Shane Steichen Staples: Passing Out of Pistol Formation

Cheat motion became the most talked about wrinkle in the NFL this season, as teams attempted to imitate the success of the Miami Dolphins' offense from the past two years. The Colts didn't use this type of motion all the time, but it nearly worked to great success on this play-action call against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Colts are in a run-heavy 12 personnel look in pistol on this play. Receiver Isaiah McKenzie motions across the formation (as the cheat motion man) and runs a wheel up the sideline on the play fake. Alec Pierce runs off the safety and slot corner, creating a wide open void on the outside for McKenzie to sit down.

Richardson is slightly late on this pass, causing it to sail high as the safety closes in from his deep half. If Richardson would have worked back to the outside a little bit quicker on this play, this would have been a nice chunk play completed to McKenzie on first down.

The most effective play-action design out of pistol for the Colts last year was this throwback screen to the running back. The Colts ran this play on three separate occasions, with all three resulting in completions and a total of 34 yards gained.

Running back Jonathan Taylor was the benefactor on two of this screen calls. The one shown below came against the Tennessee Titans, as the veteran running back is thrown the ball on the backside of the play with a ton of green grass in front of him.

This play works due to the Colts' heavy usage of the run game out of pistol formation. Constantly barraging a defense with outside zone runs from the same look opens up the opportunity for wide open passes like this on the backside:

The final play-action design that the Colts hit on out of pistol last season was bootleg. This call works the same as an under center boot call, just with fewer steps for the quarterback to make after the run fake.

The Colts weren't super effective on these calls last season (Gardner Minshew's lack of mobility and arm strength hurt them a bit), but this play below was a nice completion to Pierce working across the field.

The Colts could certainly stand to expand their boot action calls from pistol going into next season with a more advanced and more athletic player in this spot than Minshew:

RPO Designs

The term RPO became synonymous with the Colts in 2023, as Indy broke the record for most RPO calls per game in the NFL (since they started tracking RPOs nearly a decade ago). The Colts relied heavily on the RPO game to make life easier for Minshew this past season, so it makes sense that this call worked its way into pistol as well.

This 3rd and one call against the Titans in week 13 was one of the biggest missed opportunities of the year for Indy. Steichen draws up an absolutely gorgeous RPO play to free up Pierce on the seam route, Minshew just doesn't pull the trigger on the wide open lay-up.

It's hard to say what went wrong on this play but from a play design standpoint, it doesn't get much better than this. The RPO call created a wide open play, the offense just failed to capitalize on it:

This next RPO is a sweet design to get a playmaker out in space. Rookie Josh Downs hit the rookie wall late in the season, so the Colts had to find creative ways to get the ball back into their playmaker's hands. This RPO flat call is certainly one way to do that.

The Colts start this play with Downs in the backfield next to Minshew prior to the snap. Downs will typically motion out of this look but he stays in there until the snap on this call. As the ball is snapped, Downs crosses the formation into the opposite flat off of the RPO call.

Pierce does an excellent job of picking Downs' defender, as Downs is able to seamlessly catch the flat throw and turn up field for a chunk gain.

The Bottom Line

The Colts weren't hyper efficient out of pistol this past season, but there were some passing concepts that hit big out of these looks in 2023. With Anthony Richardson's arm talent, and threat as a runner, returning to the offense, the Colts could look to expand upon what worked out of pistol in 2024.

If anything, these play designs showcase the superstar that is Shane Steichen. He took a formation that he had little work with in the past and found some designs that worked. He is an absolute joy to study and watch on Sundays with the Colts.

Need your fill on daily Colts' content? Head over to the Locked On Colts' YouTube channel where Jake Arthur and I hit on all the major topics surrounding this team. Hit that subscribe button while you are there!