten-year NFL veteran who has started 51 games in his career. After dealing with a knee injury throughout training camp, Kelly had not received any snaps on offense all season up until Sunday. The Colts had planned to rotate Kelly in some with Raimann, but Raimann would receive the majority of the reps. However, once Kelly got in, that plan quickly changed, and the veteran tackle stayed in for good.
“We were going to go with Bernhard,” Reich explained. “We were going to alternate him. And then Strauss (Chris Strausser), we talked about it late in the week. We said, ‘Okay, how much are we going to?’ We could see Dennis has been getting better, but really felt like we wanted to make a commitment to Bernard. But, I mean, you’ve got to prove it. And Bernard is doing fine. But what happened is Dennis got in there and he just looked good.
“And so, I just told Strauss, ‘Hey, it's your call, Strauss.’ I have the position coaches manage that in the game. If there's anything that we need to talk about I said let's talk about it. But he's watching it. He's watching it every play. And I think he just saw Dennis get in a rhythm and felt good about it.”
The result was the best performance from the Colts’ offensive line all season. Kelly handled the speed of Jaguars’ pass rusher Josh Allen well, Pryor looked much more comfortable at guard than at tackle, and Smith held his own back at right tackle. In the end, the Colts gave up zero sacks on the day, the first time that has happened in 2022.
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Zero sacks were given up in 58 pass attempts. Yes, you read that correctly. The last time Ryan threw it 58 times in a game? 2013, when he was only 28 years old.
“That was a long time ago,” Ryan laughed.
But it was a day when the 37-year-old quarterback turned back the clock. Ryan was in control the entire game, slinging the football all over the field and dishing the ball to a myriad of receivers. Without Taylor and fellow running back Nyheim Hines, who was out with a concussion, the bulk of the offensive production would fall on the passing game.
Ryan finished the day 42-of-58 (72%) for 389 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, and zero fumbles. Ryan also passed Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino for seventh on the all-time passing yards list. He looked calm in the pocket, made quick decisions with the football, and got the ball to his weapons so they could go to work.
Ryan went to his WR1 most of the afternoon, as Michael Pittman Jr. hauled in 13 catches for 134 yards. Anytime Ryan was under pressure or needed a big conversion, he looked Pittman’s way. Deon Jackson (121 total yards, TD) and Parris Campbell (seven catches, 57 yards, TD) stepped up to have their biggest games of the season. Kylen Granson (four catches, 38 yards) continued to make big catches on third down.
“I'm not sure how many yards Deon had, but he had a lot,” Ryan recalled. “He played extremely tough. He was huge for us catching the ball out of the backfield. Parris played well, tight ends played well. Kylen had a couple big catches for us, which were huge. And Pitt, I think, he had, like, 13 catches or something like that. Yeah, so I mean, that's huge. And that's the player he is. We trust all those guys.”
But when the Colts had to make plays to win the game, Ryan turned to a pair of rookies who are quickly establishing themselves as major contributors to the offense. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Ryan tossed a touchdown in the back of the end zone to Jelani Woods to give the Colts their first lead of the day. The touchdown was Woods’ third of the season.
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Ryan trusted his rookie pass catchers one more time. Down 27-26 and the Colts driving, they faced a third-and-13 from the 32-yard line. They only needed a few yards to make it a comfortable kick for Chase McLaughlin to take the lead, but Ryan wanted the kill shot.
“If you get the look you're looking for, don't hesitate,” Ryan said. “Let it go.”
And that’s what Ryan did. With one-on-one coverage on the outside, Ryan took a shot deep to Alec Pierce. A perfect throw, a tough catch, and a Colts lead with 17 seconds left. Matty Ice strikes again.
“Frank went into the headset and he said, ‘Hey, trust what you see. You can go this or you can go that.’ And I just trusted Alec. He's so good on those kind of routes. I think a lot of times in those situations, throwing the ball past the sticks, being aggressive, taking a shot is huge. You can't play scared in those situations. And I thought it was, you know, a great call. Great route. And just tried to give him a chance. And a really good play by him.”
“I just saw the ball up in the air,” Pierce recalled. “I had a little bit of a step. At least (Shaquille Griffin) was in panic mode, so he was chasing so he wasn’t able to react. Just a beautiful ball by Matt and just trying to catch it.”
Last week, the defense was the unit that pulled out the victory for the Colts. This week, with the defense giving up 243 yards on the ground, the victory went to the offense. Down 14-3 in the second quarter, Ryan and the offense outscored the Jaguars 31-13 to get their first divisional victory of 2022.
But the Colts know they cannot rest on this performance. Another huge game looms next week as they travel to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans. The winner will hold sole possession of first in the AFC South.
“It's a week-to-week league,” Reich said. “We've got to put this one behind us, learn from it and continue to find ways to improve.”
The Colts’ offense needs to build on this performance. While Ryan and the offensive line deserve credit for the bounce-back game, these types of performances need to be closer to the norm than the exception.
If the Colts have found something on offense, the criticism they have heard all season will dissipate. One way to ensure that happens? Take care of business against the Titans.
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