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Every week Adam Vinatieri Jersey , I will present a summary of some basic and advanced stats for the Colts performance relative to the league. Thanks to Pro Football Reference, NFL.com and the nflSCrapR project for being awesome sources of weekly data.The relationship between an NFL offense and the defense it faces is complementary and interconnected. It is a yin and yang where each is dependent upon and defines the other.So, it is difficult to say if last Sunday was an outstanding Indy defense or a horrible Jacksonville offense. The answer may just be the sound of one hand clapping.And for those who want me to stop conflating disparate eastern philosophies, I can safely say that was Zen and this is Tao. Alternatively, we can just look at the stats and see that the defense put up some remarkable numbers.Jacksonville was allowed into Indy territory only twice all day and they earned just 11 first downs. Throw in 3 sacks and a takeaway and you get a 50% Drive Success Rate, which is actually worse than what the Jags defense did to the Colts. TEAM TOTALSOf the 384 games so far this year, a 50% DSR ranks 8th lowest and easily puts the Indy D as the best defensive effort of the week.They also finished at the top of the pile in First Down % against.The Colts held the Jags to just 0.5 adjusted points per drive, which is the second best effort for the week, eclipsed only by. . . oh right, Jacksonville blanking Indy. PASSINGGiving up a 4.9 ANY/A is actually pretty good pass defense but a lot of teams managed that this week so the ranking is just “meh”. But with 3 sacks, no TDs and just 1 explosive pass play, Cody Kessler could not move the ball through the air as only 26% of his passes earned a new set of downs (6th lowest).While Kessler did attain a high 75% completion rate, that is mostly explained by how short his passes were.1.9 avg air yards per completion was the shortest in the league this week. The last time around the Jags hung 9.9 Yards After the Catch on the Colts, but this week, it was limited to 6.4. That is still a big number but somewhat forgivable as really short passes tend to have inflated YAC. RUSHINGWith 2.9 Yards per Carry and a 18% weighted Rush Success Rate Marvin Harrison Color Rush Jersey , the Colts completely shut down the Jags run game.It was the 3rd best effort of the week with the top spot going to . . . oh right, Jacksonville . . . crap. CONCLUSIONS & NEXT MATCH-UPI know a lot of people will be hesitant to give the Colts D any credit as Jacksonville’s offensewas severely hobbled. But in those situations, a good defense should keep their opponents out of the end zone and quickly get the ball back to their offense and that’s exactly what the Colts did. This coming Sunday, the defense will be tested by Deshaun Watson, best known as Joe the policeman on the “What’s Goin’ Down” episode of “That’s My Momma”.Houston has been putting up basically league average numbers over the last 4 games, but they have walked away with W’s in all of them. On the year, their pass game ranks 9th in ANY/A and the run game is 25th in wRSR.So, on paper that looks to be a rough day for the Colts through the air but they should be better able to stop the run. TRAILING 5 WEEK TOTALSSEASON TOTALS (per game) One of the season’s biggest stories for the Indianapolis Colts has been the improvement from the offensive line. Chris Ballard used two of his top three picks on highly rated guard prospects. He also made some shrewd free agent signings to shore up what had long been a glaring weakness.One player who has played a significant role in the line’s transformation is Braden Smith. When he was selected in the early second round, fans assumed that he would be slotted in at right guard, and that he would eventually become the long-term starter there. Surprisingly, he looked good in limited action during the preseason at right tackle and carried that over to the regular season when he received his shot due to injuries early in the season.Smith has his weaknesses, as do each of the players on the offensive line, but he has proven to be particularly effective at combating speed rushers on the edge and pulling down the line to block in the ground game. He was able to maintain his effectiveness pulling but struggled considerably containing the edge rush.Let’s take a look.After five clean games, the Indianapolis Colts offensive line finally allowed an official sack. Braden Smith (#72) was unable to keep up with Cameron Wake (#91) as he came around the edge to knock the ball out of Andrew Luck’s hands. It is worth noting that Marlon Mack (#25) stayed in, looking to his left for a possible blitz https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Tarell-Basham-Jersey , and that his feet collided with Smith, affecting his