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Analyzing E.J Speed's Sack/Fumble vs Texans: Film Room

Originally posted on Indianapolis Colts on SI
By Zach Hicks | Last updated 9/14/22

The Indianapolis Colts were getting blown out by the Houston Texans towards the end of the third quarter this past Sunday. Luckily, the team clawed it's way back and avoided complete disaster by pulling out a tie in the end.

While the result is less than satisfying, the team did show some resolve by being able to come back in the fourth quarter. This comeback effort started with a huge defensive play by linebacker E.J Speed, as he forced a fumble early in the fourth quarter when sacking Texans' QB Davis Mills.

In today's film room, I dive into the details that went into this play succeeding like it did on Sunday.

4-3 Under Look

To start this play, the Colts are aligned in a 4-3 under look up front. This means that the SAM linebacker (E.J Speed) is up on the line of scrimmage as an extra body. This alignment is used to counter the Texans' heavy 22 personnel set that they come out with on offense.

Speed's responsibilities are similar to Yannick Ngakoue's on the other side in run defense. He is to contain the outside shoulder of the tight end and force any potential run back to the interior. Rather than rushing out of this formation, though, the Texans elect to run play-action.

Wrap Blitz

The Colts are actually well prepared for the play-action pass on this play, as they perfectly time up a well-executed wrap blitz to the backside of the formation. A wrap blitz is a a pressure call where the defensive end (or defensive tackle) crashes down in order to create a lane for a blitzing linebacker to come behind.

On this call, defensive end Kwity Paye shoots down at the B gap in order to give MIKE linebacker Zaire Franklin space to blitz from behind. Paye occupies the eyes of the guard and the center, while the left tackle is still peaking out wide at E.J Speed off of the edge.

Zaire Franklin Eating Space

The key element of this play that really frees up E.J Speed for this sack is how much attention Zaire Franklin receives on his blitz. As he wraps around Kwity Paye's down stunt, Franklin is met by both the left tackle and the left guard on the interior.

With both of the key blockers preoccupied with the stunt on the interior, Speed is able to work around the outside untouched for the sack.

Smash Blitz

One final aspect of this play that I want to point out is that this blitz call is actually a combination of two of Gus Bradley's favorite pressure calls. I wrote up an article in the preseason about some of Bradley's favorite blitz designs, and Mike Wrap was one of his more prevalent calls. Another one that he liked was called Smash.

Smash is a zone blitz that features one of the defensive ends slipping out into coverage. This is an overload blitz, so it is usually the defensive end on the backside of the blitz that is slipping out to take away the curl/flat in zone. On this particular play it was Yannick Ngakoue that dropped out into coverage.

Ngakoue's jam/coverage of the tight end certainly helped give Speed the time he needed to make the big play.

The Finished Product

While the Colts' defense was far from perfect on Sunday, I did like a lot of what Gus Bradley did with his blitz designs against the Texans. He came after a young quarterback and, for the most part, he had a ton of success in doing so.

This play is more of a highlight for the whole defense, rather than being one for just E.J Speed. Yes, he made the big play, but it never would have happened without contributions from Kwity Paye, Zaire Franklin, and Yannick Ngakoue. In a game where the Colts' front seven had their fair share of struggles, this was picture perfect execution.

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