After getting run over by the Houston Texans and the Green Bay Packers during the first two games of the season, the Indianapolis Colts run defense had a much-needed bounce-back performance against the Chicago Bears.
Chicago ran the ball 28 times against the Colts but totaled just 63 rushing yards, averaging fewer than 3.0 yards per rush.
Now, the Bears didn’t come into this game as a juggernaut on the ground by any means, but fundamentally, it was a much more sound performance from the Colts. We saw defenders getting off blocks, the edges being set, and running lanes being filled.
Some personnel changes included more snaps for Raekwon Davis, Taven Bryan seeing more snaps at 3-tech instead of nose tackle, and an effort to get Davis and Grover Stewart on the field together. Dayo Odeyingbo also moved inside a fair amount with DeForest Buckner out.
Doing it once is great, but the real test will be seeing if the Colts can have that type of success again, and it won’t come easy this week against a committed Steelers rushing offense.
In terms of efficiency, the Steelers are only averaging 3.6 yards per carry through three weeks, which ranks 28th. However, what the Steelers have shown is that almost regardless of the success they’re having, they will stick with the run game throughout the four quarters.
The Steelers will enter Week 4 ranked second in number of rush attempts per game and 12th in average rushing yards per contest. So even if the Colts do find some success, I wouldn’t anticipate the Steelers giving up the ground game at any point, unless down by multiple scores in the second half.
Leading the way at running back for the Steelers is Najee Harris. In three games, Harris is averaging just shy of 20 rush attempts per game and has totaled 209 yards on the ground at 3.8 yards per attempt. Pittsburgh’s second running back, Jaylen Warren, is working through an injury and his status for Sunday’s game is unknown.
An added wrinkle that the Colts will have to contend with is quarterback Justin Fields and his ability to impact the run game. Fields has 28 carries this season–the fourth-most at quarterback, according to PFF.
As we saw against Chicago, the overall success for the Colts defense starts with the run game. Slowing the Bears rushing attack put them in a lot of third down situations and, generally speaking, will put an offense behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations.
On the flip side, and like we saw in Weeks 1 and 2, struggling in the run game has a negative trickle-down effect to the rest of the defense and even the offensive side of the ball for the Colts, with there being fewer possessions and having to play from behind.