Can a defense truly be good if they can’t stop the run?
“No,” Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. “I don’t think so. I don’t believe so.”
There’s something to being a defense that can’t stop the run, when opposing offenses have the mentality they can out-muscle you. Football is a physical, tough game; being able to stop the run takes physicality and toughness.
“The name of the game is physicality,” linebacker E.J. Speed said. “You’re playing football. You gotta be physical.”
“If you can’t stop the run,” Buckner added, “guys are just gonna run it down your throat all day and bleed the clock out.”
So here’s a piece of good news about the Colts’ defense through two weeks: They can stop the run.
Entering Week 3, the Colts are second in the NFL in yards per rush allowed (2.7). They’re tied for first in tackles for a loss or no gain (17) and are second in Expected Points Added against the run (-.419), per Pro Football Focus. They’ve notched a run stop – defined by PFF as a loss for the offense – on 44 of 65 rushes they’ve faced. They’ve been gashed once (a 37-yard touchdown run by Jacksonville Jaguars running back James Robinson) but that’s the only run they’ve allowed of 10 or more yards.
And no defense is tackling opponents closer to the line of scrimmage than the Colts – on average, they’re bringing down opposing backs 2.1 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
“We just gotta keep choking them out,” defensive tackle Grover Stewart said. “Keep choking them out. That’s what everybody’s mindset should be. Go choke this team out. Don’t let them breathe.”
Stewart has been particularly disruptive against the run so far. It’s not anything new – his teammates have long viewed him as one of the best, if not the best, at his position in the NFL – but playing in defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and D-line coach Nate Ollie’s attack-oriented front has taken his game to another level.
He’s tops among defensive linemen in run stops (seven) and percentage of plays with a…
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