If you caught the Week 11 showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks last week, you heard Fox Analyst Daryl Johnston discuss the counterintuitive strategy that Rams' defensive coordinator Chris Shula employed in his team’s win. This is something that Indianapolis Colts fans should become familiar with.
Because as effective as the “light box” was against Seattle, Colts’ opponents may find it even more useful against the juggernaut that is the [2025 Indianapolis Colts offense](https://horseshoeheroes.com/indianapolis-colts-qb-daniel-jones-leaning-trusted-mentor-who-helped-peyton-manning).
Simply put, the light box strategy employs fewer big players near the line of scrimmage than a normal or heavy box. The “box” in question refers to the defensive area near the line of scrimmage. Imagine a rectangle with sides just on the edge of the in-line tight end and the opposite offensive tackle. It extends from the line of scrimmage about five yards into the defense’s territory. That is your “box.”
Traditionally, defenses put seven players in the box. Whether you run a 4-3 or a 3-4 front, the number still adds up to seven. The remaining four defenders are corners who line up wide and safeties who line up deep. That is a standard base defense. However, changes in offensive philosophy and personnel have led to a corresponding change in the box.
Wiil Colts’ opponents begin employing a light box to slow Indy’s dynamic offense?
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Common wisdom says that if an offense is run-heavy – if it employs multi-tight end sets in an effort to improve blocking at the line – then the defense needs to load up the box. The defense matches the offensive personnel by inserting an extra big man and playing him close to the line. That is a heavy box, with eight defenders near the line.
Since this leaves a defense susceptible to play action passes, every NFL team is looking for that hybrid player who can line up near the line but still provide coverage depending on the play. Baltimore’s Kyle Hamilton is the current prototype big nickel – a safety who is big enough and physical enough to play in the box and take on much larger blockers.
Indy’s Nick Cross does this as well, though he isn’t quite as effective as Hamilton or Seattle’s rookie phenom Nick Emmanwori.
But Shula has gone in the opposite direction this year. Seattle runs more than it passes but Shula nonetheless played light boxes last week. Sometimes, he only had six defenders in the box, though he often used seven.
The idea, as Johnston spelled out during the broadcast, was to sacrifice an extra yard or two on a typical running play to prevent big chunk plays downfield. With faster players playing further off the line, the Rams' defense was counting on limiting Seattle’s big plays in both the running game and the passing game.
Seattle was able to run for 135 total yards, and the 3.9 yards-per-carry was actually a slight improvement on their season average, but they could never break the big play. The Seahawks offense has scored a lot of long-range touchdowns both on the ground and in the air this season, but Los Angeles prevented that en route to a 21-19 win.
The immediate question for the Colts is “was Steve Spagnuolo watching?”
[The Kansas City Chiefs](https://horseshoeheroes.com/indianapolis-colts-get-golden-chance-bury-chiefs-patrick-mahomes-toughest-obstacle)' defensive coordinator is among the most-respected assistants in the NFL. He has no doubt been staying up late trying to figure out how to slow the explosive Colts’ offense that can strike fast in a variety of ways.
Jonathan Taylor has broken 80-yard runs in two of the last three games. In three of his eight games, Alex Pierce has had a reception of more than 40 yards. Daniel Jones has completed at least one pass of 35 yards or more in eight of his ten games this year. The Colts have multiple players capable of breaking off big plays at any moment.
The light box is designed to stop that. Taylor might get a couple of extra yards on his shorter runs. But it will theoretically be harder for him to break through the line and sprint past everyone for a huge gain.
Spagnuolo is famous for his creative blitzes. It seems like every week he throws some new wrinkle at opposing offenses. It will be interesting to see if he limits the snaps of his rotational linemen like Mike Danna, Ashton Gillotte, and Jerry Tillery.
See how often he uses George Karlaftis, Chris Jones, and perhaps Charles Omenihu up front with Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill, and Leo Chennal behind them. That would create a light box, but would also leave more room for a hard-hitting DB like Jaden Hicks to play a bigger role.
If Kansas City does indeed try this strategy and it serves to limit the Colts’ explosive plays, it will give the rest of the league a blueprint for slowing down the NFL’s best offense in 2025. Of course, it will also give a creative mind like Shane Steichen a new challenge, and I suspect that should this all come to pass, the Colts’ coach will have an answer before too long.