The Colts' Defense, 2018
 

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(vs. REDSKINS, 9/16)



Excellent game overall, in spite of 2 INT's thrown by Andrew Luck (one of which was his fault, and one on a batted ball.)

They were extremely fast, with good open-field tackling and good gang-tackling.



GETTING OFF OF THE FIELD: ) The Redskins were 5-for-15 on 3rd downs, and 1-for 2 on 4th downs (plus, the one 4th down in which they did convert was late in the 4th quarter with the Colts leading by a score of 21-9. At that point, the defense was more concerned with not giving up large chunks of yardage, and keeping the Redskins in-bounds on tackles.)


They forced a turnover with 5 minutes left to play in the 4th quarter and the Redskins driving deep in Colts territory, which (largely) sealed the fate of their opponents.



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I was really happy with the D. As for Luck, I felt it would take a few games for him to get his groove back. He's still making some dumb throws and I'm hoping it's mental rust. Hopefully when the OL gets Costanza back and the unit starts to really click, he'll have shaken all the cobwebs out of his brain.

It's not mental rust since he's been doing it his entire career. It's part of the confidence he has in his abilities. He can say he knows otherwise, but it's not changing.

I was obviously very impressed with the D yesterday. In most ways it was a complete 180 from the Cincy game. The obvious question is why such a big difference? I’d love to believe it’s growth, but you don’t see that much growth from game one to game two in a season. It could be the nature of a very young, inexperienced D - prone to wild ups and downs. But most likely it’s a function of matchups. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I still expect to see the Cincy level D more often than yesterday’s D - at least for this year.


The two big things (besides Leonard and Hunt) I’ve been impressed with is the improved quality of tackling overall and the apparent emphasis on stripping the football. I swear I’ve already seen more attempts to knock the ball loose in these two games than I’ve seen from them in the last 5 years. I love that.

That’s a Dungy/Lovie Smith/Marinelli thing. Apparently it rubbed off on Eberflus. Ballard might have some impact there too given his time in Chicago. Glad to see this again on defense.

It’s refreshing to see how you can be technically sound at tackling the ball carrier while trying to strip the football at the same time. While I was initially quite skeptical of a positive change on defense being realized so quickly this coaching staff is proving me wrong, quite happily I might add.

In rewatching the Sheard sack I want to credit to Woods and Ridgeway, they punched a nice hole in the line for Sheard to rush through. Sheard earned the sack, he beat his own guy, but Ridgeway especially was like a lead blocker while Woods sucked up two blockers away from Sheard's inside stunt. Good teamwork.

The first half of the Cincy game they did pretty well on D

The second half was just bad.

The FORCED turnovers are a nice thing to see. Though some INTs created by the DBs would be a welcome addition. I think one easy one that would have gone for a pick six was dropped yesterday. The first INT vs Cincy was created by the pressure on Dalton. However there have been a few plays where the DBs are not making INTs but actually stripping the ball out after the WR tries to make the catch. Hooker did that once last week and one of the DBs did that this week on an end zone throw

But in general, its a welcome change with an aggressive, fast tackling D. The play by Leonard to force that fumble in the 4th quarter and pretty well end the game was great.

I'm guessing that it's a single gap Dungy D, the D line has been running a lot of stunts, and they are bringing blitzes.

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(vs. EAGLES, 9/23)



Even though the Eagles had a huge advantage in BOTH Time of Possession (40:20 to 19:40) AND Total Plays from Scrimmage (77 to 56), the Colts' defense did not play like they were winded.


They (the Colts' defense) reminded me of the 3rd game of the 2013 season against the 49ers, when everybody was expecting the defending NFC champions to blow the Colts off of the field ........ they hung tough against Kaepernick and company then, and they hung tough against Wentz and company today.


They were flat-out robbed by the referees of a big 4th-down stop late in the 4th quarter, which may have cost them the game.


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The D is really fun to watch...the O not so much.
Luck could use a couple more weapons on Offense but we won't have them this year.

Man I so missed not having a D. I love watching the D more. I play the D on games more than O. This is a fund defense to watch, and check out the great gap discipline at the line. That is how you play the tampa 2.

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(vs. TEXANS, 9/30)



If you just looked at the scoreboard at the end of the 4th quarter (tied at 31 apiece), you might presume that the Colts' defense did not do very well today ........ but 14 of those 31 Texans points in regulation were given up by the offense (one on a fumble for a defensive TD, and one on a turnover deep in their own territory which wound up resulting in another Texans touchdown.)


On the other hand, the defense had an INT in Texans territory, but the offense failed to capitalize on it.


Late in the 4th quarter they had a poor pass rush on a crucial 3rd down which allowed the Texans to convert, but all things considered I thought that they played well today.


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(vs. PATRIOTS, 10/4)



The defense had 5 stops when it mattered ........ 2 Punts in the first half, and 3 consecutive stops to open the 2nd half (1 Punt, and back-to-back INT's.)


