Dungy uses the s-word: Soft

Colts coach Tony Dungy doesn't publicly criticize his team very often, and when he does it's not too harsh. That was the case Monday, too, but he came out and called his run defense "a little soft." I might call it very soft or extremely soft or softer than marshmallows over an open fire, but Dungy's criticism hits the mark nonetheless:

“The negatives are we had some penalties, some errors, some things that didn’t help us field-position wise, and our run defense is, we’re just a little bit soft right now. Yesterday, it was guys who were free that either couldn’t make the tackles or made the tackles for six-yard gains instead of two-yard gains. And we just have to do that a little bit better. Those were probably the two biggest negatives."

Dungy went on to say that the run problems centered on a weakness in tackling, too.

"We were in position to make a tackle and Travis Henry’s running hard and running through some tackles, LenDale White’s running through tackles and it’s not a question of anything other than they have seven guys to block, we have eight guys up there and the eighth guy has to make the tackle.”

With the Ravens losing to the Broncos last night, the Colts and the Bears are the only remaining unbeaten teams. The Bears look dominant. Not so the Colts. It's time for Dungy to push a little harder and use highly charged words, such as soft, to motivate his team for a challenging road ahead.