Is this the best Colts defense you have ever seen?

[Nesjan3]

 Colts fans of all ages on this forum. I myself became a fan Mannings rookie year I was just a kid. This is easily the best defense I have seen the Colts assemble. The only thing I can remember thats similar is when we tightened up in the 06 playoffs, Bob Sanders I think propelled that. If you have another year in mind please share.

[Korey]

To me it is crazy on how the Colts are known for their Defense this year. When I use to think of the Colts it was offense then special teams then last was defense. . Now this season I think of the Defense first and the offense 2nd. Oh man have the times have changed. 

[chad72]

2007 we had a good defense but then this is the best interior of the defense I have seen in all the Colts years in the last 20 years, best run D.

 

Under Polian/Dungy and under Grigson/Pagano, our run D was not even this consistent as it has been under Ballard/Reich/Eberflus. Pass D however is hampered by limited edge production, which is where Polian's teams won. Once you had a lead, we had the edge rushers to protect it with 2 HOF rushers Freeney and Mathis. Grigson just coattailed on Polian's Mathis for his last few years.

 

 

 

 

[pgt_rob]

Best defense that I've seen in quite some time. I'm very excited about how consistent we've been on run defense as well. I was a bit tired of seeing defense play a great game and then have a crap 3 next games. I never thought of the Colts having a great defense and it's weird hearing from other teams and talking heads that the Colts have an amazing defense. It's a good weird. I hope we can turn our offense around a bit and we're definitely Super Bowl caliber.

[TheBlueAndWhite]

Our defense is just so disciplined, you can tell that they trust the players next to them to get their job done, and as soon as the ball gets to it's location they swarm. It's cool to watch, I enjoy the fact that we have few freelancing players and they play more as a brotherhood. 

[Stephen]

26 minutes ago, chad72 said:

2007 we had a good defense but then this is the best interior of the defense I have seen in all the Colts years in the last 20 years, best run D.

 

Under Polian/Dungy and under Grigson/Pagano, our run D was not even this consistent as it has been under Ballard/Reich/Eberflus. Pass D however is hampered by limited edge production, which is where Polian's teams won. Once you had a lead, we had the edge rushers to protect it with 2 HOF rushers Freeney and Mathis. Grigson just coattailed on Polian's Mathis for his last few years.

 

 

 

 

2007 was better. Freeney mathis and healthy bob Sanders 

[Nesjan3]

I forgot about 07, Rivers and the Chargers knocked us out that year lol.

[DougDew]

Its up there, but not prepared to say its the best.  The dline is close to the best, but the year it had Freeney, Mathis, and Booger is tough to beat.  Plus Bob Sanders and Marlin Jackson.  The problem with the D in those years was that we got dinked in the middle because our ILBs were always JAGS, and probably worse when it came to run defense.

 

[pacolts56]

Some of us in the “senior” division probably remember Mike Curtis, Bubba Smith @ Co. back in the late 60s.... so I voted no.

 

However.... for the Indy era Colts I believe this defense is on the cusp of being the best.

 

 

[Myles]

This is the first defense that I have felt confidence going into games.  

[Robin]

I would love to see this defense with Vontae Davis 2014 season

[stitches]

Yes, and it's not particularly close. I was a bit reluctant to go there, but so far so good... this D looks legit. It's a shame Luck didn't get to play with that D and that offensive line more than a season.   In another universe this team would have been a perennial contender for the next decade with the pieces in place and a great talent at QB like Luck. We still might be, but we are missing some of the most important pieces. 

[superrep1967]

I think the defense in 95' was outstanding and was very comparable to this years. 

[superrep1967]

3 hours ago, pgt_rob said:

Best defense that I've seen in quite some time. I'm very excited about how consistent we've been on run defense as well. I was a bit tired of seeing defense play a great game and then have a crap 3 next games. I never thought of the Colts having a great defense and it's weird hearing from other teams and talking heads that the Colts have an amazing defense. It's a good weird. I hope we can turn our offense around a bit and we're definitely Super Bowl caliber.

Yeah, if we could ever figure out our offense we could definitely be in Super Bowl contention. But I'm not a big fan of Reich's play calling.  

[WarGhost21]

It is definitely a very good defense. As a younger fan, I'm not sure I can accurately make a case for the best of all time for Indy, but I will say it is likely the quickest and scrappiest defense we've had. I'm thoroughly enjoying it, that's for sure!

