What's up with the OL run blocking?

[BProland85]

Let me preface this by saying, I was only able to watch the first half of the game, and will watch the 2nd half tmrw, but from what I saw again today we are still struggling opening big holes in the run game the way we were the past 2 years with this elite OL. 

 

Is it simply the shortened offseason where the OL is still gelling together this year, or could it be attributed to losing Mack perhaps? I feel a bit as if this OL isn't attacking people like it was the past 2 years. 

[w87r]

I think running out of the shotgun so much isnt helping things.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

It needs to get better but we did play a pretty good defense.

[jimmy g]

Q hasn’t been as dominant as last year.  My guess is his back is killing him?

[GoColts8818]

I think it’s some them and some the Colts are very stubborn and predictable with their play calling.  They telegraph when they are going to run and rarely run play action in obvious running plays to catch the other team off guard and even if the other defense stacking the box and keying on the run they still try to run it right now down the middle.
 

I also think Taylor and most definitely Hines and Wilkins are not as good at seeing holes as Mack was.    
 

Also, the use of the use of the running backs has been odd outside of Vikings games.  Today Hines and Wilkins got 18 carries to Taylor’s 17 when Taylor had 4.0 ypc while Hines and wilkins has 2.7 and 1.7 respectfully.  That’s too few for Taylor and way too many for Hines and Wilkins.  Also I don’t know why they are so determined to have Hines run it up the gut.  That’s not his game.  He’s good in space.  Taylor and Wilkins are your guys to run it up the gut.  
 

if I never see the draw hand it off to Hines out of the gun on 2nd and long again it will be too soon.  It’s fooling no one.  Anytime Hines comes in teams know he’s getting the ball and they key on him.  They aren’t fooling anyone with him.  
 

I think Frank is getting too wrapped up in trying to make sure Hines gets touches and he out thinks himself by thinking if I put Taylor in there it tells teams we are running when in reality teams expect the Colts to run regardless of who is in there and are daring them to throw.  
 

I think that’s part of it too.  Teams are attacking the Colts run game because they know that’s their strength and daring them to throw it.  The Colts saw this over the back half of last year and struggled to adjust to it and are doing the same this year.

[Indyfan4life]

4 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

I think it’s some them and some the Colts are very stubborn and predictable with their play calling.  They telegraph when they are going to run and rarely run play action in obvious running plays to catch the other team off guard and even if the other defense stacking the box and keying on the run they still try to run it right now down the middle.
 

I also think Taylor and most definitely Hines and Wilkins are not as good at seeing holes as Mack was.    
 

Also, the use of the use of the running backs has been odd outside of Vikings games.  Today Hines and Wilkins got 18 carries to Taylor’s 17 when Taylor had 4.0 ypc while Hines and wilkins has 2.7 and 1.7 respectfully.  That’s too few for Taylor and way too many for Hines and Wilkins.  Also I don’t know why they are so determined to have Hines run it up the gut.  That’s not his game.  He’s good in space.  Taylor and Wilkins are your guys to run it up the gut.  
 

if I never see the draw hand it off to Hines out of the gun on 2nd and long again it will be too soon.  It’s fooling no one.  Anytime Hines comes in teams know he’s getting the ball and they key on him.  They aren’t fooling anyone with him.  
 

I think Frank is getting too wrapped up in trying to make sure Hines gets touches and he out thinks himself by thinking if I put Taylor in there it tells teams we are running when in reality teams expect the Colts to run regardless of who is in there and are daring them to throw.  
 

I think that’s part of it too.  Teams are attacking the Colts run game because they know that’s their strength and daring them to throw it.  The Colts saw this over the back half of last year and struggled to adjust to it and are doing the same this year.

For whatever reason we are failing to adjust to this. It’s annoying for sure, but hopefully, eventually Reich will open up some play action and keep defense more honest. On the flip side of things...what defense are we scaring in the passing game right now?

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, Indyfan4life said:

For whatever reason we are failing to adjust to this. It’s annoying for sure, but hopefully, eventually Reich will open up some play action and keep defense more honest. On the flip side of things...what defense are we scaring in the passing game right now?

None and that’s part of the problem.  At the same time if you don’t try to use it some that will never change.

