When talking about the Colts offense Andrew Luck is obviously the big name. He has a couple of very good targets in wideout T.Y. Hilton and tight end Eric Ebron. Marlon Mack has also emerged as a solid weapon in the running game. However, the biggest change in their offense this season has been the much-improved play of the offensive line. Not only have they been better at opening up holes in the run game but the difference in the sacks they’ve allowed has been staggering. Last season Indy allowed the most sacks in the NFL with 56 and this season they allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL with just 18.
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If you simply stop there at the fact that Indy has allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL it would seem to indicate that the one strength of the Chiefs defense (their pass rush) is likely to be neutralized by the excellent pass protection of Indianapolis. However, just like I did with the Colts defense I wanted to dig a little deeper into the teams that they beat this season.
So I looked over the nine teams that Indianapolis beat this season and how many quarterback sacks they had this season. When I averaged all nine teams together, the average team sacks for the year was just 34.9 sacks. That number would rank 28th in the NFL this season. That’s right, the average team sacks of the teams that the Colts beat this season would rank just 28th in the NFL. Now, to be fair, the Oakland Raiders pitiful 13 team sacks (sorry, that’s just embarrassing) brings the average down quite a bit, but even without the Raiders the other eight teams still only averaged 37.6 sacks. That’s still way below the Chiefs number of 52 that was tied for the most in the NFL.
It’s also interesting to look at the sacks they allowed in wins compared to losses. In the Colts 11 wins, they have allowed just six sacks. That’s right! Six sacks in 11 games for an average of just about a half a sack per game. However, in their six losses, they allowed twelve sacks or two per game. Now, two sacks per game still isn’t bad and is below the 3.25 sacks per game that the Chiefs averaged this season, but it should give K.C. fans hope that the Chiefs will be able to get some pressure on Luck in this game. After all, none of those six teams that the Colts lost too had near as many sacks on the season as the Chiefs did. The closest was Philadelphia with 44.
So while the Colts are definitely on a hot streak they simply haven’t faced offenses like the Mahomes-led Chiefs and haven’t faced a pass rush like that of Kansas City with their three-headed attack of Dee Ford, Chris Jones, and Justin Houston. The Colts have lost every game this season where their opponent put up big offensive numbers (they were 0-4 when the other team scored 30 points or more), and they gave up four times as many sacks in the games they lost than in the games they won. I’ve also seen some things online about how the Colts are giving up big numbers to tight ends and that Patrick Mahomes has put up great numbers this season against zone defenses like the Colts run, but I’ll let others elaborate on those points more.
The bottom line here is that these numbers matter a whole lot more in this matchup than the results of previous playoff games that took place years ago. The Colts don’t have some magical power over the Chiefs in the playoffs, but the Chiefs do have the most dynamic playmaker in the NFL this season in quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That is why the Indianapolis Colts are the team that should be worried when they come to Arrowhead Stadium this Saturday to face the soon to be MVP and the best team in the AFC.