[chad72]

It is easier getting to the top (which we still are on our way up) than staying there. Ballard has to do as much as he can to retain most of the pieces we need. Rhodes and Carrie were wonderful signings, Stewart's player development has exceeded my expectations compared to the Pagano era where very few players developed. Hoping for the same with RYS, our DL in Lewis and Banogu, and our LBs not named Leonard. Once that happens, we could be closer to the 2013 Seahawks on defense than we think but making far less noise in the media.  

[eaglerockdude]

"Led by Don Shula, the Baltimore Colts finished the 1968 season with a 13-1 record and won the NFL Championship. A team that has been hailed as one of the greatest teams in history for years, but also a team that lost to the Joe Namath led New York Jets in Super Bowl III. Throughout the regular season the Colts were beyond good and outscored opponents 28-10 on average. Having the second-best offense and the best defense in the league meant the Colts cruised into the postseason. Their avenged their sole loss of the season with their NFL Championship game when they defeated the Cleveland Browns 34-0."

 

Of course, who can really judge and compare new teams with old.  For sure the new guys are bigger and probably faster..and that team lost to Joe Willie Namath....which was fate.

 

Namath was one of my all time favorites...

 

Anyway...I am old enough to have enjoyed that superbowl live on TV.

 

This colts team...looks solid...u guys have a decent chance in the show IMO.

[csmopar]

6 hours ago, Nesjan3 said:

 Colts fans of all ages on this forum. I myself became a fan Mannings rookie year I was just a kid. This is easily the best defense I have seen the Colts assemble. The only thing I can remember thats similar is when we tightened up in the 06 playoffs, Bob Sanders I think propelled that. If you have another year in mind please share.

I voted yes. Mainly because of regular season results so far and given the holes our O has put them in.

 

that said, that dec 06 to Jan 07 defense when Bob came back was magical. But thru out the regular season they gave me fits. And I was at every home game that year working, how I didn’t have a heart attack in some of those games is amazing 

[Four2itus]

I think they are the stoutest at the line of scrimmage since coming to Indy.

[King Colt]

Let's include the kicking game's and special teams' role in their success. 

[chad72]

55 minutes ago, King Colt said:

Let's include the kicking game's and special teams' role in their success. 

 

Yes, as soon as they let go of AV. 

[NewColtsFan]

It’s only been 9 games.   Greatness is typically measured in years, not weeks.   And against the two best offenses we played, Baltimore and Cleveland, we didn’t look great.  
 

Let’s not crown anyone just yet.   We will have a better idea after the post-season. 

[coltfaninnewyork]

The sack pack in mid seventies bit before my time but I like history 

[coltfaninnewyork]

5 hours ago, pacolts56 said:

Some of us in the “senior” division probably remember Mike Curtis, Bubba Smith @ Co. back in the late 60s.... so I voted no.

 

However.... for the Indy era Colts I believe this defense is on the cusp of being the best.

 

 

Sack pack mid seventies 

[John Hammonds]

2 hours ago, csmopar said:

I voted yes. Mainly because of regular season results so far and given the holes our O has put them in.

 

that said, that dec 06 to Jan 07 defense when Bob came back was magical. But thru out the regular season they gave me fits. And I was at every home game that year working, how I didn’t have a heart attack in some of those games is amazing 

I would also include the 2005 defense as well.  It may have been ranked only 11th, but that team was amazing, with a lot of individual stats that excelled:

Robert Mathis 11.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 8 forced fumbles

Dwight Freeney 11 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, 6 forced fumbles (Pro Bowl)

Gary Bracket 127 total tackles and 3 int's

Cato June 103 total tackles and 5 int's (Pro Bowl)

Bob Sanders 92 total tackles and 3 tackles for loss (Pro Bowl)

[coltfaninnewyork]

47 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

It’s only been 9 games.   Greatness is typically measured in years, not weeks.   And against the two best offenses we played, Baltimore and Cleveland, we didn’t look great.  
 

Let’s not crown anyone just yet.   We will have a better idea after the post-season. 

True ,but titans offense pretty potent we did well overall 

[Dunk]

5 hours ago, superrep1967 said:

I think the defense in 95' was outstanding and was very comparable to this years. 

Yep.