[2006Coltsbestever]

It is not as bad as people are making it out to be. As a team we had over 100 Yards rushing and Taylor averaged 4.0 a carry on 17 for 68. 

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It is not as bad as people are making it out to be. As a team we had over 100 Yards rushing and Taylor averaged 4.0 a carry on 17 for 68. 

Yeah after looking at things after the game I think it’s more play calling and personal usage.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

Yeah after looking at things after the game I think it’s more play calling and personal usage.

Being in shotgun a lot doesn't help either but that may be Reich protecting Rivers more?

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Being in shotgun a lot doesn't help either but that may be Reich protecting Rivers more?

Taylor does fine out of the gun.  I think it’s more trying make Hines something he isn’t and that’s a between the tackles runner that’s the issue.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, GoColts8818 said:

Taylor does fine out of the gun.  I think it’s more trying make Hines something he isn’t and that’s a between the tackles runner that’s the issue.

Yeah Hines isn't good running off tackle, I like Wilkins better regarding that. Hines is good outside though. I think Reich will get it down to a science. It is still early in the season. at 3-1 we all should feel good after losing to the Jags on opening day, that sick feeling is gone to me now. I hate that Mack is out for the year but Taylor looks good to me and can handle most of the carries IMO.

[EastStreet]

Bears sold out a lot vs our run. We didn't adjust. 

Taylor still had 4.0 even with the selling out.

Reich needs to make it easier on the OL. Hit the edge more, don't be so predictable, run some power/man blocking.

And of course, the easy one, less Hines up the gut.

[EastStreet]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah Hines isn't good running off tackle, I like Wilkins better regarding that. Hines is good outside though. I think Reich will get it down to a science. It is still early in the season. at 3-1 we all should feel good after losing to the Jags on opening day, that sick feeling is gone to me now. I hate that Mack is out for the year but Taylor looks good to me and can handle most of the carries IMO.

If you ask Hines to shoot the edge, or do some misdirection, he's great. Don't ask him to be a zone read RB up the gut of off tackle. And if you do want to send him between the Ts, go power/man so he can just hit the hole hard.

[Moosejawcolt]

I think they suffer from Brissettitis. Whats that u say? A qb who lacks skill at the wr posittion. Pascal is our #2 and he is at best a #4. Teams r attacking Rivers as he is a statue. The Colts passing game is not taking any pressure off the run game. The O linr is constantly being pressured.  I think the Bears have 4  1st rounders playing linebacker. They have talent and the O line is up against it. Much like last year actually. Expect to see this, as we have little talent at the wr postion.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Moosejawcolt said:

I think they suffer from Brissettitis. Whats that u say? A qb who lacks skill at the wr posittion. Pascal is our #2 and he is at best a #4. Teams r attacking Rivers as he is a statue. The Colts passing game is not taking any pressure off the run game. The O linr is constantly being pressured.  I think the Bears have 4  1st rounders playing linebacker. They have talent and the O line is up against it. Much like last year actually. Expect to see this, as we have little talent at the wr postion.

But yet we are 3-1. 

[runthepost]

We played a stout defense and that what happens sometimes

[Moosejawcolt]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

But yet we are 3-1. 

That can turn quickly.  We r not w good match up against the Browns. Cant believe I actually just said that lol

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Moosejawcolt said:

That can turn quickly.  We r not w good match up against the Browns. Cant believe I actually just said that lol

I have to admit the Browns do have me worried, sounds funny but they do. We need to bring our A game to beat them, they are also 3-1 and playing great on offense. 

[GoColts8818]

11 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Yeah Hines isn't good running off tackle, I like Wilkins better regarding that. Hines is good outside though. I think Reich will get it down to a science. It is still early in the season. at 3-1 we all should feel good after losing to the Jags on opening day, that sick feeling is gone to me now. I hate that Mack is out for the year but Taylor looks good to me and can handle most of the carries IMO.

Agreed.  I think Wilkins is more suited to be the guy to spell Taylor although his 1.7 ypc today was disappointing.  Hines is a third down speciality back who I think should be used more as a decoy right now until teams back off him.

[Hoose]

I expect Reich to adapt to the fact that he’s predictable as hell. The run game 

[B~Town]

The Bears D Line is excelent and Pagano called a great game . Has been gaping holes that were missed weeks before so I see no problem with the o line .

