Tuesday, October 08, 2002
Colts still trying to plug holes in porous run defense
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Dungy believes his defense will work — given time. It's been tested in places such as Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, where he nearly rode one of the NFL's best defensive units to the Super Bowl.
Now Dungy is starting over and four games into his first season with Indianapolis, the Colts are losing a battle to stop the run.
To Dungy, it's not time to panic, it's time to keep teaching.
“We have to grow through it,” Dungy said in his typically calm demeanor Monday. “The first five or six games we had in Tampa Bay were the same way.”
While the Colts have appeared to make some progress, the defense ranks No. 12 overall and No. 4 against the pass, and troubling signs remain.
Only three teams are ranked worse than Indianapolis' 145.0 yards against the run, and the Colts have shown few indications anything is about to change.
On Sunday, they allowed Cincinnati's Corey Dillon to run for a season-high 164 yards — the league's fifth-highest total — and his first two touchdowns including a 67-yarder where he was almost untouched.
Dillon isn't the first runner to top the 100-yard mark against Indianapolis, and with the Colts' upcoming schedule he's not likely to be the last.
This week, Indianapolis faces Jamal Lewis. The next five weeks are filled with tentative dates against Jerome Bettis, Stephen Davis, Eddie George, Duce Staley and Emmitt Smith — all former 1,000-yard rushers. Only Staley has not been to the Pro Bowl.
Colts players are simply asking for patience.
“I came in Tony's third year at Tampa,” said Colts defensive tackle James Cannida, who played four seasons with the Bucs. “The defensive line coach showed us a tape of when they first put it in, and they looked like two totally different teams compared to the one we put on the field.”
The Colts want to look like a totally different team, but they haven't.
Last year, the Colts allowed six 100-yard games in the final eight weeks and even allowed one of Lewis' replacements, Moe Williams, to gain 111 yards in a 39-27 loss to Baltimore.
Already this season, Dillon and Miami's Ricky Williams have topped 130 yards against the Colts, and Houston's Jonathan Wells wound up seven yards short of another 100-yard game. The Colts' best game came against Fred Taylor in the season-opener. Taylor finished with 83 yards.
The Colts (3-1) believe the kinks will be worked out when they become more familiar with Dungy's defense.
“I don't think that nothing is wrong,” defensive tackle Josh Williams said. “Guys are making mistakes. We have to correct those mistakes, and it's something we're going to keep working on.”
Dungy's track record indicates the progression can take time.
In his first season as the Vikings' defensive coordinator, Minnesota allowed 108.3 yards rushing. The average dropped each of the next two years to a low of 68.1 in 1994.
Tampa Bay allowed 118.1 yards in Dungy's first season there, then lowered the average each of the next three years to a low of 87.9 in 1999.
Dungy expects that trend to continue in Indianapolis, where every new twist seems to be another lesson in how to play the defense.
“You wish that wasn't the case,” Dungy said. “You try to give them a general overview, but until they've been through it, it's all new. I'm telling (defensive coordinator) Ron (Meeks) not to be discouraged.”
Dungy saw it play out in Tampa, and he's confident it will work in Indianapolis, too.
Given time.
“I'm disappointed we've given up that many yards rushing,” Dungy said. “This is why I have to be a little patient. It's very similar to our first year and a half in Tampa.”
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Colts still trying to plug holes in porous run defense
