Three things to know about the Pittsburgh Steelers next opponent the Indianapolis Colts.
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers head to Indianapolis for an AFC clash that could have playoff implications down the road, and after last season’s 30-13 battering by the Colts, the Steelers want to get back at Indianapolis.
The Colts come into this game beaten up. While the Steelers have some injuries, they are nothing compared to what the Colts are missing on defense. They will have just five of their original defensive starters and will also be missing additional depth pieces.
While the Steelers have some injuries, they are walking into enemy territory as the favorites in this one. Here are three key things to know about the Colts:
Shane Steichen’s System
Part of what made the Colts so good against the Steelers last year is their offensive scheme. In the past, Shane Steichen has diced up Mike Tomlin’s defenses, whether during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles or the Colts. The Colts run an RPO-heavy style of offense with unique concepts in the run game. They always have a plus one on opponents in the run game because of Anthony Richardson’s legs, which makes it even harder to defend.
Steichen will try and use his offense’s athleticism to get his playmakers in space. More than that, he tries to manipulate numbers in the box so Jonathan Taylor can either use his patience to create explosive runs or break one tackle and create an explosive run. Taylor has done that well, and an underrated offensive line for the Colts has followed his lead.
The Colts rank in the Top 10 in almost every rushing metric, including EPA/rush, success rate, and explosive play rate. Steichen’s offenses average 32 points per game against Tomlin, so he has something to prove here. With a defense that now has solid tacklers in space and players with speed, this match-up could go differently than the rest. Regarding the quick game, Richardson’s scatter-shot nature is hurting that part, too. Either way, Pittsburgh must be prepared for Steichen’s bag of tricks.
Shane Steichen’s System
Part of what made the Colts so good against the Steelers last year is their offensive scheme. In the past, Shane Steichen has diced up Mike Tomlin’s defenses, whether during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles or the Colts. The Colts run an RPO-heavy style of offense with unique concepts in the run game. They always have a plus one on opponents in the run game because of Anthony Richardson’s legs, which makes it even harder to defend.
Steichen will try and use his offense’s athleticism to get his playmakers in space. More than that, he tries to manipulate numbers in the box so Jonathan Taylor can either use his patience to create explosive runs or break one tackle and create an explosive run. Taylor has done that well, and an underrated offensive line for the Colts has followed his lead.
The Colts rank in the Top 10 in almost every rushing metric, including EPA/rush, success rate, and explosive play rate. Steichen’s offenses average 32 points per game against Tomlin, so he has something to prove here. With a defense that now has solid tacklers in space and players with speed, this match-up could go differently than the rest. Regarding the quick game, Richardson’s scatter-shot nature is hurting that part, too. Either way, Pittsburgh must be prepared for Steichen’s bag of tricks.
Gus Bradley, Still the Same
The Colts’ defensive coordinator, Gus Bradley, is still kicking it like he always has, and the Colts are playing the third-highest single-high in the NFL. Anyone who knows Bradley going back to his days at Jacksonville will know he runs a ton of Cover 3. While Bradley has changed some of his spots in recent years, the Colts are still rolling that extra safety into the box to defend the run. This week, that likely becomes even more apparent.
The Colts have started popping in some more Cover 6 and other coverages just for disguises. Bradley does not want teams keying in on what he is doing too much, especially quarterbacks who can be prone to turnovers. Justin Fields should be aware of safeties moving around pre-snap on the back end to try and disguise what they are doing.
The most significant change is that Bradley has started to turn up the heat on quarterbacks, especially on third down. Indianapolis blitzes 43 percent of the time on third down, which is the third most in the NFL so far this season. So, the Steelers must also be prepared for that part of Bradley’s schemes.
Explosive Plays
The Colts have struggled to maintain drivers together despite their run game working. For one, Richardson and the passing offense are 30th in success rate. A lot of that is because Richardson has been unable to establish anything in the short or intermediate parts of the field, but they are second in explosive play rate offensively this year. To explain how much the Colts rely upon their explosives in the passing game, Richardson has a better completion on balls traveling 50 or more air yards than he does on balls behind the line of scrimmage. That is the type of player the Steelers are dealing with, and he leads the NFL in average depth of target at 12.3 yards per target.
Until Richardson figures out how to win underneath, and maybe this is the week that can change that, the Steelers need to be ready for Richardson to launch the football against any coverages and hunt the explosive play. That is what is making the Colts offense work right now despite concerning numbers around the board, and that could keep Indianapolis in this one if they can get a play or two on the Steelers down the field.
