With several new additions to the front seven, the Indianapolis Colts were expected to have a run defense that could keep up with the best offenses in the NFL.
So far through the 2019 season, the Colts have shown the exact opposite of that. At the quarter-pole of the season, the Colts have been gashed by the run week in and week out. It is becoming a major concern.
Even head coach Frank Reich has been surprised about the lack of production against the run.
“That’s the most disappointing thing to me. That’s the most disappointing thing because I’ve always felt –last year and going into this year – that teams can’t run the ball on them,” Reich said after the Week 4 loss. “We don’t let teams run the ball. We’ve got to look at that and see what we can do better as coaches and players to have better run defense.”
While the Colts haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher yet this season, teams are finding it astonishingly easy to move the ball through the ground. The Colts are allowing 132.5 rushing yards per game to opposing offenses—good for eighth-worst in the NFL. They’ve allowed five runs of 20 yards or more this season, which is tied for the most in the league.
But those are not the most alarming numbers. The biggest concern—by far—is the efficiency in which the Colts are allowing teams to run the ball.
Through the first four games, the Colts defense is allowing opposing offenses to run a clip of 5.5 yards per carry. That’s good for the second-highest rate in the NFL behind only the Kansas City Chiefs (5.9). In only one game this season has an opposing offense recorded fewer than 5.2 yards per carry against the Colts.
There are many factors that go into this. Ranging from the Colts’ two-high scheme to the fact that they prefer smaller defensive linemen, the job simply is not getting done. The Colts are missing tackles at a high rate and are failing to get off their blocks to make a play.
There is no denying the talent is there for the Colts, and missing All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard certainly adds to the pile. But this has been going on since the beginning of the season.
The Colts still have a chance to make a run at the division, but it’s not going to happen if they continue to allow teams to literally run all over them.
