Colts O-Line Dominates Jets in Run Game

The Colts beat the Jets on TNF 45-30, and their offense had it clicking on all cylinders. Carson Wentz threw for 272 yards with three TDs and a passer rating of 134.3. The Colts only allowed five pressures the entire game and allowed no sacks. But the Colts offensive line really thrived in the run game which lead to the Colts rushing for 260 yards with three rushing TDs on 8.7 YPC. They broke multiple big runs and consistently gashed the Jets defense all night on the ground. In today's film room, we'll examine how the Colts offensive line played in the run game. 

​In the first play, the Colts call a zone run to the left, and all five lineman do a great job. However, Braden Smith made the key block. He does a great job reaching the 3-tech DT and completely walls him off to create a wide alley for Taylor to run through. On the freeze frame, you'll also see how all five guys are engaged with a defender, and that is the key to getting big gains in the run game.  

In play two, the Colts are running zone again, this time to the right. The RG Chris Reed had a big impact on this play as his hustle, and the hustle of Nelson, were key factors in the success of this play. He initially is engaged in a combo block situation, and it looks like he anticipated Kelly not coming off because he let the DT go. However, they did such a good job on the initial drive that even once Reed came off he was not in a position to have an impact on the play. After that, Reed went up to the 2nd level to meet up with other teammates to form a three-man wall that really sprung this TD run. 

The Colts offensive line did a great job in this play, but the play design itself was the star here. The Colts ran three fold blocks on this play with the five offensive lineman and the TE. A fold block is when two blockers essentially cross each other and block players that from a pre-snap read it may not look like they will block. In the play below, the LT, C, and RT go first with the right adjacent teammate coming behind each. All three fold blocks were executed to perfection. The first freeze frame shows the results of the initial action of the fold blocks where Nelson, Reed, and Doyle (the TE) all blocked back. Nelson did a great job of acting like he would engage the DT before leaving him unblocked for Reed to pick up, and then he blocks the unblocked DE. The second freeze-frame shows what happens at the second level. Both Fisher and Kelly get good position and do a great job of latching on to the LBs and driving them multiple yards down the field.  

It's zone left again in play four, and once again the entire offensive line did a good job. However, let's focus on the RG and RT. Reed does a phenomenal job in this play as he drove a DT across the entire length of the initial box. You rarely see that. Smith showed a high football IQ on this play. From the pre-snap read, it looks like Smith is going to have to block the DT that Reed blocked. However, because the DT immediately tries to get down the line to cross Reed's face and avoid the reach, he doesn't have to block him, and there's no LB at the 2nd level on his path. So he immediately turns back to help the TE, and then he gets up to the 2nd level and makes a key block on a safety that helps spring the run for a TD. 

In play five, Taylor ran for a 78-yard TD. While the o-line did a good job on this play, Taylor was the star by the way he found room to get through a very tiny hole in which is highlighted in the freeze-frame on the video. But from an offensive line point of view, Kelly and Glowinski were the key guys in this play. They did a great job with their initial double-team block that led to them driving the defender at an angle that ended up walling off four Jets defenders without Kelly or Glowinksi having to initially touch any of them other than the guy they were double teaming.