How Colts' Defense Dominated Texans' Offense in 2021: Film Room
The Indianapolis Colts are finally in regular season mode, as the team heads to Houston to play the Texans this upcoming Sunday. While the Colts have struggled in the opening week in years past, they get a prime opportunity to start strong against a fairly weak Houston Texans' team.
Last season, the Colts' defense was in top form against the Texans, holding their divisional foes to just three points combined in the two games played. While the Texans' offense should be in better form in 2022, the Colts seemingly had the perfect recipe for stuffing them last year.
So, how did they do it? Let's jump into the film and find out.
(Mostly) Stifling Run Defense
The Colts had quite a bit of success stuffing the run against the Texans a year ago, albeit they were a tad leaky in the first match-up. In total, the Texans ran the ball 40 times for 161 yards in the two games (4.025 yards per carry). While allowing over four yards a carry is nothing special, the Colts were mostly effective in run defense.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Colts had 18 run stops on the Texans' 40 carries. So, nearly half of the Texans' total rushes in these two match-ups went for fewer than two yards. One of the bigger playmakers in the run game was Colts' superstar Shaquille Leonard, notching four stops in the two games.
Texans' rookie rusher Dameon Pierce should be a tougher match-up than the players the Colts faced this past season, but I'd expect the Colts to be fairly effective at stopping the run this upcoming Sunday.
Pass Rush + DeForest Buckner's Dominance
The Colts had one of the league's worst overall pass rushes a season ago, however, they did find some success against this Texans' team. One of the bigger producers for the Colts in this match-up over the past few seasons has been star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
In the Colts' last four games against the Texans, Buckner has totaled six sacks, three quarterback hits, and 11 hurries. If the Colts are to maintain the recent dominance that they have had in this match-up, they are going to need Buckner to continue his strong play.
Texans' quarterback Davis Mills had a solid rookie season in 2021, but he struggled mightily when pressured on the year. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of just 28.2 when under pressure, which was good for second-worst in the NFL. Mills also completed just 49.5% of his passes when under pressure, and he had nine turnover-worthy throws when under duress.
If the Colts want to find success against this revamped Texans' offense, the defense has to get pressure like they have in years past:
3rd Down Defense
The Colts' success against the Texans last season can be boiled down to one single metric; third down success. The Colts held the Texans to just 12 conversions on 29 attempts a year ago, which was good for just a 41.3% success rate for their opponent.
Matt Eberflus and the Colts' defense went after Davis Mills on third down, making him as uncomfortable as possible on important passing downs. Eberflus would simulate a ton of pressure, and he sometimes brought more than four to rattle the young quarterback.
If current Colts' Defensive Coordinator Gus Bradley wants to replicate some of the success that Eberflus had a year ago, he would be wise to simulate as much pressure as possible on third down passes. He needs to make Davis Mills confront an area where he struggled with a year ago:
The Bottom Line
It is a tad difficult to use last years' results in this match-up to project to Sunday's game on this side of the ball, as the Colts and Texans both have new coordinators to work with. I do believe, however, that Gus Bradley can implement some of what Matt Eberflus found success with last season to set the Colts up for success on Sunday.
The big emphasis for this game is to stop the run early in order to force Davis Mills into obvious passing situations. From there, the Colts have to get home with their pass rush. Even if it is just by rushing four and utilizing stunts, the Colts have to do whatever they can to make Mills uncomfortable in the pocket.
Mills showed a lot of promise a year ago, but his issues showed when he was under duress. The Colts' revamped pass rush needs to have a statement game on Sunday. If they do that, the Colts should be well on their way to yet another victory in this divisional match-up.
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