‘They’ve got a heck of a quarterback’ — Colts coordinator and Brian Callahan’s friend-turned-enemy defends Cam Ward in Week 3

When Zac Taylor was hired as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach in 2019, the two people he wanted to bring in as his right hand men were Brian Callahan and Lou Anarumo. These two served as the offensive and defensive coordinators for half a decade together in Cinci. They became good friends with tremendous respect for one another. Ask either about the other, and you get nothing but praise and admiration.

Now they’re both gone from those jobs, and set to face off as direct competitors—division rivals, in fact—for the first time. Callahan and his struggling Tennessee offense is tasked with overcoming Anarumo’s Indianapolis defense, which is off to an encouraging start to the season. Here’s what Anarumo thinks about Callahan’s new quarterback, and what Callahan has to do to get his first win this season over an old friend:

Colts DC Gives Titans Rookie Respect

It’s always fascinating when a veteran defensive mind gets to try to play tricks on an inexperienced rookie. That’s the position Anarumo finds himself in this week, but when he was asked about it, he gave Ward his flowers.

“I wish it was that easy, but this guy’s a talented player” he began. “He’s played against two really good teams, two really good defenses in the Broncos and certainly the Rams last week. So, he’s seen a bunch of things thrown at him, and kind of his feel for things is – you can see it growing week by week. It’s such a short season so far, only Week 3. We have some things certainly that we try to do to keep the guys off balance. I think that the college game is so different from the NFL in terms of that part of it. We’ll try to show him some things that he hasn’t seen, but we try to do that with every quarterback. This guy’s a super talented guy, and we know that we’ve got our hands full on Sunday.”

Anarumo emphasized the importance of forming an opinion on quarterbacks based on the tape, not the stats. When one beat writer questioned Cam’s start to the season based on his completion percentage, Anarumo pushed back:

“I don’t think so. I mean, you see a super talented guy. I think you see a guy that’s willing to take some chances, calculated risks, and force the ball down the field some. I think that’s a part of any good quarterback. The guys that just play it safe never truly become what you really want as a quarterback. Those guys are going to make some mistakes, especially early in their careers. But I see a guy that sees the field well. Is there things that he can clean up? Sure, that’s everybody, but I see a guy – that I feel like they’ve got a heck of a quarterback.”

So the Colts will give Ward the respect he deserves. They’ll need to get pressure in a way they haven’t so far this year, and the Titans will be hellbent on allowing many fewer pressures than they have so far this year. A battle of weaknesses, everybody’s favorite!

Brian Callahan’s Plan To Defeat Old Friend

When we asked Brian Callahan about facing an Anarumo defense, he explained what’s so tricky about it. “You have to see the post snap” Callahan explained. “There’s a lot of things that change in the time between lining up on the ball and snapping the ball. Pressure package is multiple. He’s got every pressure… there is a lot on the quarterback to manage when you play a defense like this. I think Cam’s (Ward) up to the task and he’ll be prepared for it. But it’s always one of those games where you’re likely to see something maybe you haven’t necessarily prepared for or they haven’t done in 12 weeks or two years or something like that. Lou’s (Anarumo) got quite a bit of defense at his disposal. He’s got a deep bag, if you will.”

Cam Ward expressed a lot of the same sentiment to us on Wednesday. You can tell that this coaching staff has been talking with their quarterback about Anarumo by name this week, because Cam referenced him specifically in his answer about facing the Colts. “I think they play real hard, especially their defensive front” Ward said. “I think their DB core is solid. I think that they know how to play well together. I just think overall, defensively, their DC, he’s going to put those guys in a good situation. So we got to end up making plays on the perimeter, making plays in a run game, and continue to stay on schedule.”

For better insight on the significant shift the Colts defense has undergone since switching from to Lou Anarumo’s scheme, here’s some expert insight from A to Z Sports’ Colts beat writer Destin Adams:

The interesting part of Lou Anarumo’s defense is how different it can look on a week to week basis. And with Callahan knowing him well I would expect Anarumo to put even more work in to make sure he catches him off guard. Rookie QBs have often struggled against his defenses due to confusion because of his wiliness to use so many different coverage shells.

The Colts have had at least one interception in each of their first two games and with a rookie QBs in Ward on the other side I’m sure Anarumo is hoping to extend that streak in Week 3. It will be interesting to see who has the edge between Callahan and Anarumo with both knowing many of the others tendencies. My gut says Anarumo dude to how many ways he can change his system, but maybe I’ll be surprised and Callahan has a secret plan up his sleeves to attack his old pal Lou’s defense.