Gus Bradley is in his third season as the Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator. So far, his tenure has been less than stellar. However, the good news for the Colts defense is that they play a struggling Tennessee Titans offense in Week 6. That being said, this was the same thought going into Week 5 against the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars ended up coming alive against the Colts by putting up 37 points. Their quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, ended up having a career day, and their running back, Tank Bigsby, had over 100 yards rushing.
In order for the Colts to keep the morale of their fans from going south, they must not let the Titans offense explode. Gus Bradley is already on the hot seat with the fans and quite frankly, he should be on the hot seat with the organization. The Titans are looking for a spark this season. The Colts do not want to be the team that gives them that spark. In order for their defense to avoid that, they must be able to accomplish these two feats.
Two Feats the Colts Defense Must Accomplish in Week 6
Force Will Levis to Make Mistakes
Titans second-year quarterback, Will Levis has become a meme in the NFL. This is due to his erratic playing style and decision making. In a press conference following a Week 2 loss against the New York Jets, Titans head coach Brian Callahan stated that Levis’s performance was “dumb” and his play cost them points. This was a very damning this for a head coach to say as he completely threw his quarterback under the bus. However, Levis still continued to make head-scratching decisions and continue to make mistakes.
Through four games played, Levis leads the league in turnovers with nine total. He is also tied for fifth in most sacks in the league with 15. The Titans, as a whole, have struggles on offense but the bulk of their woes have come from bad quarterback play. For the Colts defense to get back on track in Week 6, they must force Levis to continue his erratic ways. Indy has been struggling to play disciplined defense where they stay on their assignment and eliminate big plays. One way, however, to combat that is by forcing turnovers and getting into a quarterbacks head. Levis has been vulnerable to this so far this season. The Colts must exploit it.
Force Will Levis to Stay in the Pocket
The main thing for the Colts defense is to ensure that they do not let the opposing quarterback become comfortable. For Will Levis, his comfort comes with being outside the pocket. He ranks second in the league with a 70% completion percentage when pressured. He also ranks ninth in the league with a 61.3% completion percentage on play-action. What makes this tricky is that the Colts would need to rely on getting pressure with just four guys, which is something that they have had success doing. However, they have been very inconsistent doing that this year.
Gus Bradley has been notorious for not blitzing. He tends to call his zone defense where he relies on his guys up front to get pressure while his linebackers and safeties cover their spots. This type of defense can have great success, barring that the defense can get pressure. Against the Titans, that pressure must come from the middle to eliminate Levis from moving to the outside.
If the Colts can make Will Levis irrelevant in this game and keep them one-dimensional as an offense, this defense will have success. However, that is easier said than done and this defense has already seen itself self-destruct against offenses that should not have had much success.
Main Image: Corey Perrine – USA Today Sports
