Gus Bradley and Defense Appreciation

[w87r]

Not that I think we need another thread, but I didn't see a very good place to put this so maybe have a little defensive appreciation thread.

 

Our defense is playing really solid. Still have a few things to battle through.

 

I think it will just get better as the year goes and these young CBs get more experience under their belts.

[chad72]

We were leading in several categories last year as well in the first 5 games. The big question will be when mid season comes along, are we still a Top 10 D. If we are, we have to take pause and notice. 

 

Yes, as a Colts fan, love what the D brings to the table but I need half a season of consistency to see how they stack up against the other NFL teams.

[bluephantom87]

 

Defense is also playing more aggressive! They had a 40% blitz rate against the Ravens and that's almost unheard of for Gus.

[PeterBowman]

3 minutes ago, chad72 said:

We were leading in several categories last year as well in the first 5 games. The big question will be when mid season comes along, are we still a Top 10 D. If we are, we have to take pause and notice. 

 

Yes, as a Colts fan, love what the D brings to the table but I need half a season of consistency to see how they stack up against the other NFL teams.

True and as long as the offense doesn't crap the bed like they did last year that'll only help the defense later in the year.

[w87r]

2 minutes ago, bluephantom87 said:

 

Defense is also playing more aggressive! They had a 40% blitz rate against the Ravens and that's almost unheard of for Gus.

I think that had a little to do with the stats of Jackson throughout his career (pressure/no pressure).

 

Hopefully it keeps up. Should help as CBs get more experience as the season progresses.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

It was very important to keep him. It put so much less on Shane’s plate. Bradley having HC experience let’s Shane concentrate just on the offense. This defense was good last year. Thank goodness Shane had history with Bradley. 

[AKB]

Gus Bradley's prevent defense is awful. We really need to look at those end of game situations, imo.

 

Other than that, I prefer Gus to Eberflus. I feel like we've done a better job against TEs in general. That was probably one of the first times i've seen us stop or slow down Mark Andrews. 

[SOMDColtsfan]

I don't know if this makes sense but when a defense looks like they have more players on the field vs the offense, its always been a  sign of a good defense. They swarm to the ball. The Colts defense meets the eye test in that.  

[chad72]

1 hour ago, PeterBowman said:

True and as long as the offense doesn't crap the bed like they did last year that'll only help the defense later in the year.

 

Yes but you should look at the way the D played situationally though, it shouldn't be dependent totally on the offense to me. Let me explain.

 

4th qtr. of Jaguars game, the D didn't make the stop and limit the Jaguars to a FG, down 21-24. Flash forward to this game. It was not like Minshew and the O was keeping possession to dominate it (it was 36-32 overall in TOP) to keep them fresh. YET, the D was scrappy and did not allow the game to get away. They could have, but they didn't. That is why the O stayed in the game and was able to win it for us. 

 

All those years with Peyton, that was always my complaint with the Colts D. Ravens with Flacco, Steelers with Big Ben, Patriots with Tom Brady, it didn't matter if their QB turned it over, their D was scrappy, blitzed and made it hard for the other team to cash in on a mistake by the offense. However, with Peyton's D, we were soft in a lot of big games, except for 1 AFCCG where we made stop after stop to give Peyton the ball back enough times to make a dent. Having said that, when the D kept making stop after stop in the 2008 Chargers Sproles playoff game, Peyton and the O underwhelmed in important moments. Football is truly a complementary game.

 

Giants shutting down the Patriots' offense when it mattered most, in a low scoring SB to prevent their perfect record or shutting them down in the 2011 SB in Indy in the entire 4th qtr. when it mattered most or the Patriots' D doing the same (shutting down the O) vs Seahawks in 2014 SB 4th qtr. and Falcons in 2016 SB 4th qtr. are perfect examples of the D keeping the O alive in the game till the QB can give them a good drive or two.

 

The Colts just played a thorough complementary game vs the Ravens last Sunday, like the scrappy Ds I have always yearned for, seeing the Ravens and Steelers over the years. That is the part I am most proud of. Can they reproduce that scrappiness over the course of the year, despite the O going through lulls at times? That will determine a lot.

[csmopar]

2 hours ago, w87r said:

Not that I think we need another thread, but I didn't see a very good place to put this so maybe have a little defensive appreciation thread.

