3Rd Down Defense Is Awful

[unitaswestand]

It's one of those things that just doesn't make sense to me. If it is 3rd down and 6 for the opponent, and you give them a 7 yard cushion, how can Freeney or Mathis get to the QB before a guy runs down the field 7 yards, turns around, and catches the ball??? It logically doesn't make sense. I would think, instead, you would play press coverage to slow down the receivers, which gives Freeney and Mathis more time to get to the QB. I don't know. Someone please tell me how this works. I know the idea is to force the other team to dink and dunk with the idea they will eventually come up short or make a mistake. But if you consider how long the Cover-2 defense has been around and how many titles teams have won with it as the defense, it is not real good. I could be wrong, but I think the Bucs and Colts are the only two teams to play Cover-2 that have won the Super Bowl. And this is something that has been around in its form since like 1990.

[reddmmann]

This is the Colts defense in a nut-shell...60 minutes of prevent defense :pullhair:

True.

The Colts' base defense isn't a "Cover-2" or "Tampa-2". Their base defense is the "Prevent Defense"

[Fatboyslim11]

Yes, the defense played poorly. It's been that way for a long time. My question is why? Do you think the bad defense is a function of poor schemes, poor coaching, untalented players, bad luck or what?

[Jay Roland]

We fired Coyer but that didn't solve the problem. Not that I expected it to this season at least. We will continue to do what we do even though its proven to fail. Hopefully the offseason will see some meaningful changes.

I for one didn't expct that the new interm DC was going to right things the first week. what i want to see is if he can get some changes done for this week and next wk then we can throw him under the bus but give the guy a break 1 week won't get anything done.

We definitely need to start playing up close to the receivers instead of a 10 to 20 yard cushion as it is not working. we are not getting any pressure on the QB i think Brady got knocked down once DT need to step up as our DE can't do it all no matter how good they are. only bright spot has been at LB.

[LUVTHESHOE]

I know its not news to anyone but on the 2nd to last drive

3rd down and 5 Pats convert

3rd down and 6 Pats convert

3rd down and 8 Pats convert

3rd down and 15 Pats convert

all on the same drive!

If this is the kind of D that BP wants to see then it is obvious why he is a GM and not a DC because that was a horrific game plan. Now before everyone get up in arms I relize that we just fired our DC, but really, we just went from vanilla to flat out bland and almost close to not even being college level.

[wercolts]

They know they can't play man so they back off and are told not to let anything get behind them. The stupid thing is they can't cover playing zone either. So when you are 0-11, is playing man and sending a couple of extra guys after the QB really taking too big a risk? If it is in the mind of the coaching staff I guess they have never heard the phrase "desperate time times call for desperate measures". Fake some punts/FG's, try some onside kicks, go for it on 4th and whatever, throw a couple more bombs and don't be afraid to frickin' blitz. Wadda ya got to lose?

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

And we get 3rd and 14,we decide to run it??

............Well at least it wasnt that predictable.

[jskinnz]

I know its not news to anyone but on the 2nd to last drive

3rd down and 5 Pats convert

3rd down and 6 Pats convert

3rd down and 8 Pats convert

3rd down and 15 Pats convert

all on the same drive!

And in other news, water has been determined to be wet.

[Malakai432]

And in other news, water has been determined to be wet.

That is a complete lie!!!

[Corndog]

This is what gets me. I can understand "doing what we do" when things are going well. I can understand playing conservative defense designed to contain big plays when you have a high-powered offense and all you need to do is make sure the defense doesn't lose it for you. That isn't the case anymore, though. It's like they're taking the strategy that they would use if Peyton was leading the team and just disregarding the fact that he isn't there. This season is a lost cause at this point, so there is no sense in "doing what we do" at this point. Lets experiment. Jam some receivers and play some press man-to-man. If you get burned, so what? It's not like it's going to cost you a playoff run. Heck, play some 3-4. I know we don't have the personnel for it, but so what? Experiment. Now is the time to test the guys that you have to give you a better idea of how to improve in the future. It's kind of like an extended preseason....but against first-team competition that is actually trying to win games. Instead, we still have Jacob Lacey lining up seven yards off the line of scrimmage and maintaining at least a five-yard cushion. Just doing what we do does not take advantage of this opportunity to evaluate personnel in real game conditions.

Oh, and the 3rd down defense is no worse than the 1st and 2nd down defense.

I agree with this post for the most part. I do think this team needs to start experimenting on defense, it's not like they have anything to lose at this point. The 3-4 probably wouldn't work with our personel, but why not give it a try on a few plays, atleast it would confuse the opponents offense. But I completely disagree with the last point, our 1st and 2nd down defense has held the opponents to 3rd and long quite a few times only to be nullified by bad 3rd down defense. Just look at the OP, this has been happening all season. Personally I think it is a coaching problem, just bad play calling. If this team drafts a couple of good CBs and gets a new coach I think with the linebackers, and D-line this team has it could easily be a top ten defense.

[Jason_]

This year the Colts have used a defensive front with 3 men lined up as down lineman, the normal 3 LBs and Mathis rushing the passer from a standing position. That essentially is what the Colts 3-4 defense would look like so they have done it on occasion.