'You always feel like that': Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley on being on hot seat

INDIANAPOLIS — The spotlight is back on Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley after Sunday’s season opener.

Bradley’s job security was questioned at the end of the 2023 season; Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard brought him back, citing primarily the lack of experience he was given in the secondary.

Indianapolis did not add any big, veteran signings to the secondary this offseason, opting to bolster the defense by doubling down on the front with two moves: the drafting of edge rusher Laiatu Latu in the first round and the signing of former Miami defensive tackle Raekwon Davis.

But the Colts defense was steamrolled by the Texans in the opener, coughing up the second-worst yardage total (417) of any NFL team last week by getting overpowered on the ground.

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Because of that performance, Bradley was asked on Tuesday if he feels like he’s on the hot seat in his third season as Indianapolis defensive coordinator.

“I don’t know if I look at it and go, ‘Oh boy, I wonder if I’m on the hot seat,’” Bradley said. “I think you always feel like that. You want to do what’s best for the fans, the organization, the players, the team. You’re always in that competitive mindset, because you’re competitive.”

Bradley acknowledged that the Texans took advantage of a game plan designed to slow down star Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud, who carved up Indianapolis for 648 yards, .684 completion percentage, 8.9 yards per attempt, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the two meetings between the teams last year.

The Indianapolis defensive coaching staff headed into Sunday’s game focused on slowing down Stroud and his fleet of gifted receivers.

“We went into it thinking, ‘We’ve got to do a much better job, we cannot let him have 360 yards passing, 80% completions, and we have to affect him,’” Bradley said. “What’d he have, like 220 yards passing? The four quarterback sacks, six hits and eight hurries, that part, I thought was pretty good.”

Stroud completed 24 of 32 passes (75%) for 234 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, posting a pedestrian 7.3 yards per attempt, by far the lowest of his three games against Indianapolis. Factor in the four sacks he took, and Houston averaged 6.4 yards per dropback, a mark that ranked in the middle of the pack for Week 1 in the NFL.

Despite all of the pressure he faced, though, Stroud repeatedly made big throws when it counted, most notably throwing back across his body on third-and-14 in the third quarter and hitting Nico Collins for 12 yards on third-and-11 on the game-sealing drive.

The young Indianapolis secondary failed to make plays on the ball.

“I wish we had more PBUs,” Bradley said. “We missed some opportunities to get interceptions where we can be aggressive in those situations.”

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The larger problem was Houston’s dominance in the running game.

A Texans team that finished 29th in the NFL in yards per carry a year ago put up 213 yards, the most the franchise has produced in any game since 2019. Indianapolis bet heavily that it could back off the secondary and slow down the running game with minimal numbers up front.

The Colts bet wrong.

“A little bit of it was philosophy,” Bradley said. “Some of the run principles we employed, we thought they might get 3 or 4 here, but with the coverage principles we’re using, our guys gotta step up front and make the play, defend the run with six guys in the box.”

Indianapolis kept 10 defensive linemen on the 53-man roster, but the Texans just kept hammering away, particularly in the fourth quarter, when Houston picked up 70 yards on 14 carries to hold off Anthony Richardson’s comeback attempt.

“If you’d have told me before the game that they’re going to have 35 carries in the game running the ball, they did a good job, I would not have thought that,” Bradley said.

When the Colts needed a stop to get the ball back to the offense for a shot at a game-winning field goal attempt, Indianapolis couldn’t do it.

And Bradley has been around the NFL long enough to know that the Indianapolis defense must improve to push away the talk of job security. Indianapolis finished 28th in the NFL in scoring defense, 24th in yards and 20th in defensive DVOA in 2023; the Colts must be better to realize the organization’s goal of making the playoffs.

“I know that we have a good defense, and I really like our guys,” Bradley said. “We’ve just got to play at a higher level. To give up that many yards rushing in a game like that is unacceptable.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'You always feel like that': Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley on being on hot seat