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Gus Bradley/Colts' Defense Shine on 3rd Down vs Broncos: Film Room

The Indianapolis Colts' defense stood tall in the team's 12-9 victory over the Denver Broncos. Their success on third downs was noteworthy in the win.

Zach Hicks

The Indianapolis Colts won an ugly one on Thursday Night, defeating the Denver Broncos 12-9 in Primetime. While the Colts' offense is still a major work in progress (to say the least), the Colts' defense definitely held up their own end of the bargain.

The Colts' defense was at its best on third downs in this outing. The Colts held the Broncos to just 2-15 on third downs, which is an outstanding conversion percentage of just 13%. Russell Wilson completed 7-of-12 attempts for 51 yards and two interceptions on third down for a putrid passer rating of just 28.82.

The Colts' defense was simply stifling on the critical downs, and this success is what propelled the team to victory. Today, I dive into how Gus Bradley and this Colts' defense were able to find so much success.

Mixing Coverages

Gus Bradley is known for being the lone member of the single-high safety fan club in the NFL. While the entire league is shifting to more quarters looks, Bradley is stubbornly sticking with his classic style of defense. For all of the flack he gets for being unoriginal, he has done a fairly good job of mixing his coverages this year (especially on third downs).

Here are a few of the coverage calls he dialed up on Thursday:

Tampa 2

Tampa 2 defense is fairly similar to a traditional two-high cover two call, except for what the MIKE linebacker is asked to do over the middle. In this play call, the MIKE is responsible for vertical routes over the middle of the field. This allows for the safeties to provide more help on the outside, and it covers up one of the weak spots of a traditional cover two look.

On this play, the Colts show cover three pre-snap before shifting into a two high look. Linebacker Zaire Franklin is tasked with carrying the vertical route from slot receiver Jerry Jeudy on the play. He sits in the back hip pocket beautifully here, and he is able to come away with an impressive pass break up over the middle:

Cover Three Match

Given that this is a Gus Bradley defense, we have to throw in a cover three look in this piece. Bradley may be running a similar defense now that he did back in the early 2010's, but he has grown a lot in utilizing match concepts over the years.

The play below is a great example of how Bradley's defenses match 3x1 sets out of cover three. In these particular looks, Bradley likes to have his backside cornerback (and linebacker) play man coverage on their assignments. That basically leaves the remaining five coverage defenders to play zone against the three pass catchers on the strong side.

The zone defense locks up the sail route to the trips side, and Wilson is forced to dump it off to his tight end underneath. Isaiah Rodgers Sr, playing man as the backside corner, is able to make a quick tackle short of the sticks.

Quarters

Look at old man Gus Bradley adjusting for the times! In a predominantly quarters league, Bradley has begun to mix it in a little bit to his defense this year (on third downs). This was the perfect time to dial up this deep coverage on third and long.

The Broncos are backed up on this third down and decide to call a four verticals design. This call would have worked if the Colts were in their standard cover three, but the quarters coverage locks it up across the field. Linebacker Zaire Franklin does a great job matching the inside vertical shot on this play as well.

Cover One Hole

Bradley has shown his trust in this defense quite a bit this year, going as far as calling a lot of man coverage on third downs in 2022. His favorite man calls have been either the standard cover one hole or a cover one robber call.

On this pivotal third down late in the game, Bradley calls cover one hole. This means that the defense is in man coverage across the board with the MIKE linebacker in a hook zone and the free safety in a deep third.

Russell Wilson must have misread the coverage, as he attempts to attack star cornerback Stephon Gilmore on the backside skinny post. Just an awful decision by the quarterback, as Gilmore comes away with the game-changing interception.

Sticks Coverage

A Gus Bradley staple over the years on third and long has been his sticks coverage. I have seen some refer to this as a "picket fence call" so either name applies here. In the tweet linked below, I also included a diagram from a previous playbook of his.

All I will say about this call is that if Bradley is dialing up sticks multiple times in a game, that means your offense is struggling to move the ball on first and second down.

Bringing Pressure

On top of mixing his coverages on third down, Bradley also dialed up a few blitz calls to create pressure. I wrote a few times this offseason about how Bradley rarely likes to blitz, but when he does, he often creates pressure with his designs.

Here are a few of his blitz calls from this game:

Over Tiger

An Over Tiger blitz for Gus Bradley is a call against 3x1 sets for the offense. In a Tiger call, the strong safety will blitz from the trips side of the formation. Safety Rodney Thomas II comes flying downhill, as the rest of the defense falls back into man coverage.

Edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue wisely loops back inside on the play to get the sack as Russell Wilson attempts to bail from the pocket.

Tex Wrap

The other blitz call is a beautiful five man stunt called across the line. First, let's talk about the personnel. DeForest Buckner is standing up over top of the center while defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo is inside over top of the left guard. Zaire Franklin is also on the line, as he is face up on the right guard.

This is a double stunt call across the line. Kwity Paye and Franklin perform a Tex stunt on the right side, while the other three rushers perform a Wrap (with Ngakoue looping back inside). This stunt eliminates all exit lanes for Wilson and forces an insane pass in traffic for the interception.

If I could nitpick anything about this play, it would be Rodney Thomas II's positioning over the top. He drifts a bit into no man's land, when he should have sat on the first down line and watched for in-breaking routes to the strong side. It ends up working out for him here, but that is just a coaching point for the future.

Final Thoughts

The Colts' offense is a disaster that is playing some ugly football right now, but this defense is playing quite well on the season. Since the team's week three game against Kansas City, they are holding opposing offenses to just a 27% conversion rate on third down (which is the second-best in the league over that span).

This defense is winning on the money downs and is giving the Colts' inept offense every chance to turn their season around. In an ugly start to the year for this team, the Colts' defense is shining under Gus Bradley.

Need your fill on daily Colts' content? Head over to the Locked On Colts' YouTube channel where Jake Arthur and myself hit on all the major topics surrounding this team. Hit that subscribe button while you are there!

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Zach Hicks
ZACH HICKS

Zach Hicks is the Lead Analyst for HorseshoeHuddle.com. Zach has been on the NFL beat since 2017. His works have appeared on SBNation.com, the Locked On Podcast Network, BleacherReport.com, MSN.com, & Yardbarker.com. 

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