Hits And Misses: Colts Defensive Issues Rising - Page 5

INDIANAPOLIS – Here’s our latest ‘hits and misses’ piece on 1075TheFan.com highlighting the good and bad from the previous game. The Colts (6-7) overcame an awful defensive day to come back and beat the Patriots, 25-24, in Week 13. What was the good and bad from the Colts (6-7) getting a conference win heading into their bye week?

1. Hits: Offensive Line

Offensive Line: A 180 flip from last week as the Colts had to re-tool their offensive line in Week 13. A 5-man grouping of LT-Bernhard Raimann, LG-Quenton Nelson, C-Danny Pinter, RG-Mark Glowinski, RT-Matt Goncalves helped control the line of scrimmage with a consistent ground game and kept bodies away from Anthony Richardson in pass protection. What a needed performance from quite the odd-looking OL.

2. Hits: Anthony Richardson’s Moxie

Anthony Richardson’s Moxie: Unlike the 4^th quarter heroics against the Jets, this comeback win from Anthony Richardson came on a day when he wasn’t playing great football. Yet, he still had the fortitude to deliver on the 19-play drive on an afternoon he had just thrown perhaps the game-sealing interception. That moxie is such an important, yet borderline unteachable, trait for quarterbacks to bring on a weekly basis.

3. Misses: Defensive Issues Galore

Defensive Issues Galore: The NFL’s worst offense eclipsed 400 yards for the first time this season and a missed 25-yard field goal was the only reason why the Patriots didn’t have a season-high there, too. Simply, it’s hard to trust the Colts defense. They will play more pathetic offenses the rest of the way, so perhaps that helps. But this unit has once again not played like a playoff-caliber unit, ranking in the bottom half of the league in many defensive categories.

4. Misses: Contested Opportunities

Contested Opportunities: Whether it’s defending the pass, or catching the pass, the Colts have not been a great “contested moment” team this season. And that was the case more often than not on Sunday. Yes, you had the huge plays from Alec Pierce and Zaire Franklin/Julian Blackmon, but you also had potentially fatal drops from Kylen Granson and AD Mitchell. The Blackmon play was the only pass deflection the Colts had from a defensive back on Sunday, compared to 6 from the Patriots.