Thoughts After Eagles-Colts Preseason Game #3

[JPFolks]

Uh... hmmmm.... sigh....

 

So most all of you saw or heard about it.  The bad stuff overwhelms anything positive.  But let's try to find a few positives shall we? (After all, everyone complains when I point out the negatives, so I'll dig as much positive out as I can before I cover the ugly truth this week).  

 

Thank God for our receivers.  Moncrief and Hilton who made plays when it seemed no one else could (aside from Moncrief missing the audible at the Goal Line) and Dorsett whose penalty called back Turbin's run, but did have a good catch in the 3rd quarter.   They were really the only thing that left me any hope we weren't going to finish under ,500, though I would no longer be surprised if that happened.  

 

Swoope also has looked good and catches the ball when it's catchable which few of us knew before this Pre-Season.  Limited info, but hey, we're looking for positives. 

 

Our 2nd (Turbin) and our two 3rd team (Todman and Ferguson, whichever order they end up) RB's looked good.  I have no real opinion on Gore, because he's really not a PreSeason guy and he certainly had no blocking to gain any yards.  Turbin wasn't going against the best guys, but again, we're looking for positives.  Ferguson looked good in the screen game (which we are going to need badly this season) and Todman fought for the ball and scored on the PR team.  

 

Tolzien looked decent in his back up role. It was Moncrief's fault more than Tolzien's on the Interception.  He wasn't amazing, but he moved the offense at least.  

 

On Defense, it was hard to really assess much with so few true starters playing, but those who played were pretty listless.  There were some good Linebacker plays however, which is ironic because that seemed like one of our weakest areas (and I thought it went beyond just McNary's special team block). I had no expectations on the secondary, but our rookie FS is developing each week and outside of a scary head down tackle that looked potentially destructive to his neck/head (it was ugly, hopefully the penalty will make him think twice next time he want's to dip his head).  But I really think he'll be a decent player sooner than later.  There will be growing pains, but if he can stay healthy, perhaps we'll see a solid starter by the end of the year. 

 

In general (without trying to cover them all) our deep backups and FA's that likely won't make the team, played with energy and passion that seemed devoid in the starters.  (ha, just after I typed this, I heard the TV announcers say the same thing, that they were playing with some electricity... I agree).  

 

Lastly, I have been critical of Good so far this season.  He was the least horrible starting o-lineman tonight.  So there's that.  

 

Okay.. that's really all the positives I saw, I dug as deep as I could.  As I type this we're down 33-10, so perhaps we're in for some amazing play at the end but it means nothing. 

 

Now on to the sad reality.  We're not a good football team.  I was as hopeful as most, predicting 10-6 and a divisional appearance in the playoffs.  (or maybe more).  I would like to revise that to a massive struggle to win our division, with our only real hope of getting our injured players back and having a surprisingly good defense rather than hoping the offense can carry us.  It can't.  

 

Let's start with the worst.   For those who thought Philbin would be a "lineman whisperer" I unfortunately am not on board with that thinking.  Our line actually looks worse than last year.  And it's not the right side I am talking about.  Mewhort, our best lineman in my opinion, has had a bad pre-season (and is now hurt on top of it).  The biggest disappointment is that from the moment he signed his big financial deal, Castonzo (by his own admission last season) is simply terrible.  I mean he can't do anything right.  He's going to get Luck injured again.  I am really hoping for a fast recovery by Haeg because we might see him taking over if Castonzo doesn't get it together.  Sure, Philly's D-Line is their strength, which is true for the entire line's performance, but dang, we were a train wreck across the line.  Kelly, who has been our preseason darling, got exposed badly.  As good as he's looked so far, he looked equally bad tonight.  Perhaps it will wake him up since he must have been thinking that the NFL isn't so hard.  Well, he was lit up, over and over.  Clark was nearly as bad as Castonzo, but come on, he's a rookie tackle, not a high paid Starting Left Tackle.  AsI saids above, Good looked Good only compared to his fellow linemates.  Not saying much and he couldn't do anything in the run the game.  The entire starting line was hopeless in that regard. The second team line, such as it was, was better against the Philly starters, but I didn't pay close enough attention in the early second half on the first look.  But it was clear, in a general sense, that they had more energy and cohesive play than the starters against the same players briefly early in the 3rd quarter.  

