INDIANAPOLIS -- When a quarterback breaks the pocket, the receivers and defensive backs have certain responsibilities. On offense, receivers have to run toward the quarterback and present a target for their scrambling signal caller. Defenders are supposed to stick to the nearest receiver, but in reality, scramble plays are not always that cut and dry.
On third and 14, late in the third quarter, the Colts appeared to have Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud right where they wanted him. Stroud escaped the pocket to his right and threw back across his body to the left, the No. 1 no-no for quarterbacks in the NFL. The throw was risky, but receiver Nico Collins snuck perfectly between safety Julian Blackmon and cornerback Jaylon Jones, catching the heave at the 29-yard line for an improbable first down. The Texans capped the drive six plays later with a Joe Mixon 3-yard rushing touchdown in what would be a 29-27 victory.
"You got to be able to respond in a manner of urgency to figure out, who's the closest receiver next to me? Is the D-line about to sack the quarterback? It becomes very gray," Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II said of defending a scramble drill. "It's not black and white. You pretty much got to play chess.
"It takes the breath out of a defense because it's such a gray play. You don't even really know where's the breakdown Is it the secondary? Is it the defensive line? We've just got to be able to stay together."
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It was one of two close plays that Jones was not able to make, and one of several big plays the secondary could not come up with. Moore had an interception negated by a Jones holding penalty. Juju Brents had an interception overturned after it was ruled that he stepped out of bounds. Late in the game, Jones was the nearest defender on another difficult Collins catch that sealed the game.
Coming up just short as a secondary time after time can be demoralizing, but the young Colts defensive backs are determined to turn the page on their performance. Sunday marked Brents' 10th game in the NFL. Jones played his 18th game after playing every game as a rookie seventh-round pick. Third-year safety Nick Cross is taking on a larger role this season. Only Moore and Blackmon are established players in the secondary. Despite the unit's inexperience, the Colts defensive backs know that their jobs are to make plays. They were inches short against the Texans, but they've got the rest of the season to show improvement.
"When things do get outside the pocket, that's when you see more explosives and stuff like that," Brents said. "We've got to do a better job of plastering to our guys. Sometimes you may have to cover for eight, 10, seconds. It's not ideal, but it is what it is. So, we've just got to make those plays.
"We have the utmost confidence playing defensive back. Yeah, we young, but we try not to have the outside noise. Just keep working, keep balling. There was some adversity that we faced today, but it's about how you respond to it."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'Takes the breath out of a defense': On the Texans' third-and-17 conversion in Colts' loss
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