The Indianapolis Colts came away with a huge 35-33 victory on the road against the Tennessee Titans yesterday afternoon, but it still wasn’t a pretty win. There were quite a few disappointing aspects of the game, but veteran running back Frank Gore was not one of them. After two straight weeks of playing below expectations, Gore came through and looked like a star for the Colts.
During Sunday’s game against the Titans, Gore ended up carrying the football 14 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns. One of his touchdowns was the game clinching score from six yards out late in the fourth quarter.
That is exactly what general manager Ryan Grigson went out and signed Gore for and there is plenty of room to continue improving throughout the remainder of the season. Indianapolis has to be very excited about finally seeing the type of bruising ground attack that they have missed out on since Edgerrin James was in town.
Andrew Luck still didn’t look like the superstar that many expected him to be, but once Gore got going late in the game it made things much easier on him. He was able to shred the secondary late in the game, while Gore was able to put the game away with consistent running on the last drive. That is exactly what the Colts have missed over the last few seasons in particular, although the Colts never should have been in a position where they needed that part of his game.
There are still some major concerns for the Colts moving forward, but getting Gore going is a huge step forward.
Not only is Gore an excellent running back statistically, he is also one of the best pass blocking backs in the league. He made quite a few plays throughout the game that went mostly unnoticed, but backup running back Josh Robinson came into the game and wasn’t able to make those same plays at times. When Robinson missed those blocks, Luck usually ended up either getting sacked or hit.
Looking ahead at the upcoming few weeks, the Colts have to continue keeping Gore on the right track. Establishing him early and often each and every game is the right way to win football games. Gore may not be the 1,000-yard running back that he has been throughout the majority of his career with the San Francisco 49ers, but he is still more than capable of reaching that goal if he can get things going immediately.
Expect to see Gore continue putting up consistent numbers throughout the remainder of the season and to be a go-to running back for the Colts.
