One of Shane Steichen's main objectives for the Colts' offense heading in to 2025 was to stay ahead of the chains with positive plays on first down.
Through two games, no offense in the NFL has been better at doing just that.
"Taking those completions are huge," Steichen said at the NFL Owners Meetings back in March. "Just moving the chains instead of being at second and 10 and even taking the check downs, getting yourself to second and 2."
The Colts enter Week 3 averaging an NFL-best 7.7 yards per play on first down, and the Colts have turned 20 of their 68 first down plays into another first down. And when the Colts aren't able go first-down-to-first-down, they've consistently been set up for success.
That's because despite having the second-most first down plays in the NFL, the Colts have the 22nd-most plays of zero or fewer yards on first down (18).
On second, third and fourth down plays, then, the Colts have a success rate of 44 percent, third-highest in the NFL.
| Down | Average yards to go | NFL rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | 6.6 | 1st |
| 3rd | 5.3 | 1st |
"You want to be ahead of the chains for sure," Steichen said Wednesday. "You don't want to get yourself in second-and-long situations. So being efficient on first down is a big part of it whether that's running it or throwing it, or whatever you're doing to get that done and just executing at a high level."
That's an area in which the Colts' offense has had success this season. Something they're looking to improve upon, though, is how they've operated in the red zone.
Through two games, the Colts have had 11 drives reach the red zone – tied with the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars for the highest total in the NFL. While the Colts and Bills are the only two teams to score on all 11 of those possessions, only four of those scores have been touchdowns (36.4 percent).
"Just looking at that stuff, obviously I've got to do a better job with those things – putting them in position," Steichen said. "Obviously, we're scoring, we're moving the ball, but those are four-point plays that we've got to get better at. So obviously (a) deep dive into that this week to help those guys."
Only five teams have a lower red zone touchdown rate: The Las Vegas Raiders (33.3 percent), Atlanta Falcons (28.6 percent), Tennessee Titans (20 percent), New York Giants (14.3 percent) and Houston Texans (0 percent).
On those 11 drives, the Colts have ran 37 plays – most in the NFL – but have a success rate of 35.1 percent, 18th. The issue here is the Colts have faced 10 third downs in the red zone and scored a touchdown or generated a first down on just three of them; two were quarterback sneaks by Jones with one yard to go that resulted in a first down and a touchdown, respectively.
Half of those 10 third down plays required the Colts to gain seven or more yards – an awfully difficult task in the red zone. Still, the Colts' average yards the sticks (or end zone) on third down in the red zone is 5.0, right in line with their 5.3 yards to the sticks average on all third downs this season. And, by success rate on first and second down, the Colts (34.6 percent) are actually above the league average (32 percent) inside the red zone.
Jones, though, has completed four of 12 red zone passes (33.3 percent); the only two sacks he's taken all season came on red zone dropbacks – and those sacks knocked the Colts out of the red zone. The good news is Jones hasn't put the ball into harm's way in the red zone – he has zero "turnover-worthy" throws inside the 20, per Pro Football Focus – which has allowed the Colts to still consistently get points off the leg of kicker Spencer Shrader.
The Colts also haven't been able to get their run game going in the red zone – Taylor has 11 rushing attempts, tied for the most in the NFL, but is averaging just 3.8 yards per carry and has two first downs on those plays.
Jones pointed to the Colts needing to improve in the red zone when the team's two-game streak of Rigoberto Sanchez not having an official punt was brought up.
"It's great we haven't punted, but we've got to convert those (fourth downs) and got to score touchdowns in the red zone," Jones said. "So there's plenty to look at that we need to improve in terms of sustaining drives and finishing the touchdowns."
The recognition from the Colts here is while their offense has got off to a fast start this season, it's not yet fully-formed. In 2024, eight of the NFL's top 10 scoring offenses were also top-10 red zone offenses; in 2023, it was seven of 10 teams.
But the good news for the Colts is, if they're able to keep up their success on early downs, they'll get plenty more opportunities in the red zone to improve.
