Can anyone ask Eberflus about the Jekyll and Hyde our defense plays pretty much every game?

[chad72]

That should be my number one question for the Colts Mailbag.

 

What is with this Jekyll and Hyde stuff against all teams, whether it is the Bengals or Browns or Titans or Packers that we follow an average/bad defensive performance in the first half with a stellar performance in the second half? What if the offense cannot overcome the deficit and it catches up with us like it did in the Browns game?

 

I personally am out of explanations. Thoughts???

[GoColts8818]

I think he’s really good at adjusting when he sees what the other team is doing.  For some reason he’s not been as on the ball anticipating what’s coming.

[Boondoggle]

If it was Jeckyll & Hyde the Colts would be ranked around middle of the league in points per game.  But they're far better than that.  Top 5 defense.  So maybe your problem is with the league being so offensively minded or the fact that sometimes the other team makes plays.  It is frustrating.  But that's football my man.

[buccolts]

So, we're saying we make excellent adjustments at the half, and the other team doubts we will, so they change nothing?

We're better at anticipating their next move, then they are tricking us with their next move?

Has everyone we've played, so far, made no halftime adjustments?

[Smonroe]

12 minutes ago, Boondoggle said:

If it was Jeckyll & Hyde the Colts would be ranked around middle of the league in points per game.  But they're far better than that.  Top 5 defense.  So maybe your problem is with the league being so offensively minded or the fact that sometimes the other team makes plays.  It is frustrating.  But that's football my man.

 

No, I agree with @chad72 for that game especially.  That defense that played in the first half wasn't the same one that showed up for the second (except for that last Packer's drive when they went to a poor prevent).

 

Yes, Rodgers is a first ballot HoFer, so we should expect him to have success.  But it was too easy for him at the beginning of that game.

 

But I do agree with you about the league being built for offense.  Saban said it in college, and it applies to the NFL.  The days of a team winning with a great defense are over.  The rules are slanted for an offensive game.  

 

All that being said - kudos to that Colts Defense!!!!

[chad72]

17 minutes ago, buccolts said:

So, we're saying we make excellent adjustments at the half, and the other team doubts we will, so they change nothing?

We're better at anticipating their next move, then they are tricking us with their next move?

Has everyone we've played, so far, made no halftime adjustments?

 

No, they did. However, there is a burden that we place on the offense if we dig a hole that sometimes, like the Browns game, we cannot come back from. That is my true concern. Of course, Ws are all I care about, no style points like in college.

[CoachLite]

25 minutes ago, buccolts said:

So, we're saying we make excellent adjustments at the half, and the other team doubts we will, so they change nothing?

We're better at anticipating their next move, then they are tricking us with their next move?

Has everyone we've played, so far, made no halftime adjustments?

I think the major 'adjustment' is in attitude, and maybe focus. This would explain our notorious slow starts.

[NewColtsFan]

First...    we had an interception and a fumble that helped the Packers and put our defense in a bad situation. 
 

Second...   this is yet another thread that doesn’t factor in the Covid year.   No off-season.  No Pre-season games.   If you think this doesn’t factor into on field performance, you’re kidding yourself.   (Not picking on you Chad, these threads are all over the website).

There’s nothing normal about this year. 

 

Third...  I read that defense is terrible this year all across the NFL.  Offense is way up.  In part due to Covid and in part due to the refs told to back off and let the offenses play.  The NFL trying to preserve fan interest.  (I know yesterday’s game was an exception to the rule).  So if we’re hot and cold, well,  that’s the world we’re living in.  I know it’s not a great answer, but it’s hard to be dominant all the time in the best of season’s, much less in this crazy season. 

[CR91]

Would you rather deal with the pagano era where we never made adjustments

[Superman]

To me, it was bad execution + a couple sudden change possessions + a big penalty that allowed the Packers to score 28 first half points. In the second half, the tackling was better, the coverage was better on two or three pass plays which kept the Packers from getting any first downs, and our offense dominated the clock.

