Defensive Ends Freeney, Mathis Remain Key to Colts' Pass Defense
INDIANAPOLIS – The relationship is a special one.
As Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney sees it, it's not only true in statistics, but in fact. And as time goes on, the appreciation has only become greater.
So, when Freeney – who recently finished his ninth NFL season and who has been critical to the Colts' pass defense throughout that time – near end of last season was voted to a sixth Pro Bowl, the honor was made more special because the player who has spent eight seasons on the other end of the line of scrimmage was there, too.
Robert Mathis. Dwight Freeney.
Freeney. Mathis.
The duo has been one of the elite pass-rushing tandems for nearly a decade, and a major reason the Colts' pass defense has been a team strength for much of that time.
So, when they get named to the Pro Bowl the same year?
Yes, Freeney said, that matters.
"There's nothing like it when you go with a guy who's like a brother," Freeney said near the end of the 2010 season.
The Colts this past season ranked 13th in the NFL against the pass, and while Freeney and Mathis weren't the only reasons the unit played solidly throughout much of the season, they were critical, helping a defense that – like the rest of the team – sustained significant injuries remain effective against the pass.
Freeney and Mathis, who last season became the first defensive end tandem since 1970 named to the Pro Bowl together three consecutive seasons, have combined for 66 sacks and 21 forced fumbles over the past three seasons.
Since the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl began in 1970, the only other defensive end tandems from the same team selected to more than one Pro Bowl together were Clyde Simmons and Reggie White of the Philadelphia Eagles (1991 and 1992 seasons).
Last season, Freeney and Mathis combined for 21 sacks.
And this past season, as was the case in prior seasons, their effectiveness was something on which the Colts depended late in games.
"Being around them a number of years now, it's something you certainly grow to expect, that you're accustomed to, those two guys being able to be a real force and a real factor in the ballgame," Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell said. "They have the ability to rush the passer, and they do it in a variety of ways. They can bull-rush you, they can speed-rush you and they can rush you inside or outside. It makes it difficult.
"Oftentimes, teams will look at one rusher and turn the entire line toward that particular rusher, but when you have two, that makes things a bit more difficult."
The presence of Freeney and Mathis helped the Colts remain strong against the pass during a season in which not only the secondary, but much of the back seven missed significant time with injuries.
While safety Antoine Bethea, a Pro Bowl selection in 2007 and 2009, played every game and led the Colts in tackles, the rest of the secondary missed extensive time, with safety Bob Sanders – a starter in Week 1 – missing the final 15 games after a Week 1 biceps injury. Melvin Bullitt, who played extensively in place of Sanders in 2008 and 2009, missed the final 12 of the season with an injury, and Aaron Francisco – who signed with the Colts after being released by Carolina shortly before the season – started the final 12 games of the regular season.
Cornerback, like safety, entered the season as one of the Colts' deepest positions, but injuries cost the projected starters significant time there, too.
Kelvin Hayden, a starter since the 2007 season, started 11 games before missing the last five games, and Jerraud Powers – a second-year veteran and two-year starter – played at a near Pro Bowl level before missing the final four games of the season.
Jacob Lacey, the Colts' nickel back to start the season, missed four of the first seven games, but returned and started eight games, including the last six. Justin Tryon, acquired in a trade from Washington just before the start of the regular season, started six games, including the last four.
The Colts also played through adversity in the linebacker corps, with outside backer Clint Session missing the last nine games of the season with a forearm injury, and with middle linebacker Gary Brackett missing four games in the middle of the year.
By the end of the season, Bethea was the lone player in the Colts' back seven – and the only player on the defense aside from Freeney, Mathis and defensive tackle Fili Moala – to start every game.
The Colts finished the season with 10 interceptions, with Hayden, Powers and Francisco all intercepting two passes. Hayden returned two interceptions for crucial touchdowns against the Bengals and Texans.
"When we first started, it was one of those years where we thought this could be a year where we'd have a really, really deep secondary," Bethea said. "One guy goes down, then another guy's down.
"It just so happens that an injury here, an injury there, you're playing with guys that you really didn't expect to play with.
"It was one of those things, but I think we handled the situation well."
