The Colts defense has no answer for ugly play

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Colts' defense has been beaten in almost every way this season.

Indianapolis lost rushing yards to Houston and Green Bay, gave up big passing plays to Green Bay and Chicago, and let Chicago and Pittsburgh collect completions to march down the field.

The Jaguars did it all on Sunday, outscoring the Colts' defense in just about every way in a 37-34 loss, leaving Indianapolis once again searching for answers on the defensive side of the ball that don't seem easy to find.

Plagued by injuries and injured, Indianapolis entered the game without five starters, which sapped the Colts' strength on both ends of the passing game: three key players in the pass rush (DeForest Buckner, Kwity Paye and Tyquan Lewis) and two crucial players in the secondary (Kenny Moore II, JuJu Brents).

“It's hard having guys out, but Jacksonville won't care, Tennessee won't care,” Colts middle linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “You can’t use that as an excuse.”

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence certainly didn't care.

Unhindered in the pocket, Lawrence posted a career-high 371 passing yards and 10.9 yards per attempt in a single game, shooting at will against an Indianapolis pass rush that didn't record a single sack or quarterback hit.

“You have to put pressure on the quarterback, we know that,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said. “I am firmly convinced that we will achieve this.”

How that will happen is the hard part.

Because after the Jaguars torched the Colts in Jacksonville on Sunday, it's hard to imagine many good options for defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and general manager Chris Ballard, the two chief architects of this Indianapolis defense.

The Colts entered Sunday's game ranked last in the NFL in yards allowed, giving up nearly 400 yards per game and then coughing up some more, allowing a disarrayed Jaguars offense to rack up 497 yards of offense could, which is a total drop of just under 300 yards above any standard.

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Bradley isn't a prolific blitzer, he prefers to apply pressure with his front four, and his coaching staff includes assistants who have been with him for a long time, so it's unlikely that the defense's approach will change drastically.

Without Buckner, Paye, Lewis and defensive end Samson Ebukam, a Colts pass rush that had 12 sacks in the first four games looked toothless against a Jaguars offensive line that had sacked Lawrence 13 times in the same span.

Ballard built Indianapolis' defensive line to be deep enough to send waves of pass rushers at opposing quarterbacks, but injuries have diminished that depth, leaving the pass rush largely to first-round defensive end Laiatu Latu, and hybrid defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo, who leads the defensive team with 2.5 sacks.

The demands they place on both players appear to have sapped their pass rush strength. Forced to play a season-high number of snaps, Latu focused on playing the run better and managed six tackles. Odeyingbo was credited with only one station.

None of the players had any influence on the passing game.

Jacksonville cut their teeth early. The Jaguars opened the game by basing their passing attack on plays designed to avoid the rush: quick play, play-action throws, screens.

Indianapolis had no answer.

The more Lawrence withdrew, the more time he seemed to have.

“It definitely makes it harder, especially when those guys are holding you down, because you have to make sure you play the run and then respond to it,” Latu said. “They’re already close to you, trying to hold you down, but we have to do better.”

Latu was visibly frustrated after the game.

The first-round pick feels the weight of his selection and knows he was selected as a pass rush finisher, the player who could take the Colts defense to the next level.

Latu has one sack in his first five NFL games, and while he's had some close calls, the lack of success is hard to swallow.

“It’s frustrating as hell,” Latu said.

In the absence of the team's frontline pass rushers, Bradley could break history and launch more blitzes to put pressure on Lawrence.

But Ballard passed up on adding experienced depth to the secondary this offseason, and the dangers of a blitz-happy offense were evident Sunday. Jaylon Jones broke up a pass and forced a fumble, and new cornerback Sam Womack III had a crucial pass breakup late, but for the most part the Jaguars took what they wanted.

More importantly, they hit the Colts with blitzes that make it difficult to trigger blitzes.

Rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. passed cornerback Dallis Flowers and safety Nick Cross for an 85-yard touchdown in the first half, and veteran slot receiver Christian Kirk passed for a 61-yard gain in the first half against Jones and veteran safety Julian Blackmon in the second half.

For the most part, Bradley stuck to reporting.

But with the Colts desperately needing a stop in the final two minutes of a tied game, Bradley turned up the pressure by launching a fire zone attack designed to keep Jacksonville from getting into field goal range.

The speed cameras never had a chance. Kirk was completely open on an out route and took advantage of a secondary that couldn't hold up its end of the bargain.

“You try to attack them, throw them out of field goal range because they have time, the field position is not on your side, so the defense has to be extremely aggressive to get them out,” Franklin said. “They made a good decision, we're in a fire zone and they took a direct hit on Kirk.”

Indianapolis also tried to free up its pass rushers by doing lots of stunts, spins and plays on the defensive line as the Colts rushed four players, but when the tactic freed up a defender, Lawrence almost always had a wide-open opportunity to get the ball to throw ball, thereby neutralizing the pass rush.

Ballard believed the team's young corners and safeties would take a step forward.

But he left little depth, and on Sunday the absence of Moore and Brents was felt, even if the Colts refused to acknowledge it.

“It’s a shame not having any guys out there, but it’s next man up,” Jones said. “Nobody cares who’s out there.”

For most of the first half, the Colts' run defense seemed to be the only bright spot on a bad day for the defense, allowing the Jacksonville runners one long run of just four yards in the first 30 minutes.

Two runs from Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby undid all that hard work.

Bigsby overran the Indianapolis secondary, led by Cross, with a 19-yard run early in the third quarter and then ran away from the Colts for a 65-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that nearly tied the game.

The Colts defenders repeatedly failed to make any tackles in the passing game in the open field.

The same problem arose in the running game in crunch time.

“The tackling was terrible. I made this kid look like something I don't necessarily think he was, but he did it,” Franklin said. “We didn’t give our best today.”

Short of getting Buckner, Paye and Moore healthy, answers to the problems plaguing one of the NFL's worst defenses appear to be few and far between.

Steichen has stayed behind Bradley, supporting his conservative approach as long as he has limited explosive plays, even though Jacksonville beat the Colts on Sunday by racking up explosive yards.

Every change in scheme seems to open another hole in the defense. An in-season move seems unlikely as Bradley has worked with coaches throughout his career.

Steichen still believes the defense will right the ship.

“Because of the people we have over there,” Steichen said. “Zaire, EJ, Buck, Kwity. All these guys work hard.”

Two of these players are currently unavailable.

And until then, Bradley and the rest of the Colts defense don't seem to have an answer as to how to follow in their footsteps.

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