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Grades: Week 3 @ Jaguars


Superman

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This is really weird to me:

13731979.jpg

 

Week 2 grades

Callin 'em Out!

Box score

 

Offense, B+: 74 plays, 529 yards, 27 first downs (22 passing,  5 rushing), 8/14 on third down, 0/1 on fourth down, 4/6 in the red zone, 0 turnovers, 37 points; smooth sailing all the way through, with only a few minor stalls
 
QB: And there's the star QB, the one who can make all the plays, all the throws, who sidesteps rushers like he's a matador, who can get outside the pocket and make throws downfield on the run, who can carry this team to new heights if he's playing well. Luck missed a couple throws, a couple high ones, and of course the inexplicable miss to Hilton on the goal line. But he did an incredible job of finding the open man, he took the easy completions, and whenever he had a chance, he feasted on the Jags defense. At one point, he hit 13 passes in a row, and the 14th pass was the Fleener TD drop. So, yeah, the only way he could be stopped was by his own teammates. A, first player in the NFL since Johnny Unitas to throw for 350+ yards, 4+ TDs, and 79% completions
 
Backs / receivers / tight ends, B+: 
Running game: Picked up where we left off against the Eagles. Backs ran hard, Richardson had a 27 yarder, Bradshaw outdid him with a 28 yarder (and a TD). Both guys had a ton of broken tackles, and minimal negative carries (I counted just three runs for loss, and only a yard on each). They are forming a really good tandem, and benefiting from some pretty good run blocking. B+, a steady and dependable rushing attack
 
Passing game: Guys started to get some separation for a change, and in different areas of the field. The WRs all caught the ball well, including the rookie in fill-in duty. Wayne still looks off, but he's still productive, and hopefully he'll shake off the rust. TEs got more involved, and since it's been so long since they were a prominent part of the offense, Fleener and Allen both forgot how to catch, but both made up for their drops with TDs. Let's hope that's out of their system. Richardson had a drop also, but everyone who got a target caught a pass. Lots of toys for Luck, and we did a good job of deploying them this week. Even had a couple successful screen plays. B+, it's gonna be hard to cover all these guys on all these different levels of the field
 
OL / blocking: Another workman performance. The offensive line didn't necessarily get consistent push on run plays, but they still won battles and created holes for backs to squeak through and get yardage. And yeah there's a bad play or two, here or there, but overwhelmingly, the run blocking has been positive. We just haven't proved that we can win in short yardage, which will be a bigger deal when we play the AFC North teams. Pass blocking was fine; our QBs took 45 dropbacks, and only faced notable pressure on 10 of those dropbacks. Luck was sacked twice, but I feel like he ran himself into one of those, and he still got back to the line of scrimmage. Backs did a good job in pass pro, but weren't used that much overall to block, which really says something about the line. B-, need to get more push in short yardage
 
Defense, B+: 55 plays, 344 yards, 18 first downs (10 passing, 6 rushing, 2 from penalty), 4/10 on third down, 1/1 in the red zone, 3 turnovers, 17 points; Bortles jump started them, but the defense still played well throughout
 
Defensive front: Didn't allow any real production from their main ball carriers, as we continue to close up the middle. Set the edge pretty well, aside from a handful of plays, some read option and end around plays. Not seeing a lot of pushback from Chapman, but Redding and RJF have been beating guys all year, and that continued in this one. Zach Kerr continues to play well. Linebackers are mopping up nicely. The pass rush is spotty but the plan is to free up the OLBs and blitzers, and that worked well, as they got three sacks. The 4th came from the new rookie, Quarles, who looked good when he got in the game. Werner's strip-sack-safety got wiped out by a bogus penalty, but it was an incredible pass rush move from the left side, which he seems to prefer as a rusher. Still have a problem with the read option defense; Walden seems to love crashing without regard for the QB keeper, and read option teams are going to exploit that. The edge guys are going to have to slow down, which is counter to the pass rush directive they've all been given in Mathis' absense. Still, can't let the ball carrier get outside, otherwise it's Bortles with 20 yards on the ground, which hurts. B, better pass rush, but not great, and some sloppy edge play
 
