This Indianapolis Colts defense has been playing exceptionally well since Week 4. When excluding the pick-six last week versus Pittsburgh, this Colts defense is only giving up 17 points per game—that’s with playing some strong offenses including the Texans and Chiefs.
The defense all-around is getting significantly better each and every week, and this week comes arguably their easiest matchup, the 1-7 Miami Dolphins.
Miami is bad offensively, 29th in the NFL in both passing and rushing yards per game, and 30th in points per game, around 13.
In what should be the Colts least-stressful offensive matchup, there are some things they must do right to win. Let’s look at some defensive keys to the game on Sunday:
1. Get to the quarterback
Indianapolis has stepped up their pass rush the past few weeks. In the first four games, they only had nine sacks to their credit with eight of them coming in two games. A different story these past four games, as the Colts have gotten to the quarterback 11 times and at a more consistent rate.
The Dolphins have a very bad offensive line, to say the least. Interesting fact, Miami is starting two former Colts on their offensive line, J’Marcus Webb at left tackle, and Evan Boehm at center. As a result, the Dolphins have given up a sack rate of 10%, which puts them at 30th in the NFL. Their offensive line isn’t good, and the Colts must take advantage of this matchup.
2. Get some takeaways
This was a key in last week’s game versus Pittsburgh, and it should be one this week as well. Indianapolis can’t allow Fitzpatrick to sit in the pocket and deliver passes with no rush, they must force him to throw some errant passes.
Fitzpatrick is a gun-slinger. He will take some shots downfield and throw into tight windows, especially if there’s pressure. Miami is dead last in turnover margin at -1.6, and they average two giveaways a game. This falls right in the hands of the defense for the Colts, who have forced a turnover in all but two games this season.
3. Force long drives
This Colts defense has really buckled down on the chunk plays given up the past few weeks. It’s a good spot this week for the Colts to sit back in their zones and force the Dolphins to go on long drives if they want to get points.
Miami is near the bottom of the league in third-down conversion rate, at only 33% good for 27th in the NFL. If the Dolphins do get into the red zone they’re good at scoring touchdowns.
On 61% of Miami’s drives that get into the red zone, they result in touchdowns which is 13th in the NFL. The Colts will have to buckle down in there like they have been the past few weeks.
