Colts are a good defense

[Brady'sButtBoy]

The Colts come right out and say their game is keeping you in front of them. They give yards to prevent big plays because most offenses cannot sustain long drives repeatedly over the course of a game. Except, of course, the Pats, who lead the league number of long scoring drives; a 'stat' demonstrated by their league leading 1st down totals. The Pats are also either leading the league or in the top 2 or 3 in plays over 20yds. So we can kill you by marching methodically, or by stabbing you deep when you get tired of us just marching down the field and bring up help.

A quick scan of Colts personnel on D shows some real question marks. Yes, Sanders is a stud, a presence even (though he only has 24 tackles, not tops on his team even) and Jackson and Hayden appear to be solid DB's along with Bethea. I like how Gary Brackett plays at MLB but his wings are far from impressive - Rocky Boiman, 4th round castoff from the Titans and a 5'11" 226lb 3rd round rookie, Freddy Keiaho, on the other side. Hardly scary stuff and not the type of guys than should give our O-line much trouble.
Up front, Freeney is talented but he can be very hot and cold, Mathis is a very good player. But beside them they have an undrafted rookie, Ed Johnson, and the far from spectacular Raheem Brock.

SD and Dallas have much more talent in their front 7's and we plowed them like Iowa sod, so this group should be in for a tough day. It's interesting to note that 4 of the top 6 tacklers on the Colts are DB's (the corners are 1 and 3) while the Pats have only 2 in their top six. Ironically, all this talk about how good Jackson and Hayden are in their physical play against the run only reveals how soft the front 7 are. I'd expect a lot of 2 and 3 TE sets against the Colts with Brady going for play action out of them.

 

[chrisfx811]

I've notice teams that abandon the run against the Colts, do so after running sweeps, and lots of runs to the outsides. It plays into the hands of the fast Colts defense. They chase well. Fred Taylor of the Jags had some great runs against the Colts, but JDR kept calling Jones-Drew's # on off tackle stuff.

With that said, I thought Marion Barber of the Cowboys really brought some hard nosed running straight at our guys. I don't know if Addai is capable of that style or not.

 

[patfanken]

I would disagree Andy. I'm not exactly sure how good the Colts defense is. Luck and circumstance have give the Colts little competition this season.

1. Saints - over rated team in disarray at the begining of the season. Yeah the Colts beat them, but so did a lot of other teams with lesser lineages.

2. Barely beat a Tennesse team who is lead by a QB whose production is a lot less than his hype. A team, that at THAT time, didn't have a set RB or NFL quality WRs

3. Barely beat a Houston team WITHOUT its main receiver, and who has subsequently shown they are STILL a middle of the road, undistiguished team AT BEST.

4. Denver - They allowed 24 points to a team with a struggling QB injured WRs, and the worse rushing defense in the league

5. TB - they allowed a seemingly strong effort of only 14 points, but it was against a team without any running game, massive injuries on the OL and an entire offense which has had to be carried by Jeff Garcia, need I say more.

6. Jacksonville - Which has been their best showing so far, but the impact lessens when you think that the Colts were coming off a bye week, AND the Jags lost their QB early in the game...never a good thing at any time, but especially when he is THAT inexperienced and has a stable of pretty bad WRs. Not having your starting QB is a problem anytime, but when you lose him early in the game, THAT is the worse scenerio you can have.

7. Carolina - again the Colts draw the lucky card by having to face 43 year old Vinnie Testeverde, and then hit the Jackpot when HE went down with an injury. They also had the luxury of playing a team that is #32 in sacks.

BOTTOM LINE: I know you can put a similar list together to describe the Pats defense, but that is not the issue here. What I want to rebut is the overrating of the Colt defense, which has not played a SINGLE game against an offense of even marginal accomplishments, or one that was relatively healthy. They will THIS week, so by Monday we will see what they are REALLY capable of.

 

[JR4]

I would disagree Andy. I'm not exactly sure how good the Colts defense is. Luck and circumstance have give the Colts little competition this season.

1. Saints - over rated team in disarray at the begining of the season. Yeah the Colts beat them, but so did a lot of other teams with lesser lineages.

2. Barely beat a Tennesse team who is lead by a QB whose production is a lot less than his hype. A team, that at THAT time, didn't have a set RB or NFL quality WRs

3. Barely beat a Houston team WITHOUT its main receiver, and who has subsequently shown they are STILL a middle of the road, undistiguished team AT BEST.

4. Denver - They allowed 24 points to a team with a struggling QB injured WRs, and the worse rushing defense in the league

5. TB - they allowed a seemingly strong effort of only 14 points, but it was against a team without any running game, massive injuries on the OL and an entire offense which has had to be carried by Jeff Garcia, need I say more.

6. Jacksonville - Which has been their best showing so far, but the impact lessens when you think that the Colts were coming off a bye week, AND the Jags lost their QB early in the game...never a good thing at any time, but especially when he is THAT inexperienced and has a stable of pretty bad WRs. Not having your starting QB is a problem anytime, but when you lose him early in the game, THAT is the worse scenerio you can have.

7. Carolina - again the Colts draw the lucky card by having to face 43 year old Vinnie Testeverde, and then hit the Jackpot when HE went down with an injury. They also had the luxury of playing a team that is #32 in sacks.