[ColtsLegacy]

Death, taxes, and forcing Hines shotgun dives.

 

The funny thing is when we went to single back set (12 or 13 personnel) the run worked pretty well, but then we went back to the crappy shotgun dives which are unimaginative and called so predictably. Most of the time the back is hit in the backfield because defenders know what's coming and sell out. If only Frank did ONE (1!) PA off that into a TE pop pass or something.

[Hoose]

Just now, Hoose said:

I expect Reich to adapt to the fact that he’s predictable as hell. The run game 

Sorry. The run game is so frickin obvious.  Reich is supposed to be a sophisticated play caller. But if we can predict what he’s calling, so can every two bit D coordinator. So the question is.... will Frank get creative or not. He continues to  make some horrible calls every week. Here it comes.... see if you can stop it. Well, Frank, they’re stopping it. Pleeeze, pass the frickin ball more often which will set up the run. Please. 

[runthepost]

The bears Dline has Mack, and 2 linemen that are over 330 but don’t move like their weight  Honestly let’s get Goldman, Hicks, and Mack to lineup with Buck. We would never have to blitz a down again

[Moosejawcolt]

25 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I have to admit the Browns do have me worried, sounds funny but they do. We need to bring our A game to beat them, they are also 3-1 and playing great on offense. 

I dont think we have enough offensively to keep up with thrm

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Moosejawcolt said:

I dont think we have enough offensively to keep up with thrm

Depends on how well our D plays. Mayfield has been known to lay eggs 

[MFT5]

play calling, formstions, rarely mix en tosses & power runs. runnning game is just stale. we should look exactly like 49ers on offense.

 

Stop running out of shotgun. it's pointless.

[MFT5]

57 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It is not as bad as people are making it out to be. As a team we had over 100 Yards rushing and Taylor averaged 4.0 a carry on 17 for 68. 

 

we left maybe 100 yards on the field bc of playcalling. sure numbers look decent but how would yu feel if michael jordan scored 26 points.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, MFT5 said:

 

we left maybe 100 yards on the field bc of playcalling. sure numbers look decent but how would yu feel if michael jordan scored 26 points.

Oh we definitely can improve no doubt but it was good enough for today. Yeah if Jordan didn't score at least 30 it was bad for him  

[Thunderbolt]

Definitely could do better in the run blocking.  RBs aren't making those big chunks like we had envisioned them to do....Play call can also be improve...But a win is a win as they say. Go Colts

[NewColtsFan]

46 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

But yet we are 3-1. 

And we were 5-2 after 7 games last year.   I’m just saying things can change. 
 

Who knows how we will do in the 2nd half of the schedule when things get much tougher?    As it is, things will get tougher next week @Cleveland. 

[Architects08]

I was disappointed with the run game. The Bears rush D wasnt that good. They gave up 6.6 ypc to old man Peterson. Then were giving up 7 ypc to Saquan before he went down. Gurley and Hill were around the 5 ypc mark too. 

[John Waylon]

I do think part of it has to do with defenses now being more willing to sell out on the run against us. We don’t have an Andrew Luck under center anymore that they just can’t do that with. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

We do need more play action. We are moving the ball fine then stalling and settling for FG. That has a lot to do with not using your imagination and getting to predictable. Reich gets to into analytics some times and just needs to use his instincts. We also need to throw it deep a couple times to loosen up the defense. The pass to pascal needs to happen more with our WR. Rivers doesn’t look like his arm is washed up so that is good. You can see why teams want QB that can extend plays when things break down.

[2006Coltsbestever]

47 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

And we were 5-2 after 7 games last year.   I’m just saying things can change. 
 

Who knows how we will do in the 2nd half of the schedule when things get much tougher?    As it is, things will get tougher next week @Cleveland. 

Oh yeah, Browns will be a real tough game. That one has me worried. I am just happy we are 3-1 for the 1st time since 2013 when Luck was our QB.

[EastStreet]

42 minutes ago, Architects08 said:

I was disappointed with the run game. The Bears rush D wasnt that good. They gave up 6.6 ypc to old man Peterson. Then were giving up 7 ypc to Saquan before he went down. Gurley and Hill were around the 5 ypc mark too. 

