'Everything Is On The Table' When It Comes To Red Zone Play Calling, Colts' OC Says
At some point, heads are going to start rolling when it comes to the Indianapolis Colts and their continuous red zone issues.
Against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, the Colts were 1-for-4 in the red zone in a 28-16 loss. Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2, the Colts were 1-for-3, taking a sack and throwing an ill-advised interception on a shovel pass from Carson Wentz intended for Jack Doyle.
To date, the Colts have converted on just 33.7% of their red zone tries, good for 28th in the league, according to NFL.com. The Colts sit just ahead of the New York Jets, New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, and New England Patriots.
That's a slight decline in red zone numbers from 2020, where the Colts were 21st in the league with a conversion percentage of 56.92% under Frank Reich, offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni and quarterback Phillip Rivers.
Obviously, Sirianni is in Philadelphia as the Eagles' head coach and Rivers is coaching high school football, while Wentz is the new face of the franchise under center and Marcus Brady is the new offensive coordinator.
Reich is still the play caller though, and the Colts are consistently failing in that area of the field, which consistently puts them at a disadvantage week after week. Knowing that, Brady stated that everything is on the table for the Colts when it comes to the red zone issues moving forward.
“I mean everything is on the table. We’re always looking at studying the red zone," Brady said to reporters Tuesday. "It changes week-to-week just by the team that we’re playing. Teams do different things in the red zone. We know that we’ve got to be better as an offense, as coaches, players, that we’ve got to capitalize on those opportunities, especially first-and-goal at the one. That’s unacceptable for us to not put the ball in the end zone. We take pride in it and we’re going to get back to work and be able to punch it in.”
The Colts have to start capitalizing on the goal-to-go situations that they find themselves in early in the 2021 season, plain and simple. Converting the two goal-line looks inside the 5 yard line against the Seahawks could have made that game look much different, much like the opportunities against the Rams in Week 2.
While the Colts are sitting at 0-2 and trying to figure out how to deal with the injuries that continue to pop up, they're not far off from being 2-0. Clean up the issues in the red zone and this season has a much different feel to it as the Colts prepare for the AFC South opener against the Tennessee Titans in Week 3.
Have thoughts on the red zone struggles for the Colts through two weeks? Drop a line in the comments section below letting us know how you feel!
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