The Colts finally blitzed a ton vs Lions and it should change everything for Matt Eberflus

The Colts’ defense is more effective when it blitzes, and Sunday’s win over Detroit further proved that.

It goes without saying that the Indianapolis Colts flaunt a talented defense, but the group hasn’t always delivered complete performances this season. For instance, they followed up a poor showing against Jacksonville to open the season with a dominant three-week stretch across which they allowed just 9.6 points per game.

Then, however, Indianapolis’ defense regressed to the tune of allowing 50 combined points to the likes of Cleveland and Cincinnati before absolutely stymieing a potent Lions offense in a convincing 20-point victory this past Sunday.

We honestly couldn’t tell you what the common denominator is, but what we do know is that defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus needs to incorporate more blitzes into his game plan moving forward.

On Sunday, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford found it impossible to be effective in a collapsing pocket, completing 8-of-18 pass attempts (44.4%) for 77 yards and one touchdown and interception when faced with blitzes. His lone INT was returned for a touchdown and he was sacked three times, one of which resulted in a fumble recovered by the Colts.

Can we please see more of this against the Baltimore this upcoming weekend? The Steelers implemented a game plan that made Lamar Jackson look like a shell of his reigning MVP self in Week 8, and Indianapolis, though they don’t roster nearly the same level of talent on defense as Pittsburgh’s star-studded bunch, should no doubt incorporate a similar blueprint.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Colts, blitzed over 20 times against Detroit. Care to guess how many times they blitzed in their previous six games combined? 43 times. We know that key players have been injured and blitzing often leads to exploitable one-on-one coverage on the perimeter and in the slot, so perhaps Indy wanted to play things safe rather than make themselves vulnerable to the deep ball.

However, the success Indianapolis enjoyed against a wildly talented gunslinger in Stafford proves that more blitzing needs to be incorporated into their defensive scheme in Week 9 and beyond.

That is obviously a dangerous game to play against Baltimore as Jackson has quite literally made a living avoiding rushers with his legs and taking off downfield, but if unleashed correctly, the Colts can make him second guess improvising on the ground and force him to beat them with his less-than-elite precision in the pocket.

If we don’t see a ton of blitzing vs the Ravens, we’re not going to be calling for jobs, but you better believe that we will cause a raucous if we don’t see it more against more pocket-driven QBs like Ryan Tannehill and Aaron Rodgers over the next three games.

Philip Rivers has been incredible ever since reading all the critical articles about him

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers has been lights out ever since he chose to read all of the critical articles about him.