Greg Manusky

[RockThatBlue]

Do you feel hes done a good job this year? I think hes done awesome with this years defense.

[MTC]

He's doing good enough to keep his job. 

[HOFClipboardHolder]

If Sexy Rexy becomes available at the end of the year, I would love that upgrade over Manusky

[Nobody]

We've out-performed our talent level. No team with these pass rushers and safeties should play this well.

[BProland85]

He's been very good at adjusting to life without Mathis. Now the question is if he can be consistent with good defensive play. The knock on him in the past was he was hot and cold with his playcalling.

 

But if he can keep this up, this defense will only get better when we actually get a good FS, and add pass rush help at OLB and DE.

[PrincetonTiger]

Manusky has done a very nice job

[sreylas937]

If Sexy Rexy becomes available at the end of the year, I would love that upgrade over Manusky

Rex can stay out of Indy!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[HOFClipboardHolder]

We've out-performed our talent level. No team with these pass rushers and safeties should play this well.

If anything the team has under performed with the talent available. Landry was a probowl safety before coming here and Werner isnt playing up to his talent level. Between Kerr, Chapman, Redding and Jones we have quite a rotation going on the defensive line. Toler/Davis have the potential to be the best cb duo in the league.

 

Lets not forget Manusky was the DC of the 49ers the year before Harbaugh/Fangio came in and transformed that same unit into one of the best defenses in the league. Pagano took over a defense that was struggling under Manusky and now the Chargers' D is at the top of the league this season.

 

I would love to see Werner play b*tch kitty in Rex's scheme. (Why is the name of a football position censored on a football forum?)

[Smonroe]

If anything the team has under performed with the talent available. Landry was a probowl safety before coming here and Werner isnt playing up to his talent level. Between Kerr, Chapman, Redding and Jones we have quite a rotation going on the defensive line. Toler/Davis have the potential to be the best cb duo in the league.

 

Lets not forget Manusky was the DC of the 49ers the year before Harbaugh/Fangio came in and transformed that same unit into one of the best defenses in the league. Pagano took over a defense that was struggling under Manusky and now the Chargers' D is at the top of the league this season.

 

I would love to see Werner play b*tch kitty in Rex's scheme. (Why is the name of a football position censored on a football forum?)

IMHO, you're grossly overrating the talent on defense.

[Gavin]

I want him gone personally, He puts some of our Linebackers in situations that very very few Linebackers would have any chance of succeeding in and thats putting them out in Man coverage on WR's.

he gave Wallace from Miami a free TD last year putting Landry on him inside the 20 early in the game and put, He has done some good no question, I don't want to dismiss the good he has done but some of the things he has asked our Linebackers and even Safeties (Landry) to do is just ignorant

[backshoulderfade]

Landry was only ever a pro bowler because he played in a big market and made a handful of highlight hits.

[jbaron04]

I wouldn't mind Rex if he available one thing about that man is he can coach def

[lollygagger8]

I think Manusky maybe 75% there in figuring out how to use our personnel properly......

 

 

Some things Manusky could do better: 

 

 

Manusky's learned that our secondary is a strong point, and them covering well can help these stunts and inside blitzes work out. Getting creative with blitzing is certainly helping us. 

 

Manusky needs to have Werner keep putting his hands in the dirt with the 3 and 4 point stance.He's actually pretty explosive off the snap when he does this. And for the love, stop dropping Werner into coverage. 

 

Reduce the cushion Toler gives receivers. 10 yards is ridiculous. 

 

The ONLY LB that should drop into coverage is Freeman. DQ is good at stopping the run, not coverage. I think Muamba can drop into coverage, and definitely needs to see the field some more. He has a great motor. 

 

I think Manusky should try McNary at OLB too. 

[ztboiler]

I wouldn't mind Rex if he available one thing about that man is he can coach def

I could see the value in a guy like Rex if you want to try to catch lightning in a bottle and go all in on a one year Superbowl run (never a good idea in my book) - but he isn't the kind of presence I associate with building and maintaining a great winning culture - sustainable success.  You see it in his brother as well.  They can roll the dice and do great things, but sustainability looks elusive for the Ryan clan.

