Brian Spurlock – USA TODAY sports
Believe it or not, the Indianapolis Colts entered the 2013 NFL season as a running football team. Colts first-year offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton made this much very clear in the offseason when he called his squad “a physical, downhill running football team.” However, plans change and it looks like Hamilton will be forced to abandon his previous commitment to the run as Indianapolis lost it’s starting running back Vick Ballard to injured reserve on Friday.
While Ballard rehabs from a torn ACL, the Colts will now have to rely on an injury-prone Ahmad Bradshaw to carry the teams running load. Hamilton could very well run Bradshaw into the ground, but it’s more likely that Indy puts a bigger workload in the arms of Andrew Luck.
It could be worse for the Colts as Luck has all of the tools to be the next best quarterback in all of the NFL. Moreover, this supposed move to a more aerodynamic offensive attack should make for an interesting campaign for a second-year quarterback, who is all to used to having a workhorse in the backfield.
Indianapolis ran the ball 26 times in it’s Week 1 victory over the Oakland Raiders and Luck only had 23 pass attempts. Look for Luck’s attempts to go up as the weeks roll on as Bradshaw isn’t someone who can be trusted to take the ball more than 20 times a game.
Devin O’Barr is the Content Commentator for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DevinOBarrRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
