New England Patriots: An Early Look At The Indianapolis Colts

Nov 3, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Ahmad Bradshaw (44) runs for a few yards against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Indianapolis Colts defeat the New York Giants 40-24. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Unbalanced Offense

Expect a lot of pass attempts this Sunday night because both of these teams are excellent at moving the ball through the air, while they struggle to get anything going on the ground. The Colts attempt the most passes per game, while the Pats attempt the seventh most. Meanwhile they rank 11th and 14th, respectively, in rushing attempts.

The Colts’ running back situation is interesting, because they can’t seem to accept that Trent Richardson is a horrible running back. Richardson has 25 more carries than Ahmad Bradshaw does, and he has 30 less yards. Bradshaw has accounted for eight total touchdowns, while Richardson only has two. If the Colts decided to go all in with Bradshaw, I truly think they would have a much better offense. Maybe the amount of rushing yards wouldn’t go up drastically, but Bradshaw’s ability to make plays in the passing game, and create mismatches against the defense is something Richardson just doesn’t have.

Part of the blame has to be placed on the offensive line as well. The Colts rank 23rd in the league in rushing plays of 10 yards or more, and are 17th in negative rushing plays. As a team, Indy ranks 20th in yards per rush, which has to point to the mediocre play of the offensive line.

In addition, the Colts have given up 57 quarterback hits, which doesn’t have a lot to do with the running game, but it should give Akeem Ayers and company an opportunity at getting after Luck.