BOTTOM LINE: I know you can put a similar list together to describe the Pats defense, but that is not the issue here. What I want to rebut is the overrating of the Colt defense, which has not played a SINGLE game against an offense of even marginal accomplishments, or one that was relatively healthy. They will THIS week, so by Monday we will see what they are REALLY capable of.

Thank you patfanken! Very good summary and observations.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

Actually, the Pats have played much tougher O's on average-
going by points scored/game we've hammered -

#2 - Dallas
#4 - Cleveland
#6 - Cincy
#8 - SD
#13 - Miami
The Bills, Jets and Skins are very lower tier

The Colts-

#10 Houston
#14 Tenn
#18 New Orleans
#19 Jax
#21 Carolina
the rest are real bottom dwellers - Denver, and Tampa

Comparing these lists, the easy conclusion is to say the Colt's D hasn't done a thing of note yet this year. These teams have awful offenses, while the Pats have built their numbers against some of the best in the league.

 

[Art_Vandelay421]

The ridiculously overrated Colts defense is going to get its ass handed to it in about a day. Break down that group and compare it to Washington. Washington's linebackers are better, Washington's secondary is better, and one could argue a split on the DL (Washington better vs. the run, Colts better vs. the pass).

Totally agree with your assessment. Yes, they are a qick D but I am not buying this "the Colts are a great Defense" line. Love Bob Sanders...wish we had him but his coverage skills are his weakness. Plus, Freeny ("watch me spin!") is a one trick pony. He is DE masquerading as a pass rush specialist

 

[Jimke]

I think that it is quite surprising that the Colts' defense is as good

as it appears to be. They took quite a hit in free agency and

rebounded very nicely. The Colt's secret is good drafting and the ability

to cull thru the undrafted free agents and come up with a gem.

Until they lost rookie Roy Hall to injured reserve, all nine of their 2007 draft

choices were on the 53 man roster. One of their starting defensive

lineman was not drafted in the 2007 draft. Polian may be as crumb

but he knows young talent.

 

[Ring 6]

I would disagree Andy. I'm not exactly sure how good the Colts defense is. Luck and circumstance have give the Colts little competition this season.

1. Saints - over rated team in disarray at the begining of the season. Yeah the Colts beat them, but so did a lot of other teams with lesser lineages.

2. Barely beat a Tennesse team who is lead by a QB whose production is a lot less than his hype. A team, that at THAT time, didn't have a set RB or NFL quality WRs

3. Barely beat a Houston team WITHOUT its main receiver, and who has subsequently shown they are STILL a middle of the road, undistiguished team AT BEST.

4. Denver - They allowed 24 points to a team with a struggling QB injured WRs, and the worse rushing defense in the league

5. TB - they allowed a seemingly strong effort of only 14 points, but it was against a team without any running game, massive injuries on the OL and an entire offense which has had to be carried by Jeff Garcia, need I say more.

6. Jacksonville - Which has been their best showing so far, but the impact lessens when you think that the Colts were coming off a bye week, AND the Jags lost their QB early in the game...never a good thing at any time, but especially when he is THAT inexperienced and has a stable of pretty bad WRs. Not having your starting QB is a problem anytime, but when you lose him early in the game, THAT is the worse scenerio you can have.

7. Carolina - again the Colts draw the lucky card by having to face 43 year old Vinnie Testeverde, and then hit the Jackpot when HE went down with an injury. They also had the luxury of playing a team that is #32 in sacks.

BOTTOM LINE: I know you can put a similar list together to describe the Pats defense, but that is not the issue here. What I want to rebut is the overrating of the Colt defense, which has not played a SINGLE game against an offense of even marginal accomplishments, or one that was relatively healthy. They will THIS week, so by Monday we will see what they are REALLY capable of.

I am not saying they are as good as their stats, because I agree those stats have a lot to do with who they have played.
I am saying that the stats are EXTREMELY good, and the effect of opponents doesn't give a bad defense those stats, it gives a good one stats that make it look even better.
My point is when we hang 40+ on them today, we did that againast a good defense that has stopped many teams.

 

[He Ban Me]

They are #1 in yards per play, yards per pass attempt and yards per reception (8.1 which is excellent).
The are near the top in both total yards and ppg.

It has been brought up here that they have faced some very poor offenses to build those stats, and I think that is valid. But, the impact of the offenses they face doesnt turn a bad defense into #s like that.

No doubt the Colt D is helped by the O holding on to the ball, and by playing from ahead also.

There are some #s though that it appears a good offense can take advantage of that the bad ones have not.
The Colts allow 65.7% of pass completed.
They allow 4.1 yards per rush.
They are allowing 46% 3rd down conversions.

It appears that offenses that are allowed to stick to their gameplan, and have playmakers that get open and run after the catch would have much more success against this D.

I expect us to tear apart the Colt D, but we should all understand, it will be earned. This is a good defense and if we rip it to shreds like everyone else we have faced, it is more a comment on how incredible our offense is than a comment on deficiencies in the Colt D.

In the back of my mind, I also think this could be a game that has long reaching issues for the Colt D. As I said, I think we tear them up, but I also think future opponents are going to look at the weaknesses we will expose. That is very common in this league for teams mimicking what the Pats do against certain teams.

a 72-0 azzwhipping by the Pats wouldn't expose anything that other teams don't already know. If we lose today, don't flatter yourself, it will not be the end for the Colts.