The Indianapolis Colts' pass defense has been downright awful at times this year. They have allowed the most passing touchdowns through the air in the entire league, and have a few dreadful performances to thank for that.
This past game against the Buffalo Bills seemed like a nightmare match-up on paper, as the Colts were facing off against an elite QB/WR duo of Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. So what happened?
The Colts' defense allowed just two touchdowns, and picked off two passes en route to a blowout victory.
In today's film room, I dive into how the Colts were able to disguise coverages and mix pre-snap reads in order to find success against the Bills.
Why Disguise Coverages?
I could go into a long winded explanation on the benefits of disguising coverages as a defense, but my guy Jonathan Hagler broke it down best in this video below:
"It's a chess match"
That is the perfect way to describe it. NFL quarterbacks today have so much access to film and information than ever before. They have coaches that are up in a booth in their ear, and have a major competitive advantage as a result. One way to level the playing field a bit is to throw different looks at the quarterback pre-snap.
The goal is to muddy the water for these players. Anytime you (as a defense) can make that quarterback hold the ball for half a second longer, you are increasing your chances on the play. For a zone-heavy team like the Colts, it is essential to do this to opposing quarterbacks.
The Colts are no stranger to this type of coverage either. Erik Turner of Cover 1 broke down how the Colts disguise coverages in his film preparation for this past game:
This is a staple of how the Colts run their defense under Matt Eberflus, and they executed this gameplan to perfection against the Bills.
Success Against Josh Allen
The Colts were able to disguise their coverages in multiple ways against the Bills. Josh Allen is an elite quarterback in the league, but his game isn't predicated on being a next level processor pre-snap. The Colts were able to muddy the water in multiple ways to force Allen into bad throws and mistakes.
This first clip is a pretty simple disguise overall. The defense is showing a two-high safety look with both cornerbacks up in what appears to be press-man coverage. The Bills have a play-action boot as their play call, and Allen likely thinks that he will have his tight end on a wheel route up the sideline in man.
As the ball is snapped, though, the Colts quickly bail off the line and get into a cover-two zone. By doing this, Xavier Rhodes is able to take away the tight end wheel route, and the linebackers underneath are able to take away the drag route.
Add in that the Colts' defensive line getting pressure on the play, and Allen is forced to throw the ball away for an incompletion.
While that was a simple bail call that only involved the outside corners, the Colts also disguised their safety looks in this one. Here, the pre-snap read appears to be more cover-two zone, with the two-high safeties leaving the middle of the field open.
As the ball is snapped, safety Andrew Sendejo comes down from his deep zone and steps into the mid-zone. The corners both bail into deep thirds, and the coverage becomes cover-three. This obviously confuses Allen a bit, as he was staring down the dig route to his left.
With Sendejo dropping into a zone that Allen didn't expect, Allen is forced to roll out of the pocket and throw an inaccurate pass down the field.
The Bills' offense had a lot of trouble with these disguised looks on play-action passes. This next clip was one of the more effective examples from this past game.
The Colts are showing that the middle of the field is closed with only one deep safety and the corners looking like they are in man coverage. Allen sees this and likely expects to have one of his deep over routes open after the play-fake.
The look changes just before the snap, though. Sendejo bails back into a two-high zone, and the Colts shift into cover-two. This takes away all of Allen's options, so he ends up forcing another dangerous pass deep into coverage.
This final example was nearly the play of the game for the Colts' defense. The pre-snap read appears to be cover-two with both safeties playing deep.
As the ball is snapped, Rock Ya-Sin bails at the top of the screen and this becomes a cover-three look. It isn't a typical cover-three, though. This turns into what is called "cover-three cloud." Cloud is a cover-three call that is designed to pinch a teams' best receiver to the sideline.
Stefon Diggs is to the bottom of the screen, so the Colts have safety George Odum pinch him over the top, while cornerback Isaiah Rodgers plays a hard flat underneath. Rodgers nearly makes an elite play on the ball, as he baits Allen to throwing it to Diggs and nearly jumps the route for the pick.
Again, the result was the same. A dangerous pass by Allen into traffic.
This Was the Gameplan All Along
Star cornerback Kenny Moore II said it best after the game this past Sunday (in response to a question about how they were able to find success against Allen):
Showing two high and moving at the snap. Disguises were going to be a very important thing for today. Pre-snap we were going to show a certain play and post-snap we were going to show a different one. It was all about the communication and talking to each other each play.
The Colts came into this game with a clear gameplan, and the players executed it to perfection. Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus deserves a ton of credit for the success in this game, and the defensive players stepped up to the plate against a top team.
Hopefully this is a sign of things to come with a tough game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the horizon.
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