The Indianapolis Colts defense has gotten off to a slow start early in the 2022 season, and part of that is due to the fact that the unit is still learning the nuances of Gus Bradley’s scheme.
Taking over as defensive coordinator this offseason, the Colts replaced Matt Eberflus with Bradley, hoping to continue their ways of grabbing turnovers at a high rate while seeing an increase in pass-rush consistency.
Neither have been at the forefront of the defensive effort, and head coach Frank Reich noted that the players are still learning the scheme going into the third week of the season. Even with that, Reich still expects them to play high-level football.
“There is no doubt they are still learning but no mistake about it, we’re far enough along that we should play winning football, right?” Reich said Friday.
It’s not totally uncommon for a new defensive scheme to take time to learn. Simply understanding the play calls and assignments isn’t all it takes. Simulating game action is nearly impossible, and the communication aspect of the scheme can only be sharpened with reps.
As the Colts continue to progress through the season, Reich believes the defense will catch up eventually.
“I do think as a defensive scheme it will continue to get better as the year goes on but there’s still that sense of urgency and demand to play winning football now, which we all expect that we’re at a spot that we can do,” Reich said. “We also expect that we’re going to keep getting better in the system.”
One of the biggest struggles of the defense thus far has been the lack of a pass rush. Only a handful of times during the first two games of the season has the pass rush made an impact.
Part of that is opposing offenses using the quick passing game to negate the pass rush, but Bradley still wants to see the unit overcome those hurdles as other teams do.
“Teams are doing a lot of quick game. I think in the first game and the second game combined, one of the quickest releases that has been in the league thus far with the quarterbacks. The ability to play tighter coverage and get the quarterback to hitch it some,” Bradley said this week.” I think we all think that tighter coverage means man and that is a good point, but you try to confuse the quarterback, make him hitch to where you have time for the rush to get there. Whether it’s tighter coverage through man, tighter coverage in zone where we recognize formations and we use the right techniques and then change up the looks.”
The Colts defense will have its hands full with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense, who come to town for the home opener Sunday. We’ll see if the unit can make any more strides in getting better as a group, especially when it comes to the pass rush.
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