The Colts' Defense Delivers When It Matters Most

 The Colts' Defense Delivers When It Matters Most

The Colts defense had something to prove Sunday, and boy did they ever deliver in the second half. After giving up 28 points and over 400 yards of offense in the first half, the Colts' defense was much more effective in the second. They allowed just 3 points and 158 yards of offense after halftime, making sure their team had a chance to come back and win down the stretch.

Learn from your mistakes

If you find yourself in a situation where you are facing the same mistakes, look back and see what went wrong. This may be hard at first, but it is much easier to learn from your mistakes if you don't continue to make them. Indianapolis Colts safety Davis Mills can attest to this. We know that come playoff time, we're going to need our defense, Mills said following last week's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Get organized

With their playoff fate on the line, the Indianapolis Colts delivered a thrilling 26-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans. The win guarantees them a spot in the NFL playoffs as a Wild Card team, as well. With just one quarter to go in the fourth quarter and trailing 10-6, quarterback Andrew Luck led Indianapolis on a ten-play, 84-yard drive that ended with his 15-yard touchdown pass to Donte Moncrief to tie up the game at 10 apiece.

Follow a routine

At the beginning of every NFL season, fans are waiting anxiously for their team to play their first game. Players are pouring through film and studying schemes for upcoming opponents, coaches are looking at ways to best utilize the talent on their roster, and pundits and commentators alike are prognosticating about which team will win the Super Bowl that year. The Indianapolis Colts opened up the preseason with a victory over Washington on Thursday night, beating them 20-16 in a solid offensive effort with an impressive defensive performance as well.

Believe you can do it

Despite a slow start and an early deficit, the Indianapolis Colts defense, led by Davis Mills, came on strong late in the game and proved to be too much for opposing quarterback Brock Osweiler. Pro Football Focus credited Mills with 19 quarterback pressures in his last six games leading up to the playoffs. Now as he prepares for his first ever AFC Championship appearance against Tom Brady, he'll need to bring that same intensity if the Colts want to come out victorious.

Commit to change

In his three seasons as the Indianapolis Colts Davis Mills, has witnessed a switch from a pass-oriented offense to one led by the team's running backs. That adjustment has not been easy for an offensive lineman who is used to getting pancake blocks in the ground game. Although Mills is not getting as many opportunities as he once did, he's been learning the skill of patience and what it takes to make a change happen.

Believe that small improvements are better than no improvements at all.

Andrew Luck showed great poise throughout the game and had a phenomenal comeback to tie it up. But while they were able to put up 31 points, they left too many points on the field with two missed field goals. However, despite all of their troubles on offense, the defense stepped up in a big way late in the game to preserve a 27-24 victory over the Ravens. Dwayne Allen was a surprise return for the Colts and he really helped them out of some sticky situations.

Tackle one problem at a time

Facing the Tennessee Titans with rookie quarterback Jake Locker in the final game of the season, Indianapolis Colts Davis Mills had their work cut out for them. The defense allowed them to do a lot more things, not that they couldn't have done it earlier in the year. The Colts DBs did a nice job of taking care of Julio Jones and gave Matt Hasselbeck problems all day. Richard Seymour is due back soon and that should give us even more protection against Hasselbeck's power running game.

Ask for help when you need it

Against the Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts defense gave up 31 points in the first half and 31 points in the second half. In crunch time, though, this defensive unit came on strong with three interceptions for a total of 114 yards of offense in those final two minutes of play. After being torched for touchdowns on their previous two drives that left them down 28-20 with 1:37 left to play, Mills delivered to stop them from scoring again on their following drive as he picked off Tom Brady.