How the Colts Have Become the League's Best Third-Down Defense

It's no secret that the Indianapolis Colts have been rock-solid on third down to start this season. The Colts have allowed conversions on just 26 percent of third downs this season, best in the league. No other team has allowed less than 30 percent. 

This defense has flaws, but with an elite third-down percentage, the team is getting opponents off the field quickly, rarely letting teams go on long, extended drives. As a result, the Colts lead the league in just about every "possession"-related statistic. 

Statistic	Rate	League Rank
Plays/Drive	4.88	1
Time of Possesson/Drive	1:55	1
Punts/Drive	.482	5
3-and-Outs/Drive	.337	2
Yards/Drive	27.69	4
Points/Drive	1.55	4

The Colts coaches love the time of possession stat, and that's directly related to how well the defense is playing, especially on third down. And third-down defense is directly related to pass defense, as nearly 80 percent of third down plays are passes. The Colts are stopping the pass better than almost any other team in the league, ranking second in the league in pass defense DVOA by Football Outsiders.

So what is it about this team that makes them so good on third down? To answer that, we go to Sunday's game, where the Colts allowed just one first down on 11 third-down attempts. 

The One That Got Away: 11:26 4th Quarter, 3rd-and-4 on the CIN 42

First, let's get this play out of the way. The Bengals' lone third-down conversion came in the fourth quarter on 3rd-and-4, when the Colts were already up 24-0. On one hand, it was just about garbage time. On the other hand, the Houston Texans will tell you that allowing 24 points in a short amount of time isn't unheard of.

NFL Game Rewind

The Colts are playing a variation of the Cover 1 Robber, where the strong safety comes down and plays the "rat in the hole," while watching the tight end and running back. In the traditional play, the linebackers would be in man coverage, one on the tight end and one on the running back. But in this variation, the Colts blitz six and basically have Mike Adams spy on the tight end and running back. With the stunted blitz, the Bengals can't afford to send both out on routes, and Adams just has to watch for one of the two leaking out. 

On 3rd-and-short, it's a good call, especially with how well the Colts cornerbacks usually hold up in quick press coverage. But what it does do is open up a hole down the sideline for a big play. In this case, Andy Dalton throws at his best receiver, Mohamed Sanu, matched up on the weaker of the two outside corners, Greg Toler. 

Toler has given up this route before, and he does it again here as Sanu pulls down an excellently placed ball from Dalton. 

NFL Game Rewind

But make no mistake, this is just a case of perfect execution from the offense. This isn't something to worry about if you're the defense. You can live with allowing these kinds of plays, simply because you don't expect it to occur at a sustainable rate. 

Dalton makes a great throw (while getting hit by Bjoern Werner) and Sanu makes a great catch, despite as good of a play as you could make by Greg Toler. Sometimes, you just have to shake your head and line up for the next play.

No Fly Zone: Locking Down the Bengals Receivers

With A.J. Green out, the Colts receivers needed to shut down the Cincinnati receivers. While Sanu is a fine player, the Colts' Vontae Davis and Greg Toler matched up too well with him to be worried. Both are big, athletic corners whose biggest struggles come against smaller receivers with good route-running technique and lateral ability, not high on the list of Sanu's strengths. 

And the other receivers active in this one—Dane Sanzenbacher, Greg Little and Brandon Tate? Well, they aren't striking fear into anybody's heart. 

If the Colts really are one of the better secondaries in the league, and they have been so far, then shutting down the Bengals wideouts had to happen. 

And so it did. 

Dalton was forced to check down to players like Jermaine Gresham (four targets, two catches and just nine yards), and the Colts linebackers and safeties did an excellent job of closing in and making tackles without allowing yards after the catch. 

Outside of Sanu's 32-yard catch, the Colts allowed just 17 yards on nine targets. There was always a player in the vicinity of the catch, whether it was getting passes defended (Jerrell Freeman, Mike Adams, Toler) or solid tackles short of the sticks (Toler, Davis, D'Qwell Jackson). 

NFL Game Rewind

Even on plays where Dalton had a clean pocket, he was forced to throw underneath, like on this play where Freeman is all over Gresham for the pass defense.

Bringing the Heat: Blitzing Early and Often

When it comes down to it, the Colts love blitzing. Greg Manusky hasn't been afraid to call blitzes before, but with Robert Mathis out, he's been forced to rely more heavily on them. Fortunately, those calls have been perfect thus far this season. 

Part of it is personnel, as the Colts front seven has a chemistry that's been impeccable. The Colts run stunts and blitzes on the vast majority of their plays, and they rarely have miscommunication errors. 

Take this blitz for example. It's a great case of each part working together to get pressure on Dalton. 

NFL Game Rewind

As Bjoern Werner, Ricky Jean Francois and Cory Redding attack the right side of the line, it pulls the three offensive linemen to their right. The left guard, passing Redding off to the center, sees Josh McNary shooting toward the vacated area and shifts back to his left. But this allows for an open space for Jackson to loop around through. Because it's so involved, the running back doesn't see the second linebacker blitz and assumes the blitz has been picked up. 

The result is an open lane for Jackson to shoot through, disrupting Dalton and forcing him to leave the pocket and throw an errant pass. 

NFL Game Rewind

Jack Browne has broken down some more excellent concepts by the Colts defensive coaches on Colts Academy, but it's all a similar tone. 

The Colts personnel isn't really fit to line up one-on-one with offensive linemen and beat them consistently. Erik Walden hasn't been able to do it in his career. Werner struggled tremendously to do it last year. 

But the Colts have athletic players across the defensive line and outside linebacker positions, and they can use that athleticism and speed to get around the line and create mismatches in space. With Manusky nailing the timing of these blitzes, everything is rolling the Colts' way lately.