PFF gives luck the best single game rating of 2016

[CR91]

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2017/5/27/15705012/andrew-lucks-game-vs-lions-graded-as-best-qb-performance-of-2016-season-by-pff-colts

[RockThatBlue]

Luck was phenomenal in that game.

[Andrew Luck fan club]

And the Colts lost. Amazing.  

[RockThatBlue]

13 minutes ago, Majin Vegeta said:

And the Colts lost. Amazing.  

The end of that game was a disaster, to put it mild.

 

Horrific defense. Bad Pagano timeout etc...

[Malakai432]

Yeah he was phenomenal that game.  For the most part he had a great season last year it was just plague stricken by one of the worst defensive efforts I've personally ever seen. 

[Luck is Good]

Let's not forget though guys. They had a slow start getting down 21-3. That's on Andrew just as much as the defense

[CR91]

its not only the defense. the offense struggled to sustain drives and when your defense is constantly on the field, their gonna give up yards 

[#12.]

1 hour ago, RockThatBlue said:

Luck was phenomenal in that game.

Good thing we didn't waste it.  

[RockThatBlue]

10 minutes ago, CR91 said:

its not only the defense. the offense struggled to sustain drives and when your defense is constantly on the field, their gonna give up yards 

No doubt the O had a slow start but they ended up with over 30 points and were even winning at the end. Offense did enough to win that game.

[jameszeigler834]

33 minutes ago, Luck is Good said:

Let's not forget though guys. They had a slow start getting down 21-3. That's on Andrew just as much as the defense

The o-line didn't protect him well in the first half of that game and the recievers had bad drops too It wasn't on him the defense couldn't stop a nose bleed and the wide outs couldn't catch a cold.

[CR91]

40 minutes ago, RockThatBlue said:

No doubt the O had a slow start but they ended up with over 30 points and were even winning at the end. Offense did enough to win that game.

 

That game sure, but the offense needs to learn to be more consistent so we're not playing catch up

[Luck is Good]

27 minutes ago, jameszeigler834 said:

The o-line didn't protect him well in the first half of that game and the recievers had bad drops too It wasn't on him the defense couldn't stop a nose bleed and the wide outs couldn't catch a cold.

It still happened under his watch

[crazycolt1]

9 hours ago, Luck is Good said:

It still happened under his watch

There is no one game under any one players watch. Every game is a team played game. Just saying.

[Lawrence Owen]

This is why you need a well rounded team.  No matter how good 1,2, or 5 players play, it takes an entire team to win games.  Every aspect of the team thrives or wither off the success AND failures of other aspects.

[Luck is Good]

4 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

There is no one game under any one players watch. Every game is a team played game. Just saying.

I get that. But as a QB, you just can't spot the other team an 18 point lead. You're not gonna come back and win those games the majority of the time

[theanarchist]

10 minutes ago, Luck is Good said:

I get that. But as a QB, you just can't spot the other team an 18 point lead. You're not gonna come back and win those games the majority of the time

How does the QB, who doesn't play defense, spot the other team 18 points???? If I remember right this was one of Dwayne Allen's games were he had IDK how many drops. I could be wrong about Allen's performance but the slow starts by the offense are not all on LUCK.

[Yoshinator]

3 minutes ago, theanarchist said:

How does the QB, who doesn't play defense, spot the other team 18 points???? If I remember right this was one of Dwayne Allen's games were he had IDK how many drops. I could be wrong about Allen's performance but the slow starts by the offense are not all on LUCK.

Well, 11 out of 16 games last year, we scored 3 points or less in the first quarter. That's either on Pagano or Luck, and it's not a good stat. That's most of the reason we were struggling to win games last year (even if we did win a few of them).

[life long]

31 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Well, 11 out of 16 games last year, we scored 3 points or less in the first quarter. That's either on Pagano or Luck, and it's not a good stat. That's most of the reason we were struggling to win games last year (even if we did win a few of them).

