OverviewOn December 16 Youth Margus Hunt Jersey , 2018 the Indianapolis Colts will host the Dallas Cowboys. In this week fifteen match-up I sought to understand our opponent and get a better idea of how they may attack our Colts. Let’s figure out what we can expect in week fifteen. DefenseRod Marinelli’s defense looks a lot like Matt Eberflus’ defense because Eberflus learned under Marinelli from 2011 to 2017. When I turned on the tape of these Cowboys it looked very similar to what I see every Sunday from our Colts, just with a lot more talent. I found a short but solid breakdown of the basics of Marinelli’s defense over on Gang Green Nation from John B. back in 2015. From the article:On defenses like the 2002 Buccaneers, it didn’t matter whether the offense knew this was the what the defense was running. Success was based upon execution.Marinelli does not stick strictly with the Tampa 2. The true Tampa 2 has gone out of style in the NFL as the offenses have adapted and adjusted.If this isn’t sounding and looking familiar to you by now, I assume you either haven’t watched a Colts game all year or you nap anytime Andrew Luck isn’t on the field. On to gap assignments:The author goes on to explain that the Cowboys value speed over size and reiterated their desire to limit the big play. Like I said, if you’ve paid attention to the Colts on defense this year, you should know exactly what to expect schematically. The system is built on speed and execution and it’s designed to prevent big plays. The Cowboys don’t blitz a lot, but they really don’t need to given the players that will line up in front of our vaunted offensive line. Next we’ll take a look at the talent they have at all three levels of the defense. Defensive Line The Colts have racked up 35 sacks this year, which is tied for 12th in the league. The team they’re tied with; the Dallas Cowboys. Demarcus Lawrence leads the team with 9.5 sacks on the year. Tyrone Crawford is next with 5.5 and Randy Gregory has 4 of his own. To go along with their slightly better than middle of the road sack totals, the Cowboys have an elite rush defense giving up the third fewest yards on the ground, allowing a paltry 3.5 yards per carry — the lowest in the league.With that said, there are exploitable aspects of this defenseDue to the nature of the Cowboys attacking, one gap scheme, at times defensive linemen will get up field and unless they feel the pulling guard coming and squeeze down to counter his block, this is what happens. To be fair, this play is the exception to what the Cowboys have put on tape this season, but it is an area I hope Frank Reich will look to exploit. Randy Gregory hasn’t been exceptional this season but every now and then he does something special:Watch Gregory on the right side of the line. He’s lined up against Jason Peters he gets up field and Peters probably believed he had run Gregory past the play, instead Gregory bends around the edge and cuts back toward Carson Wentz bringing him down for the sack. There aren’t a ton of guys with the physical ability to bend, put a foot in the ground and make that sack. It was a great play. This reminds me of something Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis would have done in 2005.Both Lawrence and Gregory are great athletes and could present real issues for Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith. Having a guy like Jack Doyle would have been huge helping on the outside. On the inside Maliek Collins and Tyrone Crawford will do their best to limit Marlon Mack. With Ryan Kelly back in action this week, that may prove to be a tall task. It should be a fun matchup to watch this week. LinebackersThe Cowboys have maybe the most exciting core of young linebackers in the league. Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch are what make it so exciting for Cowboys fans. It doesn’t really matter who the third linebacker is, those two guys look like great building blocks for this defense for years to come. One thing to note about them is the way that the Eagles tight ends were able to produce despite the talent at linebacker. This play was made possible due to the fact that the linebacker covering him had no idea the ball was even in the air. Rumor has it Dallas Goedert was almost a Cowboy before the Eagles traded up, one spot in front of the Cowboys and drafted the tight end. Here he came up with a grab after winning his route. Eric Ebron is another Colt to watch this week, if he can separate he could have another nice day.A lot in the national media are claiming that Vander Esch deserves to win defensive rookie of the year over guys like Derwin James and our own Darius Leonard. I’m not in that camp but one thing Vander Esch does better than Leonard is shown above. Vander Esch does a good job taking on blocks and making stops and frankly Leonard’s slight frame has limited his effectiveness when taking on blocks inside. With that said, Leonard has had the bigger impact on his team but Vander Esch is also a special player. Vander Esch is pretty good in the open field too. That’s Alvin Kamara. He can outrun a lot of linebackers and he can make most of them miss. Here Vander Esch makes a tough open field tackle against an electric playmaker and it’s not a fluke. When you