?Shutdown Corner? offseason TPS report: Indianapolis Colts (Shutdown Corner)

[Feed Robot]

Over the next few weeks, "Shutdown Corner" will pay homage to "Office Space" (TPS reports) as we take a quick look back at each team's 2012 season and a look at what lies ahead for the 2013 offseason. We continue our spin around the AFC South with the Indianapolis Colts. 2012 record : 11-5 What went wrong : The Colts' conversion to a 3-4 was not a smooth transition. Indianapolis ranked 26th in total defense, including 29th against the run, had the league's 21st-ranked scoring defense and were one of the league's least-effective pass rushes, reaching opposing quarterbacks 32 times. Ten of those 32 sacks came in three games against the Jacksonville Jaguars (five over two games) and Green Bay Packers (five), who were two of the three NFL teams that allowed 50+ sacks in 2012. Football Outsiders' advanced metrics, which adjust for opponents, had the Colts ranked 31st in defensive DVOA and 32nd against the run. The Colts offensive line remains a work in progress, ranking 26th in Football Outsiders' "Adjusted Line Yards" metric as the Colts averaged less than four yards (3.8) per rushing attempt. The Colts line also allowed 41 sacks in the regular season and three more in the playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens. What went right : "The Kid's Are Alright". The Colts transition from Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck appears to be a success as Indianapolis won 11 games and returned to the postseason after a forgettable 2011 season. Luck did not miss a snap as a rookie, completing 339-of-627 pass attempts for 4,374 yards – a new NFL single-season record for a rookie - with 23 touchdowns through the air and a team-high five touchdowns on the ground (Manning didn't score his fifth rushing touchdown until his fourth season in the league). Luck wasn't the most efficient quarterback in the league, or even among an outstanding crop of rookies, completing just 54.1 percent of his passes with 18 interceptions, but with his former college coordinator joining the coaching staff, Luck should increase his completion percentage and decrease his interceptions as the team moves to a West Coast system similar to the one he ran at Stanford. In addition to Luck, the Colts' 2012 draft class of wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (50 receptions for 861 yards plus a team-high seven touchdown receptions), tight ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen, and fifth-round running back Vick Ballard give the team a nice, young nucleus of talent to build around. On defense, inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman, signed as a street free agent out of CFL, started 16 games, played 98.67 percent of the defensive snaps and led the team with 145 tackles while adding a four-yard interception return for a touchdown in his NFL debut. Coaching/front office changes : The Colts lost offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who did a tremendous job filling as interim head coach while Chuck Pagano underwent treatment for leukemia. To replace Arians, Pagano went to Palo Alto, California and plucked Pep Hamilton, Luck's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Stanford, to take over the Colts offense. The front office lost vice president of football operations Tom Telesco, who was named general manager of the San Diego Chargers. Telesco beat out Chargers director of player personnel Jimmy Raye, who took Telesco's old job with the Colts. Estimated 2013 cap space : $43.79 million

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