My guess pagano played a large role wanting to establish his game plan, only to put it all on 12 later. I remember his first 5, last 5 bit after losing several games late. A good coach preaches 60 minutes. IMO i feel we are too set on playing "colts" football, and not scheming to take advantage or adjust to the glaring weaknesses of our opponents. 

[life long]

Seriously though, how often have you watched a team who has a qb under pressure this often, yet still not dedicate time to adding screens and slants to your practice/playbook........ IMO that problem is with a coaching staff not players. Luck has had several OCs and is burdened enough learning new playbooks, let alone rewriting them.

[Yoshinator]

5 minutes ago, life long said:

My guess pagano played a large role wanting to establish his game plan, only to put it all on 12 later. I remember his first 5, last 5 bit after losing several games late. A good coach preaches 60 minutes. IMO i feel we are too set on playing "colts" football, and not scheming to take advantage of glaring weaknesses of our opponents. 

Yeah, we need to use our franchise QB like he's supposed to be used. As good as Gore is, we don't have a 20-25 carry per game RB anymore. We can't lean the rock on him and have Luck throw 30-40 times per game. We drafted Luck for a reason, he needs to throw 50 times a game, win or lose. Now that we have Mack, use him for 6-8 carries a game this year if you want to break him in as well as a few for Turbin. The point is, build around Luck with a RBBC and make sure Luck is the centerpiece. This power run game is the dumbest thing I've ever seen on this team. I guess it's par for the course with Pagano and Chud though. 

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, life long said:

Seriously though, how often have you watched a team who has a qb under pressure this often, yet still not dedicate time to adding screens and slants to your practice/playbook........ IMO that problem is with a coaching staff not players. Luck has had several OCs and is burdened enough learning new playbooks, let alone rewriting them.

BINGO! Hilton and Dorsett are made for these. Perfect way to get Dorsett involved in the offense. It's criminal that this isn't being done at this point and Chud should be fired yesterday.

[life long]

10 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

BINGO! Hilton and Dorsett are made for these. Perfect way to get Dorsett involved in the offense. It's criminal that this isn't being done at this point and Chud should be fired yesterday.

Lets just hope chud is currently adding said plays. Running shorter routes over the middle allows a qb to throw to the spot the blitzer vacated. Every qb is taught to recognize this exact play, yet we hardly run it. Our coaches love Luck throwing deep draped in defenders ig?

[Yoshinator]

2 minutes ago, life long said:

Lets just hope chud is currently adding said plays. Running shorter routes over the middle allows a qb to throw to the spot the blitzer vacated. Every qb is taught to recognize this exact play, yet we hardly run it. Our coaches love Luck throwing deep draped in defenders ig?

Yeah, unfortunately it's kinda just an obscure thought. Chud may do it, but he may not even think about it and it may not come to mind. It's something that may not of even been mentioned to him, so I'm hoping, but not relying on it. Don't trust Chud or any of our coaches besides Joe Philbin at this point.

[Nesjan3]

yep, Luck and our offense was actually really good last year, it just didnt seem like it because our defense was so terrible, probably the worst since Mannings rookie season, thanks Grigs!

[RockThatBlue]

42 minutes ago, life long said:

My guess pagano played a large role wanting to establish his game plan, only to put it all on 12 later. I remember his first 5, last 5 bit after losing several games late. A good coach preaches 60 minutes. IMO i feel we are too set on playing "colts" football, and not scheming to take advantage or adjust to the glaring weaknesses of our opponents. 

Yup. Bad game plans is the biggest cause of the slow starts IMO. 

