Tony Dungy...whatcha gonna do about it.

[loganberries]

The Colts D is bad. Understatement of the year right? If Dungy is a true D guru, he will get his D-Line and LB's coach out of the way and become very hands-on this week. It is his team, Dungy is putting his name on the product on the field, and it sucks. There's no physical presence at any part of the defense, save Bob Sanders when healthy. Look at Ravens D along with others. When the Ravens come at you, they want not only to tackle you, but to hurt you, embarass you, send a message. At no time have the Colts shown this. How can you play in the NFL and do that poorly vs the run? D-line is undersized and LB's must not want to hit. If I were Dungy, I would find someone on D and fire them this week. There's not a single player that can't be replaced on that highschool JV defense they have now. I hope things turn around soon, or Rudi Johnson could run for 400 yards on Monday night. Tough to be a Colts fan this year!!

[JasonSeahorn]

the ravens were pretty bad on offense and still aren't great, and billick is an offensive genius.

marvin lewis was also a great defensive coach, and the bengals have given up tons of yards/points to various teams.

dungy isn't the only coach whose team seems to go against what the coach does best. but, i also agree the colts playoff chances are slim with their current defensive state. he designed his defense to be fast and defend the pass, hoping that opposing offenses will be forced to make many plays and convert many first downs, and this strategy is biting them in the ass.

[buffalobillsrul2002]

In my opinoin, the Colts have two big problems on their defnese, and this is why teams have an easy time rushing against them,more specifically up the middle.

1.
Their small DTs (with the exception of McFarland, and even he often gets blocked man-to-man) can be blocked man-to-man. I've seen plays where teams don't even have to team block the Colts DTs. Therefore the OLs are all over the LBs.

2.
The Colts LBs generally have been trying to cut around O-Lineman instead of hitting and shedding, and even when the Lbs try to hit and shed, it hasn't been working. For a small LB, the cutting and knifing behind OL is not a bad idea. However, when done on a steady diet, it becomes quite easy to pick up.

There are two ways I can see the Colts fixing this problem

A. Bring an extra man into the box.
B. Have the LBs work on shedding. However, I don't think this can be changed in a week, so I think the Colts are going to have to start playing 8 in the box. Maybe go to a 4-4 on running downs?

[moochman]

This beat up D is the Achilles Heel of the Colts. No way can the win in the playoffs with this D playing as bad as it is now. The question is what can they do for next year?

I think they should trade with the dumbest team they can find and rape them. They could trade a draft pick to the Lions for Big Baby Sean Rogers. He is wearing out his welcome in the motor D with his poor attitude and being out of shape. But he can be a terror and on a good team that won't let him malinger he could once again be an all-pro caliber player. Plus he was suspended for 4 games so the next violation means a year off. That could drive his price tag down.

The violation was for diet aides becuase to try and avoid the fines for being a fatty. But a fatty DL is what the Colts could use.