Getty Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan faced less pressure, but the Tennessee Titans pass rush still made plays in Week 4.
The Indianapolis Colts made a change along their offensive line ahead of the matchup against the Tennessee Titans in Week 4. But unfortunately for the Colts, it didn’t work as well as they hoped.
Indianapolis replaced its most struggling offensive lineman — right guard Danny Pinter — with 2021 seventh-round pick Will Fries. It was Fries’ seventh appearance and first start in the NFL.
If there was any improvement at right guard and along the Colts offensive line overall, though, it was only margin. The Titans pass rush still impacted the matchup, and the Colts ground game had its worst day of the young 2022 season.
Indianapolis must now regroup quickly before facing the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football.
Colts Offensive Line Still Struggles in Week 4
The Colts kept their switch to Fries at right guard a surprise until hours before kickoff on October 2. But The Athletic’s Bob Kravitz wrote that the change made little difference.
“The Colts tried to shake things up by benching right guard Danny Pinter and replacing him with Will Fries, but the results were the same,” wrote Kravitz. “There were a host of reasons the Colts lost this game, not the least of which were the three turnovers.
“But the larger issue remains: They can’t do the one thing that has long defined this franchise, and that’s run the football.”
All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor has averaged 2.8 yards per carry in the last 2 games. Against the Titans, he posted his lowest rushing average since Week 10 of the 2020 season.
Heading into Monday Night Football in Week 4, the Colts rank 27th in rushing yards (87.75 per game) and 27th in yards per carry (3.5). Indianapolis also has just 1 rushing touchdown this season despite having Taylor, who led the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns in 2021.
Pro Football Focus Grades Fries’s Performance Poorly
The 1 area where the Colts offensive line was a little better was in pass blocking. During the first 3 weeks, Indianapolis allowed an average of 9.3 quarterback hits per game. In the shutout loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts yielded a season-high 11 quarterback hits.
The Titans recorded only 5 quarterback hits. Generally, quarterback Matt Ryan had more time throw in Week 4, and it resulted in his season-highs of 356 passing yards and 9.6 yards per pass.
But the Titans still manufactured pressure in key moments. Tennessee sacked Ryan on third-and-long and forced a fumble to end Indianapolis’ first drive. The Titans sacked Ryan again on second-and-long when the Colts were in Tennessee territory looking for the game-tying touchdown late in the third quarter.
PFF awarded Fries a pass blocking grade of 44.4. That’s better than the 36.4 passing blocking grade Pinter received from PFF in the first 3 games, but Fries was still below replacement level, which is 59 and lower.
The PFF grading scale is out of 100.
The Colts also traded Fries’ slightly better pass blocking for worse blocking for the running game. Fries received a 36.6 run blocking grade for his performance in Week 4. PFF graded Pinter with a 55.6 run blocking grade through the first 3 weeks.
None of the Colts offensive line have been good in run blocking during the first month of the season. Other than Fries, who has the worst run blocking grade on the team, all the Indianapolis linemen have a grade between 55-66 in run blocking. PFF considers any grade below 70 as “backup” level.
Whether its Fries or Pinter playing right guard on Thursday against the Broncos, the Colts line has a lot of improvement to make in order to help the Indianapolis offense get rolling.