[Luck is Good]

I agree that the main cause is still the offensive game plan. I've been a proponent of the Colts going to a shorter passing game offense. It definitely suits this team. The WRs have speed and it would be effective. And since Andrew is almost always under pressure, it should be the way to go

[aaron11]

1 hour ago, Nesjan3 said:

yep, Luck and our offense was actually really good last year, it just didnt seem like it because our defense was so terrible, probably the worst since Mannings rookie season, thanks Grigs!

we had a lot of injuries on defense last year

 

grigson was bad, but any team that gets down to 5th and 6th string cornerbacks is going to lose some games

[ÅÐØNϧ 1]

17 hours ago, Malakai432 said:

Yeah he was phenomenal that game.  For the most part he had a great season last year it was just plague stricken by one of the worst defensive efforts I've personally ever seen. 

 

It was like a replay of a bad movie even deja vu like for years Peyton Manning dealt with the same nonsense inspite of it he shined winning 1 SB as a Colt imagine a world were the front office gets its act togeather & learns from its past realizing the leagues worst defense that Won the SB was a fluke , 

12 has been held back no running game no defense give him the weapons & watch him shine .

[jameszeigler834]

18 hours ago, Luck is Good said:

It still happened under his watch

He can only do so much you don't have a team around you in this league you will get beat even by teams you normally beat.

[Smoke317]

I personally thought his first game against Tennessee was his best of the season and top 5 maybe top 3 of his career. I went down to watch that game in person. Sweet seats in the lower bowl. 

 

Luck  came out blazing. It was clear from the beginning there was an emphasis on getting the ball out quickly. And boy did he ever. 3 step drops. 5 step drops. Ball coming out on time. Throwing to spots and hitting receivers as soon as they came out of their breaks.  Back should fades...

 

Near perfection. Plus I think Doyle dropped a TD just before halftime or he may have flirted with a perfect rating.  Was well worth the trip down to see Luck put on a clinic...

[ColtsFanMikeC]

23 hours ago, Luck is Good said:

Let's not forget though guys. They had a slow start getting down 21-3. That's on Andrew just as much as the defense

 

A lot of this is on the game plan.  It was a major problem with Pep at the helm, and I was very disappointed to see this happen again this past year.  We need to fix this going into this season.  Hopefully an improved OL will help do the trick.

 

 

22 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

That game sure, but the offense needs to learn to be more consistent so we're not playing catch up

 

Yes.  Our D last year was not very good, and what we'll have this year remains to be seen.  However, when we go down early, it puts a major burden on the O and the D.  It makes the O become 1 dimensional (i.e., down 21-3 means it's hard to focus on running the ball or keeping time of possession as a priority) and it disallows the D to focus on getting after the QB and creating turnovers. 

 

Mathis and Freeney were both very good players in their time here, but a major part of that is because Peyton's teams rarely were spotting other teams 14, 20, 21, etc. point leads out of the gates.  The majority  of the time, those two could pin their ears back and just rush the QB.  I don't think Freeney would have had near the career he had (he was terrible against the run) if he was on a team playing catch up most of the time.

 

I'm not convinced we have a sure pass-rusher on this team (I like the prospect of Basham and Heard), and if we're not playing with leads I really don't see anyone of a mediocre/average bunch jumping out and helping us improve here.

 

 

8 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Yeah, we need to use our franchise QB like he's supposed to be used. As good as Gore is, we don't have a 20-25 carry per game RB anymore. We can't lean the rock on him and have Luck throw 30-40 times per game. We drafted Luck for a reason, he needs to throw 50 times a game, win or lose. Now that we have Mack, use him for 6-8 carries a game this year if you want to break him in as well as a few for Turbin. The point is, build around Luck with a RBBC and make sure Luck is the centerpiece. This power run game is the dumbest thing I've ever seen on this team. I guess it's par for the course with Pagano and Chud though. 

 

We do not need Luck throwing 50 times per game.  Especially coming off shoulder surgery (on a shoulder that's bothered him for at least 2 years), and especially since at this point we're only hoping that our line will be better.  We need an efficient and successful game plan for early in games, allowing us to put points up early and play with a lead or even throughout the remainder of the game.  This should allow for us to go to a balanced offensive attack.  Right now, we're starting games off slow and then we're forced to change our entire game plan later on to force things, etc...

