Week 2 Grade: Indianapolis Colts Defense
By Andrew Ites
The Colts’ defense turned it around this week against the Cardinals, but in the end they were left out to dry by an enormous offensive mistake.
Expectations were low for the Indianapolis defense on Sunday after giving up 30 points to a Rams offense that ranked at the bottom of the league last season. However, they responded well from that embarrassing performance, and gave their offense plenty of chances to win this game.
B-
The Cardinals came into this game without their most dangerous weapon on offense in running back David Johnson, which allowed the Colts’ defense to hold Arizona to 83 yards rushing on only 3.3 yards per carry.
While they did a great job of stuffing the run, Carson Palmer was able to move the ball efficiently through the air on a Colts secondary that was missing two starters due to injury.
Palmer threw for 306 yards at 7.7 yards per attempt, which should’ve been good enough to score more than 16 points on a banged up Indianapolis D.
But the Colts’ defense came up big when it mattered most stopping the Cardinals on fourth and goal from the 1-yard line, forcing them to settle for two field goals inside the Indianapolis 25-yard line, and getting an interception in the red zone.
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Rookie cornerback Quincy Wilson and fellow rookie safety Malik Hooker each played well in their first career start, and Hooker came away with his first career interception.
The Colts’ pass rush looked improved as they sacked Carson Palmer 4 times on the day.
There are plenty of opportunities for this unit to get better, but they gave Colts fans a gritty performance without two starting defensive backs and two of their top three linebackers.