Peyton Manning Over the next few days I’m going to give you more intricate details on what I expect the 2018 Frank Reich led Indianapolis Colts offense to look like. I have arrived at this conclusion based on his history as a player and a coach. I will say Jabaal Sheard Jersey , that while this is an educated theory (I subjected myself to all 16 San Diego Chargers contests of the 2014 season for this series, you’re welcome) it is at best a theory. We don’t know, beyond a shadow of a doubt what his offense is going to look like, but I feel I can get pretty close considering his influences and what the man himself has said. This is part 1 of a 2 part series on the coaches and concepts that may have impacted Frank Reich during his assistant coaching career, tomorrow we will follow up with part 2. If you've missed any part in this series, links to the previous stories can be found at the end of this article. I hope you enjoy reading about the Colts new head coach as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing this piece.The Assistant Coach YearsAs a player Frank Reich made stops in four different NFL cities, as a coach he has also made stops in 4 cities but 2018 is his second stop with the Colts. Reich Started his coaching career in 2008 with the Colts, and stayed on staff until 2011... which is true of most Colts assistant coaches of that era, 2011 was a rough year to be employed by the team. In 2008 Reich got his feet wet as an offensive assistant, 2009 and 2010 saw him as the quarterbacks coach where, I assume he learned as much from Peyton Manning as he was able to teach. 2011 rolled around and Reich moved to wide receivers coach before getting the axe. 2012 represented the first time Frank had been fired in his coaching career, when he received a call (I assume it was a call, I don’t actually know how the conversation was had) from Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt. So off he went to coach Larry Fitzgerald and the rest of the Cardinals wide receivers. To make a long story short, 2012 wasn’t great for Whisenhunt or Frank Reich as both were removed from their posts with the Cardinals. The following season, 2013, Ken Whisenhunt was hired as the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers. Ken knew he was going to need assistants and his old friend, Frank, happened to be available. Reich was hired to coach Phillip Rivers, and I assume Billy Volek because when I think of Chargers backup QB’s I will forever think of Billy Volek and weep. I digress, 2014 saw Whisenhunt become head coach of the Tennessee Titans which left Reich in line to become the offensive coordinator for that Chargers squad. Reich called the plays in San Diego in both 2014 and 2015 before being relieved of his duties. Reich’s time with the Chargers didn’t go as well as he probably would have liked but being fired in 2015 may have been the best thing that could have happened to the guy. Doug Pederson had just been hired as the head coach of a decimated Philadelphia Eagles team after Chip Kelly proved that college football is, in fact, different than the NFL. Pederson needed an offensive coordinator and Frank Reich was his man. Frankly if you don’t know the rest of this story I will assume you’ve been in a coma for quite some time. For those of you who are just waking up from your decade long coma; thanks for choosing Stampede Blue to bring you up to speed with recent football history, Donald Trump is actually the president Jack Doyle Jersey , we have the Army, Navy, Air Force and also the Space Force, I’m 95% sure American Idol is still on TV, hover-boards became a thing, just not as cool as you’re probably imagining them, Robin Williams and a lot of other celebrities you probably liked are dead, also if you just woke up from a coma, why are you on Stampede Blue? Anyway, Frank Reich had a successful two year run in Philly, culminating in a Super Bowl win last season and then getting hired as the head coach of our Indianapolis Colts.So what is Frank Reich bringing with him from his time coaching pro football? His biggest influences have been Peyton Manning, Ken Whisenhunt and Doug Pederson. Maybe not those guys specifically, but he’s learned and grown as an NFL coach, save for two years in San Diego, exclusively under those three guys. The Peyton Manning ColtsIn Reich’s second season with the Colts, Clyde Christensen was named offensive coordinator so with a year under his belt as an NFL coach he was named quarterbacks coach. It’s difficult to say that Manning played “under” Reich, technically that is true but if I were being honest I believe Reich probably learned more about being a coach while “coaching” Manning than Peyton learned about quarterbacking from Reich. With that said I couldn’t imagine a better starting quarterback to cut your teeth with, than Manning. He was a better, younger version of Jim Kelly. He loved tempo, he threw for a boat load of yards and they both had the ability to call their own plays.In this time Reich was likely reintroduced to a favorite concept of both the Run-N-Shoot and K-Gun; levels. The levels passing concept just so happened to be Peyton Manning’s favorite concept and he wasn’t bashful about using it, often. The Colts had great route runners so at the snap a defense couldn’t tell if it was going to be levels or smash because of the way the Colts of that era ran the play, it looked the identical until a receiver made his break. Further, even if the other team knew it was coming Cheap Andrew Luck Jersey , if everyone made the correct reads and did their job someone was going to be open and Peyton was usually good enough to find them. So what is levels?There are a few variations, some use three receivers on one side of the field, some use two and once again it can be run from almost any formation, but the gist of it is there are at least two in breaking routes on the same side of the field, a 10-12 yard in, usually from the nearest pass catching option (TE or Slot) and a 5 yard in from the receiver. The three receiver look would include two 5 yard in routes. The above is just a sample of a 2 man look. I didn’t include routes on the backside of this play because it’s impossible to know what look or looks Reich and co. are going to come up with — but I can be pretty sure they’re going to be designed to keep the middle of the field open for the crossing routes coming from right to left. The idea of levels is to make a defender, usually a linebacker, make a decision — cover the 10 yard in or the 5 yard in and whoever he doesn’t cover comes open in the middle of the field. Depending on the coverage called it’s possible that both linebackers take away both crossing routes, and in that case the running back will be very open out of the backfield. All of this is assuming that both in-breaking routes win against the defender lining up directly across from them, which should