Colts vs. Cowboys: Defensive post-game grades
By Ryan Stano
The Colts continued their winning ways today, beating Dallas 23-0. A huge reason why is the excellent play of their defense. Here is how each unit played.
Recording a shutout is a hard thing to do in the NFL. The Cowboys hadn’t been shutout since 2003. But that changed after they lost today 23-0. The Colts defense gets a lot of credit for that, as they were a smother force. Here is how each defensive unit graded out.
Denico Autry continued his monstrous play today. He blocked a field goal on Dallas’ first possession of the game, and also recorded a sack. Tyquan Lewis recorded his first two sacks of his NFL career. They never let Dak Prescott feel comfortable in the pocket. Margus Hunt also blew up a 4th and 1 attempt. This entire unit was fantastic all day long, and are one of the more improved units in the NFL.
Darius Leonard got things going with the recovery on the blocked punt. He followed that up with 11 tackles and a tackle for loss. Anthony Walker added 6 more tackles. They never let Ezekiel Elliott break into the second level for big yards. He got some yards early, but the defense made adjustments to shut him down.
This might be the best game the secondary has played all season long. They didn’t allow any big plays down the field, and George Odum had a pick as well. They only allowed 206 yards passing all day. Amari Cooper was shut down, only having 4 catches for 32 yards. Great game for this unit.
If the defense continues to play this way, the Colts will not lose. This is an extremely dangerous team right now, and the rest of the AFC is hoping they don’t make the playoffs. Because if they do, they are going to be a very tough out.