 

I, for one, do not want to see Luck being forced to throw the ball 50+ times a game very often, especially this season.  It looks like he's lost a bit of weight (probably not able to lift the upper body), and shoulder injuries/surgeries are always a touchy subject, especially when your job requires you to throw a football under pressure all game long.

 

8 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

BINGO! Hilton and Dorsett are made for these. Perfect way to get Dorsett involved in the offense. It's criminal that this isn't being done at this point and Chud should be fired yesterday.

 

I don't agree with Chud being fired yesterday (he did a very good job keeping our team at .500 when Luck got hurt and we were using Hasselbeck, Whitehurst, and others -- all who had a crappy OL and a depleted WR corps).  Last year, the OL seemed to develop in the last 1/4 of the season, but prior to that, they were not very good.  Moncrief being injured at times, Dorsett's lack of impact (I guess there's an argument: was he utilized wrong, or was it on him), a shotty OL, and a poor defense did not help our cause with game-planning.

 

However, I think you're correct, TY and Dorsett are smaller, shiftier guys who both run sub 4.4 and Moncrief is a bigger straight-away guy who is sub 4.4.  We also have Ferguson and Mack who should be able to thrive in a screen game, and Swoope is an athletic enough TE to the point where he should be able to make some plays on short passes.

 

If you watch teams like Pittsburgh, they almost use the screen as a run game.  They are rarely getting less than 4-5 yards per screen pass, and often times they're opening it up for longer gains.  They also are able to use it to open up their passing attack and running game more (e.g., you fall asleep thinking AB is going to keep killing you with the screen game and next thing he's behind the secondary hauling in the deep ball).

 

I sure hope Chud and Co. figure this out this year.

[will426]

16 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Well, 11 out of 16 games last year, we scored 3 points or less in the first quarter. That's either on Pagano or Luck, and it's not a good stat. That's most of the reason we were struggling to win games last year (even if we did win a few of them).

I think I say how bad the offense was in every "the defense sucks" thread   both of them played like crap which resulted in us losing some easy games 

[theanarchist]

17 hours ago, aaron11 said:

we had a lot of injuries on defense last year

 

grigson was bad, but any team that gets down to 5th and 6th string cornerbacks is going to lose some games

I wont argue that with you but Grigson failed to address the pass rush and in the end that lack of pass rush was the worst of a list of defensive issues.

[theanarchist]

10 hours ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

 

A lot of this is on the game plan.  It was a major problem with Pep at the helm, and I was very disappointed to see this happen again this past year.  We need to fix this going into this season.  Hopefully an improved OL will help do the trick.

 

 

 

Yes.  Our D last year was not very good, and what we'll have this year remains to be seen.  However, when we go down early, it puts a major burden on the O and the D.  It makes the O become 1 dimensional (i.e., down 21-3 means it's hard to focus on running the ball or keeping time of possession as a priority) and it disallows the D to focus on getting after the QB and creating turnovers. 

 

Mathis and Freeney were both very good players in their time here, but a major part of that is because Peyton's teams rarely were spotting other teams 14, 20, 21, etc. point leads out of the gates.  The majority  of the time, those two could pin their ears back and just rush the QB.  I don't think Freeney would have had near the career he had (he was terrible against the run) if he was on a team playing catch up most of the time.

 

I'm not convinced we have a sure pass-rusher on this team (I like the prospect of Basham and Heard), and if we're not playing with leads I really don't see anyone of a mediocre/average bunch jumping out and helping us improve here.

 

 

 

We do not need Luck throwing 50 times per game.  Especially coming off shoulder surgery (on a shoulder that's bothered him for at least 2 years), and especially since at this point we're only hoping that our line will be better.  We need an efficient and successful game plan for early in games, allowing us to put points up early and play with a lead or even throughout the remainder of the game.  This should allow for us to go to a balanced offensive attack.  Right now, we're starting games off slow and then we're forced to change our entire game plan later on to force things, etc...

