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Colts vs Bills Review & What we Learned


Caleb3502

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blog-0517613001376262019.pngOkay, that was not a good showing by our Colts, or at least the far backup Colts. The first half was not entirely bad for the Colts EXCEPT for the 107-yard kickoff return touchdown by Goodwin. Special teams needs major improvement. The starters played well which is what is the most important. No devastating injuries. The starters were winning the game until the third string and further came in. We had some good stops in the red zone early on but midway through the second quarter the team full of third string and beyond began to collapse to a 44-20 loss. Let's break down each category for the Colts:

Quarterback

The Colts were outplayed entirely in this category. Luck did not play much but was 4 of 6 for 51 yards and had a drive ended thanks to a Fleener fumble. Hasselbeck then came into the game after a fumble recovery by the Colts. Hasselbeck was 4 of 8 for 75 yards with one touchdown but also was picked on a tipped pass. Harnish came in for the rest of the game and was a horrible 14 of 33 for 109 yards and was picked for a touchdown. Manuel played longer but was unstoppable. He was running wild over the defense and also was 16 of 21 for 107 yards and a touchdown on passing. Jeff Tuel who I honestly never heard was 19 of 23 for 212 yards and two touchdowns. It's preseason though and the bad statistics will most likely not see playing time during the regular season.

Runningback

Ballard had three carries and 18 yards on the ground. Spiller opened up the game on two straight carries for 35 yards but only had one more yard on two carries. Brown actually looked good with three carries for 10 yards but had a 22 yard catch. Kerwynn Williams led the team in rushing with four carries and 21 yards. So the Bills beat the Colts in this category too.

Receiving

What we learned from this game is that T.Y. Hilton is a beast and has definitely helped his drops. The catch he made looked like the catch Marvin Harrison made which was almost ten years ago. We got somebody special in Hilton and he is the receiver taken from that draft. Griff Whalen had three catches for 26 yards, Fleener had two catches for 37 yards but had a fumble, and Mr. Irrelevant Justice Cunningham had a 17 yard grab. Though, the Bills outplayed them here too. The Bills actually outplayed the Colts in pretty much every statistical category, or at least the backups did. The starters outplayed the Bills' starters.

Defense

A Colts player actually led in a statistical category, tackles. Delano Howell had six tackles in the game. Caesar Rayford a sack-fumble which Daxton Swanson picked up for a 72-yard touchdown. The early defense had some good stops but the second half defense was pitiful to watch. The starting defense did not even allow any points and recovered a fumble. We also didn't have Landry, Freeman, Angerer, McNary, and Werner playing. The Bills intercepted two passes and had one more sack than the Colts.

Special Teams

Kicking and punting was excellent but coverage on kickoff has a lot to be desired. Goodwin had over 160 yards on two kick returns. That needs to be fixed if they want to win games. Pat McAfee was good averaging 43.6 yards per punt and Vinatieri drilled a 44-yard field goal and a 25-yard field goal. Kick returning was another issue. Kerwynn Williams starting out well with a long return on his first returns but had two returns returned not past the ten yard line. If you want efficient returning, you need to get past the 20 yard line.

There's always next week. Let's put this game behind and win the important games during the regular season. Every winning season we had for the most part we had a losing record in the preseason. The Lions went 4-0 in the preseason and then lost every game in the regular season. So, if we have a losing record in the preseason but a winning record in the regular season, and I speak for pretty much everyone, we're happy. Besides, it's not the players in the regular season that lose games, it's the 4th string players that lose games in preseason that end up not making the team.

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I learned our special teams need work... and were weak in secondary depth. Harnish isn't going to make the squad.... and that's about it.

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I learned our special teams need work... and were weak in secondary depth. Harnish isn't going to make the squad.... and that's about it.

As long as our starters in the secondary stay healthy we should be fine.  The starters looked good.  But yes I don't think Harnish is 53 man roster healthy after that performance, probably practice squad.  McNary or the 6'7'' Caesar Rayford can get his roster spot.  Pat McAfee should be able to kick it out of the endzone on kickoffs but still need better coverage and better kick returning.  Let's see how we do against the Giants.    

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The only thing I was concerned about was the effort there was none it looked like they where playing in slow motion come on PAGANO wake up this is on you

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The only thing I was concerned about was the effort there was none it looked like they where playing in slow motion come on PAGANO wake up this is on you

I know they didn't seem like they were fighting for anything.  Pagano will have to show motivation which I'm sure he will after this game.

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