[GoColts8818]

He's done a great job coming up with ways to get to the QB without Mathis and has weathered a rather large rash of injuries/suspensions to start the year extremely well.

[ztboiler]

I want him gone personally, He puts some of our Linebackers in situations that very very few Linebackers would have any chance of succeeding in and thats putting them out in Man coverage on WR's.

he gave Wallace from Miami a free TD last year putting Landry on him inside the 20 early in the game and put, He has done some good no question, I don't want to dismiss the good he has done but some of the things he has asked our Linebackers and even Safeties (Landry) to do is just ignorant

You are looking through a pretty narrow lens.  A team that plays a lot of man coverage will occassionally end up with LB's in a bad match up.  Hard to avoid - and exaggerated moreso by having safeties that are not good man cover guys.

 

I'm not all in on Manusky yet, but I like the trend a lot.  The first part of that trend is the number of games won that were closed out by the D.  Those are way up since Manusky took over in 2012, including 2012 when we were grossly under equipped with personnel that fit the scheme.  Part 2 is overall competence in the scheme.  The D is getting off the field more frequently and contributing to the time of possession advantage that we have been accumulating. 

 

Lastly, Manusky has made good adjustments at halftime that have contributed to comebacks when his original plans faltered.  

[Jason_]

The D is getting off the field more frequently and contributing to the time of possession advantage that we have been accumulating. 

 

Yep and that's a big one.  Colts are currently the #1 defense in the league in allowed 3rd down conversion percentage only allowing a conversion 30% of the time.

[OffensivelyPC]

You are looking through a pretty narrow lens.  A team that plays a lot of man coverage will occassionally end up with LB's in a bad match up.  Hard to avoid - and exaggerated moreso by having safeties that are not good man cover guys.

 

I'm not all in on Manusky yet, but I like the trend a lot.  The first part of that trend is the number of games won that were closed out by the D.  Those are way up since Manusky took over in 2012, including 2012 when we were grossly under equipped with personnel that fit the scheme.  Part 2 is overall competence in the scheme.  The D is getting off the field more frequently and contributing to the time of possession advantage that we have been accumulating. 

 

Lastly, Manusky has made good adjustments at halftime that have contributed to comebacks when his original plans faltered.  

This.  No coordinator on any team is perfect.  Manusky's D, like any other D has its flaws.  I mean, even the Seahawks aren't flawless.  But Manusky's second half adjustments have been as good as anyone else in the league.  While our D has some weaknesses, it has generally been strong when it needs to be.  Our first two losses were against very good teams.  Against Manning, no defense is safe, and they put us in a position to at least tie the game when it was all said and done (and maybe win but for the 4th quarter interception).  Against the Eagles, you can't really pin that on the defense entirely.  2 very untimely turnovers (one of which put them on our 26 and really proved to be a large momentum shifting play) and a quick 3 and out on our last possession played a large role in that game. 

 

But we've moved past that now, and are on a 4 game win streak, and while offense has played a huge role in that, Manusky's game plan has been equally pivotal in those games as well.  So I don't see why, when we lose games, we pin that on coaching, but when the D comes up with some game winning stops, we can't also give Manusky some credit for those as well.  Our last 2 wins are in large part due to defense and getting pressure on Fitz.  Plus, even if we brought Rex on board, I'm not sure that would be that much of an upgrade.

[ztboiler]

Yep and that's a big one.  Colts are currently the #1 defense in the league in allowed 3rd down conversion percentage only allowing a conversion 30% of the time.

Didn't know that....but it sure felt that way.  That statistic is probably more important than some of the total D stats we rely on for measuring a D.

[ztboiler]

This.  No coordinator on any team is perfect.  Manusky's D, like any other D has its flaws.  I mean, even the Seahawks aren't flawless.  But Manusky's second half adjustments have been as good as anyone else in the league.  While our D has some weaknesses, it has generally been strong when it needs to be.  Our first two losses were against very good teams.  Against Manning, no defense is safe, and they put us in a position to at least tie the game when it was all said and done (and maybe win but for the 4th quarter interception).  Against the Eagles, you can't really pin that on the defense entirely.  2 very untimely turnovers (one of which put them on our 26 and really proved to be a large momentum shifting play) and a quick 3 and out on our last possession played a large role in that game. 