Pass defense: Henne couldn't do anything, only 33 yards in the first half before he got the hook. Bortles struggled to get anything going, and when he did, we wiped it out for the most part, until the poor tackling happened. Davis, Toler and Butler played really good coverage, despite some missed tackles and penalties, and even Landry looked good in coverage. Take away the 63 yarder to Hurns, and Bortles would have averaged. They sneaked some TDs on the board, but overall, our pass defense shut down whatever they tried to get going. Once it's 37-3 in the 4th quarter, everything else becomes irrelevant. A-, have to tackle better after the catch
 
Special teams: Same as last week, except McAfee punted even better, with a Mike Scifres impression at one point. AV was 3/3 from 48, 43 and 25 yards. Nothing returning, and no return opportunities for the Jags. Routine performance, only mistake was the hold on the punt return. B+

Coaching / playcalling / game management, A-:
I don't know how much the defensive gameplan changed from previous weeks. Seemed like Landry was in less man coverage, which is good, and the corners were a little more aggressive. Still vulnerable across the middle of the field with ILBs, but blitzing them and a safety from time to time makes it harder to get guys open in the middle. We didn't get exploited by any mismatches this week, and we blitzed more effectively, IMO. B+, strong performance against a weak opponent obviously helped
 
Different approach against a different kind of defensive front, and against a team that isn't interested in pushing tempo, so we didn't need to be worried about controlling the clock, which we did anyways. But Luck being a little more in tune was a major benefit, and helped Pep get into a groove as a play caller. And making me happy, we used play action on 32% of Luck's dropbacks, compared to 8% in Week 1, and 19% in Week 2. I asked for high 20s, at least, but I love the play action. Huge adjustment, and I think anyone can see the change in made in helping Luck stay away from pressure and find windows to throw in. Very little unbalanced run stuff, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of that. A, we had receivers open all over the place, and the run was still effective

 
Game management was out of Chuck's hands, given the fact that we controlled the game throughout. Some didn't like the 4th down attempt in the second half, but I don't think it had any bearing on how Pagano would handle a similar situation in an undecided game. INC
 
Game balls:
 

Luck, I don't like giving game balls to the franchise QB, as he'll often be a catalyst to wins, but he was very obviously the reason for the season. Historic performance, and he made it look easy. 
 
Next, vs the Titans, who don't know who their QB is, and who have been outscored 59-17 the past two weeks. They also can't stop the run, and suddenly, we have a solid run game. We need to win games like this.
 
GO COLTS!!!

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Thank you for your write up as ever Supes, nice to have so many positives to discuss. 

 

Again can't really disagree with much there, I will say I'm surprised in some ways as to how little Luck's performance hasn't been lauded over, both here on the forums and by the talking heads. A few errant passes aside I wonder if it was Luck's best performance under the Shoe? I know the comebacks have been amazing but it's normally been a cold start by Luck that's put us there in the first place.

 

I was pleased that Pep tried calling some short yard stuff when the game was in hand and although it didn't work it's good to see they're trying to fix certain issues in live game situations. Don't why it prompted so many complaints on here as it's smart coaching in my book, especially when you're that far ahead and looking to run the clock (mercy rule? :P).

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The secondary lost focus at the end of the blow out. When that feels like the worst criticism you can levy, it was a great game.

Against a team that's gonna give up a ton of great games, TBH, but I think we'll take it.

 

Was this when the secondary swapped out do you think? To be honest towards the end I wasn't paying as much attention to personnel so wasn't sure when they brought the 2nd string in. 

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Was this when the secondary swapped out do you think? To be honest towards the end I wasn't paying as much attention to personnel so wasn't sure when they brought the 2nd string in. 

 

First TD was against starters, and featured poor tackling by Butler and Adams. Not good. The second was against backups, and it took a fake spike to lull Purifoy to sleep.

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Thank you for your write up as ever Supes, nice to have so many positives to discuss. 

 

Again can't really disagree with much there, I will say I'm surprised in some ways as to how little Luck's performance hasn't been lauded over, both here on the forums and by the talking heads. A few errant passes aside I wonder if it was Luck's best performance under the Shoe? I know the comebacks have been amazing but it's normally been a cold start by Luck that's put us there in the first place.

