The Colts defense is still a work in process

While the offense has been able to do their job, the defense hasn’t been quite as good as they should be this season yet.

The Colts have a relatively young defense. That defense hasn’t learned what they need to do to be successful on a consistent basis this year. It’s odd, because they were able to do that last season, especially in the second half of the year.

It has been a combination of things so far for the defense. The linebackers have been a big issue so far. Part of that was that Darius Leonard was out Sunday with a concussion. But he also didn’t play very well int he opener. The linebackers haven’t done a great job in pass coverage so far either.

The zone coverage has been a problem. Teams have been able to throw the ball consistently for 10 or 12 yards over the middle of the field. That is because quarterbacks have been able to find the holes in the middle of the field over linebackers before the safeties.

The pass rush has been mostly good so far, save for last game. But the players who were supposed to be providing pass rush haven’t quite been consistent enough. The pass rush has actually been the best part of the defense so far.

If I had to guess, Matt Eberflus will have this team playing some better defense here soon. The loss of Malik Hooker hurts, but if they can get Leonard back healthy this week it should improve the whole defense.