Indianapolis Colts News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

USA TODAY Sports

Gus Bradley Brings the Heat in Colts' Win Over Ravens: Film

Originally posted on FanNation All Colts | By Zach Hicks | Last updated 9/26/23

The Indianapolis Colts hired defensive coordinator Gus Bradley prior to the 2022 season. The reactions to this hire were fairly mixed at the time, as Bradley was known as a successful defensive playcaller that was being left in the dust by the new age of Fangio-style quarters coverage.

While Bradley has stayed true to his cover-three match style in the era of quarters, Bradley has shown a lot of growth in his time with the Colts. He has been willing to make big adjustments in game and isn't afraid to take risks when the opportunity arises. This past Sunday was the perfect example of these points.

Bradley is known for being a defensive coordinator who relies on his front four to create pressure. He utilizes stunts and wide alignments to free his rushers up, but he mostly sticks with the four-man rush to get home. Last season in Indy, Bradley blitzed at just a 16.4% clip, which was fifth-lowest mark in the league.

Through the first half against the Baltimore Ravens, Bradley stayed true to his anti-blitz philosophy. He brought extra rushers on just one of 11 dropbacks in the first half, as quarterback Lamar Jackson diced the Colts up for nine completions.

Bradley went into the locker room for halftime and emerged as a new man. He was no longer Bradley in the second half... he had transformed into Wink Martindale's heir apparent. Bradley came out of the half with blitz call after blitz call, and he peppered Jackson and the Ravens front.

The Ravens had 27 dropbacks in the second half, and the Colts brought extra pressure on 14 of those snaps. That 51.8% blitz rate is insane for any team, let alone a Bradley-led defense. That rate reached its peak in the fourth quarter/overtime when Bradley brought extra rushers on nearly 60% of the Ravens' dropbacks.

The goal with these blitzes was obviously to sack the quarterback, but Bradley also had another plan in mind. Jackson is a superstar in the NFL, and he excels when he is able to get out in space and use his legs to carve up a defense. The Colts' plan with these blitzes was to keep him contained and force him to make a quick decision from the pocket.

Jackson was still able to create some traction against this plan of attack, but it did limit the Ravens' offense a decent amount in the second half. Bradley was able to make Jackson uncomfortable in a lot of ways, and it led to his defense forcing quick three and outs in opportune times:

Now, there is an innate fear of blitzing a mobile quarterback and leaving man coverage behind in the secondary. If the blitz can't get home, that usually means an explosive play for the opposing offense (especially with Jackson at quarterback).

Bradley knows this, so he decided to be strategic about his blitzes. He didn't recklessly send bodies and hope they found the quarterback, rather every rusher had a pre-set lane they had to stick to. This isn't different from how other coaches teach this, but the Colts' players clearly stuck their rush lanes on these pressure plays.

Jackson really only broke out of the blitz once in this game, and it came on a play where both Samson Ebukam and Zaire Franklin missed a tackle in the backfield. Those types of plays are going to happen against dynamic quarterbacks, but luckily the Colts were able to limit the damage on the play:

As I mentioned above, Bradley's biggest goal in the second half of this game was to limit Jackson from escaping the pocket and to prevent him from creating explosive plays. One way that he did this was with a chase contain blitzer.

Bradley likes to utilize this type of blitzer against mobile quarterbacks, as he distinctly used this against Jalen Hurts last season. On chase contain blitzes, the MIKE linebacker (Franklin in Indy) is running a delayed blitz typically around the A gap.

This delayed blitzer acts as both a QB spy and as a natural plug to the four-man rush. If one of the four rushers loses contain up front, then the chase contain linebacker will fill that gap. If gap integrity is maintained across the line, then the chase contain linebacker will attempt to slip through for a sack.

Franklin wasn't able to get home on any of these blitzes in the second half, but he did keep Jackson confined to the pocket on multiple plays as a result:

When Bradley did decide to bring pressure, he brought it in a big way. Bradley may not be as blitz-crazed as some defensive playcallers in the league, but he is as creative as the best of them when he does decide to dial it up.

One of his trademark designs is the prowler defensive tackle/defensive end. A prowler in Bradley's scheme is a standing-up defensive lineman on an obvious passing down. Bradley loves to use the prowler linemen to hide a linebacker coming on a stunt behind them.

This play below is a textbook design by him. DeForest Buckner and Dayo Odeyingbo crash down the line from the prowler position while Franklin wraps around for a quick sack on third down:

Bradley's five-man pressures are a treat, but his six-man rushes are a true joy to watch. This all-out blitz below is called a flash blitz, and Bradley has added a new wrinkle to the design this year.

Traditionally in his defense, Bradley uses a flash blitz out of dime personnel and brings an extra safety or corner on the rush. This year, that extra rusher is none other than special teamer Grant Stuard. Stuard is known for his downhill tenacity and Bradley loves to mix his aggression into these calls.

The real disruptive player on this play below though is Franklin. Franklin wraps around the inside on the stunt and barrels through the right guard and the running back on the play. The destruction caused by Franklin forces Jackson to flee the pocket, where edge rusher Kwity Paye finishes him off for a sack.

This was inarguably the play of the game for the Colts, and it was a perfect call with perfect execution in the trenches:

Overall, Bradley brought out the big guns this past Sunday. The typically blitz-averse defensive coordinator decided to bring a barrage in the second half, and the Ravens simply couldn't adjust to this onslaught on rushers. The Colts won this game due to this adjustment by Bradley (and the execution by the defenders).

Bradley is far from a perfect defensive coordinator, but he understands how to put his team in a position to win. He has been a fantastic addition to this Colts' staff, and this past Sunday showed exactly why.

Need your fill on daily Colts' content? Head over to the Locked On Colts' YouTube channel where Jake Arthur and I hit on all the major topics surrounding this team. Hit that subscribe button while you are there!