 

I was pleased that Pep tried calling some short yard stuff when the game was in hand and although it didn't work it's good to see they're trying to fix certain issues in live game situations. Don't why it prompted so many complaints on here as it's smart coaching in my book, especially when you're that far ahead and looking to run the clock (mercy rule? :P).

 

Definitely Luck's most efficient game, best from bell to bell. I'll take a couple errant passes, but really, he was 31/39, so it's not like he was wild or anything.

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Not to mention 3 of them were drops, one of which was a sure TD to Fleener. 

 

PFF says 4 drops, two by Fleener, one by Allen, one by Richardson. I only remember one by Fleener, but I didn't chart it. Either way, 3 or 4 drops out of 8 incompletions speaks highly of the QB.

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Yeah, me either. A lot of people are talking about that pool as if it's any worse than most public pools. I don't see the difference.

 

I just think it's a weird feature for a football stadium, but people obviously like it.

 

It is a unique stadium, with those pool cabanas and that enormous scoreboard. 

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PFF says 4 drops, two by Fleener, one by Allen, one by Richardson. I only remember one by Fleener, but I didn't chart it. Either way, 3 or 4 drops out of 8 incompletions speaks highly of the QB.

Especially when the stat line is 31/39 including the drops.  Of course you don't expect that every week, but it's certainly encouraging.  I still thought there were a few times he held on to the ball too long and should have just thrown it away, but luckily enough he made plays out of some of them.  It's a minor knock, but against better teams, he would have been sacked on some of them.  I don't have a problem with him fighting through defenders so much because it might result in an interception or fumble, but when it leads to more hits on the QB, that kind of thing is why RGIII is where he is. 

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PFF says 4 drops, two by Fleener, one by Allen, one by Richardson. I only remember one by Fleener, but I didn't chart it. Either way, 3 or 4 drops out of 8 incompletions speaks highly of the QB.

 

 

There was a really bad one by Richardson also. I along with you , don't remember  the Allen drop nor the other Fleener drop. I have a feeling those two might have been throws a bit high or good defensive play. But you did forget the one TR dropped . A nice easy little 3-4 yard flip that hit him in perfect stride.

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There was a really bad one by Richardson also. I along with you , don't remember  the Allen drop nor the other Fleener drop. I have a feeling those two might have been throws a bit high or good defensive play. But you did forget the one TR dropped . A nice easy little 3-4 yard flip that hit him in perfect stride.

 

I remember the Allen drop, and I agree with calling it a drop. Same with Richardson, and yeah that was a bad one.

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PFF says 4 drops, two by Fleener, one by Allen, one by Richardson. I only remember one by Fleener, but I didn't chart it. Either way, 3 or 4 drops out of 8 incompletions speaks highly of the QB.

Allen dropped Hasselbecks pass just to be clear. Not that it matters.

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PFF says 4 drops, two by Fleener, one by Allen, one by Richardson. I only remember one by Fleener, but I didn't chart it. Either way, 3 or 4 drops out of 8 incompletions speaks highly of the QB.

 

The other Fleener drop was the first pass of the game.  A bit of a high throw but through his hands.  I'm assuming that's got to be it.

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That puts us back to 3 drops out of 8 incompletions for Luck. 

 

 

That makes sense to me as I actually didn't see the game when Hasslebeck came in. Had company over and felt guilty making them watch the Colts to the very last drop and switched it.  Didn't think I remembered an Allen drop. As for the first Fleener drop , I'm blaming that one on old age. 

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This is really weird to me:

13731979.jpg

 

Week 2 grades

Callin 'em Out!