 

Philbin.  He's made no noticeable improvements on existing players and so far has not gotten the line working.  No run game at all and multiple sacks and nearly constant contacts and pressures on the QB.  When Luck had a moment, he usually got the ball to Hilton or Moncrief.  But it was rare.  

 

Luck really couldn't be evaluated as he was getting crushed.  There were several tips, including one that the announcers missed, that caused some bad looking throws, but he had no time and was either being contacted or surrounded with tremendous pressure all night.  I was THANKFUL that Pagano was smart enough (at least) to take Luck out and not let him back on the field.  Every crushing play I winced and worried about whether he'd be getting up or not.  It's hard to feel sorry for someone who just got PAID like he did, but damn, it's going to be a long, painful, ugly season as it stands. 

 

The secondary is ravaged, so nothing to really say except that if Cromartie isn't well above average, we're going to be bludgeoned until Davis is back.  Let's hope he's got at least 8 games left in the tank as I fear it may be that long or longer before we see Davis.  

 

Even our usually God like Punter looked mundane.  Sigh. 

 

Gang, we won't see the starters again until live fire is flying in all directions.  I cringe to think what Von Miller is going to do to Luck week 2 or how many yards Stafford is going to put on us in week 1.  And I find little to indicate we're going to compete for the playoffs outside of Luck, Hilton, Moncrief and Dorsett.  But even if we manage to somehow come out of our division (and with their collective upgrade, that seems impossible) we're not winning a playoff game with this team.  

 

Unless, they are setting everyone up for lots of surprises and brilliant coaching.  But this is Pagano.  When have we seen more than game management out of him or his staff?  

 

That's my thoughts.. what are yours? 

 

 

[Ratking]

I think your observations are pretty spot on. This team is gonna struggle all year, with little to no chance of beating teams like the Patriots, Steelers, or any half decent team. It will also likely be a year that our offensive weapons are basically useless because they will spend the whole game watching the entire defense literally walk....and I mean literally walk untouched... through our worst in the league o-line to sack and beat up Luck. And without an offense we will have to hope the defense pulls it weight....which it won't and cant with all the injuries and subpar players. Colts miss playoffs...Irsay cleans house....calling it now...what a waste of a season.    

[dew5150]

Agree and added thoughts to yours...

1. Why are our players getting hurt so much?? Is it our conditioning? It's ridiculous.

2. Our offense seems allergic to the end zone. Once they get to the red zone, it seems like they can't punch it in for the life of me.

[1959Colts]

Dreadful Performance

[GoColts8818]

People take the pre-season way too seriously.

[JPFolks]

9 minutes ago, 1959Colts said:

Dreadful Performance

Have we broken 40 rush yards yet? 39 tonight.. I think it was 31 week 1.  I think due to one or two longer runs we did week 2, but man, we have NO rushing game.  Even on the new Madden game the Colts can't rush the ball.  We threw for over 300 yards. Luck, if he can stay active all season may well set a passing record this year.  But usually teams that do that (think Detroit or Chicago for example) are terrible.  

[IndySouthsider]

13 players were inactive. Sorry nobody looks good when that happens.

 

 

[RockThatBlue]

Meaningless game for the most part, but Castanzo doesn't look improved at all over last season and the penalties are very alarming right now. I take preseason games with a grain of salt, but those two are quite obvious problems.

 

But there are positives from tonight.

 

Moncrief looks elite

 

TY is still TY

 

Swoope has clearly improved and will probably make the final 53

 

Ridgeway looked decent

 

Trey Williams is playing really well

 

Turbin should easily be the #2 RB at this point.

