INDIANAPOLIS – Only three opponents have failed to rush for at least 100 yards this season against the Indianapolis Colts, and the New England Patriots became the third team to reach the 200-yard rushing mark against Indianapolis on Dec. 1.

The Colts (6-7) rank 31st in the 32-team NFL against the run and are 21st with an average of 4.6 yards per carry allowed.

“We’re just giving up far too many explosive plays, not only in the pass game but in the run game,” Indianapolis defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “I think the quarterback is an option now in the run game. You’re seeing that with (Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh) Allen and (New England’s) Drake Maye and (Denver Broncos quarterback) Bo Nix. All these quarterbacks now are more athletic, and you’re seeing all of a sudden quarterbacks having 60, 70, 80 yards a game rushing, which adds to the total.

“It happened to us in the New England game, right? He broke out. We had a spy player for him. We lost him. Next thing you know, it’s 42 yards. So I think the run game is one of the issues that we’re taking a look at right now.”

With Nix and the Broncos (8-5) next on the schedule Sunday in Denver, it’s a problem that needs to be addressed quickly.

Maye rushed five times for 59 yards in the Colts’ 25-24 victory, including a long gain of 41 yards. Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson combined for 25 carries and 135 yards, with Stevenson adding a 32-yard run and Gibson scoring the Patriots’ lone rushing touchdown.

Denver has the league’s 20th-ranked rushing attack, but Nix – a leading rookie of the year candidate — has 67 carries for 304 yards and four touchdowns.

“I mean, he’s a guy that can get out of the pocket,” Bradley said. “He can extend plays. He makes plays on the run. I mean, Bo Nix is a quarterback that runs a 4.5(-second 40-yard dash). So here we go again, a guy that can extend plays, like I said. It looked like earlier … that they used him in the run game — some quarterback runs. They’re still on occasion doing that, but it seems now it’s more getting out of the pocket, getting away from the rush, extending the plays that way rather than coordinated run game. But, yeah, that’s something we’ve got to be aware of because a lot of his explosive plays come off of that.”

Indianapolis’ defense is designed in many ways to bend but not break.

When everything is working in concert, the game plan is to extend opponents’ drives and hope a sack or turnover can eventually get the defense off the field.

The Colts rank eighth in the NFL with 18 takeaways, but they’re 17th with 32 sacks.

Indianapolis ranks 18th with 22.9 points surrendered per contest, and allowing big plays is among the chief areas of concern.

Sacks, run defense and explosive plays are all tied together by the defensive mindset.

“To be honest with you, it’s been a little bit probably stop the run on the way to the quarterback mentality,” Bradley said. “It’s because in this league, you have to affect the quarterback. You have to get pressure on him. Our mindset is we’ve got rushers. We got to do it with four and occasionally try to hit them with the blitz here and there. But now it’s a more concerted effort to say, ‘No we’ve got to slow this run game down.’ To have four explosive runs a game is just far too many.”

ROSTER MOVE

The Colts signed defensive tackle Pheldarius Payne to the practice squad Tuesday and placed defensive tackle Trysten Hill on the practice squad injured list.

Payne played college football at Virginia Tech, Nebraska and Lakawanna (Pa.) College. He made 13 starts with 31 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, one pass deflection and one forced fumble for the Hokies last season.

He signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in May and participated in training camp with the club.

Hill signed with Indianapolis’ practice squad on Nov. 18.