It was not the start Frank Gore envisioned in a Colts uniform, rushing for 31 yards on 8 carries (3.9 yards per carry) at Buffalo week 1, and that’s something the offense wants to fix moving forward.
“I feel like you have to run the ball. You have to do both. If the run is there, it’s there. If the pass is there, it’s there. We gotta do both to win in this league,” said Gore after the game Sunday. “We did have things going, but big penalties. We can’t do that.”
The Colts reached midfield on their opening drive, before a holding penalty and false start backed the offense up to its own 35 to make it 1st and 25. The drive would only go two more yards after that.
“We have to get the run game going,” said right guard Todd Herremans after the loss. “There’s no other way around it. If we don’t get that going, then our pass game is going to suffer, because of it.”
That was the case in the 1st half, when the Colts offense was shutout by Buffalo. Indianapolis called just 7 rushes compared to 26 passes, including a streak of 18 consecutive pass plays, after the Colts ran it 3 of the first 6 plays with Gore for 13 yards.
“Still got to be able to run it more,” said Head Coach Chuck Pagano after the game. “You’re not going to survive by the pass only. I think everybody understands that.”
Part of the reason for the lack of run plays could have been what Andrew Luck was seeing across the line of scrimmage. Built into the Colts offense is the ability to read the defense pre-snap and choose from a few options, the story said. Indy will host the Jets at home on Monday night in Week 2 and it's another tough matchup for Gore owners. But the good news is the team should be focused on running the ball.
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