Offensive Line

[JMichael557]

I have reviewed the game film. Since I have coached football I know enough to be dangerous. I thought that the offensive line did fairly well when they knew what to do. What I do not understand is our blocking schemes. We allow at least one man to come free on every running play. We are not being over powered. We block who we are actually attempting to block but when you allow the free man the play gets blown up every time. Dallas on the other hand blocks everyone unless that are running a sweep in which they will ignore the backside defender. The perfect example was the draw play to Mack. We allowed the left DE to come free on a "delayed" handoff. If we block him (the TE released) then Mack would have had a big run as the blocking in front of him was good. However the untouched defender grabbed Mack as soon as he got the ball. Same problem with pass blocking. They seemed to do ok when they knew who to block but that is not always the case. AC was beaten by a rookie. However when you look at the play he had a TE beside of him and he acted as if the TE was going to be making the block. The TE released and AC did not move until the rookie was past him. 

 

I really see it as more of a coaching problem then a personnel problem. 

[COLTS449]

2 minutes ago, JMichael557 said:

I have reviewed the game film. Since I have coached football I know enough to be dangerous. I thought that the offensive line did fairly well when they knew what to do. What I do not understand is our blocking schemes. We allow at least one man to come free on every running play. We are not being over powered. We block who we are actually attempting to block but when you allow the free man the play gets blown up every time. Dallas on the other hand blocks everyone unless that are running a sweep in which they will ignore the backside defender. The perfect example was the draw play to Mack. We allowed the left DE to come free on a "delayed" handoff. If we block him (the TE released) then Mack would have had a big run as the blocking in front of him was good. However the untouched defender grabbed Mack as soon as he got the ball. Same problem with pass blocking. They seemed to do ok when they knew who to block but that is not always the case. AC was beaten by a rookie. However when you look at the play he had a TE beside of him and he acted as if the TE was going to be making the block. The TE released and AC did not move until the rookie was past him. 

 

I really see it as more of a coaching problem then a personnel problem. 

 

 

Until I read your bottom sentence... That was going to be my response. It is the coaching staff. We need a complete overhaul as far as the coaching staff is concerned. Nice write up  bro. I think Bond can hold down the fort until Kelly comes back week 4-5-6. And I feel Mewhort and Haeg could.....COULD potentially turn into one of the best G combos in the NFL. Castanzo is a very good LT, but he's no Joe Thomas in his prime. My main concern now is RT. One of Clark, Banner or Good needs to at least give us a decent RT. Average at least you know. Hopefully Clark. He's got a ton of talent. He's like a piece of clay to be molded, but you know.....The coaching staff.

[Superman]

8 hours ago, JMichael557 said:

The perfect example was the draw play to Mack. We allowed the left DE to come free on a "delayed" handoff. If we block him (the TE released) then Mack would have had a big run as the blocking in front of him was good. However the untouched defender grabbed Mack as soon as he got the ball.

 

We had a tight end running into the LT on that play, I think. Bad scheme and bad execution. 

[Trace Pyott]

So who is to blame for the coaching? Is it chud, our online coach or pAgs?

 

 

*

[Dark Superman]

I'll never understand why we didn't address the offensive line during the off-season. We have our star QB coming off shoulder surgery.

SMH.

[NewColtsFan]

44 minutes ago, Colt-King 24 said:

I'll never understand why we didn't address the offensive line during the off-season. We have our star QB coming off shoulder surgery.

SMH.

 

The reason we didn't address the o-line in the off-season are several.

 

First,  we had already addressed it extensively in the '16 draft with Kelly, Clark and Haeg.

 

Second,  we brought in a free agent to be a quality back-up in Schwenke

 

Third,    this was a historically bad o-line draft class in 17.      We were fortunate to get Banner where we did at the bottom of the 4th round.    But he's more of a development player for the near future.

 

But we invested so mch in the 16 draft,  that you simply have to give those kids a chance to develop.   They already showed great improvement in the 2nd half of the 2016 season.    All the stats say that.     And we had to finally begin to invest in defense.    We've invested so little in defense in Luck's first 5 years that we ended up with a terrible defense last year.     It was time to focus on that side of the ball.

 

Those are the reasons we didn't focus on the O-line....

 

[MarquisJ]

sit andrew all year.. first 3 picks need to go to the OLINE 

[ColtsBlitz]

39 minutes ago, MarquisJ said:

sit andrew all year.. first 3 picks need to go to the OLINE 

I'm logging off. 

[MarquisJ]

28 minutes ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I'm logging off. 

go ahead log off.. sorry I dont want to put our franchise qb behind this atrocious line like seriously have you been watching the preseason games? sure its preseason but that doesn't change the individual performance both by teams with average defenses... Let him heal get the whole right side fixed of the oline because all we have is a bunch of projects over there

[ColtsBlitz]

2 minutes ago, MarquisJ said:

go ahead log off.. sorry I dont want to put our franchise qb behind this atrocious line like seriously have you been watching the preseason games? sure its preseason but that doesn't change the individual performance both by teams with average defenses... Let him heal get the whole right side fixed of the oline because all we have is a bunch of projects over there

I haven't seen many sacks allowed so far, and our offensive line isn't causing our poor offensive play, it is the lack of a QB to command the offense. So wasting valuable picks on offensive linemen in the next draft while we could FINALLY address the defense on this team would be *ic. 

