Colts vs. Falcons: Defensive post-game grades

It wasn’t the best showing for the defense today, but they also didn’t have their best player.

The Colts beat the Falcons today 27-24 in a game that really didn’t need to be as exciting as it was. Indianapolis had a 20-3 lead at halftime, so the defense really didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Here is how each unit graded out today.

The defensive line didn’t get a lot of push in terms of pass rush today. They weren’t able to get any pressure on Matt Ryan and didn’t record a single sack. Justin Houston hasn’t been able to impact the game like he was supposed to. He was brought in to wreak havoc and hasn’t done it yet.

In the running game, they didn’t do a great job plugging up holes early. They did a better job later in the game, but the majority of that is on the linebackers too. This unit has generally been pretty good this season, so this shouldn’t be a trend.

Darius Leonard‘s absence was felt today. He was replaced by rookie Bobby Okereke, and he looked out of place several times during the game. He did have 8 tackles, but the ball got thrown over his head multiple times in zone coverage.

Anthony Walker led the team in tackles with 14. That was expected without Leonard in the lineup. But overall, the unit could have been much better. Once Leonard gets healthy, the whole unit will play better and the defense as a whole will be better.

Clayton Gathers got his first career interception in the first half. That was the high point of the secondary’s effort. Julio Jones torched the secondary for over 100 yards receiving. That’s mainly because they had Rock Ya-Sin on him. Having a rookie on him is a recipe for disaster.

The defense as a whole hasn’t been as good as it was supposed to be coming into the year. There are some issues that need worked out. But it has been good enough to get two wins, and really this team should be 3-0.