Indianapolis Colts: 3 players we desperately need more from in Week 2
By Adam Weinrib
1. Darius Leonard
Quite simply, Leonard was not himself on Sunday afternoon, and no amount of motivational Twitter likes will change that.
Leonard’s forced fumble punch-out was a resonant highlight, sure, but too often, he was beaten by players who had no business beating him, and was a major cog in a defense that couldn’t overcome a scheme disadvantage all day, picked apart by Seattle’s wideouts, who solved a Cover-2 repeatedly.
The linebacker whiffed on a crucial tackle against a 5-8, 190-pound rookie weapon named D’Wayne Eskridge, who finished the game with two carries for 22 yards. He was out-run by tight end Gerald Everett on Russell Wilson’s second touchdown pass of the day. When given an opportunity to make a punishing big play late in the game, he jarred the ball loose, because that’s what he does best. Too often, though, Leonard’s day was about recovery rather than consistency.
The tackling (and fighting through blocks) left something to be desired, more often than not. The coverage was flat-out poor against an elite QB — and that goes for the entire linebacking corps, of which Leonard is the No. 1 representative, considering his stardom and recent salary upgrade.
As he put it in the game’s aftermath, “We got our asses kicked.” It was an all-inclusive “we.” Leonard has to be better.