Box score

 

Offense, B+: 74 plays, 529 yards, 27 first downs (22 passing,  5 rushing), 8/14 on third down, 0/1 on fourth down, 4/6 in the red zone, 0 turnovers, 37 points; smooth sailing all the way through, with only a few minor stalls

 

QB: And there's the star QB, the one who can make all the plays, all the throws, who sidesteps rushers like he's a matador, who can get outside the pocket and make throws downfield on the run, who can carry this team to new heights if he's playing well. Luck missed a couple throws, a couple high ones, and of course the inexplicable miss to Hilton on the goal line. But he did an incredible job of finding the open man, he took the easy completions, and whenever he had a chance, he feasted on the Jags defense. At one point, he hit 13 passes in a row, and the 14th pass was the Fleener TD drop. So, yeah, the only way he could be stopped was by his own teammates. A, first player in the NFL since Johnny Unitas to throw for 350+ yards, 4+ TDs, and 79% completions

 

Backs / receivers / tight ends, B-: 

Running game: Picked up where we left off against the Eagles. Backs ran hard, Richardson had a 27 yarder, Bradshaw outdid him with a 28 yarder (and a TD). Both guys had a ton of broken tackles, and minimal negative carries (I counted just three runs for loss, and only a yard on each). They are forming a really good tandem, and benefiting from some pretty good run blocking. B+, a steady and dependable rushing attack

 

Passing game: Guys started to get some separation for a change, and in different areas of the field. The WRs all caught the ball well, including the rookie in fill-in duty. Wayne still looks off, but he's still productive, and hopefully he'll shake off the rust. TEs got more involved, and since it's been so long since they were a prominent part of the offense, Fleener and Allen both forgot how to catch, but both made up for their drops with TDs. Let's hope that's out of their system. Richardson had a drop also, but everyone who got a target caught a pass. Lots of toys for Luck, and we did a good job of deploying them this week. Even had a couple successful screen plays. B+, it's gonna be hard to cover all these guys on all these different levels of the field

 

OL / blocking: Another workman performance. The offensive line didn't necessarily get consistent push on run plays, but they still won battles and created holes for backs to squeak through and get yardage. And yeah there's a bad play or two, here or there, but overwhelmingly, the run blocking has been positive. We just haven't proved that we can win in short yardage, which will be a bigger deal when we play the AFC North teams. Pass blocking was fine; our QBs took 45 dropbacks, and only faced notable pressure on 10 of those dropbacks. Luck was sacked twice, but I feel like he ran himself into one of those, and he still got back to the line of scrimmage. Backs did a good job in pass pro, but weren't used that much overall to block, which really says something about the line. B-, need to get more push in short yardage

 

Defense, B+: 55 plays, 344 yards, 18 first downs (10 passing, 6 rushing, 2 from penalty), 4/10 on third down, 1/1 in the red zone, 3 turnovers, 17 points; Bortles jump started them, but the defense still played well throughout

 

Defensive front: Didn't allow any real production from their main ball carriers, as we continue to close up the middle. Set the edge pretty well, aside from a handful of plays, some read option and end around plays. Not seeing a lot of pushback from Chapman, but Redding and RJF have been beating guys all year, and that continued in this one. Zach Kerr continues to play well. Linebackers are mopping up nicely. The pass rush is spotty but the plan is to free up the OLBs and blitzers, and that worked well, as they got three sacks. The 4th came from the new rookie, Quarles, who looked good when he got in the game. Werner's strip-sack-safety got wiped out by a bogus penalty, but it was an incredible pass rush move from the left side, which he seems to prefer as a rusher. Still have a problem with the read option defense; Walden seems to love crashing without regard for the QB keeper, and read option teams are going to exploit that. The edge guys are going to have to slow down, which is counter to the pass rush directive they've all been given in Mathis' absense. Still, can't let the ball carrier get outside, otherwise it's Bortles with 20 yards on the ground, which hurts. B, better pass rush, but not great, and some sloppy edge play

 

Pass defense: Henne couldn't do anything, only 33 yards in the first half before he got the hook. Bortles struggled to get anything going, and when he did, we wiped it out for the most part, until the poor tackling happened. Davis, Toler and Butler played really good coverage, despite some missed tackles and penalties, and even Landry looked good in coverage. Take away the 63 yarder to Hurns, and Bortles would have averaged. They sneaked some TDs on the board, but overall, our pass defense shut down whatever they tried to get going. Once it's 37-3 in the 4th quarter, everything else becomes irrelevant. A-, have to tackle better after the catch

