Moving forward with Phillip Rivers at quarterback, the Indianapolis Colts’ offense needs to find more opportunities to generate explosive passing plays.

Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter believes that ability within the offense still exists.

Advertisement

“Philip has done some things in practice, in the workouts, and all the stuff that we see behind the scenes that gives us a lot of confidence,” Cooter said of Rivers pushing the ball downfield.

Rivers’ presence at quarterback against Seattle provided stability for the Colts. He got the offense into the right looks pre-snap, made good decisions, was accurate overall — and all of that helped the Colts sustain drives.

However, Rivers also finished with only 120 passing yards. He had just two pass attempts of 20-plus yards the entire game.

In part, this is a product of leaning on the quick passing game as often as the Colts did. With an emphasis on getting the ball out of Rivers’ hands, there isn’t time for those longer developing routes. Arm strength is a part of this equation as well.

Advertisement

Along with the lack of explosive passing plays, as ESPN’s Ben Solak noted, the Colts hardly lined up under center against Seattle. Entering Week 16, the Colts have been the most productive under-center team in football on a yards per play basis.

The Colts were trying to win on Sunday by limiting the number of possessions, slowing the game down, and keeping it low scoring. However, winning that way isn’t easy, especially against good teams, and requires nearly mistake-free football because any hurdle can be difficult to overcome.

When a defense isn’t fearful of the vertical pass, they can then play closer to the line of scrimmage, which makes moving the ball in the run game and on short to intermediate routes all the more difficult.

“We have various tools at our disposal to go try to win these games,” Cooter said. “We’re playing a bunch of good teams, and all those tools can help. … Have all the confidence in the world.”

Advertisement

This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts’ offense missing this key element with Phillip Rivers at QB