Indianapolis Colts defense now a legitimate strength 10 thing

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Judy Battista highlights the storylines and factors to pay attention to in Week 8, beginning with a surprising strength for Indianapolis and continuing below with .On a snowy January afternoon nearly three years ago, a week before Indianapolis was to host , owner Jim Irsay was in his office, contemplating the miserable season his team had just endured even as he planned the parties his fellow owners would attend. Irsay was already privately leaning toward making many transformative decisions: that , whom Irsay was not sure could ever play again, would be released; that would be drafted. And then, while a reporter was sitting in his office with him, the phone rang, and Irsay asked for a minute of privacy.That, it turned out, was the moment that might have changed the face of the as much as and later that year. On the other end of that call was defensive coordinator . He was accepting Irsay's offer to become his next coach, and he was bringing with him an understanding. That the would become a more balanced team. That the days of relying only on a quarterback -- even another transcendent one -- were over. That the team often described, sometimes derisively, as a fine se squad would now be physical. That the would have ... a defense. And now, after years of paying lip service to that idea, it has finally become a reality. After last Sunday, -- third -- in total defense, a level it reached just once (in 2007) in the previous era, forming a staggering partnership with the league's . Heading into Week 8, Indianapolis also boasts (opponents are converting little more than 1 of 4 attempts), is (21) and is . Even Luck, in the midst of an MVP-caliber season, was overshadowed by the defense last week."I just love the fact that this is the vision Chuck had the day we came over from Baltimore," said defensive lineman , who arrived in Indianapolis along with Pagano in 2012. "The vision of building a defense that is very physical, a defense that doesn't get mad whenever the offense makes a fumble. We get happy, because that gives us more face time."Regardle s of what it was in the past, this is a new era, the new Doug Rader Jersey vision of our offense, to march the ball up and down, and a stingy defense that don't want to give you even a piece of candy on Halloween when they've got the whole bag."That wasn't the first time the desired a defense -- former coach Tony Dungy, after all, was a defensive mastermind in Tampa Bay. But the squads Manning led had been constructed to tilt so heavily toward the offense that there was often a shortage of money or will to build a comparable unit on the other side of the ball. Instead, the defense served as a complement -- but not an equal companion -- to the offense. It was small and fast and predicated on rushing the pa ser, with the knowledge that the would almost always be playing with a lead furnished by Manning, and that their opponents would almost always be throwing to catch up. The strategy worked, sometimes spectacularly well. In Manning's 13 years playing (he mi sed his 14th and final season in Indianapolis while he dealt with his neck injury), the won one , played in another and went to the playoffs nine other times. But while Manning had year after year of regular-season superlatives, the defense was often blamed for Indianapolis' inability to capture more than one Lombardi Trophy.Redding knew immediately what Pagano wanted when he saw that the coach planned to change the defense from the 4-3 the had run in the past to the 3-4. But as the transition began, the team simply did not have the appropriate players to fit the scheme in Year 1. Indianapolis still had smaller players than are ideal for the 3-4, and in that first year under Pagano, the defense and . Last season, things improved, but in two playoff games, the allowed 87 points, in the divisional round.The and in the offseason, but a potentially huge problem soon presented itself: The lo s of premier pa s rusher . With Mathis, the defense's biggest star, out for the year, the unit was left almost facele s, an i sue that seemingly would have been exacerbated by that has kept -- perhaps -- out of the past five games.Redding and Pagano came from a star-laden defense in Baltimore -- think of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, , -- but if this unit is relatively unknown, it has also been liberated by coordinator Greg Manusky. With two lockdown corners in and , who have shown they can take on receivers man to man, Manusky has been free to use a variety of blitzes, bringing pre sure from all angles. Six players have at least two sacks. The formula worked particularly well against quarterback , who entered last Sunday's game having taken a league-low two sacks and ."Now we've got pieces that we want, the big boys up front to take on double teams, the linebackers that can flow from left to right, corners saying, 'I will take him man to man'; that is the kind of defense that Chuck wanted," Redding said. "We don't need a bunch of big names. We don't need a bunch of guys on the cover of magazines. At the end of the day, there will be enough to go around for everybody. We've got a bunch of guys on the