Colts vs. Bills: Defense grades

We already looked at how the offense performed against the Bills last night, so now we take a look at the defense.

The Colts fell in their first preseason game of the year last night 24-16. The offense really didn’t look very good until the second half. On the other side of the ball, the defense looked a little better. Here is how each unit on that side of the ball graded.

Early in the game, the defensive line did a decent job. The first team defense in general looked pretty good. Even when some backups came in for the defensive line, it wasn’t too bad. Carroll Phillips had a great game, with two sacks and a fumble recovery.

Al-Quadin Muhammad also had a sack. The defensive line accounted for all three sacks last night. But at the end of the game, they got pushed around in the run game. This was still a pretty good game for a unit that held a lot of the first-teamers out.

This was the worst position group on the defense last night. Again, not a lot of the starters were out there. Darius Leonard wasn’t out there. But Anthony Walker and Bobby Okereke and EJ Speed were. Okereke and Speed had some nice moments at times early.

But the Colts surrendered 163 yards rushing, and 65 of them came on one run in the fourth quarter. The linebackers over-pursued on that play and were way out of position. This group has to be better moving forward, and should with their starters playing.

The starting secondary did a pretty good job past night. They were able to keep Josh Allen uncomfortable for the most part. Rock Ya-Sin in particular looked good. But once again, the backups didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.

The Colts allowed Matt Barkley to tear them up late in the game. That’s where a lot of the issues arise from this unit. Players like Jalen Collins and George Odum needed to step up a little more. Again, the starters should be fine later in the year.

This wasn’t the worst game played by the defense, but it definitely needs to improve as the preseason goes on.