 

But we've moved past that now, and are on a 4 game win streak, and while offense has played a huge role in that, Manusky's game plan has been equally pivotal in those games as well.  So I don't see why, when we lose games, we pin that on coaching, but when the D comes up with some game winning stops, we can't also give Manusky some credit for those as well.  Our last 2 wins are in large part due to defense and getting pressure on Fitz.  Plus, even if we brought Rex on board, I'm not sure that would be that much of an upgrade.

Losing to the Eagles was a fluke and the first half performance by the D was good enough to put us in position to ice that game.  Yes, we had some major breakdowns by the D, very frustrating, in the second half, but those were largely a function of having LB's and safeties that couldn't get Sproles on the ground when they were in position to make plays.  

 

Hard to put any of that on Manusky as that was purely personnel and performance.  Of course, some won't like the LB coverage on the TE's in that game....but we are a man defense and it's gonna happen.

[crazycolt1]

Why do so many Colt fans love to whine? The Colts defense is #11 right now. Some wouldn't be happy at all no matter what was going on.

[Chase]

I have not been a great Manusky fan, but with the addition of a couple of players this year, his approach has seemed to work much better than in the past.  It still comes down to the players on the field doing their jobs.

[throwing BBZ]

I think Manusky maybe 75% there in figuring out how to use our personnel properly......

 

 

Some things Manusky could do better: 

 

 

Manusky's learned that our secondary is a strong point, and them covering well can help these stunts and inside blitzes work out. Getting creative with blitzing is certainly helping us. 

 

Manusky needs to have Werner keep putting his hands in the dirt with the 3 and 4 point stance.He's actually pretty explosive off the snap when he does this. And for the love, stop dropping Werner into coverage. 

 

Reduce the cushion Toler gives receivers. 10 yards is ridiculous. 

 

The ONLY LB that should drop into coverage is Freeman. DQ is good at stopping the run, not coverage. I think Muamba can drop into coverage, and definitely needs to see the field some more. He has a great motor. 

 

I think Manusky should try McNary at OLB too. 

 

 DQ is killing us against the run at times. He is Not getting off blocks and filling his gap close to the LOS like a good 10 yr vet should. 

 That was the knock on him and so far it holds true. Not a fan of his pass coverage.

[chad72]

 DQ is killing us against the run at times. He is Not getting off blocks and filling his gap close to the LOS like a good 10 yr vet should. 

 That was the knock on him and so far it holds true. Not a fan of his pass coverage.

 

Yeah, DQwell Jackson, the best thing he does is blitz, I feel. So, just blitz with him, run blitz or pass blitz so that he is a factor on things that he does well .

[lollygagger8]

 DQ is killing us against the run at times. He is Not getting off blocks and filling his gap close to the LOS like a good 10 yr vet should. 

 That was the knock on him and so far it holds true. Not a fan of his pass coverage.

 

So if he's not good at stopping the run, nor good in pass coverage, what is he doing here?? 

[ztboiler]

So if he's not good at stopping the run, nor good in pass coverage, what is he doing here?? 

I'm a little disappointed with DQ's individual impact as well - particularly the missed tackles.  However, I think he is much better in coverage, particularly zone drops, than he is getting credit for around here.  I don't know why anyone would be disappointed with his ability to cover a receiving TE man to man or, I should say, why would anyone expect him to be a plus player in that regard?  Maybe people heard that he was good in coverage and thought that meant he could cover Jimmy Graham....not the same thing.

 

Now, before we look too critically at what we are not getting from DQ, let's look at what we are getting.  This is the best defense we've put on the field in quite awhile, one that just put forth a stifling game changing effort against the Ravens and that is leading the league in 3rd down conversions % and pushing Top 10 in total D.  At the center of that is DQ.  

 

I am not smart enough to measure his impact qualitatively, but we all know that individual talent means very little if it isn't led right.  We also know that defensive coaches call much simpler, lower risk schemes, in the absence of on-field leadership that they trust to do the little things to mitigate risk.  It probably isn't a coincidence that blitz packages are a touch more aggressive this year and that we are getting results at a elite sack clip despite the loss of Mathis.