field nobody knows about. They'll know us at the end of the season." The might get to know them much sooner, specifically . Indianapolis will focus first on limiting , . Redding said coaches give defensive players just enough information for them to understand, then drill them on it, to ensure that everybody knows their a signments perfectly, which will allow them to play fast."Then we can pin our ears back, because they are in second-and-17," Redding said. Pittsburgh quarterback will provide a cla sic test case. He has a pa ser rating of 134.2 on pa ses of at least 20 yards in the air, the highest in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 15 such attempts. But the ' defense has allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete just 19.4 percent of pa ses that travel that distance in the air, the lowest completion percentage in the NFL. Roethlisberger, of course, is also known for holding onto the ball a little too long on occasion, making him an inviting target for a swarming and confident pa s rush that, Redding said, is playing not only for itself, but for players, like Mathis, who can't be on the field with their teammates."There's nothing nice or soft about being a defensive player," Redding said. "We're very aggre sive. We don't want to be vanilla. We want to dial it up, bring a safety, a linebacker; put two defensive linemen out there. There are so many different things to do with so many different guys. Our mindset is, Hit first and ask questions later."Here are 10 more things to watch as the rest of plays out:1) A rumbling in Dallas. It might be time to embrace the idea that the are not a mirage -- and that it doesn't matter who at quarterback . Washington's defense is decent against the run (103.3 yards per game, 12th in the league), but has rushed for at least 100 yards in all seven games this season -- and that production is giving the lots of third-and-short chances. Their 57.4 percent third-down conversion rate is the best since at least 1972.3) Will the test the shaky dominance ? The have won four in a row, and is on pace to throw 41 touchdowns and two interceptions this season -- a ratio no quarterback in history has achieved. The ' offense is as potent as ever (it in yardage), but the defense is (28th) and has just four takeaways (tied for 30th).Harrison: Week 8 predictionsWill the snap a two-game skid -- or will the end a bum streak of their own? Elliot Harrison makes his picks. 4) Which wilting defense rights itself ? The are allowing nine more points per game than they did last season, and they're getting fewer takeaways (none on the road) and sacks. Opposing pa sers have a rating of 103.7 (12 touchdowns, two interceptions), which ranks 28th in the NFL. Carolina is allowing 12.8 more points per game this year than it did in 2013, and it's given up at least 37 points in four of its past five games. The right now, while the are the only NFC South team that isn't below .500. 5) A matchup of strength against strength . The have and the have , begging this question: Can Arizona score enough to keep up with Philly? The have averaged 174.0 rushing yards in their past two games, while the entered this week with (allowing 72.5 yards per game). Arizona has the 14th-best scoring offense, but is 3-0 and completing 66.1 percent of his pa ses for an average of 269 yards per game, with six total touchdowns and one interception.6) Can the get right ? New England has this season, but the team is entering a stretch of games against top-notch quarterbacks . Will Jones' absence help , that called him out in frustration after , get the ball to his No. 1 receiver? Marshall has had at least 135 receiving yards in each of his past two games against the (both of which came in 2011, when he was with the ). But Marshall has just 31 receptions for 349 yards and five touchdowns this season.7) A offense struggling at a bad time. Coming off , , the only NFL team to not allow more than 23 points in a single game this season. The are averaging 8.7 fewer points in their past three games (the last two without receiver ) than they did in their first three games -- and they've gone 0-2-1 in that stretch. The have scored on a league-best 47.4 percent of their drives this season, and have gone three-and-out on just 11.8 percent of their drives, second-best in the league.8) Can BrianHoyer keep a secure hold on the starting QB job?, the scored just six points, and Hoyer completed just 16 of 41 pa ses. He might not have to do much better to this week, though. Oakland's defense is on third down, while the have scored 14 points or fewer in five of six games and have gone three-and-out on 30.8 percent of their drives, most in the NFL. 10) The battle for Mi souri. After an , can the keep pace by topping the ? St. Louis has allowed at least 100 yards rushing in five of its six games this season, so -- who has at least 80 yards rushing in each of the ' past three games -- could have a big impact. The ' defense got three sacks last week , upping their total to four this season. But the rely heavily on short pa ses from . Smith is averaging just 6.2 air yards per pa s attempt this season -- lowest in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 75 attempts.Follow Judy Battista on Twitter . Jeff Bagwell Jersey