 

Our defense is playing really solid. Still have a few things to battle through.

 

I think it will just get better as the year goes and these young CBs get more experience under their belts.

Gus keeps this up, he may be a head coach again

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

7 minutes ago, csmopar said:

Gus keeps this up, he may be a head coach again

I think he has the qualities to be a good HC. Question will always be if he wants to try that again.

[coming on strong]

if rodgers doesnt get suspended and we kept gilmore , we would have a chance at being a top 3 defense .    secondary might prevent that for now until the young cbs get more reps

[cdgacoltsfan]

Gus has done a good job. Once the youngsters gets up to speed.....watch out!

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

6 minutes ago, coming on strong said:

if rodgers doesnt get suspended and we kept gilmore , we would have a chance at being a top 3 defense .    secondary might prevent that for now until the young cbs get more reps

So far the front seven is strong enough it hasn’t hurt the young corners. We will see what happens rest of season. But no question it would of been even better with those two.

[1959Colts]

 

[csmopar]

All I know is this, our roster is not as talentless as some on here and the media make it out to be. Granted we have room for major improvements, especially in Offense and at CB, but if that ever comes together, we’re gonna be a tough team. IF

[Scott Pennock]

Franklin and Speed with a non-maniac version of Leonard are playing well behind that front seven.

 

Outside of Dayo crashing down instead of holding the edge versus Jacksonville on the long TD run the second unit of Lewis - Bryan - Johnson - Dayo has rotated in and held up very well. That has been key!

 

Giving the two “veterans” in Flowers and Baker their opportunities to sink or swim was wise as now we know Flowers can play and Baker has some obvious weaknesses. Brents had a good first start and now we at least have three decent starting DBs in Flowers, Moore and Brents. I’m excited to see Jones get integrated as the season goes along.

 

I don’t like Blackmon at SS at all…..like not at all. I think his deficiencies are affecting Thomas’s play at FS too. We are definitely missing that veteran presence at SS that McLeod provided. This could improve as the season progresses but I think Blackmon is still more of a Corner converted to FS but definitely not a SS.

 

Big Grove is the defensive MVP though for several reasons. He requires a double team. He keeps the linebackers clean and he allows Paye, Ebukan and Buckner to get after the QB!

[GoColts8818]

4 hours ago, csmopar said:

All I know is this, our roster is not as talentless as some on here and the media make it out to be. Granted we have room for major improvements, especially in Offense and at CB, but if that ever comes together, we’re gonna be a tough team. IF

That’s because outside of a “hurt” Leonard and Buckner no one on the defense is a house hold name outside of Indy.  You are right though they are talented.  I think Buckner and Stewart are the best DT combo in the league and I’ll still put the Colts 4-3 linebackers up against anyone in the league.  The key is the secondary, as young as they are (outside of Kenny Moore) they are going to make mistakes at times but they showed what they can be vs Baltimore.  If they play more games like that then not this defense could be special.  

[bluephantom87]

5 hours ago, 1959Colts said:

 

 

Seems like Franklin has taken over as the vocal leader of the group. Dude is a beast! Seeing a subdued Leonard is a little bit of a downer for me. I miss his passion and fire along with his elite playmaking abilities. Hopefully he has the patience post op to get back to that place without losing confidence in himself. I know it's early but our front seven seems legit so far.

[Jack86]

13 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

It was very important to keep him. It put so much less on Shane’s plate. Bradley having HC experience let’s Shane concentrate just on the offense. This defense was good last year. Thank goodness Shane had history with Bradley. 

Shane was talking about how he leans on Bradleys experience on pats show! Seems to be a good pairing! Let’s see if Bradley continues to utilise the blitz moving forward! 
 

Go Colts.

[krunk]

15 hours ago, bluephantom87 said:

 

Defense is also playing more aggressive! They had a 40% blitz rate against the Ravens and that's almost unheard of for Gus.

I think Gus ratcheted the pressure up on Lamar Jackson as a response to all the blitzing they were doing on our QB. You bloodied our nose, so I'm going to bloody yours! Yes I'm sure there was film study as well but I got the feeling he had retaliation in mind.

[Defjamz26]

The important thing is, I still don’t think this is the best they’ll play. I think there’s still some things in the secondary (some of it is play-calling) that need to be worked out. I think safety is a spot they can get better at. I’d like to see Cross get some of Thomas’ snaps at FS. I think he can be a playmaker there. At SS I’d like to see them trade for a guy like Kamren Curl from the Commanders. We need a middle of the field  defender like that.