 

I thought they actually made adjustments vs the Titans, which allowed them to handle the bootlegs a little better.

[bestQBever]

What it looks like to me is we play our base vanilla defense in the first half, adjust to what they are doing at half, and then play like we actually had a gameplan coming into the game

[CurBeatElite]

1 hour ago, chad72 said:

 

No, they did. However, there is a burden that we place on the offense if we dig a hole that sometimes, like the Browns game, we cannot come back from. That is my true concern. Of course, Ws are all I care about, no style points like in college.

 

The offense digs itself its own hole fairly often.  Our D recovered a fumble on the opening drive by GB which gave our offense the ball at our 40.  We fumbled it right back.  

 

Then when our D got an INT, inside their territory, our O got 3 yards and missed a FG to give it back to GB.

 

Then we threw an interception the first play of the next drive which gave them the ball inside of our 30.  

 

It doesn't help our D at all when they get a turnover and we give it right back to GB.  One, it gives GB good field position, and 2 it gives our D no time to rest.  

 

Sort of like @Superman said, I think a big part of the D turnaround in the second half was that our O ate up a ton of clock, keeping Rodgers off the field and letting our D rest, and when the Pack did have the ball they weren't starting in favorable field position.

 

In the Browns game, Rivers threw a pick 6 the first drive of the 2nd half.  Later in the 2nd half, our D got a safety and Rivers threw an INT after getting the ball back.  In the first half, CLE did have 2 nice drives which resulted in TDs, but we also had a nice drive which resulted in a FG and then a 3 and out.  If the O played a little better in the first half, there's no reason why that game isn't tied or a 3 point game at half instead of a 10 point game.

 

We came back from 21 down in Cincy.. but let's remember, we fumbled the ball inside our own territory on our opening drive which gave Cincy good field position that they converted a TD on.  Then we went 3 and out and went down 21-0.  The Bengals did have fairly nice drives on their 2nd and 3rd possessions, but it isn't like our O is helping the D out when they start with a turnover, 3 and out, 3 and out.

 

Our loss to Ravens we were up 10-7 at half.  The only 7 the Ravens scored in that half were when their D returned a fumble for a TD.  The second half, our D forced a fumble on their first drive which was a fairly long, exhaustive drive.  Rivers threw a pick the next play - giving Balt good field position and giving our D no rest, they scored a TD.  Then we went 3 and out and punted, giving them decent field position and our D only 1 minute 12 seconds of rest.  They scored another TD on their following drive.  Then our O finally gave the D some rest with a 5 min 40 sec drive which we turned over on downs, followed by our D forcing a 3 and out.  We turned it over on downs 5 plays later and they scored a FG after starting in good field position.  So while Balt put up 24 points, it's easy to argue that our O was directly or indirectly responsible for all of them.

 

Our loss vs. Jax... our D gave up 2 good drives all day to Jax (which resulted in 14 points).  The other 13 points came from a pick 6 (again our O's fault) and a pick which gave the Jags the ball inside our 30.  

 

It is a team game, and there have been many instances where our O is putting our D into very bad situations which results in them giving up points.

 

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

First...    we had an interception and a fumble that helped the Packers and put our defense in a bad situation. 
 

Second...   this is yet another thread that doesn’t factor in the Covid year.   No off-season.  No Pre-season games.   If you think this doesn’t factor into on field performance, you’re kidding yourself.   (Not picking on you Chad, these threads are all over the website).

There’s nothing normal about this year. 

 

Third...  I read that defense is terrible this year all across the NFL.  Offense is way up.  In part due to Covid and in part due to the refs told to back off and let the offenses play.  The NFL trying to preserve fan interest.  (I know yesterday’s game was an exception to the rule).  So if we’re hot and cold, well,  that’s the world we’re living in.  I know it’s not a great answer, but it’s hard to be dominant all the time in the best of season’s, much less in this crazy season. 

 

We also had a missed FG (4 plays after Ya-Sin's INT) which GB capitalized on.