look at these linebackers and the defensive line, it’s not hard to figure out why they’re playing so well. While they’ve given up big games to talented tight ends, I wouldn’t trust that such an athletic group would continue to struggle. I’ve made it this far and I haven’t even mentioned Sean Lee, mostly because he’s been hurt most of this year (and most years in recent memory). When healthy Lee is an amazing linebacker in his own right. I’m not sure all three men could effectively play together at the same time, but the talent that exists in the Dallas Cowboys linebacker room is ridiculous.Defensive BacksWell if you were looking for some weakness, some smoking gun the Colts could exploit and you got all the way down to the defensive backs and instead of giving you good news, I have nothing but bad news for you. Byron Jones, Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown will get the lions share of snaps at corner and Jourdan Lewis may get some burn as well. Jeff Heath and Xaiver Woods will play safety. Awuzie, has struggled in coverage this season but in the past few weeks something seems to have changed and he’s playing at a much higher level. Jones has turned into a top 10 corner. Heath and Woods aren’t amazing but they’ve played pretty well all things considered and really Woods has played very well. If there was a weak spot in this defense it would be Jeff Heath, that said we’ve seen worse defensive back groups this year by a wide margin.This is the type of play we’re going to need to run if the Colts hope to have consistent success through the air. Here Ertz finds a hole in the zone and sits in it. Vander Esch takes a false step in the wrong direction and Carson Wentz finds the open man. This is a great example of how the Cowboys (and Colts) look to prevent big plays. This defense looks exactly like what the Colts have done many times this year. The Colts aren’t a good run after catch team, which is a problem, especially when your opponent is great at limiting RAC already. Andrew Luck can lead multiple 80+ yard drives with 10-14 plays per drive, but it means he’ll have to be perfect if the Colts want to win. Hopefully TY Hilton can get over the top and create some explosive plays. I found this play by Awuzie that shows his ability. This is a pick play and instead of trying to work around the block, Awuzie closes the gap between him and the man he was covering which put him in great position to make a play. Awuzie hasn’t been out of this world but he has the physical ability to play very well at times. This group of DB’s isn’t as good as the Cowboys group of linebackers but it is very good and this group has played very well in the past few weeks. Hopefully, they have a rough day against our Colts and T.Y. Hilton is good to go.Final Thoughts:Our Colts have played very well over the second half of the season, sans the Jacksonville game. The Cowboys have played very well over the second half of the season, only they haven’t had their “Jacksonville game” yet. Here’s to hoping our Colts will put together a dominating performance, but it could end up being a very close game. Considering the Colts improved themselves in free-agency Andrew Luck Jersey , how did Indy’s rivals do?"AFC South rivalsPhoto by Sam Greenwood/Getty ImagesHouston TexansSigned: Matt Kalil, left tackle. Tashaun Gipson, safety. Bradley Roby, cornerback. Lost: Demaryius Thomas, wide receiver. Kevin Johnson, cornerback. Tyrann Mathieu, safety. Kareem Jackson, secondary. Kendall Lamm, tackleThe Texans added players in the same position they lost. Still, the new acquisitions are considerably worse than the players they are replacing. Gipson is nowhere near the talent level of Mathieu, and Kareem Jackson is a much more consistent player than Bradley Roby. The fact that this team still needs to sign franchise pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney to a long-term contract must have also been influential in a slow free-agency.Jacksonville JaguarsSigned: Nick Foles, quarterback. Jake Ryan, linebacker. Chris Conley, receiver. Geoff Swaim, tight end.Lost: Malik Jackson, defensive tackle. Blake Bortles, quarterback. T.J Yeldon, running back. Tashaun Gipson, safety. Donte Moncrief, receiver.Nick Foles got a huge contract from the Jaguars, in what was perhaps the riskiest move of free-agency. The Jaguars’ future depends solely on one question: “Which Foles are they getting?” Do they get the Super Bowl champion with an incredible playoff magic and winning pedigree, or do they get the quarterback that went 4-7 as the Rams starter, with 7 touchdowns and 10 picks?Tennessee TitansSigned: Rodger Saffold, guard. Adam Humphries, receiver. Cameron Wake, defensive end. Lost: Josh Kline, guard. Luke Stocker, tight end.The Titans made Saffold the highest paid guard in the League, a bold move for someone not named Quenton Nelson or Zach Martin. They also gave a big contract to slot receiver Adam Humphries. They did not lose any significant amount of talent, so if Mariota finally develops into a franchise quarterback they could transform into a dangerous team, but knowing the Titans, everything that could go wrong will go wrong, and they will rot away in mediocrity.AFC Playoff rivalsPhoto by Al Bello/Getty ImagesNew England PatriotsSigned: Mike Pennel, defensive end. Brandon Bolden, running back. Matt LaCosse, tight end. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, tight end.Lost: Trey Flowers, defensive end. Eric Rowe, cornerback. Cordarrelle Patterson, wide receiver/returner. Trent Brown Margus Hunt Jersey Stitched , left tackle. Malcolm Brown, defensive tackle. Dwayne Allen, tight end. Rob Gronkowski (R), tight endOnce again, free-agency comes and goes and it seems like the Patriots lost nearly all of their talent while signing plenty of scrubs and trash from other teams. Learning from past mistakes, I will not judge what seems like one of the worst offseasons in Patriots history, so when Matt LaCosse posts a 50/750/8 line next season it seems like I knew it would happen.Kansas City ChiefsSigned: Tyrann Mathieu, safety. Alex Okafor, defensive end. Damien Wilson, outside linebacker. Bashaud Breeland, cornerback.Lost: Eric Berry, safety. Justin Houston, outside linebacker. Dee Ford, outside linebacker. Mitch Morse, center. Steven Nelson, cornerback. Chris Conley, receiver. Kareem Hunt, running back(*)The Chiefs defense lost an alarming amount of talent and longtime franchise players. Signing Tyrann Mathieu helps, but the loss of players like Berry, Houston and Ford will surely hurt the culture and overall talent of the defense. The Chiefs also lost starting cornerback Steven Nelson and starting center Mitch Morse. Kansas might be the team that lost the most talent in free-agency. Furthermore, star wide receiver Tyreek Hill could be suspended due to domestic violence. Ouch.Los Angeles ChargersSigned: Tyrod Taylor, quarterback. Thomas Davis, linebacker. Lost: Jason Verrett, cornerback. Tyrell Williams, wide receiver. Darius Philon, defensive tackle.Overall it was a quiet free-agency for the Chargers. Thomas Davis is a nice addition to the linebacker group and will provide some much needed leadership on the defensive side of the ball. Losing #2 receiver Tyrell Williams hurts the offense, as he was incredibly productive in his contract year. Philon and Verrett were nice defensive pieces, but they were not essential.Baltimore RavensSigned: Mark Ingram, running back. Earl Thomas, safety. Justin Bethel, cornerback.Lost: C.J Mosley, linebacker. Za’Darius Smith, outside linebacker. John Brown, receiver. Eric Weddle, safety. Terrell Suggs, outside linebacker.The Ravens signed Ingram to be the power running back their offense desperately needed, and he will form a nice duo with Lamar Jackson. Earl Thomas has not been the same player he was before but can still provide above-average play at safety. Still, this team lost and absurd amount of talent on defense. Losing 4 starters on one side of the ball is insane. Mosley was one of the best linebackers in the NFL. Smith was a very productive pass rusher, and Suggs and Weddle were solid veteran presences. Emerging threatsPhoto by Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesCleveland BrownsSigned: Odell Beckham Jr. (trade), wide receiver. Olivier Vernon (trade) Youth Al Woods Jersey , defensive end. Sheldon Richardson, defensive end. Morgan Burnett, safety. Kendall Lamm, tackle. Kareem Hunt, running back.Lost: Tyrod Taylor, quarterback. Breshad Perriman, receiver. E.J Gaines, cornerback.The Browns are being labeled as one of the biggest winners in the off-season after trading for star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, and also getting Olivier Vernon, Sheldon Richardson and Kareem Hunt (after an 8 game suspension). In the process, they lost backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor, Breshad Perriman and E.J Gaines, none of those are big losses. On paper, the Browns might look like Super Bowl contenders, but taking a deeper look, there are some reasons for concern. Baker Mayfield went 1-5 against teams above .500 last season. The Browns locker room is filled with big egos, couple this along with a rookie head coach who may over his head and you have a perfect recipe for disaster. In case you did not notice, I am not sold on the Browns just yet.New York JetsSigned: Le’Veon Bell, running back. C.J Mosley, linebacker. Jamison Crowder, wide receiver. Chandler Catanzaro, kickerLost: James Carpenter, guard. Buster Skrine, cornerback. Jason Myers, kicker. Spencer Long, center. Mike Pennel, defensive end. The Jets were by far free-agency’s biggest spenders. Bell and Mosley are game-changing talents, and were paid as such. Crowder is a solid receiver who will help Darnold immediately. On the downside, the Jets lost an incredible amount of depth, while they did not solve their biggest problems (offensive line, secondary). The Jets lost two key members of the offensive line in Carpenter and Long, while also losing always reliable kicker Jason Myers, and solid depth defensive players Pennel and Skrine.Overall, the rest of the AFC got much weaker in my opinion. The biggest rivals lost plenty of starters and solid talent, while the emerging threats still have plenty of questions to answer before being considered serious contenders. If Chris Ballard drafts another solid class with immediate contributors, then the Colts could surprisingly have one of the best all- around rosters in the entire AFC. (Now that is a sentence I thought I would not write in a long time)