ANDERSON, Ind. – New season, same questions when it comes to the Indianapolis Colts defense.
Can they get to the quarterback?
Can they stop the run?
Can the defense not force Andrew Luck and the offense to score 30 points a game for the Colts to have a chance to win?
Really, these aren’t issues the Colts should be dealing with in Chuck Pagano’s fifth season as coach. Pagano arrived in Indianapolis in 2012 with a reputation on D after having success as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator.
But everybody is still waiting for the Colts to have a respectable defense. They’ve finished 20th or worse in total defense in three of Pagano’s four seasons as head coach.
Pagano switched defensive coordinators during the offseason, and now the wait is on to see if Ted Monachino can put a solid unit out on the field. He'll continue to run Pagano's 3-4 scheme.
“I want them to look fast,” said Monachino, who was the linebackers coach with Baltimore prior to his arrival in Indianapolis. “I want them to look like they play together. I want them to look confident in each other, and I want them to look like they’re not afraid to make a huge play for us when we need to. I think we’ve set that foundation in the spring. I’m excited about where we are right now and can’t wait to get started tomorrow.”
Questions about consistency have hovered over the defense a week into training camp because of the Colts’ problems in the past. The Colts gave up at least 25 points in a game seven times last season. Seattle had the NFL’s stingiest defense, giving up just 17.3 points game. The Colts held their opponent under that average four times.
“As a defensive player on this team, we’ve talked about it more than anything this year in particular -- we want to change the narrative,” linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said. "We know what our offense can produce. We know we’re going to be able to generate points, but so what. I think with the consistency and cleanness of our calls and attention to details that we’re getting, it clears things up a lot and we’re doing things now we haven’t done in the past and that’s getting the communication down.”
Being consistent isn’t the only thing Colts have to worry about defensively.
The front office didn’t go out and make wholesale changes to the unit during the offseason. The most notable personnel changes are Patrick Robinson at cornerback, Clayton Geathers at safety and Nate Irving or Sio Moore at middle linebacker. Defensive lineman Art Jones is suspended for the first four games for using performance-enhancing drugs, and Henry Anderson is on the physically unable to perform list as works his way back from a torn ACL. T.Y. McGill or Zach Kerr will start at defensive tackle until Jones or Anderson return.
That means the same unit that had only 35 sacks and gave up an average of 25.5 points a game is back for the most part.
“It’s a lot of tools we have in place,” said linebacker Robert Mathis, who tied for the team lead with seven sacks last season. “Guys are making big strides. We’re improving by leaps and bounds. I feel real good about what we have. It’s a lot of team defense. It’s not relying on one, two or three guys. It’s all 11 guys responsible for every position. Anything [Monachino] calls, everybody has to know what’s going on.”