 

Morrison looks like a nice linebacker

 

Morris should be the #2 behind Luck.

 

 

[azcolt]

Thank heavens the Colts have a genius coach. Chuck will surely turn this pathetic team into a Super Bowl contender by about 2030.

[IndySouthsider]

Would think at some point we would hit on a few OL. 

[JPFolks]

18 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

People take the pre-season way too seriously.

You really don't think our line play is reason for concern? And our complete inability to run the ball?  Not to mention our secondary? 

[Defjamz26]

Yeah that was ugly. Starters were in for a whole half too. Castonzo seems to progressively be getting worse. Dude literally got worked by Brandon Graham. Kelly got blown up a few times. Good is killing us with the penalties. Mewhort is done for the season. This line is not looking good.

 

Only thing I'm going to say about the running game from now on is #WeWantFournette or something to that effect.

 

Colts got bullied tbh. That's why they lost.

[GwinnettColt]

Kind of an embarrassing game at LOS tonight, preseason or not.  Just got home.  I liked that they at least made it a ten point game at the end, junk points or not.

 

No O-lline tonight.  Their D had so much pressure it wasn't funny.   No run game either.  I liked Morris better than Tolzien and as I've said many times before, I wish we'd have just kept Josh Freeman.  Turbin's run (that got called back due to "holding)" was good on the outside.  Would liked to have seen more from him and T. Williams.  Ferguson wasn't impressive in the run game and I think caught one pass.  

 

For the D, easy prey right up the middle.  No pressure except on a few plays.  Maggitt got some pressure but not much.  Would have liked to have seen more from Okine.  It was painful to watch our DB's out there.  They were eaten alive.   

[JPFolks]

14 minutes ago, IndySouthsider said:

13 players were inactive. Sorry nobody looks good when that happens.

 

 

Fair point... but the oline was missing what, Reitz?  Now with Mewhort out for the season, how do you see that working out? We face some really good lines this year.  

[GoColts8818]

6 minutes ago, JPFolks said:

You really don't think our line play is reason for concern? And our complete inability to run the ball?  Not to mention our secondary? 

I'll judge the running game when Gore plays more than a handful of snaps.

 

Like I said in another thread when you start two rookies on the oline, and a second year player who moved to a new position it's unrealistic to think there won't be growing pains.  That's before another one of their oline starters got hurt.  Also this this the same line people were praising just a week ago.  So, I while it might be something to be concerned about it doesn't deserve the over reaction it's getting tonight.

 

as for the the secondary the problems there are directly related to one of the very few things you can honestly take away from the pre-season, injuries.  The good news for the Colts is none in the secondary are season ending and none other than Davis is really that serious.  I'd expect everyone else other than maybe Geathers to be ready to go week one.

[JPFolks]

17 minutes ago, IndySouthsider said:

Would think at some point we would hit on a few OL. 

You can't expect rookies to block elite lines so early.  Castonzo is a bigger concern.  And Mewhort was a legit hit, but now he's out for the season.  The damage was done year's 2 and 3.  

[Defjamz26]

2 minutes ago, JPFolks said:

Fair point... but the oline was missing what, Reitz?  Now with Mewhort out for the season, how do you see that working out? We face some really good lines this year.  

Ngata and Ansah in Detroit licking their chops as we speak.

[CanuckColt]

49 minutes ago, azcolt said:

Thank heavens the Colts have a genius coach. Chuck will surely turn this pathetic team into a Super Bowl contender by about 2030.

Chuck is simply NOT a NFL head coach...too bad Irsay keeps him out of sympathy.

 

[krunk]

38 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

I'll judge the running game when Gore plays more than a handful of snaps.

 

Like I said in another thread when you start two rookies on the oline, and a second year player who moved to a new position it's unrealistic to think there won't be growing pains.  That's before another one of their oline starters got hurt.  Also this this the same line people were praising just a week ago.  So, I while it might be something to be concerned about it doesn't deserve the over reaction it's getting tonight.