The  Goose, Herrod, Tony Bennet, Big play Ray, Eugene Daniel and Jason Belser.

That was the last D I thought was very good as well. We've had some in between that were decent, with some very talented guys, as others have mentioned in this thread.

[NewColtsFan]

47 minutes ago, coltfaninnewyork said:

True ,but titans offense pretty potent we did well overall 

Right.   No doubt.   I was very impressed.   But it is only one game.  And we looked great when we humbled the Minnesota offense which looks good now.  We made them look bad. 
 

The question remains...   how do we look the rest of the regular season?   Then, how do we look in the playoffs?  That will tell us much more than what we’ve seen up to now.  JMO. 

[coltfaninnewyork]

1 minute ago, NewColtsFan said:

Right.   No doubt.   I was very impressed.   But it is only one game.  And we looked great when we humbled the Minnesota offense which looks good now.  We made them look bad. 
 

The question remains...   how do we look the rest of the regular season?   Then, how do we look in the playoffs?  That will tell us much more than what we’ve seen up to now.  JMO. 

You know what was impressive was shutting down cook in that game ,he’s a bad man 

[bleed blue4life]

Being  fan since the early 60s I have seen some good defenses. In saying that this one can ne the best but not quite there yet imo just yet 

[pacolts56]

3 hours ago, csmopar said:

I voted yes. Mainly because of regular season results so far and given the holes our O has put them in.

 

that said, that dec 06 to Jan 07 defense when Bob came back was magical. But thru out the regular season they gave me fits. And I was at every home game that year working, how I didn’t have a heart attack in some of those games is amazing 

And that Jacksonville game where MJD and Fred Taylor trucked us for 375 rushing yards in a 44-17 blowout was as nauseating a Colts game defensively as I've ever seen. 

 

Had Sanders not returned for those playoffs, its highly unlikely we'd have won the SB seven weeks later.

[coltfaninnewyork]

3 minutes ago, pacolts56 said:

And that Jacksonville game where MJD and Fred Taylor trucked us for 375 rushing yards in a 44-17 blowout was as nauseating a Colts game defensively as I've ever seen. 

 

Had Sanders not returned for those playoffs, its highly unlikely we'd have won the SB seven weeks later.

Excellent point I remember being so down after that jags game ,the sheer embarrassment 

[Sikma]

The line with Cook,Ehrmann, Barnes and Dutton was also excellent. 

[superrep1967]

1 hour ago, Dunk said:

Yep.

The  Goose, Herrod, Tony Bennet, Big play Ray, Eugene Daniel and Jason Belser.

That was the last D I thought was very good as well. We've had some in between that were decent, with some very talented guys, as others have mentioned in this thread.

Yeah, don't forget Quinton Coryatt  he had a great that year. 

[coltfaninnewyork]

1 minute ago, superrep1967 said:

Yeah, don't forget Quinton Coryatt  he had a great that year. 

Man he had that pick against Steelers in afc championship game ,we were going if he held on .Oh well ifs n buts 

[superrep1967]

Just now, coltfaninnewyork said:

Man he had that pick against Steelers in afc championship game ,we were going if he held on .Oh well ifs n buts 

I agree it took a long time to get over that game and it still haunts sometimes. We had it so close I was at the airport when the players return from KC game is it was crazy. I can't imagine what it would have been like if we beat Pittsburgh so close. 

[Dingus McGirt]

7 hours ago, pacolts56 said:

Some of us in the “senior” division probably remember Mike Curtis, Bubba Smith @ Co. back in the late 60s.... so I voted no.

 

However.... for the Indy era Colts I believe this defense is on the cusp of being the best.

 

 

This...

[csmopar]

57 minutes ago, pacolts56 said:

And that Jacksonville game where MJD and Fred Taylor trucked us for 375 rushing yards in a 44-17 blowout was as nauseating a Colts game defensively as I've ever seen. 

 

Had Sanders not returned for those playoffs, its highly unlikely we'd have won the SB seven weeks later.

That game made me wanna vomit 

[EastStreet]

To early to tell. Definitely good. We've accumulated good stats from playing one of the weakest NFL schedules so far. We've looked bad at times against sub par Os. And if you don't remember Thursday, we looked awful in the 1st half. 

[ojsglove]

Our defense is carrying this team.  Oline has regressed, not impressed with coach Reich's play calling.  We still gotta a shot.  GO COLTS