absolutely happen. Once again, the entire point is to spread the defense out, isolate a defender and make him make a decision. Once that defender, usually an outside linebacker, makes his choice, the QB exploits it. The Run GameDuring the Manning years the Colts ran mostly zone schemes and they were at their best when the outside zone, or “stretch” run was clicking. The outside zone run consists of the offensive line blocking a “zone” instead of a single man. Before the snap, each lineman determines if he is covered or uncovered (it’s exactly like it sounds) generally speaking if you’re covered you’re going to block the guy in front of you if you’re uncovered you’re helping the guy next to you and then working to the second level. At the snap the line takes a “zone step” in unison in the direction the play is going. This creates an advantage for the offensive line regardless of the defensive alignment but it also creates an inconsistent target for the halfback, the hole becomes a moving target as a result. The running back will have three reads given this concept; bounce, bang and bend. I could spend the next 1000 words going over exactly what the running back will do based on what he reads, instead, just know that in theory one of these running lanes should be open. Ideally the other team will have surrendered the edge, if not the back will look to “bang” the ball straight forward and if that’s not there he will look to “bend” back against the grain and catch the flowing defense out of position. Edgerrin James made a truckload of money mastering this play. This concludes part 1. In part 2 of our look at Frank Reich’s assistant coaching career we will see concepts from his time with Ken Whisenhunt and Doug Pederson. Stay tuned. Frank Reich’s offense: An introductionFrank Reich’s offense: The Maryland yearsFrank Reich’s offense: The NFL yearsFrank Reich’s offense: The assistant coaching years, part 2Frank Reich’s offense: The 2018 Indianapolis Colts http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-anthony-walker-jersey , part 1Frank Reich’s offense: The 2018 Indianapolis Colts, part 2 Andrew Luck made his thoughts perfectly clear after another loss last week.He expects the Indianapolis Colts to clean things up.Whether it's missed throws, dropped passes, penalties or turnovers, just about every glaring flaw that could strike has and it's left the Colts in a major early season bind."Basically what he's talking about is we've got to stop making self-inflicted mistakes, the penalties, things that we can control, ball-handling and things like that," running back Robert Turbin said Monday."If we can execute, obviously it's not going to be perfect, but we'd definitely like to execute more times than not and definitely not beat ourselves when we're out there on the football field."Until the Colts start making more plays — and fewer mistakes — the results aren't likely to change.Indy (1-4) has lost three straight, falling two games behind AFC South co-leaders Jacksonville and Tennessee.And with just a few corrections, things could look very different.Cincinnati snuffed out one comeback chance when usually sure-handed tight end Jack Doyle fumbled in the final minute of the season opener. The Bengals returned it 83 yards for a touchdown to seal a 34-23 victory.Two weeks later, at Philadelphia, Luck again had Indy in position for the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes left — only to be sacked on fourth-and-3 from the Eagles 4-yard line.In Week 4, at home against Houston, receiver Marcus Johnson failed to haul in a third-down pass on the opening possession of overtime, forcing the Colts to settle for a 44-yard field goal. Luck's errant throw on fourth-and-4 from his 43-yard line allowed the Texans to drive for the winning field goal as time expired.On Thursday, Luck's strong second half cut a 21-point deficit to seven, until Zach Pascal's inability to make a catch at the Patriots 38-yard line led to an interception. New England converted the turnover into a TD and a 38-24 lead."That was one game, that was the last game," receiver Chester Rogers said, referring to a long pass he dropped against the Pats."We've got to fix that. It's fixable you know Womens Matt Slauson Jersey , something that's just been happening. We've had some drops, we've got to fix it, plain and simple."While the receivers' miscues certainly have been in the spotlight, they are far from Indy's only problem.Luck's postgame comments began with a self-critique. Since returning from surgery on his right shoulder, Luck has thrown a league-leading 245 passes with eight touchdowns and five interceptions and blamed himself for misreading a blitz the only time he was sacked Thursday.Only eight teams have committed more penalties than Indy's 38."I saw Andrew's statement about kind of getting out of our own way. Certainly, that is apropos," coach Frank Reich said Friday."We've just got to play cleaner football. We've just got to play good football. We talk about it all the time. We believe in our players, we believe we have the talent to win games."It would help if the Colts could get some of their playmakers back on the field.The offense played Thursday without Doyle, Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton, either of its starting offensive tackles or starting running back Marlon Mack.The defense began the game without rookie Darius Leonard, the NFL's leading tackler through four weeks, or cornerbacks Kenny Moore II, Quincy Wilson and Nate Hairston and finished it without safety Clayton Geathers (concussion), linebacker Anthony Walker (concussion), defensive tackle Denico Autry (hamstring) or safety Mathias Farley (hamstring).Reich — and everyone else inside the team complex — hopes a few extra days off between the loss to New England and Sunday's visit to the New York Jets will help get some key players back."Two weeks ago, it was pretty stiff but now it feels pretty loose when I go out there," Mack said Monday. "Each and every day they add more stuff for me."Leonard also believes he'll play this weekend.But the Colts know the actual solution it's less about who is on the field — and more about just playing smart football."I think when we look at ourselves, we're going to have to learn how not to lose before we can give ourselves a chance to win," Luck said Thursday night. "It's frustrating, the stuff out there. We're all frustrated but I don't think anybody's losing the belief."Notes: The Colts signed defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad and safety Tray Matthews to the practice squad Monday. Muhammad was originally claimed by the Colts off waivers from New Orleans following the final cutdowns and played in two of Indy's first four games. Matthews was an undrafted rookie who was cut by Minnesota on Sept. 1. ... Indy also re-signed tight end Mo Alie-Cox to the practice squad late last week.