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| Tuesday, September 19 Defense has to get better By John Clayton Pro Football Weekly |
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INDIANAPOLIS -- While the Colts' offense is again asserting itself as one of the elite in the NFL, the team's defense finds itself in the middle of the pack after two games. The Colts are 1-1 and their defense is ranked 19th in the league. The offense is ranked first in the AFC, second only to St. Louis in the NFL.
In the AFC, Indianapolis is first in passing yards per game and third (behind Denver and Baltimore) in rushing yards per game. The Pro Bowl triumvirate of quarterback Peyton Manning, running back Edgerrin James and wide receiver Marvin Harrison leads the offense. The defense is without Pro Bowlers but not without its pride. "It's not a question of catching up with anybody," said defensive tackle Bernard Whittington. "It's all about playing within our scheme on defense. "We've got the 'Big Three' on offense, but to win football games, you have to play offense, defense and special teams." Pro Bowl arguments could have been made last season for defensive end Chad Bratzke, who tallied 12 sacks, and ageless wonder Cornelius Bennett, who led the team in tackles at linebacker. But through two games, the Colts' defense is about where it was in 1999, when it was ranked 15th in the NFL in total defense. "We've got to be able to execute our assignments and techniques better than we did (against Oakland)," said Colts defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, referring to the Colts' 38-31 Week 2 loss to the Raiders. "When you're not playing correctly from an assignment and technique standpoint against a team like Oakland, with their weapons, it can make you look bad in a hurry. That's what happened." The Colts returned all but one starter on defense and drafted run-stopping middle linebacker Rob Morris to replace the waived Michael Barber. So far, veteran free agent Dwight Hollier, who was signed at the beginning of training camp, has started both games in the middle for the Colts. Morris was part of a defensive-minded draft for the Colts, who were intent on improving the team's ability to stop the run and rush the passer. Those are two things still on the agenda for the team's defensive coaches. The third is to improve the Colts' morbid giveaway-takeaway ratio. If those three things happen and playmakers on the defensive side of the ball start making plays, the Colts' defense will move beyond the middle of the pack. Even so, Colts head coach Jim Mora knows he does not have the same sort of defense he had when his Saints of the early '90s were among the best in the league.
"Defensively, we have to do things extremely well to have a chance," said Mora. "We are not going to overpower anybody defensively or dominate people. We have to do things well, and if we do things well, we can be a very good football team. If we don't, we can be a very average football team."
Rushing the passer The defense had much more trouble vs. elusive Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon, who scored three rushing touchdowns. "We have one sack in two games," Mora said. "We really haven't had good pass rush throughout the preseason or our first two regular-season games. This is of some concern." Fangio's zone-blitz scheme is designed to pressure both the pass and the run. In Week Two, the Raiders did a good job picking up blitzes off the corners and from the inside. Gannon's legs did the rest. "We are sending safeties, corners and linebackers," Mora said. "I'm talking about first and second down. We don't always do it to rush the passer. We do it to cause problems in the run game too. "A lot of times, if we had been in a little tighter coverage, we had a guy there to get a sack. It's a combination of the two. It's not just the fact we are not there. I could point out five or six instances (in Week Two) where we had a guy right in the quarterback's face, and if we had done a better job coverage-wise, we would have had a sack."
Stopping the run Thanks in part to Gannon's scrambling ability, the Raiders had more success. Running back Tyrone Wheatley scored a pair of touchdowns, and scatback Napoleon Kaufman ran eight times for 66 yards.
"Against Kansas City, we were satisfied, and most of the time against Oakland," Fangio said. "But we missed a couple of tackles and assignments against Kaufman that cost us a couple of long runs that swelled up the statistics and hurt us in the game. We're not where we want to be yet."
Giveaway-takeaway One clear goal was to improve that number this season - on both sides of the ball. So far, the Colts are minus-4, which is tied for third-to-last in the league. Indianapolis has five turnovers - three interceptions and two fumbles. Their only takeaway, an interception by cornerback Jeff Burris against the Chiefs, was returned 27 yards for a touchdown. "The takeaway-giveaway ratio has a big impact on the outcome of the game, maybe more so than any other statistic," Mora said. "It's hard to win when you're minus, but we won all last year when we won 13 games. But if you're plus, it makes it a little easier."
Play-making With the possible exception of Bratzke, Bennett, who has been slowed somewhat by offseason knee surgery, and second-year linebacker Mike Peterson, the Colts are without a defensive player who can make plays on a consistent basis. "We've got playmakers on this team, but they have to surface and make the plays," Fangio said. That means making the key interception, as Burris did in Week One, and getting to the quarterback, as Bratzke did 12 times last season. John Clayton covers the Colts for Thomson Indiana Newspapers.
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Material from Pro Football Weekly.