 

As I put in my recent thread on takeaways from the GB game and (less directly) in my response to @chad72 above, it's a bit concerning that other teams are capitalizing on our turn overs, whereas it seems as we like to give the ball right back to the opponent after our D forces a turnover.

[richard pallo]

To be honest I'm not sure we made any significant half time adjustments.  Other than having a better reaction to his bootleg rollouts I thought we just settled down and reacted and played better.  There was no increase in blitzing.  We just played with our normal front and played better.  Turnovers really helped them score in the 1st half.  If Rigo doesn't miss the FG and Taylors touchdown is not called back we don't go into overtime but win outright. The defense played better and the offense got rolling with the run game and Taylor being the workhorse.  Our offense is balanced and effective with the right QB leading it.  The offense is good.  The defense is great.  Special Teams are great.  If we don't beat ourselves I like our chances a lot.

[chad72]

16 minutes ago, CurBeatElite said:

As I put in my recent thread on takeaways from the GB game and (less directly) in my response to @chad72 above, it's a bit concerning that other teams are capitalizing on our turn overs, whereas it seems as we like to give the ball right back to the opponent after our D forces a turnover.

 

Yeah, it seems like we rarely make a team punt on offense even if the turnover is at midfield. 

[CurBeatElite]

4 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

Yeah, it seems like we rarely make a team punt on offense even if the turnover is at midfield. 

 

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not.  Maybe you should read the whole sentence.

[coming on strong]

what bothers me about the defense is outside pass rush .   grover and buckner are getting push inside , but outside is struggling very bad without autry .   houston is starting to show his age with only 4 sacks and ben was inactive and muhamed played very bad .     colts need turry to get back and take over and ben needs to step up or the colts need to draft another pass rusher .

[chad72]

3 minutes ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not.  Maybe you should read the whole sentence.

 

No, I have seen aggressive Ds like the Steelers or Ravens back up their QB with blitzes and force punts right after their O commits a turnover. There is no sarcasm in this. It is a valid question.

 

Yes, our O does not do enough on the turnovers the D presents it, that is your point, I got it. The flip side can also be posed as a fair question, right?

[Architects08]

Fumble, missed FG, and INT gave the Packers a short field. Was the defense good in the first half? No, but they were put in bad situations each time. 

[Dark Superman]

3 hours ago, chad72 said:

That should be my number one question for the Colts Mailbag.

 

What is with this Jekyll and Hyde stuff against all teams, whether it is the Bengals or Browns or Titans or Packers that we follow an average/bad defensive performance in the first half with a stellar performance in the second half? What if the offense cannot overcome the deficit and it catches up with us like it did in the Browns game?

 

I personally am out of explanations. Thoughts???

Perhaps it's a cat and mouse game Eberflus likes to play with the opposing offenses during each game. He allows the offense to move the ball against the defense, giving them hope that they will be able to maintain the ability to score on our defense in the second half, but that's when Eberflus decides to show the opponent he's only been toying with them and they never had a chance to defeat us.

 

This is pure sarcasm. Lol

[chad72]

Just now, TheLegend87 said:

Perhaps it's a cat and mouse game Eberflus likes to play with the opposing offenses during each game. He allows the offense to move the ball against the defense, giving them hope that they will be able to maintain the ability to score on our defense in the second half, but that's when Eberflus decides to show the opponent he's only been toying with them and they never had a chance to defeat us.

 

This is pure sarcasm. Lol

 

Eberflus is the king of rope-a-dope, just like the 32nd ranked rush defense in the league in our SB winning year, lol.  

[crazycolt1]

We have one of the best defenses in the league. 

What is the problem? 

[CurBeatElite]

2 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

No, I have seen aggressive Ds like the Steelers or Ravens back up their QB with blitzes and force punts right after their O commits a turnover. There is no sarcasm in this. It is a valid question.

 

Yes, our O does not do enough on the turnovers the D presents it, that is your point, I got it. The flip side can also be posed as a fair question, right?

