Colts' D must endure without Darius Leonard again

NFL leading tackler in 2018 will miss third straight game with concussion as Colts visit Chiefs Sunday night.

So now we know, the Indianapolis Colts’ struggling defense must endure at least one more game without its leader, linebacker Darius Leonard.

The Colts on Friday ruled out Leonard, the 2018 NFL tackle leader, for Sunday night’s visit to Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs. Head coach Frank Reich said Leonard didn't clear the league-mandated concussion protocol.

The Colts (2-2) are 10-point underdogs against the Chiefs (4-0), so missing Leonard for a third consecutive game due to a concussion makes the challenge that much more difficult.

And that’s understating the matter.

Without “The Maniac,” a Colts defense that ranks 25th at 25.5 points allowed per game has struggled. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan brought his team back from a 17-point deficit in the second half of a Colts’ 27-24 home win in Week 3. But the Colts couldn’t overcome an early 14-0 deficit against the Oakland Raiders and quarterback Derek Carr in a humbling 31-24 home loss last week to a seven-point road underdog.

Lest anyone forget, the Chiefs are better than both of those teams. Reigning NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes began the week with a league-leading 1,510 passing yards. The adept scrambler has taken just three sacks — the Colts haven’t had a sack in the past two games — and the Chiefs are second in the league in scoring at 33.8 points per game.

When the NFL scheduled this primetime game last spring, they envisioned a rematch of January’s AFC Playoff matchup at Arrowhead Stadium, which the Chiefs won quite handily, 31-13. What was supposed to be a marquee matchup between Mahomes and Colts quarterback Andrew Luck won’t be the case after Luck retired in August.

That means Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who is 20th in passing yards but tied with Mahomes and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson with 10 TD passes, must find a way to keep his team in this game.

In other injury news, Colts Pro Bowl wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (calf) and leading rusher Marlon Mack (ankle) are both listed as questionable. Hilton, sorely missed last Sunday as the Colts had seven drops, was a limited practice participant this week. Mack, whose 338 rushing yards rank fifth in the league, injured his ankle in the fourth quarter. He was a full-practice participant on Friday.

But make no mistake, even if the Colts can score — they’re 12th at 23.5 points per game — the onus is still on a defense to somehow slow down Mahomes.

“We know what he brings to the table,” Colts linebacker Anthony Walker said of Mahomes.

Asked if Mahomes compares to any other quarterback he’s seen, Walker smiled and said, “Yeah, Patrick Mahomes.”

Colts defensive tackle Denico Autry, who leads the Colts with 2.5 sacks, admits defenders can’t help but be impressed with what they see of Mahomes on film. And he and his teammates are well aware that few give the Colts a chance at the upset.

“I love that,” Autry said. “I love when our back is against the wall.”

The defensive problem is also two-fold. Not only have the Colts struggled to generate enough pass-rush pressure, they’ve been unable to stop the run. They rank 25th in rushing yards allowed at 132.5 yards per game.

“When teams feel like they can run the ball at you,” Walker said, “it’s kind of they’re saying, you know, ‘Mano y mano, they’re going to win.’ That’s not a good thing that you want to see. Yeah, we have to do a better job of stopping the run.”

The Chiefs are 20th in rushing offense at 101.8 yards per game, but veteran running back LeSean McCoy has 214 rushing yards and is averaging 5.4 yards per rush. The rushing numbers are a bit misleading because the Chiefs pass the ball so well.

If the Colts had a defensive bright spot last week, it was the season debut of defensive end Jabaal Sheard, who had been sidelined after undergoing knee surgery in August. Sheard showed why he was the Colts’ best defensive lineman against the run last year with four tackles.

“It’s all the same, man,” Sheard said on Tuesday. “Stop the run and get after the quarterback when we have a chance. Obviously (Mahomes) can do a lot more, he can scramble, he can throw the ball while scrambling, but honestly it’s just going to take a lot of effort and pursuit, all of us running to the ball and helping each other out.”

And even then, the challenge might require even more than that.