Same Lack of Talent Lead to Same Results for Colts Defense

The results were just too eerily similar. 

After losing to the New England Patriots 43-22 last January in Foxborough, the Indianapolis Colts were supposed to take the next step when facing them at home on Sunday night. 

Instead, the game turned into an almost carbon-copy repeat of the January massacre, as the Colts lost 42-20.

In January, it was was LeGarrette Blount who ran for 166 yards and four touchdowns in a demoralizing effort by the Colts defense. On Sunday, it was former undrafted free agent Jonas Gray who ran for 199 yards and four touchdowns. 

When the Patriots did have to use the passing game, it wasn't necessarily the most effective, but it got the job done on third down. In January, the Patriots went 11-for-18. On Sunday night, New England was 9-for-12 against what was previously the best third-down defense in the league. 

This time around, Andrew Luck cut down on the turnovers, throwing for over 300 yards with two touchdowns and just one interception (as opposed to four last January). But he had even less support from the running game, as the Colts running backs combined for 14 carries for four yards. Trent Richardson now has 10 carries for one yard in two games against New England as a Colt. 

It is possible to win games, even marquee games, without much running support, but when your defense is allowing 42 points, it's a recipe for disaster. 

The frustrating part is just how similar this game was for the Indianapolis defense, if not worse. The Colts had an offseason to fix the defense, or at least to try, and they did very little. 

Signing D'Qwell Jackson was never going to do anything but bring a veteran presence into the locker room. Jackson has been a poor run-stuffing linebacker for the last three years, and any delusions that were had about him fixing the run defense were put soundly to rest on Sunday.

Arthur Jones could have helped the defense, but he's battled injuries all year and hasn't been effective even when he's played. Even if completely healthy, there's not much that one man could have done to change Sunday night's outcome. 

There were plenty of fans who wanted to blame coaching on Sunday night, but coaching can only do so much. There were definite letdowns in the coaching department, especially Pep Hamilton's reverting back to 2013-like inconsistencies in playcalling. 

But the Colts didn't do anything to improve the defense that allowed the Patriots to put up 43 in January, so why should it have been a surprise that they allowed 44 on Sunday? 

Adding Jackson, Jones and Mike Adams was never going to be enough to offset the loss of Robert Mathis and Antoine Bethea. Even with Mathis and Bethea, Sunday's outcome is likely the same. 

The Colts have had some success on defense this season, but it's always been about the scheme prevailing against mediocre or bad offenses. Against good offenses, the Colts have been lit up in every which way possible. 

The Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers did it with the pass. The Philadelphia Eagles did it with the screen game. The Patriots did it with the run game. 

There are no excuses for Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano, who were supposed to build something better for Andrew Luck. They were supposed to avoid a repeat of the Manning years, where the team was completely dependent on the passing game to keep things competitive in the playoffs. They've spent over $92 million in guaranteed money on current defensive players in the last three years, per Spotrac.

This wasn't about being ill-prepared or Bill Belichick outclassing another coach on his way to a victory. 

This was about an offense lining up and just being flat-out better than the defense in every way. It didn't matter what schemes the Colts threw out, they got ran over or passed around. Just like the Denver game. Just like the Philadelphia game. Just like the Pittsburgh game. 

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

A good offense, especially one with a good quarterback, can beat a defense that relies on blitzes and stunts to succeed. The Colts just don't have the talent to win one-on-one battles in the front seven. For most of the season, that's been evident in pass rush. On Sunday, the Patriots proved that it's true in the run game as well. 

The Colts can rebound. They could very well win out the rest of their games and still end up with a No. 3 seed—or potentially even a bye given Denver's recent struggles. Once the playoffs roll around, who knows what could happen. This franchise once got beat down even worse by the Jacksonville Jaguars and won a Super Bowl just a few months later, after all. 

But make no mistake, this defense isn't going anywhere, not with the talent that the front office has chosen to commit to.

Jim Irsay wanted Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano to build a monster, but the only people scared are Colts fans.