The Colts' Defense, 2021 Season
 

o


(vs. 49ers, 10/24)


The Colts' defense looked horrible in ceding a touchdown on the opening drive of the game.

After the Colts' offense fumbled the ball away deep in their own territory on their first play from scrimmage immediately after that opening drive touchdown, the defense bore down and minimized the damage by forcing a field goal attempt.


After falling into the that 9-0 early hole, the 49ers essentially had 10 more possessions for the rest of the game ......


4 Turnovers (2 INT's, 2 Fumble Recoveries)

4 Punts

1 Touchdown

1 Field Goal



Overall, the 49ers were ) 1-for-11 on 3rd downs.

o

Good stats.

I wish we could determine what percentage of that post 9-0 success falls to these three categories:

A - Colt's defense
B - Jimmy G imploding in the rain
C - Coach Shanahan calling a horrible game

I mean, any of the three are plausible, and it is certainly a mix of them all. I would love to think that A is the highest percentage, but I suspect it may be 33.3% across the board.

Unfortunately, until they have a consistent pass rush They will be a mediocre to bad defense. They will struggle against good QBs. The turnover numbers are great, but I doubt it is sustainable. Thankfully the offense is showing improvement and may keep the team competitive.

No defense works without a passrush especially the one we run where you need to be able to pressure with the front four. Until we get that, its just not going to work as its intended.

Its funny, with the Dungy defense we had passrush but could never find a good DT to put it all together. Now we have the opposite problem.

Booger says Hey

o


(vs. TITANS, 10/31)


All things considered, I thought that the defense played reasonably well today in the loss ...... they got a big stop late in the 4th quarter before Wentz threw the Pick-6, and they got another big stop in overtime to get the ball back for the offense.

o

One season. They could never fill that spot with draft picks.

Had Bob Sanders not come back as Superman in the postseason, Booger may has well never happened.

o


There was also some extremely bad luck at the worst time when Tyquan Lewis fumbled the ball back to the Titans on the same play in which he had made an interception ...... Lewis coughed the ball up because he badly hurt his knee after intercepting the ball, dropping it as he fell to the turf. Instead of the Colts having the ball with a 14-7 lead, the Titans promptly took advantage of the Colts' misfortune and scored a touchdown on the very next play to tie the game at 14.

o

Rob Morris going to the strong side and playing well.

o


(NOVEMBER 14th)


In my rat's ass of an opinion, the defense has had 7 consecutive games of playing well and/or at least reasonably well.

Even in the 2 losses to the Titans and the Ravens, they did a rather solid job, all things considered.

Against the Ravens, they ran out of gas in the final 18 minutes of the game and allowed them to come roaring back from a 19-point deficit, but if the Colts' kicker were not injured they probably would have won the game in regulation. They missed what would have been a game-winner at the final gun when the Colts' punter kicking it, and they also had a field-goal attempt that was blocked on their previous 4th-quarter possession.

Against the Titans, the defense had 2 huge stops late in the game ...... one late in the 4th quarter, and the other in overtime. If they hadn't forced the punt late in the 4th quarter, there is a good chance that the Titans would have run most or all of the clock down while kicking what probably would have been the game-winning field goal in regulation. If they hadn't forced the punt in overtime after the offense failed to score at least a field goal after winning the coin toss, the Titans would have been able to kick the game-winning field goal (since the Colts already had a possession in overtime and went 3-and-out.)


So yes, the Colts' defense has had good (or at least pretty good) games against 5 bad teams in all 5 of their wins so far this season ...... but all things considered, they really weren't too shabby in their 2 losses against the good teams in that 7-game span, either.



P.S. ) The Colts lead the NFL in turnovers, with 21 ...... including what proved to be the game-winner today.

o

o


(vs. BUCCANEERS, 11/28)


The Colts' defense was very good in the 1st half, not so good in the 2nd half ...... although the offense and the special teams lturning the ball over 3 times in the 2nd halfl put them in very precarious positions.

o

Hard to blame the defense for today. Only one really bad drive, and that was after we stopped them and gave the ball back.

o


(vs. TEXANS, 12/05)


I didn't see the game, but it was the first shutout for the Colts since 2018, and the first road shutout for them since 1992.



December 2nd, 2018: lll COLTS - 23 llllllll COWBOYS - 0

http://www.jt-sw.com/football/boxes/...018-15-dal-ind



December 6th, 1992: ll) COLTS - 6 lllllllllll PATRIOTS - 0

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...9212060nwe.htm

o

o


(vs. PATRIOTS, 12/18)


This was the 2nd consecutive "must-win" game in which the Colts' defense came up big ...... previously, they played great in a must-win game against the Bills.

Perhaps the biggest moment of tonight's game for the defense was when they forced the Patriots to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown with less than 9 minutes left to play in the 4th quarter ...... that kept it a 2-score game (20-10), instead of a 1-score game (20-14.)

o

o


(vs. CARDINALS, 10/25)


At the end of 3 quarters of play, the Colts still managed to have an incredible Time-of-Possession advantage at the start of the 4th quarter of 29:14. l to l 15:46. The Colts' defense was subsequently well-rested for that final period, while the Cardinals' defense had been laboring most of the night ...... a much-needed advantage, considering the surrounding circumstances of the Colts' offensive line.

For some further perspective, the Cardinals' offense ran 64 plays for the entire game ...... and 32 of those plays occurred in the 4th quarter !!! ) :eek: )


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While holding a 22-13 lead with 4:16 left to play in the game, the Colts' defense made the Cardinals run 16 plays to get a field goal. By the time that they booted the ball through the uprights to cut the deficit to 22-16, there were just 42 seconds left to play ...... so the "prevent defense" that the Colts employed during that final Cardinals drive was actually executed well, and efficiently.


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Finally, one of the missed field goal attempts by the Cardinals was from 51 yards away ...... any time that a kicker misses a kick from beyond 50 yards, I consider the defense to be at least partially responsible for the miss. If a kicker misses from inside of 40 yards, then I consider the defense to have been lucky.

o

My perception may be off, but it looked like on the other miss that if it had been kicked accurately to go through the uprights that it would have been blocked.

At least it seemed that way.

+1 more for the defense/special teams.

o


(vs. RAIDERS, 1/02)


I thought that the Colts' defense played reasonably well today, in a losing effort.

In one play, Darius Leonard may have saved the Colts 10 points ...... very late in the 2nd half, his forced fumble of Marcus Mariota prevented the Raiders from getting a 1st down, and they eventually had to settle for a field goal. Additionally, that play (and the prevention of the Raiders getting a 1st down) also prevented the Raiders from running more time off of the clock, which in turn made the Colts' ensuing touchdown drive just before halftime possible.

o

We are a pass rush away from having an exceptional defense. Maybe next year.

Yep, I totally agree. Fucking pass rush is non-existent most of the time.

o


(vs. JAGUARS, 1/09)


Of the 26 points that were scored against the Colts today, I would put 20 of them directly on the defense.

I would put 3 points on the offense for turning the ball over deep in their own territory (which resulted in a Jaguars field goal), and 3 points on the referees for an awful pass interference call late in the 2nd quarter (which resulted in a Jaguars field goal.)

o