Colts OL Failing the Grade According to PFF
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The Indianapolis Colts are off to a disappointing 0-1-1 start to the season, warming the seats of head coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard.
Perhaps no unit has been as disappointing as the offensive line considering the Colts have the highest paid unit in the NFL according to Spotrac.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked the offensive lines according to their grading system, and the league's highest paid line fell eight spots this week to No. 17.
PFF singled out guard Danny Pinter as the unit's weakest link. Pinter's grade of 45.8 edged out left tackle Matt Pryor's 48.9 for worst mark against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
The Colts are seeing their offensive line fall apart at the wrong time considering the late stages of Matt Ryan’s career and the issues the team has at receiver. Quenton Nelson, their best player and one of the best linemen in the game, has the best PFF grade of the unit, but that mark is only 75.9. Every member of the line, including backup Bernhard Raimann, has surrendered at least a pressure. Now, the group has to try and block Chris Jones and the Chiefs. - Sam Monson, PFF
Most teams will struggle if they are performing poorly in the trenches, but particularly the Colts. Reich admitted the philosophy of both Ballard and himself is to be strong on both lines of scrimmage.
"The philosophy (general manager) Chris (Ballard) and I have talked about, is it starts up front on both sides of the ball," said Reich to reporters on Wednesday.
"We believe that. We're not backing away from that at all. You've got to have the whole package. You've got to be able to do everything, but it starts up front."
When a team built to be strong in the trenches isn't... well, we've seen the results the first two weeks of the season.
The Colts have a chance to turn their season around quickly on Sunday against perennial Super Bowl contender Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs travel to Indianapolis as a 5.5-point favorite (down from 6.5) according to SI Sports Book.
If the Colts are going to pull off the upset at home on Sunday, they'll need their offensive line's play to start matching its paygrade.