 

as for the the secondary the problems there are directly related to one of the very few things you can honestly take away from the pre-season, injuries.  The good news for the Colts is none in the secondary are season ending and none other than Davis is really that serious.  I'd expect everyone else other than maybe Geathers to be ready to go week one.

I agree.

[NewColtsFan]

9 minutes ago, CanuckColt said:

Chuck is simply NOT a NFL head coach...too bad Irsay keeps him out of sympathy.

 

 

We don't have our first string D-line.....    No Anderson, Jones or Langford.

 

And we don't have our top-SIX cornerbacks.       When does that ever happen?

 

Our o-line is a work in progress.

 

This is the same Chuck Pagano who led a team without Andrew Luck for half a season to an 8-8 record using their 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th string QB's.

 

This is NOT a Chuck Pagano problem.

 

This is a talent shortage problem.     A game like this was to be expected.     It would've been a surprise if it didn't happen.

 

Nagano may not be great,   but the problems we had tonight are not about Chuck Pagano.

 

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

We don't have our first string D-line.....    No Anderson, Jones or Langford.

 

And we don't have our top-SIX cornerbacks.       When does that ever happen?

 

Our o-line is a work in progress.

 

This is the same Chuck Pagano who led a team without Andrew Luck for half a season to an 8-8 record using their 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th string QB's.

 

This is NOT a Chuck Pagano problem.

 

This is a talent shortage problem.     A game like this was to be expected.     It would've been a surprise if it didn't happen.

 

Nagano may not be great,   but the problems we had tonight are not about Chuck Pagano.

 

Not to mention a good chunk of the time the number two was far from 100% last year, rather it be sick vs the Jags and Texans earlier in the year or really banged up down the stretch.  

 

Honestly i am not even sure if it's 100% a talent shortage issue, other than lack of a pass rush I think it's a young talent or talent availability due to injury issue.

[Buddy Lee]

I was alarmed at how consistently run around our defensive flanks. I thought Walden was supposed to be an outstanding edge setter. I didn't see the edge being set on either side. Maybe Mathis will help but that isn't his forte.

[krunk]

Looks like Hugh Thornton will definitely still be on the team this year.  Not that it's a bad thing

[Coltsman1788]

My thoughts are that the Colts look horrible.  I'm sick of the listlessness of the Pagano era.  Luck has yet to throw a single touchdown pass in his 2 preseason appearances.  His dinking and dunking is not getting them into the endzone.  I thought this offense was supposed to be explosive?  Lol This team comes out lifeless far too often and it will likely continue because that has become the trend under Pagano.  Going to be another long season for us Colts fans. 

[Myles]

I won't be drafting Luck in fantasy this year.

[krunk]

Still think we'll be okay.  You have to figure Kelly is going to have a bad game here or there at some point as he is a rookie.  Also I knew when Clark had to start for Reitz it would be a mess as he's still learning.  Didn't see the game, but I'm finding out Clark was beaten for 2 out of Lucks 3 sacks. I don't think Clark should even be part of the backup plans this year.  Just let the guy learn and grow.  If Reitz plays I'm sure those sacks don't happen like they did with Clark. Also don't think Kelly will be allowing pressure up the middle like that consistently.  And I'm sure it doesn't help matters for Mewhort to go down in the 2nd quarter.  That had to be part of the problem as well. Not sure exactly what the deal is with Costanzo but I don't expect him to be bad every week.   I think we'll be okay unless we continue getting slammed with injuries.

[CR91]

I didn't think our strength and conditioning staff could get worse. Boy was I proven wrong

[AZColt11]

Not too worried about those that are playing because I seem to remember the Colts looking pretty pathetic in the pre-season even when Manning was here yet they'd win the division by 2 games or more.  What I'm more worried about is the mounting injuries to an already thin talent corp.  So many young guys who were going to get to sit and learn are now going to be thrust into starting roles.  Who knows, some of them may actually turn out to be better than what we had, we just don't know yet.  Either way, it's a scary situation.

