T.Y. Hilton finished with just 29 receiving yards against the Houston Texans on Sunday and took issue with the playcalling of Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski. While the receiver said that speedy deep threats like himself, Phillip Dorsett and Donte Moncrief aren't being used properly by the team, Chudzinski might not be the one to blame.
Matt Hasselbeck’s 40-year-old arm is wasting the Colts’ speedy WR corps
Players like T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and Phillip Dorsett have dangerous deep speed, but it looks like Matt Hasselbeck doesn’t have the arm to utilize them.
Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
It appears as though Chudzinski’s playcalling is compensating for the fact that Hasselbeck’s arm strength is exactly what you’d expect of a 40-year-old quarterback with well over 5,000 career pass attempts.
Hilton certainly has a point when he told reporters that the Colts wide receiver corps wasn’t being used correctly (via Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star):
“We’re fast guys and we’re not going down the field how we’re supposed to. We’re running stick routes, chain routes. I mean, you can do that, but at some point, you have to take your shots to get the defense (moving) back.”
For all but a handful of plays against the Texans, Hilton ran short routes and didn’t use the deep speed that earned him a Pro Bowl nod in 2014. According to Pro Football Focus, Hasselbeck threw a pass targeted 20 or more yards downfield just twice on Sunday, and one of those was intercepted to end the game.
But Chudzinski's willingness to push the ball downfield became apparent when Hasselbeck briefly left the game with an injury. He was replaced by Charlie Whitehurst, who was in for just four plays, but allowed the Colts to open up the playbook, if only for a little while.
On the drive that Hasselbeck was injured, the first two plays perfectly displayed Hilton’s qualms with the offense:
Hasselbeck’s injury came just a couple plays later, and while it was a 21-yard gain, it was still a route that never threatened to get behind the safeties or helped to back the Houston defense up.
When Whitehurst came in, Chudzinski was instantly more willing to draw up plays that would threaten the Texans secondary downfield and utilize the speed of Hilton, Moncrief and Dorsett.
He threw just two passes, both of which were out routes to the sideline, which were broken down by SB Nation’s Colts blog, Stampede Blue, but it was a sack on second down that really showed Chudzinski’s sudden willingness to go deep.
It was the closest Hilton (top of the screen) came to getting open deep and had Whitehurst been given just a second or two of more time to throw, Hilton may have even been open for a touchdown. But protection was also a problem for Indianapolis, with neither Hasselbeck nor Whitehurst given much time to throw.
That lackluster pass protection and the health of Hasselbeck could certainly be a reason why Chudzinski has been hesitant to draw up deep routes, but when he quickly changed philosophy with Whitehurst in the game, it certainly suggested that the Colts offensive coordinator doesn’t trust the aging veteran to pull the trigger downfield.
Should the Colts turn to Whitehurst to lead the offense in the final two weeks of the season as Indianapolis tries to claw its way back into the AFC South lead? Whitehurst’s career completion percentage of 54.7 and his 38.9 completion percentage in 2015 doesn’t make it an obvious solution for an offense that is likely better off sticking with the veteran who can try to lead the team with efficiency.
But until Andrew Luck is back in action, the Colts will have dangerous weapons that aren't able to play to their potential.
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