balance. It is hard to say whether the slight collision with Mack was the primary cause for the sack or that the outcome would have been the same without it, but Smith’s struggles throughout the game indicate the latter.Here, Smith is again unable to handle Wake’s speed around the edge. You can see at the second pause that Smith has failed to contain. You shouldn’t see his jersey number so clearly from this angle if his block is effective. It appears that Smith is ineffective for one of two reasons. The first, he is slow to mirror Wake’s movement as he attempts to get depth in the backfield. Strange, since this has been one of his strengths all season. The second, Wake gets three steps without receiving any contact. This allows Wake to initiate contact with a full head of steam and makes it harder for Smith to effectively counter.Either way, the struggles continued throughout the day.As with the previous play, Smith gives up the edge and is so late to engage that Charles Harris (#90) is already turning the corner. Right guard Mark Glowinski (#64) is also pushed far enough into the backfield that Luck ends up throwing around him to get a pass away.While Harris is unable to get a hit on Luck, Smith again fails to win on the edge. As with one of our previous clips, we shouldn’t see Smith’s face from this camera angle, let alone his inside shoulder. He loses so badly that he has to chase Harris to maintain a block.Smith faces off with Wake and again loses on the edge. Wake hits Luck and the Colts were very fortunate that this wasn’t another sack or a possible interception. We have seen two previous interceptions this season where Luck felt pressure and had to sling the ball opposite his initial read, resulting in disaster.Another area of Smith’s game that will need work as he develops is reach or second-level blocks in the run game. We have highlighted in previous film rooms that Smith needs to take better angles to be effective in this area. On this play, Smith comes out of his stance with his legs too wide to effectively explode into the running lane. He also takes too straight of a path toward Raekwon McMillan (#52) who has escaped by the time he arrives.McMillan ends up making the tackle. If Smith gets there, the outcome could have been different. As Zach Hicks pointed out in his film room breakdown of Evan Boehm Tyquan Lewis Jersey , Marlon Mack could have also helped himself by reading the cutback lane and rushing for a big gain. At the end of the clip, note that Jack Doyle is effectively sealing the edge against Jerome Baker (#55). Rest assured that Eric Ebron will not be as effective in this area. This part of Doyle’s game could possible be missed more than any other.Smith is again unable to get a body on McMillan on this play. I did note that he trips on Le’Raven Clark’s left leg as he attempts to get to the second level. This is the primary reason the block is ineffective but doesn’t change the fact that if Smith seals McMillan here, Mack has an inside and outside lane to choose and only defensive backs in front of him.I am not highlighting this play to demonstrate Braden Smith’s failure as a blocker. Frankly, Akeem Spence’s penetration is due to a couple of things that were outside of Smith’s control. First, Smith has to honor the edge rush from Charles Harris. Eric Ebron is no run blocker and effectively only serves to push Harris right into the running lane. Second, Mark Glowinski releases Spence early to get to the second level. It was an ineffective hand-off between the linemen. Third, and most important, this is a horrible play-call. This is the first play of the Colts game-wining field goal drive. Miami was sending their defensive linemen aggressively up field to disrupt the offense. The Dolphins had no choice but to play the run on the way to the quarterback. Reich has had a good season overall but plays like this at key moments will haunt the team in the future if he’s not careful.Our final clip demonstrates one of Smith’s primary strengths. It is a beautiful thing to see him smoothly work behind the line on the pull to flash in the hole at just the right time. Jerome Baker has no chance and Nyheim Hines gets safety Reshad Jones (#20) one-on-one in space. ANALYSISThis was not a particularly effective game for the offensive line as a whole. Zach Hicks already showed some of the areas where Evan Boehm struggled filling in for Ryan Kelly, Quenton Nelson was flagged for three penalties — two were accepted, and Smith had a rough day.It is difficult to figure out the root cause for Smith’s struggles on the edge. It is odd that one of his best abilities this season was so exposed. Hopefully he can figure things out after watching tape, whether he needs to correct his footwork or needs to recover from an injury that hampered his quickness on the edge.