 

Special teams: Same as last week, except McAfee punted even better, with a Mike Scifres impression at one point. AV was 3/3 from 48, 43 and 25 yards. Nothing returning, and no return opportunities for the Jags. Routine performance, only mistake was the hold on the punt return. B+

Coaching / playcalling / game management, A-:

I don't know how much the defensive gameplan changed from previous weeks. Seemed like Landry was in less man coverage, which is good, and the corners were a little more aggressive. Still vulnerable across the middle of the field with ILBs, but blitzing them and a safety from time to time makes it harder to get guys open in the middle. We didn't get exploited by any mismatches this week, and we blitzed more effectively, IMO. B+, strong performance against a weak opponent obviously helped

 

Different approach against a different kind of defensive front, and against a team that isn't interested in pushing tempo, so we didn't need to be worried about controlling the clock, which we did anyways. But Luck being a little more in tune was a major benefit, and helped Pep get into a groove as a play caller. And making me happy, we used play action on 32% of Luck's dropbacks, compared to 8% in Week 1, and 19% in Week 2. I asked for high 20s, at least, but I love the play action. Huge adjustment, and I think anyone can see the change in made in helping Luck stay away from pressure and find windows to throw in. Very little unbalanced run stuff, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of that. A, we had receivers open all over the place, and the run was still effective

 

Game management was out of Chuck's hands, given the fact that we controlled the game throughout. Some didn't like the 4th down attempt in the second half, but I don't think it had any bearing on how Pagano would handle a similar situation in an undecided game. INC

 

Game balls:

 

Luck, I don't like giving game balls to the franchise QB, as he'll often be a catalyst to wins, but he was very obviously the reason for the season. Historic performance, and he made it look easy. 

 

Next, vs the Titans, who don't know who their QB is, and who have been outscored 59-17 the past two weeks. They also can't stop the run, and suddenly, we have a solid run game. We need to win games like this.

 

GO COLTS!!!

 

Yeah a lil weird but very interesting ..  IMO I would'nt be surprised to see pools in a new NFL stadium in say L.A , Floridians & Californians living on & near beachs have similar tastes , Maybe if Baltimore goes up for sale & they were to fly the coop they might enjoy pools or bird baths in the City of Angels .

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OK, professor.....

 

You make your living crunching numbers,  so maybe there's a method to your madness...   plus, I'm a little brain-dead right now....

 

All that said....    maybe you can explain something to me...

 

Excluding the QB position....   You gave the WR/RB's and OL an overall grade of B-

 

But you gave the passing game a B+

 

You gave the running game a B+

 

And you gave the OL a B-

 

How does a B+, a B+ and a B- come out to a overall grade of B-???

 

I'm cutting and pasting your work below for reference.......    (In the interest of clarity and because I'm so tired,  I'm writing this respectfully....  I am NOT trying to yank your chain.   Just trying to understand your grading....)

 
Backs / receivers / tight ends, B-: 

Running game: Picked up where we left off against the Eagles. Backs ran hard, Richardson had a 27 yarder, Bradshaw outdid him with a 28 yarder (and a TD). Both guys had a ton of broken tackles, and minimal negative carries (I counted just three runs for loss, and only a yard on each). They are forming a really good tandem, and benefiting from some pretty good run blocking. B+, a steady and dependable rushing attack
 
Passing game: Guys started to get some separation for a change, and in different areas of the field. The WRs all caught the ball well, including the rookie in fill-in duty. Wayne still looks off, but he's still productive, and hopefully he'll shake off the rust. TEs got more involved, and since it's been so long since they were a prominent part of the offense, Fleener and Allen both forgot how to catch, but both made up for their drops with TDs. Let's hope that's out of their system. Richardson had a drop also, but everyone who got a target caught a pass. Lots of toys for Luck, and we did a good job of deploying them this week. Even had a couple successful screen plays. B+, it's gonna be hard to cover all these guys on all these different levels of the field
 
