Dudley Smith
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Posts posted by Dudley Smith
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There's no reason they shouldn't be able to drop 34+ in each of the next three games. That would put my mind slightly at ease.
As good as both the Bills and Jets defenses are, a lot of the Colts' offensive woes thus far are self-inflicted. I'm not sure this offense is capable of scoring in the 30s right now with Luck so befuddled and I have zero confidence in Pep helping him to get more comfortable (and we probably don't need to score that much in order to beat our fellow AFC South brethren....not that it makes me feel any better). Hope I am wrong.
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It appears that we as fans may be losing confidence in our team. What would it take to regain your confidence in the Colts?
For me:
Week 3: Titans - I would like to see the Colts offense put 30+ points and the defense hold the Titans to 14 or less. Even still, it wouldn't restore my confidence. We need to show that we could beat a good team, and a team outside of the AFC South.
Week 4: Jaguars - 30+ points for offense, 14 or less points allowed. Still wouldn't make a difference- AFC South.
Week 5: Texans - 30+ points for offense, 14 or less points allowed. Still wouldn't make a difference- AFC South.
Week 6: Patriots - A win would completely restore my confidence. That's what it would take. 4 straight wins including a win against NE.
Basically what you just said, but before Week 3 rolls around Pep Hamilton being shown the door. Wishful thinking I know.
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This so reminds me of the 2001 season. At some point in the season Pollian decided Mora and staff had to go. My only concern is if we have a bad season we clean house and the make the mistake of hiring someone like Nick Saban or a big name coach who wants to rebuild...again...I truly believe it is Pep Hamilton..I dont blame Grigson for taking Dorsett because if we lost TY to free agency we would have needed a replacement. This loss burns more than any in the past..winds of change?
Am I reading this post correctly? You believe that Pep Hamilton is the answer at head coach? Pep Hamilton is probably one of (if not THE) biggest reasons the Colts look so awful on offense and you want to make him HC?
I agree I don't think I would want Nick Saban, but come on...Pep would be a clear cut downgrade from Pagano at HC and probably one of the last people I would want as head coach.
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TY being out will force Luck to look to his other receivers more often and we will actually run the ball. 24-14 Colts
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I like how he says some of it is on luck. Here is my personal problem. Luck, is a player. He hasn't even warranted coordinator on the field like Peyton manning has. Sure he audibled out of "some" plays but this doesn't give pep a free pass on his play calling that has continued to be a problem over the last 2 seasons. I like how some of you guys are giving him a pass because luck audibled out of "some" plays.
Exactly. There is no denying Luck was off this past Sunday and missed some throws he should make, but good grief, Pep is supposed to be the coach of the offense. Even if it was truly Luck's decision to keep changing the play at the LOS (and I am not convinced it is just because Pagano had a one-liner about this in his news conference), Pep needs to do his job and rein Luck in. However, given Pep's history of head-scratching play-calling in the past, I think this was more Pep than Luck personally.
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I'm buying, folks. 100%
I think it's mutual. I think Grigson wants someone new, and I think Chuck is finding it difficult to work under Grigson. If I had to guess, I'd say the Dorsett pick was the straw the broke the camel's back. Pagano likely wanted help for the defense, not a 4th string WR. Since it was too late to part ways at that point, they decided to simply ride the season out, and win as much as possible since that benefits everyone involved, and then when that's over amicably go separate ways.
I think they tried to keep it as hush-hush as possible so as not to bring about a distraction, but that obviously hasn't worked out. Honestly, I think the smart thing to do at this point is turn the tables and get in front of the story. Announce that we're going to part ways at seasons end, and kick as much butt as we can until then.
I don't think there is any animosity, or that Chuck is being made out to have failed. I think it's just philosophical differences between Grigson and Pagano that make it a difficult work environment, which doesn't do any service to anyone. It's a very different situation for sure, but if I had to bet, I'd go all in that this, or something very similar, is the case.
So the question then becomes who fills that void after this season? Pro Football Talk has really loved running with the Nick Saban angle as of late. Not to say that it doesn't make sense, because it does, to a certain degree. There will be talk of Harbaugh, Gruden, Cowher... But I doubt it.
