Indy's Run Defense Can Stop One Team: The Colts

We all knew the Indianapolis Colts had problems with their run defense, right? After Sunday's 44-17 steamrolling by the Jacksonville Jaguars, there should be little doubt that this defensive unit is simply bad at bringing down ball carriers. In fact, the Colts' defense is not just bad. It's looser than a coonhound an hour after devouring a half dozen jumbo bean burritos with hot sauce.

Not only did the Colts get run over Sunday, they got run through, around, up and down to the tune of a Jags' franchise-record 251 yards... and that was by halftime. Jacksonville's rushing total hit a whopping 375 yards --most ever given up by the Colts-- before the lopsided contest mercifully ended. Both Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew cracked the century mark by halftime, as they took turns ripping off sizable runs on a regular basis. That is, until Taylor strained a hamstring with all that open-field running the Colts tricked him into.

This inability to stop the run is really a season-long trend that has now officially gotten out of control. With Colts' defenders perfecting their matador impersonations, Indianapolis has dropped three of their last four games after starting the season 9-0. And, as we said a month ago in this here space, the inability to stop the run was bound to catch up to this team regardless of how potent their offense is. And it's beginning to have a domino effect on the rest of the team.

Need proof?

Look no further than the Colts' vaunted offense, which has managed just 17 points in each of their last two games. Their defense is just not getting off the field, giving Peyton Manning and Company little opportunity to work their magic. The offense just can't get into a rhythm, and as a result, we're starting to see more mental errors, like dropped passes.

So what's the answer?

For this season, I'm not sure there is one for the Colts. Obviously I don't expect them to give up nearly four bills on the ground each week, but I don't see where any real solution is going to come from at this point. And all this points me to one conclusion. Manning won't be getting his hands on a Lombardi this year... unless of course, Tom Brady lets him, like, polish one of his.