Even though they did not sack Brady once, I thought that they did a reasonably good job of getting some pressure on him, particularly in the first 3 drives of the 2nd half when the Colts turned what looked like a laugher into a competitive game.



I hate stupid penalties at crucial times, and that is what Lenzy Pipkins did early in the 4th quarter when the score was 24-17. The Patriots were to be assessed a tripping penalty, but Pipkins decided to hit one of the Patriots well after the play was over ........ instead of putting the Patriots in a 1st down and 20 hole, the 2 penalties offset each other. 3 plays later, Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to a receiver that was double-covered to extend the Patriots' lead back to 14 points.


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(vs. JETS, 10/14)



The defense has not played as well in their last 2 games as they had in their first 4 games of the season.


However ........ the Jets scored 20 points off of 4 Colts turnovers, and another 3 off of a 5th turnover on downs (the Colts had no choice but to go for it on 4th down while deep in their own territory, because they were down by 12 points with less than 6 minutes left to play in the game.)

That's 23 out of the 42 points that they scored overall.


Even taking that consideration, I have seen a modest drop-off by the defense at-large since the 4th game. That wasn't overly concerning in regard to the game against Tom Brady and the Patriots, but it IS concerning in regard to the game against Matt Darnold and the Lets.


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[QUOTE=Colts And Orioles;86012]o



(vs. JETS, 10/14)



The defense has not played as well in their last 2 games as they had in their first 4 games of the season.


However ........ the Jets scored 20 points off of 4 Colts turnovers, and another 3 off of a 5th turnover on downs (the Colts had no choice but to go for it on 4th down while deep in their own territory, because they were down by 12 points with less than 6 minutes left to play in the game.)

That's 23 out of the 42 points that they scored overall.


Even taking that consideration, I have seen a modest drop-off by the defense at-large since the 4th game. That wasn't overly concerning in regard to the game against Tom Brady and the Patriots, but it IS concerning in regard to the game against Matt Darnold and the Lets.

2 best passrushers on the bench

[QUOTE=JAFF;86022]They did keep them out of the endzone quite a bit. But too many turnovers. Our offense has too many rookies at skill positions right now.

The Jets punted once.

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Yeah, believe it or not, the Colts actually had more touchdowns than the Jets did in this game (4 to 3.)

And one of those 3 Jets touchdowns was scored by the defense.


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Again this team has zero depth, except at TE.

Autry and Hunt go down, and we have no pass rush
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TY goes down, and he we have nobody that can consistently catch the ball or get deep.

Geathers and Farley go down, and we have no run stopping presence in the secondary.

Yes, utterly apparent today

No pass rush and this D is just bad

Which is not surprising, really, its what happens with Cover 2/Tampa 2 and zone coverage. It leaves holes and if you give the QB time, its easy to make the passes.

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There was one specific defensive play in which I was particularly impressed with.


With under 10 minutes left to play in the 4th quarter and the Colts trailing by a score of 33-27, the Jets had a 3rd down and 2 yards to go at the Colts' 27 yard-line. A 1st down would have allowed the Jets to eat another 2 minutes off of the clock, AND it would have opened up the possibility of the Jets scoring a touchdown instead of the field goal which they got. In the open field, Anthony Walker SIMULTANEOUSLY stopped Sam Darnold from running for the 1st down, AND he knocked the pass down when Darnold tried to throw for it.


The Jets subsequently kicked a field goal on the next play ........ Walker's play kept the Colts' deficit at a reasonable 9 points (36-27), and also preserved time on the clock for the Colts' chances for a comeback.


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(vs. BILLS, 10/21)



The defense had an excellent 1st half, and was just as good in the 2nd.


We're almost halfway into the season, and the Colts' defense at-large has not had a really bad game yet ........ in the 7 individual games they have been either really good, pretty good, or (at worst) average.



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They were trading yards for time. I’m not a fan of it but it worked today.

I’m a big fan of this team’s development, but I thought the last two weeks were below average. Nice to see them dominate today, even if it was only against Amderson

Tied for 4th in the league in Sacks (21), 6th in INTs(9) and 8th in Forced Fumbles (8).

That's fine for a team that lacks talent in certain positions. You wanna see improvement from past years' shitshow and develop players. Think they are in a good way.

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I thought that the previous 2 weeks were average (at worst) for the reasons that I stated in my previous posts.

In the Jets game (for example), 23 of the 42 opponents' points were the result of Colts turnovers by their offense. They (the Colts' defense) also continually kept the Jets out of the end zone and forced them to settle for field goals time and again (they kicked 7 of them), in spite of being put in these holes by the offense.



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(vs. RAIDERS, 10/28)



In my rat's ass of an opinion, this was the worst game of the season for the Colts' defense.

Even in the game against the Patriots, they played with more cohesion than they did today ........ they were instrumental in turning a potential 24-3 laugher at halftime into a competitive 24-17 game early in the 4th quarter by getting 3 consecutive stops against Tom Brady and company (including 1 INT.)




The defense today was extreme in all 7 Raiders drives while the outcome of the game was still in doubt.


