Colts gaining confidence each week behind Luck
Now the Tennessee Titans will try to make Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck blink and think twice when passing.
An array of Titans blitzes, stunts and disguising defensive coverages confounded New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in a 34-10 home rout on Sunday. Titans first-year head coach Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Dean Pees, both former Patriots assistants as well as Vrabel playing for head coach Bill Belichick, used their inside knowledge to rattle the future Hall of Fame passer, who was sacked three times, took six hits and completed a season-low 51 percent of his passes.
The Titans (5-4) will try to do the same against the Colts (4-5) and Luck on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Luck is on pace for career passing numbers and his revamped offensive line has been one of the NFL’s best in recent weeks, not allowing a sack in a league-best stretch of four games. The Colts are No. 1 in fewest sacks allowed per pass attempt at 2.6 percent.
“Not just last week, but all year, it’s a tough defense,” Luck said Wednesday of the Titans, who are No. 1 in fewest points allowed at 16.8 per game. “They’ve got playmakers all over the field, (Brian) Orakpo, (Jurrell) Casey, I know those are game-wreckers. They’ve got linebackers that can run. They’ve got cover guys, safety, corner, everywhere.
“It’s a defense that presents a bunch of different looks. It’s hard to get a bead on what they do. It’s a great challenge for us as an offense, a really, really good defense. We certainly have our work cut out for us.”
Eleven Titans have contributed to the team’s 23-sack total, an indication that Vrabel and Pees have continually kept offenses guessing as to where the pressure will come from. Colts center Ryan Kelly acknowledged the Titans present one of the season’s greatest challenges in terms of adjustments on each snap to counter the different strategies.
“It’s tough,” Kelly said. “They’re not going to run it into you. That’s kind of what the M.O. for this division has kind of been the last couple of years. It’s been tough, especially when big guys are doing it, they’re giving you swim moves and arm-overs. I think we do a great job throughout the week of moving, using our hands and trusting our feet. Every week, we’re going to play a good defensive front and they’re going to be moving.”
The Colts have won three in a row and are looking to move into a second-place tie in the division with the Titans, who have won back-to-back games by double digits after a three-game losing streak. Both teams are chasing the Houston Texans (6-3), who have won six straight.
The Colts are sixth in points scored at 28.9 per game and have averaged 35.5 points in the past four games.
“Their defense is No. 1 in the league as far as the lowest quarterback rating against them when they pressure,” first-year Colts head coach Frank Reich said. “When they blitz you, they’re effective in their blitz.
“It’s hard to get to (Brady). They put pressure on him and they were effective with their pressures, as they have (been) versus most teams. That will be good on good. We’ve been pretty good in that area (in blocking) and they’re the best in that area, so it will be a good challenge.”
Reich reiterated solid pass protection starts with Kelly and Luck, how they communicate with each other and everyone else. Luck hasn’t been sacked in 185 pass attempts, the second-longest clean streak in franchise history.
In last week’s 29-26 home win over Jacksonville, the Jaguars’ No. 1-ranked pass defense hit Luck just twice. As a result, the Colts passer became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history since 1950 to throw at least three touchdown passes in six consecutive games. Brady (10, Peyton Manning (eight) and Dan Marino (seven) are the only other passers to do that.
“The whole thing with the blitz is we can’t have free runners,” Reich said of opposing pass rushers. “What that starts with is those two guys (Luck and Kelly) telling everybody where to go.”
He suggests the Titans bring more multiple defensive fronts – changing that look from play to play – than perhaps any other defense in the league.
“They run more coverages, run more fronts, run more pressures,” Reich said. “That’s kind of their DNA.
“The chance you’re taking when doing all that is you do too much and there’s more errors because they’re changing personnel groups a lot of times when they’re doing this. They have packages. … They do it well, they’re disciplined and they really communicate well. They’re substitutions are clean.”
SERIES HISTORY: 47th regular-season meeting. Colts lead series, 31-15. Titans swept season series in 2017. The only other year that’s happened was the first year of the AFC South Division’s inception in 2002. The Titans won 20-16 in their last visit to Indianapolis on Nov. 26, 2017. It’s the only time the Titans have won at Lucas Oil Stadium in 10 visits. The Colts are 18-7 overall at home against the Titans. The rivals have one memorable playoff meeting, when the wild-card Titans upset the second-seeded Colts 19-16 at Indianapolis in an AFC divisional round game on Jan. 16, 2000.
