Bear Digest

Why Bears Can Expect Colts Defense to Be Puttin' on the Blitz

Analysis: The Colts defense hasn't usually been one to blitz but after Sunday they'll need no invitation to try it against Caleb Williams.

Gene Chamberlain

Running for his life became the theme for Caleb Williams against Houston blitzes, so he can expect similar tactics from the Colts.
Running for his life became the theme for Caleb Williams against Houston blitzes, so he can expect similar tactics from the Colts. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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The Bears offense knows what to expect against the Indianapolis Colts defense on Sunday just like they knew what to expect from the Houston Texans.

It's a matter of handling it. The blitz is coming again, and largely because of how successful the Texans, and Tennessee Titans in Week 1, were using it against the Bears offense and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

ironically enough, the Bears are being defensed the exact opposite way of how the rest of the NFL seems to be going. The trend is not blitzing but stayind back in two-safety looks like Matt Eberflus has always done with his defenses.

But Caleb Williams is an invitation for defensive coordinators to try something else.

The Colts have traditionally tried avoiding the blitz dating back to the time Matt Eberflus was their defensive coordinator. They blitzed the least of any team last year and had been in the bottom 10 at it for two seasons prior. This year the are higher at 27.8% and ninth, but largely because they've had to use it to help slow down two teams that ran the ball all over them and not because they have sought necessarily to go after quarterbacks. But they've had the practice at it so far and should be better for it.

Rookie QBs are usually open invitations to being blitzed. The Bears expect this, but after the success the first two opponents had getting to Williams this way, they can expect a huge dose of this for weeks to come—until they stop it in its tracks.

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"I know obviously with Caleb being a rookie, they're gonna test him to see what he knows, protection-wise," tight end Cole Kmet said. "Like coach is saying, protection’s not—I know everyone just wants to look at the offensive line, you see a sack and maybe you feel like it's on the offensive line. But there’s a lot of things that go into it, whether it’s receivers having to run the right routes and if they’re not there that causes the quarterback to hold the ball a little bit more, leading to sacks.

"There’s protection adjustments. You see pressure and have to adjust off the pressure you see and maybe making a slide different here and there and getting the linemen to the right spots in that regard."

The number of things the Bears can do to combat this includes hot receivers in case of the blitz.

"We've just got to be on it, know our calls, know our protection, know when we're hot just to help Caleb out," Bears wide receiver DJ Moore said. "I know we've got to nip that in the butt because it's a copycat league and other teams are going to try to bring the house at him."

Williams' responsibility is right there with the center in identifying the possibility before the snap.

"Making the communication at the line of scrimmage is really the center does a lot of that, OK, along with the quarterback," coach Matt Eberflus said. "So, they'll work in conjunction with each other. If it's working the run game one direction or the other, if it's working the protection one way or the other.

"And that's pretty much what you're doing, you're looking for looks. And again they rely on each other in that so it's really both guys."

It's going to be a group effort for the Bears to stop Colts blitzes.

By now, after two games of seeing it, Williams and Co. need to start showing they have a way to deter these attempts at pressuring or they'll have their seasons shattered by it before they get very far into it.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.