Indianapolis Colts

Colts hope Denver win offers preview of 2016 success

Published Jan. 8, 2016 3:01 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Indianapolis Colts' decision this week to retain offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski carries with it optimism the success he and quarterback Andrew Luck shared in their lone game working together in 2015 will carry over into next season.

Chudzinski, who took over after the team fired Pep Hamilton on Nov. 3, only had one game to work wiith Luck before the quarterback suffered a lacerated kidney and partial torn abdominal muscle that ended his season.

But that Nov. 8 win over the then-undefeated Denver Broncos was arguably the team's best victory of the season. Luck completed 21 of 36 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns without turning the ball over. The Colts also displayed rare offensive balance, running the ball 40 times.

Via the Colts' official website:

"The game that we played against Denver, I think that’s the vision of how you would want this thing to go and how I would see it going from a performance standpoint in what we can be and what we can do,” Chudzinski said.

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The Colts' 27 points scored were the second most given up by the Denver defense all year. The Broncos finished the fourth in NFL during the regular season, surrendering an average of 18.5 points per game. Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay hopes next year will offer a chance to continue that success.

“We’ll never know what could have been after Denver, but we sure want to find out about the future because I think great things are in store,” Irsay said.