They were selling out for the run a lot in the game. I pretty much expected them to do that given what we've done the previous 2 games. They couldn't sell out against the Giants or Falcons due to their run/pass mix.

[Malakai432]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It is not as bad as people are making it out to be. As a team we had over 100 Yards rushing and Taylor averaged 4.0 a carry on 17 for 68. 

I thought it was efficient enough today since the D was utterly dominating.  The D held the Bears to under 30 total rush yards lol!  Colts had over 300 yards of total offense and over 100 rushing as you stated.

I do think the offense looked pretty vanilla though and the most worrisome thing is their inability to convert in the red-zone and their 3rd down conversion.  I feel like the drives stall often.

 

[GoColts8818]

43 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

I do think part of it has to do with defenses now being more willing to sell out on the run against us. We don’t have an Andrew Luck under center anymore that they just can’t do that with. 

I agree with that to a point.  Part of the problem is that the Colts don’t do anything to make them not sell out against the run.  They run in obvious running situations and pass in obvious passing situations.  They also run the same plays over and over week after week.  So if you have a DC with his salt at all he knows what’s coming based on how the Colts line up.  That’s why I hate on second and long they always go into shot gun with Hines teams know what’s coming.  A draw up the middle.  So they sit on it and what do you know somewhere between a 2 yard gain and a 2 yard loss every time.  
 

Frankly anytime Hines is in the game teams know what’s coming.  The ball is going to Hines on a handoff or a dump off out of the backfield yet the Colts keep trying to force it and it’s well covered.  All it takes is one or two passes out of a play action or using Hines as decoy and teams will back off.  
 

Granted the Colts are a little handcuffed at the WR position because of the injuries but they aren’t event trying to keep the other team honest.

[lollygagger8]

9 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

I think it’s some them and some the Colts are very stubborn and predictable with their play calling.  They telegraph when they are going to run and rarely run play action in obvious running plays to catch the other team off guard and even if the other defense stacking the box and keying on the run they still try to run it right now down the middle.
 

I also think Taylor and most definitely Hines and Wilkins are not as good at seeing holes as Mack was.    
 

Also, the use of the use of the running backs has been odd outside of Vikings games.  Today Hines and Wilkins got 18 carries to Taylor’s 17 when Taylor had 4.0 ypc while Hines and wilkins has 2.7 and 1.7 respectfully.  That’s too few for Taylor and way too many for Hines and Wilkins.  Also I don’t know why they are so determined to have Hines run it up the gut.  That’s not his game.  He’s good in space.  Taylor and Wilkins are your guys to run it up the gut.  
 

if I never see the draw hand it off to Hines out of the gun on 2nd and long again it will be too soon.  It’s fooling no one.  Anytime Hines comes in teams know he’s getting the ball and they key on him.  They aren’t fooling anyone with him.  
 

I think Frank is getting too wrapped up in trying to make sure Hines gets touches and he out thinks himself by thinking if I put Taylor in there it tells teams we are running when in reality teams expect the Colts to run regardless of who is in there and are daring them to throw.  
 

I think that’s part of it too.  Teams are attacking the Colts run game because they know that’s their strength and daring them to throw it.  The Colts saw this over the back half of last year and struggled to adjust to it and are doing the same this year.

 

7 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

I agree with that to a point.  Part of the problem is that the Colts don’t do anything to make them not sell out against the run.  They run in obvious running situations and pass in obvious passing situations.  They also run the same plays over and over week after week.  So if you have a DC with his salt at all he knows what’s coming based on how the Colts line up.  That’s why I hate on second and long they always go into shot gun with Hines teams know what’s coming.  A draw up the middle.  So they sit on it and what do you know somewhere between a 2 yard gain and a 2 yard loss every time.  
 

Frankly anytime Hines is in the game teams know what’s coming.  The ball is going to Hines on a handoff or a dump off out of the backfield yet the Colts keep trying to force it and it’s well covered.  All it takes is one or two passes out of a play action or using Hines as decoy and teams will back off.  
 

Granted the Colts are a little handcuffed at the WR position because of the injuries but they aren’t event trying to keep the other team honest.