Colts vs. Raiders: Week 4 defense grades

This Colts defense is in complete disarray. They got smoked by the Raiders offense all day, and a loss was the result.

The Colts were supposed to have a good defense this year. Matt Eberflus had built this unit up late last year, and it was supposed to be even better this season. It hasn’t turned out that way. The entire unit is terrible. Here is how bad they were today.

This unit gets a slight pass because of how injured they were. They were missing Tyquan Lewis and were trying to work in Jabaal Sheard for his season debut. But they got no push and didn’t record a sack for the second straight game. Justin Houston did recover a fumble, but that was more because of a mistake by Derek Carr than anything else.

The linebackers desperately miss Darius Leonard. For the second straight week, they looked overmatched. They tackled horribly as a group and got gashed on the ground. Bobby Okereke is not ready to play at this level. He is out of position a lot.

The only way I see this unit getting any better is if Leonard gets back into the lineup. If he doesn’t next week against Kansas City, it could be an absolute bloodbath. They might score 60 points on this defense the way they are playing right now.

Unfortunately, the secondary is missing Malik Hooker badly. This unit got burned by Darren Waller and the Raiders receivers. They only gave up 189 yards, but gave up two touchdowns. The plays they gave up were costly when they happened. They have to be better.

This defense needs some changes immediately. They can’t keep playing football this way, otherwise the Colts will not win another game this season. This unit is underperforming at an alarming rate.