Against the Miami Dolphins defense, the Indianapolis Colts will have to find a way to get their run game going.
Now, that isn’t any sort of ground-breaking information–getting the run game going every week is important to not only the Colts but all teams.
However, this week it feels like a near-must as the Colts face what has been a fairly stingy Dolphins pass defense.
Entering Week 7, the Dolphins have allowed just 10 explosive pass plays, which is tied for the second-fewest in football. Even factoring in the bye week, adding the Dolphins’ average of two explosive pass plays per game given up to their total of 10 would still have them ranked in the top-five in this category.
The collective 6.2 yards per pass attempt surrendered by Miami also ranks 11th in the NFL and the opposing quarterback’s passer rating of just 80.2 is the sixth-lowest this season.
On the flip side, where teams have found some success against this defense is in the run game. Despite playing one fewer game than many teams, the 19 explosive runs given up by Miami are still the seventh-most and their explosive play rate of 15.6 percent surrendered in the run game is the second-highest.
On average, opponents are ripping off runs of 4.7 yards per attempt against the Dolphins, which ranks in the bottom-third.
For the Colts, they’ve been one of the best teams at creating big plays through the air, but accomplishing that in this game could prove challenging against this defense–adding to the importance of them finding success on the ground.
While big plays are great, as we’ve seen, when that is a team’s main method for moving the ball it makes it quite difficult to sustain drives.
This is where a strong run game becomes incredibly valuable. Even without explosive runs, averaging four or five yards consistently keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and can open up the passing game–including some of those downfield opportunities.
Without Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor, as expected, the Colts run game hasn’t been the same the last two weeks. Against Jacksonville, Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson totaled 64 yards on 15 carries and then had 80 combined yards on 26 carries versus Tennessee.
The bulk of that damage was done by Goodson, who should be in line for a larger role after these last two games. Even when running the ball has been difficult, he’s brought some needed juice to that part of the game.
The good news is that it sounds like Anthony Richardson could return this week, while we are still in wait-and-see mode with Taylor.
Finding consistent success on offense for the Colts likely begins with being able to move the ball steadily in the run game.