[1959Colts]

7 hours ago, bluephantom87 said:

 

Seems like Franklin has taken over as the vocal leader of the group. Dude is a beast! Seeing a subdued Leonard is a little bit of a downer for me. I miss his passion and fire along with his elite playmaking abilities. Hopefully he has the patience post op to get back to that place without losing confidence in himself. I know it's early but our front seven seems legit so far.

Yeah. I really liked Franklin for a couple years now. When he first earned the starting LB spot, I noticed how he was making more tackles than anyone we had in recent years. If Zaire can stay healthy, he may end up one of the best LBs in Indy history. It took some here (on this forum), quite some time to realize how great a player he is. As for Leonard... He has certainly been mediocre. I like what you said. IMO I believe his issues may be more mental than physical, at this point. We will have to see if he is able to regain his old form, but if he does not improve, as the season progresses, then it's time for the team to move on.

[Superman]

14 hours ago, csmopar said:

All I know is this, our roster is not as talentless as some on here and the media make it out to be. Granted we have room for major improvements, especially in Offense and at CB, but if that ever comes together, we’re gonna be a tough team. IF

 

The strength of the defense is definitely the front seven, especially the DL. But we haven't played a good/complete OL yet, so I'm still a little skeptical.

 

Still, the defense has been much better than I expected. And in keeping with the thread, big time credit to Bradley and his staff. These guys were branded as teachers and developers, and we see a lot of young players contributing and getting better already. Also, Bradley broke his own mold and went blitz heavy, which is the book on Lamar and the Ravens. Highest blitz percentage for Bradley since 2010, I believe (based on a post I saw yesterday). My biggest criticism of Bradley is his rigidity, so seeing him make a drastic adjustment like that was a breath of fresh air.

[csmopar]

29 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

The strength of the defense is definitely the front seven, especially the DL. But we haven't played a good/complete OL yet, so I'm still a little skeptical.

 

Still, the defense has been much better than I expected. And in keeping with the thread, big time credit to Bradley and his staff. These guys were branded as teachers and developers, and we see a lot of young players contributing and getting better already. Also, Bradley broke his own mold and went blitz heavy, which is the book on Lamar and the Ravens. Highest blitz percentage for Bradley since 2010, I believe (based on a post I saw yesterday). My biggest criticism of Bradley is his rigidity, so seeing him make a drastic adjustment like that was a breath of fresh air.

I agreed on all counts. It was surprising too. And now it will force teams to have to be prepared for a blitzing D that even when they didn’t blitz last years, was still top 10 in pressures and I believe 2nd in team sacks if I recall right

[Solid84]

36 minutes ago, csmopar said:

I agreed on all counts. It was surprising too. And now it will force teams to have to be prepared for a blitzing D that even when they didn’t blitz last years, was still top 10 in pressures and I believe 2nd in team sacks if I recall right

I’d be surprised if he doesn’t go back to his low blitz levels this week. I think he blitzed this much because it’s how you beat Lamar, nothing more. 

[GoColts8818]

2 hours ago, Solid84 said:

I’d be surprised if he doesn’t go back to his low blitz levels this week. I think he blitzed this much because it’s how you beat Lamar, nothing more. 

And he did it the week before because Stroud is a rookie.  Stafford is the kind of QB that eats blitzes for breakfast.  

[chad72]

8 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

And he did it the week before because Stroud is a rookie.  Stafford is the kind of QB that eats blitzes for breakfast.  

 

Yeah, but what I am not sure is if the others see blitzes and coverages the same way like Stafford does, like when Cooper Kupp did. We will find out.

[sb41champs]

WAY TO GO COACH GUS BRADLEY ON "BRINGING THE HEAT" VS THE RAVENS!!

 

I felt that the Colts defense would take a major step forward this season - with the continuity of the coaching staff - PLUS the return of the majority of our starters.

[EasyE]

I at beginning of season I have trashed this defense. I was wrong and this CROW taste like Chicken. Yummy!! This Defense is making the big stops and tfl in times that matter. Defense is going to get even better as season goes on.. I'm lovin it!

