It has been a weird season for the Indianapolis Colts. The team is currently sitting at 4-5 despite having a talented roster that managed to finish 11-5 just a year ago. These struggles have led to some people in the fanbase (and in the media) to question Frank Reich's ability as a play-caller. The calls for Reich's head became much louder after the team's most recent lo s to the Tenne see Titans. Many fans were furious about the run-pa s split in the game and beat reporters poured gasoline on the fire by asking Reich post-game if he would consider giving up play-calling duties (which is Isaiah McDuffie Jersey simply absurd). Amid all this discu sion, Reich came out on Thursday and called one of the best games of his career. He pulled a ton of tricks out of his bag and was simply toying with the defense. While it was just the Jets and not a quality defense by any means, it was remarkable how easy the Colts were able to move the ball in this game. So in today's film room, I dove into a few of his best playcalls from the team's dominant offensive showing. The Colts' rushing attack was clicking on all cylinders in this game, as the team's two running backs combined for 25 carries for 246 yards (9.84 yards per carry!). Reich has always had one of the more varied and multiple rushing attacks in the league, but this was a new high for his unit. The staple of the Reich rushing attack is duo concepts. Duo is e sentially power runs without a pulling offensive lineman. The key emphasis on these types of runs is getting vertical displacement with interior double teams so the running back has space to maneuver up the field. This play is a perfect example of duo. Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly are able to drive the defensive tackle out of his gap and Braden Smith is able to lock up the backside with help from Jack Doyle. Chris Reed is able to move his man out of the hole and the rest is up to Jonathan Taylor running past the defense for the score. When the Colts get into shotgun looks, they typically like to run inside zone. One of Reich's favorite wrinkles on shotgun runs is incorporating wham plays with his tight ends. A wham run is a quick hitter that is completely based on timing. As the ball is snapped, the play-side tight end peels back and cuts an unblocked interior defensive lineman. The interior offensive linemen then climb to the next level and create space. That is exactly how this clip plays out except Reed also peels back on the defensive tackle rushing up field. Doyle and Reed handle their guys with ease, while the rest of the offensive linemen climb to the next level Green Bay Packers T Shirts and create space. The result is Taylor rushing untouched for a chunk play up the middle. Reich was setting up this next play all game long. On almost every inside run early in the game, Reich was pulling either a receiver or Nyheim Hines in motion. After a few times of not giving the ball to the motion man, the defense began to neglect that motion as a viable ball carrier. The setup ended up working to perfection, as Reich called the jet reverse to Hines in the third quarter. The defense was too late to react to the run, and Hines was able to turn up field for a huge gain. For some background on Reich, he began his coaching career learning under Tom Moore (Indy) and Ken Whisenhunt (San Diego). The core elements that he learned from these two systems are the importance of receivers working on different levels of a defense (Moore) and the importance of giving playmakers the ball with room to run (Whisenhunt).Scroll to ContinueIn this first clip, it is easy to see those two influences come together. The call is a simple trail route combination with the tight ends out of 13 personnel. Doyle works vertical to clear out the bunched up defenders. Mo Alie-Cox then flashes on Bart Starr Jersey the slant to carry the first out defender out of the bunch. Once those two clear out on different levels, rookie Kylen Granson is left alone on the drag route underneath. The rookie is able to turn up field with a lot of green gra s for the big gain. This next design is a wonderful tendency breaker that works against the flow of the defense. I learned from my good friend Mark Schofield ( ) that this design is a new wrinkle to a lot of offenses called "Hiccup."The play starts as a simple boot-action with many of the routes Brett Favre Jersey working with the quarterback to the right side of the field. Zach Pascal is in the slot and he sells that he is running a corner route with the flow of the play. As he gets to the top of his route, he pivots back inside and runs an over away from the motion of the play. Carson Wentz then stops on a dime, sets his feet, and fires a perfect pa s to the backside for the huge gain. Great design and execution by the offense on the play-action play. The final play to breakdown is the ultimate flex by Reich late in the game. Everything he was calling was working, so why not draw up a throw back pa s to the 6th lineman in the redzone?The Colts have a fairly simple route combination to the interior, with Pittman Jr running a stick route and Alie-Cox working the back line of the endzone. As the play develops, 6th lineman Danny Pinter is selling that he is staying in to block on the play. As his man works past him, Pinter fades into the corner for the wide open catch for the score. This is such a bold play-call by Reich that was the ultimate exclamation mark on a great game.Fandom is impatient and reactionary. I have come to realize this in my couple years covering this team. So, I completely understand the crazed reaction to call for Reich's head after the lo s to the Titans. However, Reich is the last person to blame for this team's struggles on the year. A seemingly broken quarterback is playing solid football, Jonathan Taylor is the favorite to lead the league in rushing, and Michael Pittman Jr is one of the better young receivers in the league. All of that is po sible because of Reich's ability as a play-caller. He has his faults like every good play-caller, but he is an overall net positive on the offense. The team currently sits as the 12th best offense in the league (according to DVOA) and has put up Green Bay Packers Sleepwear Underwear numbers against some good defenses. This past game was just against the Jets, but it featured Reich flexing his ability on an inferior opponent. Frank Reich is a good play-caller and an even better Head Coach. While there have been some rough spots this year, the team is better with him leading the way and calling the plays. This Thursday was just one of many examples of how good he is for this team.