As the Indianapolis Colts continue their search for their next defensive coordinator, will being more aggressive be one of the boxes that GM Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen want to check?
“I definitely think there is value (in being more aggressive),” Ballard said via the Indy Star. “You’ve got to be able to affect the quarterback.”
Under Gus Bradley’s zone heavy scheme, the Colts ranked 28th or lower in blitz rate during all three of his seasons as defensive player caller. Before him, Matt Eberflus’ defense didn’t blitz all that often either.
Although in 2023, the Colts were able to produce 51 sacks, replicating that level of production–or even getting close–proved to be challenging as we saw in 2024.
For one, with little blitzing, that puts a lot of stress on the four-man rush to be able to get home. In addition to that, while the sack numbers in 2023 were impressive, the Colts ranked in the bottom-third of the NFL that year in pressure rate, which told us that level of sack production wasn’t sustainable.
Despite the Colts ranking 26th in sacks and 22nd in pressure rate in 2024, according to Pro Football Reference, Ballard thought that the unit played well.
“I thought they played pretty good,” Ballard said. “Now, did they have the amount of sacks? No. I know that’s what everybody equates it to. … Now look, there’s times you can’t get there when they’re six, seven-man protecting and the ball’s out fast. When the ball’s coming out, that’s sometimes how teams counteract you. I didn’t think our d-line played bad.”
As Ballard says, there’s an added challenge in today’s NFL when relying primarily on your four-man rush to get home with them being at a numbers disadvantage, especially if a tight end stays in to chip. That often makes it six blockers vs. four pass rushers.
The quick passing game that many teams rely on make it challenging as well to get home. Both of which are reasons to be more aggressive defensively.
As we all know, pressuring the quarterback is the name of the game. It disrupts the timing and rhythm of the play, can cause the quarterback to speed up, which results in mistakes.