[csmopar]

7 hours ago, Colt-King 24 said:

I'll never understand why we didn't address the offensive line during the off-season. We have our star QB coming off shoulder surgery.

SMH.

We did, this isnt Madden.  Gotta give time for players to gel.  Second half of last year, they did very very well.  And Kelly hasnt allowed a sack to date.  

1 hour ago, MarquisJ said:

sit andrew all year.. first 3 picks need to go to the OLINE 

NUTS

24 minutes ago, MarquisJ said:

go ahead log off.. sorry I dont want to put our franchise qb behind this atrocious line like seriously have you been watching the preseason games? sure its preseason but that doesn't change the individual performance both by teams with average defenses... Let him heal get the whole right side fixed of the oline because all we have is a bunch of projects over there

Our line with Kelly in it is pretty decent.  Room for improvement but it's not as terrible as you think it is.

[Hoose]

7 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

The reason we didn't address the o-line in the off-season are several.

 

First,  we had already addressed it extensively in the '16 draft with Kelly, Clark and Haeg.

 

Second,  we brought in a free agent to be a quality back-up in Schwenke

 

Third,    this was a historically bad o-line draft class in 17.      We were fortunate to get Banner where we did at the bottom of the 4th round.    But he's more of a development player for the near future.

 

But we invested so mch in the 16 draft,  that you simply have to give those kids a chance to develop.   They already showed great improvement in the 2nd half of the 2016 season.    All the stats say that.     And we had to finally begin to invest in defense.    We've invested so little in defense in Luck's first 5 years that we ended up with a terrible defense last year.     It was time to focus on that side of the ball.

 

Those are the reasons we didn't focus on the O-line....

 

You nailed it. There will have to be some patience here as the O line gets healthy again. With Kelly and Haeg playing, and hopefully Clark back in good graces, that is not a bad O line at all. The Dallas O line didn't just materialize in one year. That has been a long term and successful project, but it took a little patience. The problem for Colts fans is that it took forever for the team to address the O line mess, so its hard to show patience now that the investment has been made. 

I think by the end of this season, and crossing the fingers for the injury bug to take a siesta for once, the Oline will no longer be a serious issue for this team. 

[MacDee1975]

59 minutes ago, ColtsBlitz said:

I haven't seen many sacks allowed so far, and our offensive line isn't causing our poor offensive play, it is the lack of a QB to command the offense. So wasting valuable picks on offensive linemen in the next draft while we could FINALLY address the defense on this team would be *ic. 

 

Not only that, but we've barely seen the line that is slated to play together this year yet in these preseason games, namely Castonzo-Haeg-Kelly-Mewhort-Clark.  How many total snaps have those 5 played together in the 2 games?  I'll save you some time, the answer is zero.

[Archer]

The other thing is that this was Preseason Game 2.  Philbin should be reviewing tape and forming a strategy to fix this crap.  If it's better in three weeks, then he did his job...

[Coffeedrinker]

Part of it is the negative side of a zone blocking scheme.  With zone blocking the line is supposed to flow to the play side so that means a lot of times on even fronts there is a guy unblocked (I don't remember if the D was in an even front or an odd front on this play).  On the play mentioned by the OP (I think it was Turbin on the delay not Mack) without knowing the specifics, that could just as easily be on the QB and not the scheme.  The QB needs to be able to see uncovered defenders, he should have sent the TE in motion to that side.  If there is a defender not covered by the zone, you usually want him near the POA so that player gets caught up in the cluster as the oline flows to the play side.  That is why I think this is on the QB, he has got to know the blocking scheme well enough to identify the player that is not going to get caught up in (we call it the wave but that's because it's easier for 7th graders to understand a wave rather than a moving zone) the wave and adjust the formation accordingly.

 

It could also be the scheme which, if that's the case, then Philbin needs to be fired immediately.  You cannot develop a blocking scheme that leaves a defender on the LOS unblocked on a delay or misdirection type play, players in the NFL are too fast for that.

[will426]

I'd go heavy oline in 2018 draft simply based on Availability yes these linemen have shown they can play (second half of season)  but they've also shown they can't stay on the field..our interior stays hurt and the depth isn't promising them being AVAILABLE is the major issue not the talent

[Coffeedrinker]

On 8/22/2017 at 9:00 AM, MacDee1975 said:

 

Not only that, but we've barely seen the line that is slated to play together this year yet in these preseason games, namely Castonzo-Haeg-Kelly-Mewhort-Clark.  How many total snaps have those 5 played together in the 2 games?  I'll save you some time, the answer is zero.

I think continuity along the oline is very important, I've been touting on this forum for years that with the oline the sum can be greater than the individual parts.

 

That being said, a team has to play with who is available, so the excuse they haven't played with their starting unit doesn't hold a lot of water, IMO.  Although I do not think the oline is as big a problem as some want to make it out to be.  Especially not enough to offer ideas to sit luck the entire season and then spend the 1st three picks on olinemen.

[Matabix]

Good to LG and Haeg to RT.