 

OK, got it... and yea, I think it's fair.

 

However, I think some of that is related to defensive rest.  For example, look at the play by play from IND-BAL: https://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay?gameId=401220189

 

They opened the 2nd half with a 4 min drive, we forced a fumble.  We then threw an INT on the first play after getting the ball back.  After they turned the ball over (and it was deep in our territory, we gave it right back to them - 7 seconds ran off the clock).  Our D had to be exhausted after just having that drive, getting some momentum with a FF and then seeing it get washed down the drain the next play.  Then Balt had a 5 min 40 sec drive for a TD.  We got the ball back and punted on a 3 and out.  Again, the D had to be exhausted.  You'll notice if you look across our season, our D plays much better after our O eats up some clock and gives them rest.  

 

Not like the Pack had long drives on us before we forced turnovers, but when we did yesterday we gave it back to them within about a minute.  Then they had a long drive (4 min 15 sec after our missed FG) and we threw an interception our first play after they kicked off.  https://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay?gameId=401220191  

[Freenyfan102]

I think of it thisn way. Since there was no off season offense have not a good time to put in a lot of different  plays in or change much. Look at Greenbay how many times did they do the wrong screen pass on them. So he is watching what they are doing in the 1st half and then adjusting since he already seen what  he has to see.

[superrep1967]

3 hours ago, Superman said:

To me, it was bad execution + a couple sudden change possessions + a big penalty that allowed the Packers to score 28 first half points. In the second half, the tackling was better, the coverage was better on two or three pass plays which kept the Packers from getting any first downs, and our offense dominated the clock.

 

I thought they actually made adjustments vs the Titans, which allowed them to handle the bootlegs a little better.

Yeah, the bootlegs was killing us in the first half.

[Colts1324]

You have to take into consideration that most teams script their best plays & the ones they have practiced the most during the first 2-3 drives. 

Good QB's will dice our zone from watching tape all week, and then good defenses will adjust. 

[csmopar]

6 hours ago, Smonroe said:

 

No, I agree with @chad72 for that game especially.  That defense that played in the first half wasn't the same one that showed up for the second (except for that last Packer's drive when they went to a poor prevent).

 

Yes, Rodgers is a first ballot HoFer, so we should expect him to have success.  But it was too easy for him at the beginning of that game.

 

But I do agree with you about the league being built for offense.  Saban said it in college, and it applies to the NFL.  The days of a team winning with a great defense are over.  The rules are slanted for an offensive game.  

 

All that being said - kudos to that Colts Defense!!!!

I disagree with Saban on that one. At least about the days of winning with a great Defense being over. I think it’ll come full circle . Eventually

[SR711]

It definitely is an interesting question. 

 

Even last week against Titans, 2nd half D was a huge difference between the 1st half (I believe we shut them out in the 2nd half after giving up 17 pts in the 1st half)

 

The thing is that its not like there are a bunch of exotic blitz packages that weren’t run the 1st half of these games.  Our pass rush looks and basic coverage shells seem pretty similar in both halves, so maybe it just comes down the “eliminating mental errors” mantra we hear from coaches like Dungy so many times over the years when asked how the defense can play better when running this Tampa 2 scheme.

[compuls1v3]

5 hours ago, richard pallo said:

To be honest I'm not sure we made any significant half time adjustments.  Other than having a better reaction to his bootleg rollouts I thought we just settled down and reacted and played better.  There was no increase in blitzing.  We just played with our normal front and played better.  Turnovers really helped them score in the 1st half.  If Rigo doesn't miss the FG and Taylors touchdown is not called back we don't go into overtime but win outright. The defense played better and the offense got rolling with the run game and Taylor being the workhorse.  Our offense is balanced and effective with the right QB leading it.  The offense is good.  The defense is great.  Special Teams are great.  If we don't beat ourselves I like our chances a lot.

I was expecting more blitzes but I only remember one from Leonard that stopped a 3rd down.