Despite QB Woes, Colts' Biggest Obstacle in Playoff Push Is Porous Defense

Following their 45-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13, the Indianapolis Colts find themselves in a rather tough position regarding their current standing in the AFC playoff picture. The loss to the Steelers exposed some major flaws in the club's defense and has the Colts at 6-6 and tied with the division-rival Houston Texans atop the AFC South.

The Colts came into this matchup with the Steelers riding a three-game winning streak, and they did it all in spite of the fact that their superstar quarterback, Andrew Luck, has appeared in just seven of the team's 12 contests.

Fortunately for the Colts, Matt Hasselbeck had proven a capable replacement for the injured star. Consider what the 40-year-old Boston College product had done in the four contests prior to the team's matchup with the Steelers.

Week	Opponent	Result	CMP-ATT	CMP%	YDS	TD	INT	Rate
4	vs. Jaguars	Win	30-47	63.83	282	1	0	87.4
5	@Houston	Win	18-29	62.07	213	2	0	107.4
11	@Atlanta	Win	23-32	71.88	213	2	2	84.5
12	vs. Tampa	Win	26-42	61.90	315	2	0	100.8

The former Pro Bowl quarterback was playing quite well coming into Sunday's contest and had done everything a team could ask of a backup. Unfortunately, the 40-year-old started to look like just that; a 40-year-old backup.

Against a Steelers defense that ranked just 21st in total defense, the aging veteran went out and connected on 16 of 26 pass attempts for just 169 yards and a touchdown. Hasselbeck also turned the ball over three times—two interceptions and one fumble—and was consistently beaten by the Steelers defensive line—Pittsburgh sacked the veteran QB twice.

All that was bad, sure, but it's the play of the team's defense, not its quarterback, that should have fans and the Colts franchise worried moving forward.

Coming into their Week 13 matchup with Pittsburgh, the Colts were allowing a whopping 23.6 points per game (17th in the NFL) and ranked 25th in team defense, per ESPN. Even during their recent winning streak, the defense was suspect.

Consider the unit's performance over its last four games.

Week	Colts Result	Opponent	Total Yards Allowed	Rushing Yards Allowed	Passing Yards Allowed	Points Allowed
10	W	vs. Broncos	309	35	274	24
11	W	@Falcons	375	100	275	21
12	W	vs. Buccaneers	344	132	212	12
13	L	@Steelers	522	158	364	45
Average	--	--	387.5	106.25	281.25	25.5

The Colts defense has lived in the middle tier of relevant statistical measures, but this recent loss against the Steelers served as a bit of continued regression from their previously average status.

The team was out-gained on offense in two of its three wins during that three-game winning streak and allowed, on average, 25.5 points per game to opposing teams over its last four. That's higher than its season average coming into Sunday's matchup against the Steelers.

The Steelers offense beat up on the Colts, logging a ridiculous 522 yards of total offense and 45 points. Ben Roethlisberger was given far, far too much time to work in the pocket—they didn't sack Big Ben once—and he picked the team's pass defense apart.

Defensive end Kendall Langford told Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star that:

"

He’s all that you want in a quarterback. We have to help (the secondary) by getting to the quarterback and affecting him, not letting him stay back there and pet the ball and have a chance to have a big play.

"

That didn't happen. At all.

In fact, despite what Langford told the Indianapolis Star, this type of performance shouldn't come as any surprise, as the unit is unable to point to a single player along its defensive line who ranks among ProFootballFocus.com's top-20 interior or edge defenders.

With no one to get pressure on the quarterback, it's no wonder the Colts have given up gaudy passing performances over the course of the 2015 season—they rank 19th in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game. It's also no surprise that the team continuously let up plays like the one shown below in its loss to the Steelers.

While Big Ben and his receiving corps were torching the Colts through the air, the team's starting running back, DeAngelo Williams, had himself a day. Really, the whole team did as Williams, Roethlisberger, Fitzgerald Toussaint and Landry Jones carved up the Colts rush defense to the tune of 158 yards on 32 carries.

All that led head coach Chuck Pagano to sum up the loss in impressively brief fashion.

Moving forward, Indy will face the Jacksonville Jaguars, Texans, Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans in Weeks 14, 15, 16 and 17, respectively. Fortunately for the potentially playoff-bound Colts, those four teams rank 15th or worse in the NFL in total offense and 22nd or worse in scoring, per ESPN.

This is just to say that the Colts won't face any additional burden of stopping a high-octane offense like the buzzsaw they ran up against in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Unfortunately for Greg Manusky and Co., the task of stopping any offense seems daunting right now given the way they've been beaten up by some lesser opponents—like the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Colts and their defense can ill afford future defensive breakdowns moving forward, as another loss—especially if it were to come in their Week 15 matchup with the Texans—could prove damning for their playoff hopes.

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