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You may not know this, but the Colts have ANOTHER safety.  That's right, Bob Sanders has a partner in crime that isn't too bad, in fact, he is one of the primary reasons the Colts were so good in pass defense this year. His name is Antoine Bethea and he is going to the Pro Bowl.
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Sometimes it is fun for football fans, not just to see their teams win, but to see their players grow and become recognized. This is one of those moments for Colts fans.
Ed Reed is the starting free safety for the AFC, and  Troy Polamalu was the backup with John Lynch as the alternate. Well, Lynch pulled out and Bethea became the second alternate, then Polamalu pulled out because of the knee sprain that kept him out late in the season and Bethea stepped in. Now Bethea is getting his chance at Hawaii as the backup free safety for the AFC.
Let me start by saying that this is no sympathy vote. Bethea has more tackles any of the other guys, thats right, he has more assisted tackles and solo tackles than any of the other guys I mentioned and he did it in 13 games. He has more picks than Polamalu (though Troy has forced more fumbles) and Lynch. He has all the numbers to get there, but he doesn't have the other guys' names, and that might have hurt him in the voting. I don't cast any blame and I am not crying foul play, Bethea is just a second year guy and in his first as a starter, I am just making an argument for the legitimacy of his trip.
The story of Bethea is really one that started last year. He was a 6th round pick out of Howard hanging out on the bench looking for special teams minutes when Mike Doss, a veteran out of Ohio State and a key component in their last NCAA championship, went down with a knee injury. With Doss and Sanders on the bench last season, the Colts secondary really had some decisions to make. Lots of guys saw time at Sander's position, and it called a lot of questions in as to how our secondary would look this year. Guys with just a year left on their deals or with only one year deals to begin with moved in and out because of poor play or injury, there was even a fair amount of talk about moving Marlin Jackson to safety. Still, most of that talking was ended about Doss's spot by week 3 when Bethea had a monster game against Jacksonville (12 tackles and 8 solo) in a 21-14 win. After that the talking was centered around whether or not Sanders would get the safety spot back when he came off the injury. We all know how that turned out. Bethea, though, played rookie minutes. He wasn't perfect in coverage, and he wasn't making all the right reads, but he did the one thing he had to do to stay on the field for the Colts' defense. He tackled. In 14 games he had 90 tackles and 66 solo with a pick...as a rookie. Through all of the crap the Colts went through on defense last year, Bethea was never part of that problem, at time she was the last line of defense or the first guy into the breach. On any other team, with just about any other guy next to him, we would be marveling at his hitting. Bethea has truly taken the spot at safety the way you want to see a young guy take it, he won it away from the rest of the competition.
Bethea's role is more than you would normally want to put on a second year guy in terms of responsibility, but the fact that he holds down the fort the way he does is just testament to the fact that he belongs in Hawaii. Bethea's instructions are often simple, STAY BACK. In the Cover 2 he sits on top of Kelvin Hayden, probably our weakest corner, and has to be ready to cover the seam should it shake the strongside backer, which is a problem position for us. In the Cover 3, it is always Bethea that stays back in the deep middle while Sanders moves up and in the One-Deep Man Coverage that they have run of late, it is Bethea that again stays deep while Sanders moves up to cover the tight end. In all of this, he rarely gets beat deep and has a great instinct for moving up and sticking the ball carrier. Even with the deep responsibilities, it is really something to see how many times he is able to read and come forward and be effective in run support. In all of this, he is just a second year guy, a 6th rounder out of Howard. He is a diamond in the rough, if you will.
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