The Indianapolis Colts got a much-needed victory on Sunday. Albeit against a struggling Tennessee Titans offense, it was the Colts defense that paved the way for the win. For the first time this season, Gus Bradley’s defense held a team to under 250 total yards. They also held Will Levis under 100 yards passing and kept their third down conversions to only 36%. The red zone defense was not good, as the Titans went two for two. However, when the team needed a play, when it mattered most, the defense stepped up to the challenge.
Leading up to this matchup, Gus Bradley was under fire as the Colts defensive coordinator. Through five weeks, his defense gave up 262 yard passing per game, 24.4 points per game, and allowed 46% success rate on third down. All of this production, or lack there of, ranked outside of the top 20 in the league. For the sake of the morale of the team and the sake of Bradley’s job, the Colts defense played its best game of the season and earned them a crucial division win.
The Good and Bad from the Colts Defense
The Good – Playing Lights Out In the Fourth Quarter
The Colts did not give up a point in the fourth quarter. Aside from the one 70-yard touchdown drive to start the second half, the Colts were lights out to end the game. In the fourth quarter alone, the Colts defense held the Titans to 39 total yards. The Titans had five possessions in the fourth quarter, and in those possessions, the sequence was punt, punt, interception, punt, and end of game.
The reason why this fourth quarter is so impressive by the Colts is because leading up to it, they had just given up a 70-yard touchdown drive on the previous possession that took up eight minutes. To make matters worse, the defense would give up a 23-yard touchdown run on a 3rd and 19 draw play. At this point, the Titans were up 17-10 and with the way the Colts defense had been fairing, one could sense that this touchdown drive by the Titans was the beginning of a route. However, Bradley and his defense didn’t flinch, and they played their very best when it mattered most.
It does need to be pointed out that Will Levis was dealing with an injury to his shoulder. However, teams have to play with who they have and the Titans chose to go with Levis at quarterback. The Colts just made the most of it, and the Titans did not.
The Bad – Containing the Run
The glaring issue for the Colts defense was their ability to stop the run. If it wasn’t for the efficiency in pass defense, the outcome might have been different. Coming into the game, the Colts gave up an average of 157 rush yards per game. On Sunday, that trend continued as they gave up 146 yards on the ground. Tony Pollard has 93 yards on the ground and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Nonetheless, keeping the Titans one-dimensional proved to be huge, even though they had success in one area. The Titans inability to have success passing is what proved to be their demise.
The Good – Stopping the Pass
The Tennessee Titans are not known as a pass-heavy team. As a matter of fact, through five weeks, they ranked 29th in passing yards per game with 145. While Tennessee was one of the worst teams passing offensively, the Colts were one of the worst team stopping the pass. In their last three games, the Colts gave up an average of 348 yards passing per game. To make matters worse, they were facing quarterbacks like Justin Field, Trevor Lawrence, and Caleb Williams. Sunday’s game was a completely different story. To further speak to the Colts success, they held all-pro wide receiver, Calvin Ridley to zero catches on eight targets. The Colts defense did that and thus, left Ridley publicly frustrated.
The Colts faced a sub-par quarterback with deficiencies passing and they exploited that instead of being exploited. On Sunday, Levis finished the day with 95 yards passing on 16 completions and one interception. For once, the Colts did what they were supposed to do. They stifled a struggling offense with a struggling quarterback. The good news for the Colts defense is that they will have the opportunity to do the same thing next week against the Miami Dolphins and seal a win against a struggling offense.
Main Image: Denny Simmons – USA Today Sports