[compuls1v3]

On 9/26/2023 at 1:17 PM, AKB said:

Gus Bradley's prevent defense is awful. We really need to look at those end of game situations, imo.

 

Other than that, I prefer Gus to Eberflus. I feel like we've done a better job against TEs in general. That was probably one of the first times i've seen us stop or slow down Mark Andrews. 

What prevent defense looks good though?  Seriously.

[John Hammonds]

On 9/26/2023 at 2:37 PM, w87r said:

Not that I think we need another thread, but I didn't see a very good place to put this so maybe have a little defensive appreciation thread.

 

Our defense is playing really solid. Still have a few things to battle through.

 

I think it will just get better as the year goes and these young CBs get more experience under their belts.

At the risk of sounding negative (oh noes!), I can't help but add that although we are 1st and 2nd in these defensive categories, we are also 25th in total yards against us, 26th in passing yards, and 16th in rushing yards.  (But 7th in yards per rushing attempt!)

 

Just looking at the more complete picture.

[Superman]

5 hours ago, Solid84 said:

I’d be surprised if he doesn’t go back to his low blitz levels this week. I think he blitzed this much because it’s how you beat Lamar, nothing more. 

 

Compared to Eberflus, who let Lamar have basically a perfect second half and refused to do anything other than rush four. 

 

I'll take the rare adjustment by Gus, and be confident that he'll actually do something different when the situation calls for it.

[w87r]

2 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

At the risk of sounding negative (oh noes!), I can't help but add that although we are 1st and 2nd in these defensive categories, we are also 25th in total yards against us, 26th in passing yards, and 16th in rushing yards.  (But 7th in yards per rushing attempt!)

 

Just looking at the more complete picture.

Not to surprised by passing yards so far early, as our CBs are young and learning on the job.(one of our starters for 2 weeks graded out as 2nd worst in the league) Should improve as season progresses.

 

 

That is a big driver in the total yards.

 

 

Lamar Jackson getting loose, lowered the rushing yards and ypc rankings. 

 

I have no worries about our run defense.

 

 

[w87r]

2 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Compared to Eberflus, who let Lamar have basically a perfect second half and refused to do anything other than rush four. 

 

I'll take the rare adjustment by Gus, and be confident that he'll actually do something different when the situation calls for it.

Yeah I just like the fact that Gus went against his ways. It showed he is willing to do it, so if it is called for more, I have tempered confidence he will do it again.

[Solid84]

3 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Compared to Eberflus, who let Lamar have basically a perfect second half and refused to do anything other than rush four. 

 

I'll take the rare adjustment by Gus, and be confident that he'll actually do something different when the situation calls for it.

I absolutely will as well, and I wasn't trying to poo-poo Gus. I just think the 40% blitz rate was a product of the opponent and not generally how Gus would want to run his defense.

[AKB]

3 hours ago, compuls1v3 said:

What prevent defense looks good though?  Seriously.

there are many different ways to run prevention, and the way Gus runs it is bad. 

 

of course, that is just my opinion.

 

you can still do things like play press man in prevent, so long as u have the 3 deeps covered, we often seem to give up the first 20-30 yards in prevent situations, which almost cost us the game. 

 

while prevent defenses will always sacrifice giving yardage for points, some prevent defenses play way further off compared to others. some prevent zone schemes have a spy, or an underneath defender to help with some of that free yardage, we didn't do any of that. 

 

we rushed 3, and had everyone like 30+ yards deep, imo that is not a good way to run it, and it seems quite a few on the board agree. 

 

and look, im not oblivious, the moment we run press man or closer coverage and a player sits and falls or something, Gus will get drilled on it. it will always be the safest thing to do, but we need to look at it imo. 

 

probably will be a topic that's brought up in football for many years

 

here is a cool video about it on YT

 

 

[Colt Overseas]

Some good analysis on JuJu Brents. Really excited to see more of him this season. 
 

 

[NorthernColt]

Imagine how much better it would be if Shaq got back to playing like Darius, and Brents always plays like he did in the first game.

[richard pallo]

17 hours ago, w87r said:

Yeah I just like the fact that Gus went against his ways. It showed he is willing to do it, so if it is called for more, I have tempered confidence he will do it again.

Yeah the fact that he actually made a significant adjustment to his normal philosophy and it worked might actually open up his mind to massaging his defense a bit to the opponent.  That could be a big plus for the team going forward.