Frank Gore was one of the big free agency acquisitions for the Indianapolis Colts, but they barely used him in their Week 1 embarrassing 27-14 loss against the Buffalo Bills. Andrew Luck threw 49 passes throughout the game and struggled mightily for the most part. It was a sobering loss for the Colts and they have to change up their offense heading into their Week 2 matchup with the New York Jets.
There is absolutely no excuse for Gore to only see eight carries throughout an entire game. He ended up having 31 yards on those eight carries, but the Colts signed him to give them a legitimate 100-yard rushing threat each and every week.
Head coach Chuck Pagano and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton need to sit down and have a chat about what they really want out of the offense. Reports came out last week that Gore would be given a count on how many carries he receives so that he can be fresh and healthy down the stretch of the season, but perhaps the Colts should focus on making sure they even are a playoff team coming down the stretch.
At 32 years old, Gore has been one of the toughest and most consistent running backs in the NFL. He knows how to take care of himself to be ready to make a run late in the season and into the playoffs. Holding him back from being a major playmaker for the offense to get the year started is a major mistake by the coaching staff.
Looking ahead to Week 2 against the Jets, the Colts have to establish the ground game early and often with Gore. Balancing the passing game and ground game is what will get them wins. Hiding Gore and protecting him from “getting tired” is a ridiculous reason not to put the best football team that the Colts can out on the field.
Gore is more than capable of putting up 100 yards each week if the Colts give him the carries necessary to make that happen.
If the Colts want to become the Super Bowl contender that everyone hyped them up to be, they have to use their weapons. Luck shouldn’t be passing 50 times per game and Gore should be carrying the football around 20 times per game. Indianapolis would be a much more dangerous team if they decide to change their offensive game plan to something close to that in Week 2.
It will be very interesting to see what the Colts do against the Jets. One thing is for sure, which is the fact that Gore is a workhorse and the Colts signed him to be just that. Changing their minds now would be a big mistake.
Expect to see Gore get quite a bit more work in this coming week against the Jets and to be a major impact player. http://gty.im/457943854