OL / blocking: Another workman performance. The offensive line didn't necessarily get consistent push on run plays, but they still won battles and created holes for backs to squeak through and get yardage. And yeah there's a bad play or two, here or there, but overwhelmingly, the run blocking has been positive. We just haven't proved that we can win in short yardage, which will be a bigger deal when we play the AFC North teams. Pass blocking was fine; our QBs took 45 dropbacks, and only faced notable pressure on 10 of those dropbacks. Luck was sacked twice, but I feel like he ran himself into one of those, and he still got back to the line of scrimmage. Backs did a good job in pass pro, but weren't used that much overall to block, which really says something about the line. B-, need to get more push in short yardage

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How does a B+, a B+ and a B- come out to a overall grade of B-???

 

 

LOL

 

It adds up because I posted this at 3 in the morning, and math works differently at that hour.

 

Thanks for pointing that out, though. I adjusted it, it should be a B+. What happened is that I copied/pasted last week's grades because it's a little easier for me that way, but I forgot to adjust that grade.

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LOL

 

It adds up because I posted this at 3 in the morning, and math works differently at that hour.

 

Thanks for pointing that out, though. I adjusted it, it should be a B+. What happened is that I copied/pasted last week's grades because it's a little easier for me that way, but I forgot to adjust that grade.

 

I have learned the hard way that some of my more....    curious....  interesting....   and unusual posts were those done at an hour where I should've been well under way counting sheep.....    (or Coby Fleener dropped passes!).... 

 

So,  I can completely relate..... 

 

Even as we speak,  the idea of a quick nap seems overly appealing right now!    What else can I count?    Missed tackles?   Open holes a RB didn't see?     Hey, at least I'm trying to keep it in a football theme!

 

LOL, indeed!      :thmup:

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This is really weird to me:

13731979.jpg

Week 2 grades

Callin 'em Out!

Box score

Offense, B+: 74 plays, 529 yards, 27 first downs (22 passing, 5 rushing), 8/14 on third down, 0/1 on fourth down, 4/6 in the red zone, 0 turnovers, 37 points; smooth sailing all the way through, with only a few minor stalls

QB: And there's the star QB, the one who can make all the plays, all the throws, who sidesteps rushers like he's a matador, who can get outside the pocket and make throws downfield on the run, who can carry this team to new heights if he's playing well. Luck missed a couple throws, a couple high ones, and of course the inexplicable miss to Hilton on the goal line. But he did an incredible job of finding the open man, he took the easy completions, and whenever he had a chance, he feasted on the Jags defense. At one point, he hit 13 passes in a row, and the 14th pass was the Fleener TD drop. So, yeah, the only way he could be stopped was by his own teammates. A, first player in the NFL since Johnny Unitas to throw for 350+ yards, 4+ TDs, and 79% completions

Backs / receivers / tight ends, B+:

Running game: Picked up where we left off against the Eagles. Backs ran hard, Richardson had a 27 yarder, Bradshaw outdid him with a 28 yarder (and a TD). Both guys had a ton of broken tackles, and minimal negative carries (I counted just three runs for loss, and only a yard on each). They are forming a really good tandem, and benefiting from some pretty good run blocking. B+, a steady and dependable rushing attack

Passing game: Guys started to get some separation for a change, and in different areas of the field. The WRs all caught the ball well, including the rookie in fill-in duty. Wayne still looks off, but he's still productive, and hopefully he'll shake off the rust. TEs got more involved, and since it's been so long since they were a prominent part of the offense, Fleener and Allen both forgot how to catch, but both made up for their drops with TDs. Let's hope that's out of their system. Richardson had a drop also, but everyone who got a target caught a pass. Lots of toys for Luck, and we did a good job of deploying them this week. Even had a couple successful screen plays. B+, it's gonna be hard to cover all these guys on all these different levels of the field

OL / blocking: Another workman performance. The offensive line didn't necessarily get consistent push on run plays, but they still won battles and created holes for backs to squeak through and get yardage. And yeah there's a bad play or two, here or there, but overwhelmingly, the run blocking has been positive. We just haven't proved that we can win in short yardage, which will be a bigger deal when we play the AFC North teams. Pass blocking was fine; our QBs took 45 dropbacks, and only faced notable pressure on 10 of those dropbacks. Luck was sacked twice, but I feel like he ran himself into one of those, and he still got back to the line of scrimmage. Backs did a good job in pass pro, but weren't used that much overall to block, which really says something about the line. B-, need to get more push in short yardage

