Indianapolis, IN — The current Indianapolis Colts offense isn’t just a drastic change from that of yesteryear, nor is it solely the best from the Chris Ballard era. Head coach Shane Steichen’s offense has evolved overnight into becoming appointment viewing for football fans far and wide.
Despite a dominant start out of the gate, brakes were pumped early on during the season as fans and analysts alike wanted to see such a display against better competition. The ‘any given Sunday’ phrase is often tossed to the wayside as a legitimate talking point, and although that’s fair, that very sentiment has kept the Colts’ offense afloat from overrated talks.
Fast forward seven weeks, and Shane Steichen’s genius is imprinted on the offense. Playing ventriloquist like you wouldn’t believe, he has singlehandedly instilled a newfound life into Daniel Jones, and thanks to general manager Chris Ballard for bringing in rookie phenom tight end Tyler Warren, this Colts offense isn’t just humming, it’s firing on all cylinders.
Against the Los Angeles Chargers, this surgical dominance was on full display to the tune of 38 points scored (through just 3 quarters, mind you). The Colts totaled 401 yards of offense on 58 plays, averaging a whopping 6.8 yards per play. Steichen’s offense was legitimately doing whatever it pleased throughout the course of the game, showcasing yet another picture-perfect example of complementary football: 281 yards passing (8.0 ypp), 120 yards rushing (5.2 ypc), zero turnovers committed, and zero sacks allowed.
It’s not just the one game, however. No, not at all. Even if you’ve been living under a rock for the past several weeks, it’s simply unfathomable that one has yet to hear rumors of such a turnaround. The Indianapolis Colts are leading the league in points per game scored (33.1!), are 2nd in total yards averaged (380.3 yards, have surrendered the 6th-least amount of giveaways (4), and are the best in the NFL at sacks given up per game (0.9).
This Colts’ offense is doing something truly historic. Not only is it one of the greatest single-offseason turnarounds in recent memory, especially considering the revolving door of storylines looming, but this Colts offense is reaching heights that even Peyton Manning’s Colts never achieved. According to a statistical dive done by The Ringer’s Anthony Dabbundo on rbsdm.com, the Colts are the most efficient offense by points per drive this century through seven weeks.
Shane Steichen is the mastermind who is pulling the strings offensively, and not to try and diminish his efforts thus far by any means, but said offense is simply littered with talent — something fans and analysts alike, myself included, have deemed a subpar supporting cast in years past.
Perhaps the correct guard was changed in the form of two new starters across the interior line in C Tanor Bortolini and RG Matt Goncalves, a rookie phenom TE Tyler Warren added to the fray, with the missing puzzle piece in the now-successful reclamation project QB Daniel Jones, but for the most part, this core is the same group that GM Chris Ballard has sworn up and down will be the saving grace. With that being said, this could’ve very well been a last-ditch effort turned all-timer job-saving showing, but it’s near impossible not to at least give props to Ballard and Co. for staying the course.
The vision was often mocked at, but to once more flip the script, maintaining belief in Shane Steichen and his staff is undeniably the driving force behind such an abrupt emergence, especially offensively. None of these talented players would achieve such success if it weren’t for the genius behind the play sheet, and perhaps another disappointing Colts season would’ve resulted had Indy parted ways with Steichen ahead of the season. We’ve approached hypothetical territory backed by hindsight bias, but as much as this dominance was unforeseen, the equal amount of praise should be sung, regardless of how we got here.
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