 

I'd like more from the position than we are getting individually, but it could be that we are, in fact, realizing the benefits of DQ Jax that made him highly sought after on the open market.

[PeterBowman]

Colts also 3rd in completion % allowed at 58% and 7th in qb rating allowed at 80.0, 6th in sacks at 17.

 

the monster is getting bigger

 

still has a little ways to go but I'm really liking what we're seeing form.

[Superman]

Colts also 3rd in completion % allowed at 58% and 7th in qb rating allowed at 80.0, 6th in sacks at 17.

 

the monster is getting bigger

 

still has a little ways to go but I'm really liking what we're seeing form.

 

I'm very encouraged by our defense, so don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, but I feel obliged to mention that we've played three games against teams with subpar quarterbacks. If we were to normalize those rankings, I don't think we'd be quite as high, and after this coming month -- Bengals, Steelers, Giants, Patriots -- I get the feeling those rankings won't be quite as high.

 

On the other hand, we took pretty good care of Joe Flacco and his receivers a week ago, and then he throws five touchdowns in the first 16 minutes of the game this week. So we stack up pretty well against good competition, I think. Had a good half against the Broncos, a good half against the Eagles, etc. The pass rush seems to be getting better. The secondary is for real. My only complaint is our pass defense in the middle of the field, where almost all of the damage has come this year. But with Freeman back, and some changes at safety, that should get better.

 

I like what we've done so far.

[Gavin]

I'm very encouraged by our defense, so don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, but I feel obliged to mention that we've played three games against teams with subpar quarterbacks. If we were to normalize those rankings, I don't think we'd be quite as high, and after this coming month -- Bengals, Steelers, Giants, Patriots -- I get the feeling those rankings won't be quite as high.

 

On the other hand, we took pretty good care of Joe Flacco and his receivers a week ago, and then he throws five touchdowns in the first 16 minutes of the game this week. So we stack up pretty well against good competition, I think. Had a good half against the Broncos, a good half against the Eagles, etc. The pass rush seems to be getting better. The secondary is for real. My only complaint is our pass defense in the middle of the field, where almost all of the damage has come this year. But with Freeman back, and some changes at safety, that should get better.

 

I like what we've done so far.

Thing is Tampa Bay is not a good defensive team...At least this year...I mean they were quite pathetic prior to average Joe shredding them(repeatedly blowing Gap integrity leaving big cutback lanes as an example), Its hard for me to take Flacco serious based on him shredding a bad defensive team,I mean of course Tampa has some talent on defense but most of them are learning Lovie defense for the first time as well

[TKnight24]

Can knock DQ Jackson all y'all want but no one on our defense could cover J. Thomas week 1

And still have plenty of top end TE's to play this season that no one on our defense can cover

[wesd2890]

DQ is arguably our best pass rusher

[Gavin]

You are looking through a pretty narrow lens.  A team that plays a lot of man coverage will occassionally end up with LB's in a bad match up.  Hard to avoid - and exaggerated moreso by having safeties that are not good man cover guys.

 

I'm not all in on Manusky yet, but I like the trend a lot.  The first part of that trend is the number of games won that were closed out by the D.  Those are way up since Manusky took over in 2012, including 2012 when we were grossly under equipped with personnel that fit the scheme.  Part 2 is overall competence in the scheme.  The D is getting off the field more frequently and contributing to the time of possession advantage that we have been accumulating. 

 

Lastly, Manusky has made good adjustments at halftime that have contributed to comebacks when his original plans faltered.

Designing a play for Josh Mcnary or Jerrell Freeman or Laron Landry(On Mike Wallace in the redzone last year) to line up out where you would regularly see a Corner line up isn't really hard to avoid, Its just a matter of not making that defensive play design, The whole Julius Thomas on our ILB's I completely get that's almost impossible to avoid consistently...Not what I meant, Im talking about presnap alignments

[ztboiler]

Designing a play for Josh Mcnary or Jerrell Freeman or Laron Landry(On Mike Wallace in the redzone last year) to line up out where you would regularly see a Corner line up isn't really hard to avoid, Its just a matter of not making that defensive play design, The whole Julius Thomas on our ILB's I completely get that's almost impossible to avoid consistently...Not what I meant, Im talking about presnap alignments

Well...none of us are advocating such an alignment, but sometimes you get caught in the wrong personnel grouping and it looks silly.  Not sure thats a terminable mistake, and not sure you believe that it is either.

