Blue
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- Mar 19, 2019
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“NEXT MEN UP,” YOUTH COME UP BIG
The Colts entered this game banged up on both sides of the ball, but particularly on defense, with starting All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard, both starting safeties — Clayton Geathers and Malik Hooker — as well as key rotational lineman Tyquan Lewis all ruled out heading into this game.
That obviously meant a heavy dose of depth players, particularly rookies and second-year guys, having to answer the call and be the “next men up" against the top offense in the league.
The Colts had some new looks on the defense, with rookies Okereke, Khari Willis and Rock Ya-Sin all starting while guys like Quincy Wilson — at safety — and undrafted rookie Shakial Taylor played a little more than what was likely originally planned, especially after the team's top two corners, Pierre Desir and Kenny Moore II, each went down early in the game with injuries.
“I tell you what, it’s a credit to the whole defense there. There was a moment there in the first half where we had three DBs hurt, and ‘Flus was on the sideline talking to the guys in the headset about to devise a whole new gameplan on the fly on the sideline right ther,e ‘cause we weren’t gonna be able to do a whole bunch of the things we were planning on because of the personnel,” Reich said. “And then Pierre (Desir) came back and we got a few guys back, Kenny (Moore II) came back. So, thankfully that worked out and they played great, but those guys did step up and played well.”
Even as the Colts reached deep into the depth chart, especially in the secondary, the defense remained confident in the 11 guys they put on the field.
“We’re real confident in our DBs," said Okereke, who had three tackles and a fumble recovery. "We played a lot of man and they kind of locked down well. And then in all the two-high stuff, we executed well, (We) primarily stopped the run, I think they had 30, 40 rushing yards or something like that, so you stop the run, you make them one-dimensional and it makes it easier for us.”
The defensive effort Sunday night was very much appreciated on the other side of the ball for the Colts. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett helped lead an offensive attack that certainly took care of business — Indy ran the ball for 180 yards — but, combined with the defensive effort, the Colts dominated the time of possession Sunday night, 37:15 to 22:45.
"Oh my gosh — that’s awesome. You know, you can’t ask for a better job," Brissett said of the Colts' defense. "The whole group. I know we had a lot of players playing that aren’t used to playing, and everybody just stepped up and played a hell of a game. I know us offensively tip our hats off to those guys. And … we played a full complementary game. Obviously you want to score every drive, but we did enough to win today."