New Colts Defensive Scheme To Emphasize Tackling Ball Carrier

TERRE HAUTE, IN--The Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl last year with a run defense that was widely considered the worst in all of football. The Colts allowed 173 yards per game at a staggering 5.3 yards per carry. This year, the coaching staff is experimenting with a new defensive scheme which will put more emphasis on apprehending and tackling the person carrying the football.

Defensive coach Ron Meeks said the new scheme was “a bit of a departure.”

“This is obviously a bit of a departure for our guys,” Meeks told reporters yesterday. “Last year we put a lot of emphasis on sacking the quarterback, defending the pass, and essentially ignoring any backs that might emerge from the backfield with the football. This season we’re implementing a three-point strategy: identify the ball carrier, wrap your arms around him, and bring him to the ground. It’s a work in progress, but we think by the beginning of the season our guys will be used to it. It’s tough because you’re basically asking them to unlearn everything they’ve learned.”

It is a work in progress, indeed. During a Tuesday morning drill, several defenders were seen running away from the ball carrier instead of running towards him. At one point, linebacker Rob Morris dove out of the way as tailback Joseph Addai approached him.

Morris injured himself on the play and was held out of the rest of practice as a precautionary measure.

“I’m okay. I just hit my head against the ground,” Morris said afterwards. “Joseph was running towards me with the ball and I just panicked and dove out of the way. I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do until I was already on the ground, but that’s always the way isn’t it? Anyway, I’m going to spend these next couple days studying film of other people tackling running backs so I can get a better grip on the whole scheme.”

Morris did admit that he felt the Colts' old scheme was “working just fine.”

“I appreciate the coaches trying to get every edge they can, but I don’t see a problem with what we were doing last year,” he said. “Yea we let up a lot of points, but we also won the Super Bowl. I guess I just don’t think we need to conform to what everybody else is doing. On the other hand, this is a copy cat league and we’ve seen that tackling the ball carrier is clearly an effective way to stop the run, so I guess that’s why we’re doing it. Personally I think we should just let the bastards run wherever they want and let our offense worry about it.”

The Colts run defense did improve in the postseason when they faced the Chiefs, Ravens, and Patriots. However, many around the league, including the Colts’ own coaching staff, believes that was merely a product of unimaginative game planning by the opposition.

“Our run defense did improve statistically during the post season, but I don’t think we should get too excited by that,” said head coach Tony Dungy. “The fact is, the Chiefs had a horrible game plan and were either throwing incompletions or running head first into groups of defenders the whole game. Same thing with the Ravens. In a way, I think they were just trying to soften us up for this season. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway, because I can’t think of any other reasons for those retarded game plans.”

When asked if his new defensive scheme would take away from the Colts ferocious pass rush, Dungy said he didn’t think it would.

“I think you can have both, really,” he said. “I think you can rush the quarterback, defend the pass, and defend the run at the same time. It’s just a matter of everybody knowing their jobs and where they are supposed to be. Also, we're going to ask if Dwight Freeney can maybe just reach his arm out and try to grab the shirt of the running back while he's running by, you know, since we gave him a $72 million contract and all.”

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