Defense, B+: 55 plays, 344 yards, 18 first downs (10 passing, 6 rushing, 2 from penalty), 4/10 on third down, 1/1 in the red zone, 3 turnovers, 17 points; Bortles jump started them, but the defense still played well throughout

Defensive front: Didn't allow any real production from their main ball carriers, as we continue to close up the middle. Set the edge pretty well, aside from a handful of plays, some read option and end around plays. Not seeing a lot of pushback from Chapman, but Redding and RJF have been beating guys all year, and that continued in this one. Zach Kerr continues to play well. Linebackers are mopping up nicely. The pass rush is spotty but the plan is to free up the OLBs and blitzers, and that worked well, as they got three sacks. The 4th came from the new rookie, Quarles, who looked good when he got in the game. Werner's strip-sack-safety got wiped out by a bogus penalty, but it was an incredible pass rush move from the left side, which he seems to prefer as a rusher. Still have a problem with the read option defense; Walden seems to love crashing without regard for the QB keeper, and read option teams are going to exploit that. The edge guys are going to have to slow down, which is counter to the pass rush directive they've all been given in Mathis' absense. Still, can't let the ball carrier get outside, otherwise it's Bortles with 20 yards on the ground, which hurts. B, better pass rush, but not great, and some sloppy edge play

Pass defense: Henne couldn't do anything, only 33 yards in the first half before he got the hook. Bortles struggled to get anything going, and when he did, we wiped it out for the most part, until the poor tackling happened. Davis, Toler and Butler played really good coverage, despite some missed tackles and penalties, and even Landry looked good in coverage. Take away the 63 yarder to Hurns, and Bortles would have averaged. They sneaked some TDs on the board, but overall, our pass defense shut down whatever they tried to get going. Once it's 37-3 in the 4th quarter, everything else becomes irrelevant. A-, have to tackle better after the catch

Special teams: Same as last week, except McAfee punted even better, with a Mike Scifres impression at one point. AV was 3/3 from 48, 43 and 25 yards. Nothing returning, and no return opportunities for the Jags. Routine performance, only mistake was the hold on the punt return. B+

Coaching / playcalling / game management, A-:

I don't know how much the defensive gameplan changed from previous weeks. Seemed like Landry was in less man coverage, which is good, and the corners were a little more aggressive. Still vulnerable across the middle of the field with ILBs, but blitzing them and a safety from time to time makes it harder to get guys open in the middle. We didn't get exploited by any mismatches this week, and we blitzed more effectively, IMO. B+, strong performance against a weak opponent obviously helped

Different approach against a different kind of defensive front, and against a team that isn't interested in pushing tempo, so we didn't need to be worried about controlling the clock, which we did anyways. But Luck being a little more in tune was a major benefit, and helped Pep get into a groove as a play caller. And making me happy, we used play action on 32% of Luck's dropbacks, compared to 8% in Week 1, and 19% in Week 2. I asked for high 20s, at least, but I love the play action. Huge adjustment, and I think anyone can see the change in made in helping Luck stay away from pressure and find windows to throw in. Very little unbalanced run stuff, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of that. A, we had receivers open all over the place, and the run was still effective

Game management was out of Chuck's hands, given the fact that we controlled the game throughout. Some didn't like the 4th down attempt in the second half, but I don't think it had any bearing on how Pagano would handle a similar situation in an undecided game. INC

Game balls:

Luck, I don't like giving game balls to the franchise QB, as he'll often be a catalyst to wins, but he was very obviously the reason for the season. Historic performance, and he made it look easy.

Next, vs the Titans, who don't know who their QB is, and who have been outscored 59-17 the past two weeks. They also can't stop the run, and suddenly, we have a solid run game. We need to win games like this.

GO COLTS!!!

I think you could have spared the special teams an A. There's always a bogus call on returns and other such things.

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