Has Colts OL Found Its 'Groove'?
The Indianapolis Colts offensive line had its best game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday.
Quarterback Matt Ryan attempted 58 passes and the Colts didn't allow a sack.
Coming into the game, Ryan had been sacked 21 times on 195-pass attempts, or roughly one every 10 passes. That number escalated to one in six the previous game against the Jaguars as Ryan was sacked five times on 30 attempts.
"Yeah, different lineup," said offensive coordinator Marcus Brady on the offensive line shakeup leading into last week. "Hopefully we kind of found a groove last week."
"Obviously, we still want to get the run game going so we can have that balance. But I thought our line did a great job. Obviously, any time you throw it that many times and don’t allow a sack, I thought they did an excellent job there. Now, we’ve just got to find some continuity there and then we can continue to grow and have a good balance attack offensively there."
Brady knows that the battle for first place in the AFC South against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday will present another set of challenges for a line just starting to find its footing.
"As far as Tennessee, it’s a good defense," said Brady. "They do a great job, good pass rush with (Jeffery) Simmons and Denico (Autry), Bud Dupree. I mean they’ve got guys that can get after the quarterback so we’ve got to continue doing a great job."
"We’ve got to try and slow them down with a good balance there."
While Ryan had a terrific day for the Colts, throwing the ball 58-times per game isn't a sustainable plan for the Colts to win over the course of the season.
Brady speaks of balance, and the Colts will make a conscious effort to get running back Jonathan Taylor and the running game more involved in the offense.
Step one for the improving offensive line was protecting Ryan better.
Mission accomplished.
Now it's on to re-establishing the once-dominant Colts running attack.