 

I, for one, do not want to see Luck being forced to throw the ball 50+ times a game very often, especially this season.  It looks like he's lost a bit of weight (probably not able to lift the upper body), and shoulder injuries/surgeries are always a touchy subject, especially when your job requires you to throw a football under pressure all game long.

 

 

I don't agree with Chud being fired yesterday (he did a very good job keeping our team at .500 when Luck got hurt and we were using Hasselbeck, Whitehurst, and others -- all who had a crappy OL and a depleted WR corps).  Last year, the OL seemed to develop in the last 1/4 of the season, but prior to that, they were not very good.  Moncrief being injured at times, Dorsett's lack of impact (I guess there's an argument: was he utilized wrong, or was it on him), a shotty OL, and a poor defense did not help our cause with game-planning.

 

However, I think you're correct, TY and Dorsett are smaller, shiftier guys who both run sub 4.4 and Moncrief is a bigger straight-away guy who is sub 4.4.  We also have Ferguson and Mack who should be able to thrive in a screen game, and Swoope is an athletic enough TE to the point where he should be able to make some plays on short passes.

 

If you watch teams like Pittsburgh, they almost use the screen as a run game.  They are rarely getting less than 4-5 yards per screen pass, and often times they're opening it up for longer gains.  They also are able to use it to open up their passing attack and running game more (e.g., you fall asleep thinking AB is going to keep killing you with the screen game and next thing he's behind the secondary hauling in the deep ball).

 

I sure hope Chud and Co. figure this out this year.

The key to a good screen game is your offensive line. Maybe that's part of the reason we don't run a lot of them.

[theanarchist]

15 hours ago, jameszeigler834 said:

He can only do so much you don't have a team around you in this league you will get beat even by teams you normally beat.

Agreed. The roster as a whole was terrible and you only need to look as far as how Ballard has cleaned house since he came here to realize that.

[bababooey]

On 5/28/2017 at 4:29 PM, RockThatBlue said:

The end of that game was a disaster, to put it mild.

 

Horrific defense. Bad Pagano timeout etc...

So was the first half.

[BullsColtsFan1]

I was there.  It took him some time to heat up but he got hot. They were down 21-3 if I remember correctly.  He brought them back and took the lead 35-34(Detroit had just missed a PAT) with 30 seconds left and of course Stafford got the Lions in range to kick the game winning field goal.  They should have won that one!

[ColtsFanMikeC]

6 hours ago, theanarchist said:

The key to a good screen game is your offensive line. Maybe that's part of the reason we don't run a lot of them.

 

This  is true, to some extent.  I believe I remember seeing Luck having balls swatted down at the line a few times when he tried to throw out wide, but there are certain screens that shouldn't require much of a line.

 

 

In that video, the TE and FB help spring AB past the first down line and then he uses his athleticism to do the rest (TY and Dorsett have similar athleticism, where if we can get them into that kind of space, they could hopefully make things happen).

 

 

 

Another example where it's a very quick dropback by Big Ben and the WR and TE have a few key blocks to free Antonio up to make the play himself.

 

I am having a hard time finding other examples on youtube, but I recall many times where the Steelers line up in a bunch formation with 3 WRs on one side of the field and throw a one or two step drop to Brown who lets the WRs/TEs in front of him block to pick up 4-5 yard gains (sometimes more if he breaks it outside the blockers). 

 

With TY, Moncrief and Dorsett we've got the speed to be successful in plays like this.  With Moncrief and Aiken (and Doyle and Swoope) we should have the size and athleticism to put lead blockers in front of TY and Dorsett.

[Valpo2004]

On 5/28/2017 at 3:58 PM, RockThatBlue said:

Luck was phenomenal in that game.

 

And the defense was just so terrible.  I remember Theo Riddick looking like Barry Sanders because for some reason the Colts defenders could just never wrap him up and tackle him.  

[lollygagger8]

I had literally just forgot about that game too....dang it