With so far to go, it shouldn’t be hard to get better.
The defense for the Indianapolis Colts has been far from dominant for a long time. While many fans are looking and hoping for Anthony Richardson to take a massive leap forward, it won’t probably matter much if the defense doesn’t improve drastically. Chris Ballard has made key roster moves and changed coordinators in an effort to fix a porous unit, but will it be enough? At the end of the day, it has to be because turning in another performance like last year will spell doom for the 2025 season.
After setting a franchise sack record in 2023, the front took a step back. Samson Ebukam was lost for the season early on. His presence was missed, but he should be back and ready to improve the unit that ranked 24th last year. They ranked the same in rush yards as well. While injuries can never be predicted, losing DeForest Buckner didn’t help. It was a rare injury, so expect him to put in a full 17 games next year.
If those defensive rankings sounds less than stellar, the stats don’t get better. Ranking 24th in points allowed and 26th in passing yards netted the 2024 defense a 29th overall. Could it get worse? Sure it can, but not by much. The lone bright spot was the ability to create turnovers as the Colts ranked 5th in interceptions. To help boost the overall rankings, Lou Anarumo replaces Gus Bradley and should prove to be much more creative, deceptive, and pressure focused than Bradley. Getting new players in Cam Bynum and Charvarius Ward should go a long way to beefing up the coverage and allowing Anarumo’s evil genius to come through.
The bad news is how horrid the Colts defense was in 2024. The good news is, they can really only go up from here. Plenty of changes indicate Ballard recognized the issues and by addressing it, the unit should get better. Will they be a steel curtain in 2025? Don’t count on it. Can they get back to the middle? Yes, and just being in the middle could go a long way.