[Coltswarriors]

Outside of Luck, Hilton and Moncrief we looked atrocious.

 

OL looked like last years and the loss of Mewhort is a HUGE hit for this team.

 

Defense was awful, Bradford cut us up. Hopefully we can get some healthy bodies and that shores it up a bit.... Otherwise, if this is the defense we see come regular season time.... It'll be ugly.

[akcolt]

It is pre season football. I am not throwing the towel in before the season starts. Gore isn't playing so how is anyone measuring the running game? How many starters on D didn't play? I can't remember a year when we have looked good in the preseason. The real negative was Jack's  knee injury. Any word? 

 

We are not losing to the Lions at home week 1. We will account for Von Miller my guess is we will see Allen and Doyle blocking a lot vs Denver. As long as Luck is healthy we will be in the hunt for the division.

 

I expected to lose this game. I thought the OL and secondary would struggle. We started 2 rookies and a 2nd yr guy moving from T to G on the OL. We were without our top 5 cb's?  How many stsrters on the front 7 played? I just wasn't shocked by the game.

 

I wish we played better but we are making changes on both sides of the ball. We have 2 weeks to get ready for the Lions. Honestly I wish we went from 90 to 53 after next weeks game so we don't lose anyone else in a meaningless scrimmage. 

[krunk]

Yeah I expected struggles in this Eagles game as well.  I still have to watch the game for myself, but just going over some of the highlights it seems Luck had a lot of nice throw and catch plays as well.  Stuff to be encouraged about.  Everything is a work in progress so let's keep working my bros!  And to complete as many passes as he completed considering the pressure it tells me he's finding his checkdowns the way we've been hoping.   There seems to be numerous things to be encouraged about.  Just have to clean up some of the messy points which appear to be mostly related to injuries and some bad play.    

[AZColt11]

The defense i get.  Barely any of the starters played.  But the offense?  I can only hope they are just running very vanilla plays and not showing their entire hand.  Cause what I'm seeing so far leaves something to be desired.

[chrisfarley]

we're going to be fine.  That was a lengthy, copious, and made some good points post... but you can't road test and show off a newly restored car without all the parts.  Today we were missing the muffler, two spark plug wires, a door, a headlight, and one tire was flat.  Colts vs. Detroit will have all the parts assembled and perhaps one of the tires will be Michelin and all the others Goodyear, but other than that, we're going to look real good and turn some heads.

[Jules]

About sums up how we all felt seeing tonight.

 

[gacoop1]

Colts just don't have it tonite or any other games ahead.  They; totally suck.  It's coaching, they keep picking the wrong coaches to lead a great team...Defense, offense special team just simply aren't good enough.....It's gonna be a long year for Luck and company.  Should have gone with your gut instinct Irsay, instead of sympathy for keeping Grigson and Pagano....

[gacoop1]

Pathetic showing, i don't care if it's preseason or not.  Same old story.  Colts will be drafting  3rd or 4th in the first round.

[AZColt11]

6 minutes ago, gacoop1 said:

Pathetic showing, i don't care if it's preseason or not.  Same old story.  Colts will be drafting  3rd or 4th in the first round.

Welp........if you are right that is not necessarily a bad thing considering they need a LOT of talent on this team.

[gacoop1]

Yea, but looking forward to a good year especially with LUck healthy  and palying on a new contract.  Has something to prove to the team that he deserves all that moola....I firmly believe, it narrows down to coaching and drafting the right people, in which Grigson doesn't have a clue on getting the right talent to this team...Sad, and another sad, sad and abysmal season......

[gacoop1]

Ahhhh, frustrating!!!!

 

[CanuckColtsFan]

When you're missing 6 CBs what do expect? The Oline needs time to get a feel for Philbin's system.