Colts front 7 are incredibly undersized

[marcus]

Short and Light.....
How have they been able to stop the run?


DE Mathis 6'2 245
DT Brock 6'4 274
DT Johnson 6'2 296
DE Freeney 6'1 268
LB Boiman 6'4 236
LB Brackett 5'11 235
Keiaho 5'11 226


I am shocked that the Jaguars could not play ball control and run it down their throats.


Got to give Dungy his due with this defense so far

 

[satz]

if you watched the games or most games they are playing 8 in the box and the jag were trying all fancy stuff and outside runs which one cannot play with a small but faster team.

Bob sanders also was in the box and if one noticed till garrad was taken out they were completing passes easily - fishy as last year leftwich got taken out by a similar move.

anyway i have yet to see them play 2 outside threats pushing bob sanders back a bit.we will lastyear they played man on WR and used bob in the box against TE / slot receivers effectively.Which covered one side of the field deep and one with bob covers the middle leaving a week cornor .
Sadly no one fielded a team with 2 good outside threat in spread formation .we tryed and scored quiet a few points with jabbar and reche in the afc championship game cannot wait to see moss mostly doubled with wes ,TE and stallworth in man.

we will see this 2 weeks and that is going to be a true test .

 

[mcbee]

They play an interesting defense. Kind of brilliant.

Another poster on here diagnosed it well, I think.

Basically they stunt and shoot gaps a lot. They give up big plays but all they need is a negative play to force a 2nd or 3rd and long...then a stop there and they get a punt.

So even if you think you're getting 5 yards at a crack...you'll still end up punting because you'll have 1st and 10, then a lucky play for -3 yards, then pass incomplete then another incomplete.

Odds are in their favor that they can stop you that way.

Don't know if Brady can beat their defensive backfield, we'll see.

Maroney kind of is bad for that reason. He gets a lot of good runs, but also a lot of negative plays. Which would you rather have? A guy who runs for 4.5 yards per carry but typically of 9, 4.5 and 0 yards, or a guy who runs for 3.5 yards per carry and 3.5, 3.5, and 3.5?

The guy who runs 3.5 ypc come hell or high water will always get you a first down in 3 carries.

 

[BelichickFan]

Don't know if Brady can beat their defensive backfield, we'll see.

That's a good one. He's done great against it with above average WR and OK with mediocre ones. Now he has great WR - you do the math.

 

[sieglo]

Morris would be GREAT against the Colts defense. Really too bad he's hurt. Maybe he'll be back in time, but I doubt it.

 

[PatsFan37]

Theoretically, their weakness is that in a close game, where their opponent can continue to run the ball, a big OL, big TEs, big backs should wear down the defense until eventually they can't stop anyone on first down from picking up 6 yards.

But if Manning can get a couple TDs and force teams to pass, they have the speed to defend. Their defense will not be forced into a wrestling match.

That's why HFA would be nice, to get them into lousy conditions that negate the speed. In winter weather, their OL against the Pats DL is an even match, or advantage Patriots. And their DL against the Pats OL is clearly advantage Patriots.

In their dome, on turf, with a trained crowd and recycled noise, they have a decided advantage. The Pats and Colts are both good teams with precision offenses, but the Pats are a better away team because crowd noise and weather affect precision, not power. The Pats have a power defense and can shift to a power offense. The Colts cannot play power defense.

Of course, last night's crushing of Jax away doesn't add points to the argument, but that was the exception that makes the rule.