[Colts/falcons-they call it gritty]

  Good post. Agreed. To borrow a cliche; we keep "shooting ourselves in the foot".

  I'd love to see how good this team can be with less penalties, turnovers, dropped catches, bad passes, missed assignments, missed tackles, etc.

[1st half grades-defense]

IMO - Biggest issues are lack of pass rush and secondary missing assignments at times. Improved secondary play should help the pass rush, as they are almost getting there at times. LB play has generally been decent as has the run defense.

Glass half full outlook is that improved secondary play is entirely possible, which may help with pass rush