Mike Adams Thinks Colts Defense Deserves More Credit

In early January, the Indianapolis Colts pulled off an impressive upset of the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The Colts won 24-13, shutting down the high powered passing attack led by Peyton Manning.

At the time, most credited the win to Manning’s thigh injury which limited his mobility and prevented him from hitting the deep passes. The Colts defense and game plan was largely overlooked.

Safety Mike Adams still takes exception to this view of how that game played out. He on the NFL Network about how his unit wasn’t getting any respect.

"“We got in his face and we did things that made him feel uncomfortable,” Adams said. “I remember how well we played as a defense. There was a lot of taking away from how well the defense played, saying he was hurt, and this and that. I think it was us. I think it was the defense and we executed our game plan.”“Their game is about timing,” Adams said. “That’s what they do; it’s all based off of timing and we disrupted that. We got in his face and we did things that made him feel uncomfortable.”"

The Colts essentially dared Manning to throw the ball deep, something they felt he couldn’t do effectively. Chuck Pagano and Greg Manusky gambled with the scheme and it paid off. Manning was held to just 211 yards passing, his third lowest game of the season.

Adams was also asked if he felt like the defense had figured out Manning and he replied “absolutely.”

That is about the point where Adams losses me. The game plan clearly took advantage of a less than healthy Manning and it was executed very well. The problem is that we saw Manning carve this same defense apart in the season opener where he rattled off three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter.

The game plan was great, so was the execution, but it wasn’t a blueprint for defeating one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. And while the defense can take credit for defeating Manning and company, it was short lived as they were blown out a week later.

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