January 18, 2007
UBER-GENIUS TIME:
Pop not a question: Sanders has brought hard hits back to Colts' defense (Christopher L. Gasper, January 18, 2007, Boston Globe)
It's Colts third-year free safety Bob Sanders, who is to the Indianapolis defense what Harrison is to New England's, maybe more. At 5 feet 8 inches, 206 pounds (a generous listing), Sanders is the Colts' most physical player and the heartbeat of their defense. [...][Said Colts coach Tony Dungy:] "He's got a lot of pop in his body. He's a strong hitter. But probably more than anything else, I think he just loves to play the game. He's excited about practice. He plays with high energy. He's an emotional guy. Our players pick up on that and they feed on that. He does help everybody play a little bit better."
Never has that been more apparent than in the playoffs as the Colts' defense, which allowed a league-worst 173 rushing yards per game during the regular season, has gone from porous to impregnable. Indianapolis has allowed one touchdown in eight quarters of playoff football and is surrendering just 185 total yards per game, 147.2 fewer than the regular season, and in the starkest turnaround, only 63.5 yards on the ground.
It's not a coincidence that the defensive revival coincides with Sanders playing back-to-back games for the first time since the first two games of the season against the Giants and the Texans.
Herman Edwards is such an awful coach it was no surprise to see him hold Larry Johnson to 13 carries, but Brian Bilick is supposed to be a good offensive coach, so him holding Jamal Lewis to 13 was a shocker. Bill Belichick has set things up perfectly to have Lawrence Moroney carry 25 or 30 times, which the Colts defense can't withstand. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 18, 2007 12:00 AM
I agree oj. But don't forget that Dillon will also contribute. Probably the Pats run 30-35 times in the game. This wears down the Colt defense and keeps Manning (and Vinatieri) off the field.
Posted by: Bartman at January 18, 2007 9:42 AMThe other teams were forced to stop running the ball both b/c they were getting stuffed, and b/c they fell behind. It'll be no different when Peyton jumps out 14-nil this weekend.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at January 18, 2007 9:49 AMSorry, I can't buy that the worst run defense in the league suddently turns into the best in the playoffs. The Colts stacked the line against the Chiefs and the Chiefs didn't adjust, simply running LJ into the line over and over. As for the Ravens the Colts again stacked the line but the Ravens couldn't take advantage as McNair played a horrible game (if the interception in the end zone was a touchdown the game would have been completely different).
The Pats are more versatile on offense so they should be able to score at least 21. The question is whether Peyton plays like he has in the first 2 playoff games - if he does the Colts lose.
Posted by: AWW at January 18, 2007 10:46 AMIf you stop running the ball yourselves the other team doesn't even need to stop you.
Posted by: oj at January 18, 2007 12:58 PMThe Ravens were never behind by any meaningful amount. They stopped running because coaches play not to lose, and then do.
Posted by: oj at January 18, 2007 1:02 PMBillick is over-rated as a coach. When the Ravens play monster defense, they win. When they need to score (on offense), they can't. The offense this year was a mish-mash, primarily because Jamal Lewis is no longer effective. Even when the Ravens beat Pittsburgh in the 2nd half of the season, it was through the air, not on the ground. Steve McNair just played a bad game against the Colts (whose defense played very well). All they needed was one TD - with the lead, they probably would have won the game, given the way Peyton Manning was playing.
But I think the Colts will beat New England. The Pats don't have enough on offense to win, and I can't see them holding down the Colts offense the way Baltimore did.
Posted by: jim hamlen at January 18, 2007 3:48 PM