Colts vs. Jaguars week 10: Defensive post-game grades

The Colts were able to eek one out yesterday, surviving the Jaguars 29-26. The defense did the team no favors until the last drive of the game though. Here is how each unit graded.

The Colts’ defense has been getting steadily worse this season. They started out played very well, even keeping the team in games when the offense didn’t show up. Yesterday was not one of those games. Here is how each individual unit played.

There isn’t a lot that this unit did right. They couldn’t get any pass rush on Blake Bortles at all. I can only recall them hitting him at all twice. They did stop the run relatively well though. But the amount of time he had in the pocket to throw was ridiculous.

The team did a good job stopping the run, and that was mainly due to the linebackers. They came in and plugged up holes. They held Fournette to only 53 yards on 22 carries. Anthony Walker had a heck of a game, and almost had a 2 point conversion return. But this unit was bad in coverage all day as well.

This unit doesn’t get all of the blame for how well Bortles played, but it gets a lot of it. They allowed an 80 yard touchdown pass in the first half after a blown coverage and then a missed tackle by Malik Hooker. It’s hard to cover when there is no pass rush, but this unit still should’ve done it better. But Clayton Geathers did force the game-sealing fumble on the last drive, so they stepped up when it mattered.

Overall, the defense has to get better. They can’t allow a bad offense to play that well against them, or they will lose games. Adjustments have to be made.