[Gavin]

Well...none of us are advocating such an alignment, but sometimes you get caught in the wrong personnel grouping and it looks silly.  Not sure thats a terminable mistake, and not sure you believe that it is either.

It is hard to argue given our success no question

[BleedBlu8792]

You are looking through a pretty narrow lens. A team that plays a lot of man coverage will occassionally end up with LB's in a bad match up. Hard to avoid - and exaggerated moreso by having safeties that are not good man cover guys.

I'm not all in on Manusky yet, but I like the trend a lot. The first part of that trend is the number of games won that were closed out by the D. Those are way up since Manusky took over in 2012, including 2012 when we were grossly under equipped with personnel that fit the scheme. Part 2 is overall competence in the scheme. The D is getting off the field more frequently and contributing to the time of possession advantage that we have been accumulating.

Lastly, Manusky has made good adjustments at halftime that have contributed to comebacks when his original plans faltered.

Just to add a couple things to your post Zt, I believe the Colts were, for the most part of the last 2 years, the stingiest 2nd half defense, in terms of points allowed, in the NFL.

Also, I remember seeing this stat before the Eagles game on NFL Network, since 2012 if the Colts didn't commit a turnover on offense, the defense yielded an average of ~18ppg. Considering the roster moves since 2012, defensively, that's pretty impressive. The defense is getting there, and I'm warming up more to Manusky. I think the guys deserves some credit considering what he's had to work with.

[Jason_]

DQ is arguably our best pass rusher

No, he's really not. Lol

[Superman]

Thing is Tampa Bay is not a good defensive team...At least this year...I mean they were quite pathetic prior to average Joe shredding them(repeatedly blowing Gap integrity leaving big cutback lanes as an example), Its hard for me to take Flacco serious based on him shredding a bad defensive team,I mean of course Tampa has some talent on defense but most of them are learning Lovie defense for the first time as well

 

Bad quarterbacks don't throw five TDs in the first 16 minutes of the game. Take Flacco seriously or not, that's productive offense. And it was entirely unproductive against us.

 

Also, there's very little to learn about a Cover 2 defense. It's the simplest defense you can learn. All these guys played it in college, and there are plenty of vets on that defense who can make plays and know what they're doing.

 

Now, of course, the Bucs aren't a good defense or a good team in general. Probably the worst team in the league. But not every offense can move the ball and score TDs like the Ravens did, even against a bad team. And last week, we shut them down for most of the game. That's encouraging.

[Gavin]

Bad quarterbacks don't throw five TDs in the first 16 minutes of the game. Take Flacco seriously or not, that's productive offense. And it was entirely unproductive against us.

 

Also, there's very little to learn about a Cover 2 defense. It's the simplest defense you can learn. All these guys played it in college, and there are plenty of vets on that defense who can make plays and know what they're doing.

 

Now, of course, the Bucs aren't a good defense or a good team in general. Probably the worst team in the league. But not every offense can move the ball and score TDs like the Ravens did, even against a bad team. And last week, we shut them down for most of the game. That's encouraging.

Oh I know enough about the Cover 2 to know there really is not a whole lot to it....Just drops everyone back in there zones and don't get beat over the top and come up and make the tackle.......Not a strategy I like at all, Entirely to easy to pick that defense apart unless your playing an all pro at almost every level of the defense, I also think Flacco is a solid QB yet doesn't do anything spectacular on a consistent basis....To me a top 12-15 QB, Has a cannon for an arm though. Wasn't meaning to downplay what he did (Though I guess that's exactly what I did), I was just really pointing out that he lit up a defense that's not been good all year, Now what Flacco did to the 49ers defense in 2012 was something to watch

[wesd2890]

No, he's really not. Lol

Hes tied with most sacks on the team.. tied with dline men who rush the passer every play.. DQ blitzs 5 to 7 times a game.. so yes he arguably is.. arguably

[basketballsteve]

He's been especially excellent with his play calls when the game on the line.