Lou Anarumo did not dress up the tape from Pittsburgh. Two long plays by Jaylen Warren — “30” in the defensive call sheet — accounted for roughly 120 to 130 yards, and the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator said that is the one category that has to disappear before Sunday’s home division game against the Tennessee Titans.
“You cannot give them 150 yards, 140 yards on two plays,” Anarumo said. “You just can’t. So the explosive part of it … that has to be eliminated.”
Asked which defensive issue is most easily corrected, he pointed straight at the long scoring and chunk plays rather than inventing a scheme overhaul. He framed the long pass as a technique miss for Bryce and the long run as a point-of-attack failure that still needed nine or 10 other hats to finish. “There’s 10 other guys on the field that should get it on the ground before it goes as long as it did,” he said.
Effort is not the diagnosis
After Akiem Davis called tackling a “want-to” skill and Sauce Gardner owned a pair of bad plays, Anarumo rejected the idea that the unit is soft. “We do not have a lack of effort on the team,” he said. “When you lose, there’s going to be some things that are highlighted. If I thought there was a problem with effort, I would address it immediately.” He pointed instead at Buckner and others sprinting downfield and said accountability starts with him.
On tackling, he kept it technical: angles, timing and population. “The more opportunities and the more hats you get to the ball, the better we’ll be at it.”
What counts as an explosive
Anarumo said the league’s official thresholds — roughly a 12-yard run and a 15-yard pass — are not how he grades the tape. “You’re talking about a 40-yard or more pass. Those have to be mitigated,” he said. “And then anything over a 10-yard run is for us an explosive run.” His season target: 10 or fewer of those 40-plus chunk plays. “In this different time and age in the league, there are more of those around the league,” he said, “but the ones that happen on Sunday are very avoidable.”
He did credit the secondary for limiting DK Metcalf to three catches for 12 yards and another Steelers receiver (No. 80) to two for 12 after short throws had burned other defenses. “While there were some good things done, at the end of the day this is a production-based business and we did not do what we needed to do in the whole.”
Takeaways and C.J. Allen’s snaps
On the turnover drought — two takeaways for much of the season — Anarumo said getting the quarterback uncomfortable is part of it, but he also wants more strip attempts. The goal is 12 or more every game; the Colts are averaging around eight to 10. “You can’t have strips if you don’t have strip attempts,” he said. He singled out a near-catch by Grover Stewart’s line-mate Lotulelei on a fastball from Aaron Rodgers as the kind of play that has to stick.
Rookie linebacker C.J. Allen played about 40% of the snaps, his largest share of the year. Anarumo liked what he saw. “He showed he got off, separated from blocks, and when he was fitting his gap on an interior run, he knocked the old lineman back,” Anarumo said. “He’s physical. … The guy’s played a lot of football in the SEC, so it wasn’t too big for him, but I was pleased with what he did.”
The Colts host the 0-5 Titans on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium looking to erase the two explosives that flipped the Steelers game and to push the strip rate back toward the standard Anarumo set.
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