An important facet of the Colts’ offense is the ability to play at a fast pace. It limits the opposition’s ability to make defensive adjustments or substitutions, but it’s an advantage that’s in danger of being nullified this season.

And you can thank the NFL.

In the offseason, the league decided to move the umpire from the middle of the defense to behind the offense, in an attempt to better protect officials from injury.

It’s been a move rife with controversy, particularly in Indianapolis, since the Colts were penalized twice for snapping the ball before the umpire was in position during a preseason game at Green Bay.

The NFL has been tweaking the system in recent weeks, making it so the umpire isn’t so far in the backfield. Initially, he was 15 to 17 yards from the line of scrimmage, now 12. It still means quarterback Peyton Manning’s snap time could be delayed, since he must wait for the umpire to get out of the way.

“To me, mathematically, it has to have some kind of effect,” Manning said. “It just doesn’t seem like they’ve factored those things in when they thought about it. People run two-minute offenses outside of two minutes, and they’ve been doing it for quite some time.”

However, the NFL recently ruled that during the final two minutes of the first half, the final five minutes of the game and when the offense is at, or inside, the opponent’s 5-yard line, the umpire will go back to the defensive side.

Manning stressed the changes won’t impact the Colts solely.

“I know people are kind of focused on us, but I’ve talked to some other quarterbacks and they’ve had similar frustrations with it,” Manning said. “The challenge situations are very real. You try to hurry it up to avoid the coach getting a great look at (the replay of the previous play). Let’s just get them an HD slow-motion look now.”

Colts president Bill Polian, a member of the NFL’s competition committee, said moving the umpire was necessary. “There was a safety issue. That issue has become more exasperated over time, and so it was the intent of the committee and the officiating department to make sure that we created a situation that was as safe as possible for these guys,” Polian said. “We recognized that there would be, a) mechanical issues and b) issues with respect to certain penalties that might or might not be called based upon the new position.”

Manning doesn’t see any way this change benefits anyone other than the defense.

“I do think it’ll give defenses more of a chance to substitute if they have one more second to get that 12th guy off the field,” he said.

jcohn@jg.net