On paper, the matchup between the Indianapolis Colts’ defense and the Seattle Seahawks' offense in Week 15 looked like a mismatch. The Colts have been pretty good this season, especially considering the injuries that have beset them. Statistically, they entered the Seattle game as a middle-of-the-road NFL defense.
But playing on the road against the Seahawks posed a tremendous challenge. The Seahawks have one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses, with wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba establishing himself as one of the league’s best. Perhaps if the Colts were at full-strength, there would be reason for optimism.
But their two outstanding cornerbacks – Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward – were both out, leaving a mostly young, untested group of corners to handle Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, and Rashid Shaheed.
Colts' Lou Anarumo’s magic comes up just short against the Seahawks
And the Colts’ run defense was hampered by the absence of interior lineman DeForest Buckner against a Seattle club that runs the ball more than any team in the league. The challenge appeared daunting. Fortunately for Indianapolis, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has never backed away from a challenge.
Anarumo has seen the highs and lows of life in the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals’ defense he led between 2019 and 2024, climbed up from among the league’s worst to among the league's best, and then just as quickly seemed to fall apart.
Injuries, along with a clear roster emphasis on offense, had a lot to do with that, but the bottom line was that by the end of 2024, Anerumo’s time with the Bengals was over.
Shane Steichen wasted little time bringing him in to run the Colts’ defense. This season, Anarumo has been operating without his projected starting cornerbacks most of the year. The loss of Gardner was especially disappointing, but it wasn’t as if Indy had come to rely on the young star. He was lost a few plays into his third game.
Without three of its best players in Week 15, Anarumo employed a game plan that was designed to keep the Seahawks constantly off guard. On their very first snap, the Colts had nine players in the box. In the first series, Anarumo blitzed both safeties as well as nickel back Kenny Moore. He forced Seattle into a three-and-out.
On the second series, when Seattle played with more tempo, the Colts began with their more traditional 4-2-5 base, but pretty soon Anarumo was throwing an eight-man front at Darnold. Five of them – two edges, two linebackers, and a safety – were standing.
It allowed those players to attack the backfield or drop into coverage. Seattle moved the ball early, but the Colts' defense stonewalled them when the Seahawks moved into the scoring range.
Essentially, in the first half, Anarumo rarely showed the same base front on consecutive plays. Seattle’s third offensive possession featured classic Anarumo strategy.
After Smith-Njigba dropped a quick slant and a penalty set the Seahawks back, Anarumo called for a very traditional four-man front on second and long. Indy played a solid zone, and safety Cam Bynum made a good tackle on Smith-Njigba, resulting in third and eight.
Then Anarumo ran another eight-man front. Five of the defenders were in two-point stances. Both safeties and a linebacker overloaded the right side. Zaire Franklin and Samson Ebukam both dropped off into coverage, leaving a six-man blitz tilted heavily to the offense’s left side.
That left running back Zach Charbonnet alone on the right to block the Colts’ best pass rusher, Laiatu Latu. The design resulted in a mismatch and a sack.
Anarumo continued shifting his looks throughout the game. He rotated personnel, and apart from his interior linemen, he rarely had anyone coming from the same spots on consecutive plays.
Without Buckner in the middle, he devoted a lot of attention in the second half to stopping Seattle’s running game. Anarumo’s most common front, especially after halftime, had three tackles in the middle and two edges standing on the outside. These five-man fronts stymied Seattle’s running attack all game long.
In theory, this should have left the Colts’ suspect corners in jeopardy, but they played very well. As with his fronts, Anarumo varied his coverage, but he mostly sat back in zones, forcing Darnold to patiently take underneath throws and methodically move downfield. Invariably, Seattle would make a mistake – a penalty, a dropped pass – and the drive would stall.
The Colts needed a virtually perfect game in order get a win, and one Germaine Prett missed tackle on Smith-Njigba may have been the difference between victory and loss.
The Colts were once again forcing Seattle to move methodically when Smith-Njigba broke free of Pratt for Seattle’s biggest play – one of just two Seahawks’ plays that went over twenty yards on the day. It set up Jason Myers' first go-ahead field goal.
He would make another – the game-winner - with 18 seconds on the clock. Lou Anarumo came that close to designing a remarkable upset.