Why Colts Secondary is Primary Concern

After allowing three TD passes to open Jacksonville Jaguars receivers and Gardner Minshew II having only one incomplete pass in 20 attempts, the Indianapolis Colts need the secondary to contest stronger. And that’s an understatement.

INDIANAPOLIS — Don’t be distracted by the fact that there were several mistakes to sort out in the Indianapolis Colts’ season-opening loss at Jacksonville on Sunday.

The 27-20 defeat meant an ensuing week of coaches and players talking at length about watching film and fixing those correctible mistakes. That’s the way it usually sounds after any loss.

But in the case of the Colts, the defensive secondary shot to the top of this team’s shortcomings after playing like, well, the second half of last season. Remember how the Colts lost seven of the last nine games with a 4-3 defense that tried to keep pass-catchers in front of coverage for much of the field, then contest those receivers more closely inside the 30 or red zone?

Specifically, remember how New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees set an NFL record in “The Big Easy” with only one incompletion in 30 pass attempts (96.7%) for 307 yards and four TDs in a 34-7 rout of the Colts on Dec. 16? And it wasn’t just a bunch of throws to Michael Thomas. Brees completed passes to nine different receivers.

Well, Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II didn’t throw as much on Sunday, but made the most of his attempts in completing 19-of-20 passes for 173 yards and, the most pivotal stat, three TD passes. On each of those scoring strikes, the Colts had obvious secondary breakdowns.

If you’ve followed this Colts secondary story for any length of time, go ahead and let out the understandable sigh. OK, make it a heavy sigh.

As much as the Colts have improved the defensive line to go with three talented linebackers, those guys in the back are still holding back this unit. That’s a big reason why the Colts lost despite never punting and outgaining the Jaguars by 204 total yards. There were other reasons, sure, but the secondary stands out for the wrong reasons.

The Colts sacked Minshew four times, but when he was able to throw, his guys were open. Wide open. Embarrassingly wide open on the deciding TD pass.

When DJ Chark Jr. caught a 6-yard TD pass to tie the game at 7 in the second quarter, cornerback T.J. Carrie was underneath in coverage and stopped moving. He was staring at Minshew. Safety Khari Willis wasn’t able to cover the ground to get there over top. If that was supposed to be a bracket, time to go back to the drawing board and explain how to double team. If it wasn’t, Carrie had no business stopping and staring. Did he think Chark would do the same?

Rookie wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. froze Colts safety Malik Hooker with a stop-and-go move over the middle and Minshew hit him with a great pass for a 15-yard TD pass to tie the game at 14. This is why Hooker’s 2021 fifth-year contract option wasn’t picked up. The 2017 first-round pick can't be beaten so cleanly. Hooker was such a ballhawk in college at Ohio State. He hasn’t been with the Colts. And that’s why he will probably be playing elsewhere in 2021.

Jaguars rookie wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. (10) speeds past Colts safety Malik Hooker (29) to score his first NFL touchdown on Sunday :: Douglas DeFelice/USA TODAY Sports

The game-winning touchdown looked like the worst breakdown of all as Keelan Cole just ran away from Colts cornerback Xavier Rhodes on a crossing route and scored on a 22-yard TD pass to make it 24-20 with 5:54 remaining. Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said it was one of two plays that Rhodes wishes he had back — the other a pass-interference penalty when in position to make a play — and the coach confirmed it was man coverage.

The way Rhodes didn’t contest — Cole seemingly just ran away from him — it was almost as if the cornerback thought he had help over top.

Jaguars wide receiver Keelan Cole scores the deciding touchdown in Sunday's home win over the Colts :: Douglas DeFelice/USA TODAY Sports

As much as Colts general manager Chris Ballard addressed several key positions of need, he probably still has some work to do on the secondary.

Aside from safety Julian Blackmon, who was drafted in the third round but still isn’t ready to play as he regains playing shape from offseason knee surgery, Rhodes and Carrie were the secondary newcomers. Rhodes received $3 million to prove he’s worth more in 2021 and beyond. It’s only one game, but this looked like the Rhodes who was inconsistent and gave up key plays the past two seasons in Minnesota, which released him with three years remaining on a five-year, $70.1-million extension that started in 2018.

Eberflus gave the expected coach speak on fixing mistakes in a Tuesday Zoom video call. And he tried to accentuate positives.

“On third down, we actually did a good job of really making him scramble,” the coordinator said. “He scrambled a few times, so there was – out of the 29 dropbacks that he had, he had four sacks, and he also had five scrambles. We had him choking the ball.

"We were doing some different things there on third down that we haven’t done in terms of our coverages. We’re working through those things, and the guys did a good job in a lot of those instances. We made the corrections (Monday) like we always do. We’re evaluating as we go. We’re moving forward to the next week and implementing our plan for the Vikings.”

When asked about the Tampa-2 variation scheme that Eberflus runs on a Monday call, head coach Frank Reich thought it important to give his defensive coordinator a vote of confidence.

“First of all with Matt, I have complete confidence in Matt and our entire defensive staff and our players,” Reich said. “(Sunday) wasn’t our best day. There were some good flashes throughout the day in small phases. I have such confidence and belief that they’ll get better. ‘Flus’ is a great coach and I have all the confidence in the world (in him).”

Colts head coach Frank Reich (left) and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus talk during 2019 training camp :: Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports

Reich added, “There have been times in the past Zak (Keefer) that I know that you’re referring to, that we’ve struggled here and there at times, but I think when you look at the overall – and this is a matter of opinion – body of work of what we have done defensively as the team has grown and the roster has grown, I think there are a lot of reasons to see that we are heading in the right direction. Now, (Sunday) was not the best performance, but I’m putting a lot on the fact that we’re going to see much better in the weeks ahead.”

In preparing to host the Minnesota Vikings (0-1) on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium (1 p.m., EST, Fox-59 TV), Eberflus spoke of the importance of re-routing receivers in matchup or zone schemes and playing tighter in man coverage.

That qualifies as an understatement.

The coordinator couldn’t dodge a question about how in the past six games dating back to last season, the Colts have allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 76 percent of their passes. Isn’t that worrying him?

“There is no question that we need to improve that, and we will improve that,” Eberflus said. “We have confidence in our process. We have confidence in our players and we have confidence in our scheme. There is no question that that has to improve, and it is going to improve. We just are going to keep chipping away at it. We’ll get better at it as we go.”

The promise of gradual progress isn’t reassuring, considering the negative trend dating back to last season, but we shall see.

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(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)