On those 7 possession, the Raiders had:


4 TD's

2 Three-and-Outs

1 Fumble Recovery



The Raiders did have an 8th possession, but the Colts had a 14-point lead with just over 2 minutes left to play at that point. The Raiders got a couple of 1st downs against a Colts defense that was playing conservatively before turning the ball over on downs near midfield.


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Awful today.

One good play all game, the forced fumble by Leonard.

Luckily with the offense scoring to keep pace, it was enough

Other than that, complete crap all game.

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They did have 3 three-and-outs in addition to that fumble recovery, including the first 2 Raiders possessions of the game.

Would you say that they were lucky and/or that the Raiders' offense was inept in those 3 drives, and that they got them (the 3 three-and-outs) in spite of the defense playing crappy ???



I agree that they looked lost as a unit for a good deal of the game, more so than any other game so far the season.


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It is easier for a team to come out after a bye week and fool an opponent. Plus, their team is not the same team without Cooper, so film on them was not going to be very reliable. I think I heard Gruden was 8-3 coming off a bye week.

They had two three and outs, and one drive ended for Oakland at the half. They forced two punts all game and then at the end of the game they turned it over on downs after 6 plays, down 14 and had to go for it with time running out. And then there was the fumble, a great play by Leonard

Oh and by the way, that drive for the end of the half, they almost completely screwed up because some idiot gets a penalty on the kick off that puts them all the way out at the 40 yard line, instead of back at the 20 or 25. Luckily though the Raiders I believe committed a penalty as well to back them up and keep them from potentially getting a FG.

So I am supposed to be happy with the one forced punt a half by the D? Let me start the slow clap for them.......way to go. You are officially on the level of an arena league D where one or two stops a half is just enough for a win

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Thanks for the answer to my question, but as I stated, I agreed that they looked lost for a good deal of the game and that it was their worst game of the season to date ........ you seem annoyed that I even asked.



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The way you asked the question seemed like you were implying the D was good for part of the game. because they made a few stops, just enough to win, so yes, I was a bit annoyed by the way you put it.

The D did their job for like 10% of the total game. The other 90% was just crap.

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I clearly stated in that post (and in a previous post) that it was their worst game of the season, and that they even had more cohesion as a unit in the game against the Patriots, a game in which Tom Brady and company put up 38 points overall, 31 of which came from long drives.

There was no reason for you to be particularly snarky and defensive in your reply.



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Thanks.

The defense at-large has been surprisingly better than expected in the first half of the season (except for the Raiders game.) The offense put them in multiple bad situations with turnovers deep in their own territory in several of their previous games, especially in the game against the Jets.

It remains to be seen if they can keep that up for the entire season, and whether or not the clunker that they put up in the Raiders game was a bump in the road or a pattern.



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Time will tell. The bye week should get Hunt and Hooker healthy enough to see if it was the new norm or an aberration due to the strange happenings over the Raiders bye week. I am hoping for the best because we need them healthy to beat HOU.

They need to not make dumb mistakes to beat HOU.

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I suspect that Frank Reich taking over as head coach of the team will lead to considerably less of these (dumb mistakes) than the team had when Pagano was at the helm.

I don't think that it will necessarily happen overnight, but over a sustained period of time I suspect that this metamorphosis/evolution will happen in all areas of the Colts' game (offense, defense, and special teams.)



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(vs. JAGUARS, 11/11)



I believe that the defense at-large made a very modest improvement from the awful Raiders game, but that isn't saying much.



On 5 first half possessions they forced 2 punts, but also ceded 2 TD's and a FG.



The 2nd half was somewhat of a "bend-but-not-break" product ........ they ceded a touchdown immediately out of the locker room, but they made the Jaguars work for it by taking 8:35 off of the clock in the process. The drive also included a fake field goal attempt on 4th down. Then they had back-to-back stops, forcing a long field goal attempt (which was missed) on the first possession, and then forcing a punt on the 2nd.

On the 2nd of these stops, the offense put serious pressure on them by turning the ball over deep in Jaguars territory when they had at least a field goal in their pocket.

On the Jaguars' 4th possession of the 2nd half, the defense got screwed on an awful defensive holding call when the Jaguars had a 1st down and 20 ........ sometimes solitary calls like that change the entire complexion of a drive (and sometimes, of a game.) In spite of that, the defense still forced a long FG attempt (which they made), preserving a very slim lead for the Colts at 29-26.


Just prior to the Jaguars' 5th and final possession of the 2nd half, the Colts' offense (yet again) put the defense in a bad situation by missing a long field goal attempt late in the 4th quarter ........ that not only kept the deficit at 3 points, but it also gave the Jaguars outstanding field position at the Colts' 42 yardline. With the Jaguars needing only a field goal to tie the game, the defense rose to the occasion by forcing a fumble to thwart the Floridians' hopes.




10 JAGUARS POSSESSIONS


3 TD's (1 of which included a fake FG attempt on 4th Down)

2 FG's

3 Punts

1 Turnover (Fumble Recovery)

1 Long Field Goal Miss (52 Yards)


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