Colts vs. Broncos: Post-game defense grades

The defense came up big in spots to save this game for the Colts. Some units definitely played better than others though.

It was a tough game for the Colts. They had issues moving the ball on offense, had issues with penalties on defense, and it looked like they were going to lose because of it. But they were able to do just enough to get the 15-13 win. The defense came up big when they needed to.

Justin Houston added another sack to his total early in the game. He put up pressure consistently in this game, as did Al-Quadin Muhammad. Muhammad had 3 tackles in this one, as did Houston and Denico Autry. Autry had two personal fouls called against him though, which was poor.

The line as a whole did a good job forcing Flacco to move around in the pocket. Denver’s running game wasn’t super effective either at times. This was a pretty decent effort from the defensive line for most of the game.

Darius Leonard led the team in tackles yet again, which is nothing new. He had 10 and added a sack as well. Anthony Walker added 7 of his own. The linebackers did a good job of stopping the Denver running game late in the game when they needed stops to get the ball back.

There weren’t a whole lot of runs that got to the second level for Denver. A big reason for that is the crashing that the linebackers did at the line of scrimmage. It was one of the better games for this unit. More games like this from them are needed.

Most of this poor grade is directed at one player in particular; Rock Ya-Sin. Ya-Sin had three penalties called on him in just the first half. His second half wasn’t much better. He was victimized all game long. He was by far the worst player on the field for the Colts on either side of the ball.

The rookie will get better with more games under his belt. The rest of the secondary actually played pretty well. Kenny Moore had a couple of great open-field tackles. Clayton Geathers and Malik Hooker did too. Ya-Sin’s effort was just so incredibly poor.

The defense as a whole is the reason the Colts won this game. They stopped the Broncos twice late in the game when they had a short field to keep the team in it. It seems like they come up big in big spots. That’s a good time to come up big.