Colts Defense Must Find Consistency If Indianapolis Hopes to Make Playoff Run

Sunday afternoon was fun for Indianapolis Colts fans. 

When a team wins by 22 points, including scoring 49 points, it's generally a good day. When a game is full of big plays, including five offensive touchdowns of 30 or more yards, it tends to be an even better day. When young, promising players have breakout games and the future looks even brighter than it did in the previous day, well that's just icing on the cake. 

All in all, it's tough to complain about a second consecutive 20-point victory, and third in four games. 

But the Colts defense continues to be sloppy. The Colts have had some dominating performances, namely in wins over Cincinnati and Baltimore. They've had some good performances enhanced by playing bad teams, like in wins over Jacksonville and Tennessee. 

Then there have been the stinkers. Giving up 51 to Pittsburgh. Giving up 42 to the New England Patriots. Allowing 30 points in two early losses to Denver and Philadelphia. 

The inconsistencies have been there all season for Indianapolis. Part of that is because of the lack of overall defensive talent on the roster. 

This has been especially notable in losses to New England and Pittsburgh, where the game was really out of hand throughout and the Colts would have been hard-pressed to make a game out of it at all. But the Colts do have the ability to slow good offenses down, as they showed against Denver and Philadelphia, or in great performances against Baltimore and Cincinnati. 

The Colts simply don't have the talent to hold good quarterbacks down completely, but they should be able to slow them down a bit. 

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

But in order to do that, they have to play more consistently. Sunday was a prime example of how sloppy the Colts can play at times. Colt McCoy and the Washington Redskins offense had no business keeping the game close (well, within two scores) as long as they did. 

At times, Colt McCoy looked like Fran Tarkenton. At other times, he looked like Blaine Gabbert. Sometimes, the Colts stuffed Alfred Morris at the line on consecutive carries. On others, the third-year back rumbled off 15-yard carries through horrific tackle attempts. 

Then there was self-mutilation.

The Colts finished with 10 penalties for 94 yards, including several silly penalties that extended drives for Washington, like Vontae Davis' taunting penalty inside the Colts' red zone or Greg Toler's holding penalty that overturned an interception.

Going into Week 12, the Colts had built up the seventh-most penalty yards on defense, and it's something they must clean up as they head into the postseason. The Colts defense isn't talented enough to be able to hurt itself and overcome those mistakes against better teams. 

But it's not just penalties, it's also key things like third downs. For the most part, the Colts have been very good on third down, allowing just 34.1 percent conversions to opponents, according to ESPN.com. The Redskins only converted  five of 15 attempts, so right along the Colts' season averages.

Opponent	Attempts	Conversions	Percentage
Denver	14	7	50%
Philadelphia	12	5	41.7%
Jacksonville	22	7	31.8%
Tennessee	9	1	11.1%
Baltimore	11	1	9.1%
Houston	8	1	12.5%
Cincinnati	13	1	7.7%
Pittsburgh	13	8	61.5%
New York (G)	16	4	25%
New England	12	10	83.3%
Washington	15	5	33.3%

For the most part, however, the Colts have been extremely inconsistent with their third-down defense. They've dominated bad teams, holding four teams to less than 15 percent conversion rates while allowing three teams to convert 50 percent or more.  

Some of the Colts' past struggles popped up against Washington, like Indianapolis' inability to cover tight ends. Jordan Reed, whose only other 100-yard game came last October, finished with nine catches for 123 yards. DeSean Jackson was also killing the Colts prior to his injury and finished with five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. 

Player	Catches	Yards	TD
Julius Thomas	7	104	3
Zach Ertz	4	86	0
Delanie Walker	5	84	1
Owen Daniels	5	70	0
Jermaine Gresham	10	48	0
Heath Miller	7	112	1
Larry Donnell	4	25	1
Rob Gronkowski	4	71	1
Jordan Reed	9	123	0

One potential boost could be rookie Jonathan Newsome, who has flashed increasingly as the season has progressed. Newsome had four combined tackles and 1.5 sacks on Sunday, bringing his season total to 4.5 sacks. Newsome has struggled in run defense at times, but his 4.5 sacks is second on the team to Erik Walden's five. If Newsome can continue to progress, and the coaches can use him well, the team would benefit from the increased pass rush. 

The Colts need better play from their inside linebackers as well. D'Qwell Jackson picked up a scoop-and-score 35-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown on Sunday, but has been poor in coverage and inconsistent (at best) against the run. Jerrell Freeman hasn't had the flashes that endeared him to fans over the last two years either, which hurts. 

Something has to change. The team can't have weeks like Sunday, not once January rolls around. A playoff run is all about stringing several good performances together, and the Colts haven't shown that they can do that yet. 

Sure, losing Vontae Davis hurt the Colts, but that's the problem with having a scheme that's so dependent on one person. 

Anything is possible, of course. The 2006 Colts strung four wins together after an inconsistent regular season, as did the 2012 Ravens. 

Just look at this season, for example. The Green Bay Packers looked lost in a Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, both defensively and offensively. But now the offense is the hottest in the league, and the Packers have the best record in the NFL after the defense slowed Tom Brady enough to beat the Patriots on Sunday. Meanwhile the Seahawks are currently a wild-card team. 

Things change quickly in the NFL, and the old "Any Given Sunday" meme has a large dose of truth to it. 

But it will take discipline, strong coaching and execution for consistency to rise from this unit. And all three components have been hit or miss for the Colts this season.