Colts’ stat of the season Part II: Defense

• PPG Allowed (28th): Keep in mind this is also taking into account the points scored on pick-sixes and recovered fumbles, so that number is certainly a bit skewed. This is a number inflated a bit by blowouts suffered against the Cowboys and the Giants in recent weeks, as the Colts’ defense has done a fine job in scoring defense.
• Yards per game allowed (16th): This is a much more telling number of how good the Colts’ defense has been this season. Keep in mind that they have no sort of complementary football as the offense will just constantly poop the bed.
• Sacks (9th): The Colts’ pass rush was much better this season, and it’s not like they had many leads to protect where the opponents were in obvious passing situations. The addition of edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue certainly helped, as did the emergence of Dayo Odeyingbo and Ifeadi Odenigbo (before his weird release).
• Takeaways (23rd): An area where the team was clearly missing defensive leader and playmaker Shaquille Leonard, the defense ranked just 23rd in turnovers forced this season, a clear regression from the top 7 finishes the unit had Colts’ fans used to.
• YPA Allowed (16th): The Colts’ defense was average in how well they limited passing yards, ranking exactly in the middle of the field in yards per attempt allowed. Stephon Gilmore’s signing helped offset the trade of Rock Ya-Sin, while rookie safety Rodney Thomas certainly looked the part in a secondary that had some great moments but overall was nothing outstanding.
• YPC Allowed (8th): An area where the defense really excelled was against the run, as the emergence of Grover Stewart and Zaire Franklin as Pro Bowl caliber players helped cement an elite running defense.

As we can see, the Colts’ defense was not particularly great at anything, but one has to take into account that the offense put an absurd amount of stress on them, not only gifting short fields to the opposition but also failing to create either points or prolonged drives. Had the offense done it’s part, I think it is safe to believe that the defense would have posted much better numbers.