INDIANAPOLIS – Chuck Pagano had analyzed the box score and critiqued the game film.

Nearly 24 hours had passed from Sunday's 27-0 Colts win over the Bengals and the Indianapolis' head coach was confident in his assertion.

The 506 yards of total offense, behind Andrew Luck's fifth straight 300-yard day and a season-high 171 rushing yards, looked as good as it felt on Sunday.

"That was a blueprint for success right there (Sunday)," Pagano said of the offensive performance against the Bengals.

"If we're going to draw it up, you can't draw it up any better."

It's the 171 rushing yards that really caught the eye of Pagano.

That's the highest total the Colts have had in over a year and the offense was able to grind out the clock with a ground emphasis in the second half.

The three Colts running backs carried the ball at least a handful of times against the Bengals and all finished the afternoon with more than five yards per carry.

Trent Richardson (14 carries for 77 yards) and Ahmad Bradshaw (10 carries for 52 yards) continued to show why they have made up one of the most productive running back duos in the NFL this year.

"It's a great 1-2 punch," Pagano says of the tandem. "Two different guys, but both guys run angry. They run hard. They fight and scrap. They get a bunch of tough yards.

"You get them in space, they're making people miss. They're getting yards after contact. I like where they're at."

A player who continues to take an expanded role within the Colts offense is third-year tight end Dwayne Allen.

The return of Allen to the Colts lineup was thought to be a major key this offseason and that's clearly been the case.

Allen is a unique weapon for the Indy attack and the young leader saw this blueprint building during OTAs.

"We were well aware of what we had in the locker room throughout the spring and especially in fall camp, but getting all the pieces to mesh together, that was a process," Allen says.

"It was a process of guys understanding their role and being willing to accept their role and still go out and play to the best of their ability."

The Colts offense is the top yardage unit in the NFL after seven weeks along with chewing up an average of nearly three more minutes off the clock than any other team.

Allen thanks the Colts defense for allowing the other side of the ball to log nearly 80 snaps the past few weeks, forcing the versatile tight end into some post-practice conditioning.

As Allen thought about how successful the Colts offense has been the past few weeks, he didn't want to sound too greedy in striving for better.

"We still feel as if we have yet to play our best," Allen says.

"We were able to move the ball and do some things well Sunday, but we put two balls on the ground and a near interception, and we had a lull where we couldn't protect the quarterback and we were dropping balls. So there's a lot that we can work on, that we have to work on in order to be the team that we want to be in February."