The Indianapolis Colts know one offensive issue must swiftly change ahead of their Week 2 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
What was the problem?
After the Colts’ opening scoring possession, four of their next nine first-down plays before halftime resulted in lost yardage, while another ended with a turnover. So, Indianapolis struggled to stay on schedule, and it doomed them in their 41-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Naturally, avoiding those long second- and third-down situations against Kansas City is vital.
“You got to stay ahead of the sticks — is a big thing in every game, but don’t beat yourself in these third-and-long situations, second-and-long situations,” head coach Shane Steichen said, via Colts.com. “We got to be really good, be efficient
on first down, on early downs to stay out of those situations.”
Quarterback Daniel Jones echoed Steichen’s message.
“Any time we can stay ahead of the chains, we can get in advantageous situations for us,” Jones said.
Indianapolis has shown it can thrive in those situations. Through Week 13 last season, the Colts led the NFL with 7.0 yards per play and +0.182 EPA per play on first down while ranking second with a 55.2% success rate, per theColts' team site.
Reestablishing that early-down efficiency would give Jones and the Colts much more flexibility against an aggressive Chiefs defense.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts identify key offensive priority ahead of matchup with Chiefs