The reports we're hearing these days all seem to suggest that Grigson is more involved than most. It's been reported that he is the one last season who made the call to scrap AQ Shipley at center and put Harrison out there starting. I can believe that. It's also been reported that Pep Hamilton was a Grigson hire.
It sounds like Grigson wants control over the roster, and the coach. I don't think any of the guys I mentioned in the list of potential candidates will be considered. If I had to guess, I'd say Grigson is looking for a "Yes" man who will report to him.
And I think Pep Hamilton is that guy. Ultimately I think he will be promoted to head coach, so as to keep it from being a total house cleaning. Try to make the transition as smooth as possible by staying in-house, the same way we tried this before with jim caldwell after Dungy retired.
And in all honesty, I think the similarities between caldwell and Hamilton are striking.
At the very least, it seems there is very little heat on Grigson where anything is concerned. I don't understand that, but what do I know? If Irsay had to pick who to keep and who to fire right this moment, I think, without hesitation, Pagano would be the one to go.
Who knows how it all plays out. But if I had to bet, I'd say that by the first of March most of what I've surmised here will have come to fruition.
Like I said in the other thread, I really hope you're wrong about this. I have to believe that Irsay would step in if Grigson tried to promote Pep to HC. But....it is one of those things that is so terrible I could almost see it happening and it scares the * out of me. I mean the guy is probably the least qualified coach we have right now. I lay most of the blame for the slow-start offense right at Pep's feet (not Pagano's) as I think he has been in over his head from Day 1 with play-design and playcalling. He has improved, but not by as much as he should have after two full seasons, and is still mediocre at best. Yesterday was the latest in a long list of pathetic offensive playcalling/coaching since 2013 and another slow start that really put a huge amount of pressure on our average defense. And if it is really true (not convinced it is) that Luck is doing an audible into a lot of these plays, then Pep needs to actually coach him to make the correct call at the LOS, but I have zero confidence he will after having seen how his offense operates the last few years.
Irsay has to see the same thing and see the guy is not cut out to be an offensive coordinator, let alone a head coach in the NFL. If Grigson is really power hungry enough to make Pep Hamilton our head coach simply because he wants control (which I hope isn't the case in the first place), Irsay has to have the sense to stop him. Right?
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I see it coming later than sooner.
Here is my theory on where we are headed:
http://forums.colts.com/topic/40318-pagano-to-be-coaching-elsewhere-next-year-per-sources/?p=1168637
Be that the case, I say Grigson and Hamilton get at least 3 years to make a go of things before that plug would be pulled. (Unless things went horribly awry in years 1 and 2, but Luck is too good to let that happen.) Instead of a crash and burn and hope for a quick turnaround ala 2012, we could be potentially looking at a long descent before we get low enough to start clipping treetops and crash.
The more and more time goes on, the more and more I wonder how much of a problem Grigson is...
If we really had to promote one of the coordinators, perhaps I am nuts but I'd rather have Manusky as HC than Hamilton. Manusky has at least been around awhile and I get the deer in the headlights sensation from Pep that would make me very uncomfortable with him as HC. I would very much hope that if Manusky was promoted we'd can Pep and bring in a more veteran offensive coach for Luck.
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Thought it had more to do with the offensive playcalling. Expecting Luck to complete medium to large yardage pass plays all day against an aggressive, blitzing defense was just dumb. Like others have said, I guess we don't know if Luck was just trying to do too much and going for the homerun play when he had safer options, but this isn't the first time this has happened with this offense since Pep has been here. I certainly didn't see many safe, easy throws available on the television screen.
Why the offense abandoned the run so early and why there were no short, easy throws or check downs at any point in this game against such an aggressive defense is beyond mystifying. Our offense was completely predictable and the Bills defense adjusted and blanketed our receivers. The result was about what you would expect.
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I've got a bad feeling that the exact opposite is coming. I firmly believe that Girgson and Pagano have agreed to mutually part ways at season's end, and right now I'd bet a strong stack of chips that Pep is in for a promotion.
I really -- REALLY hope you're wrong about that. The man is over his head at OC let alone taking over as head coach.
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Really like the signing. Will feel strange seeing him in a Colts uniform after seeing him on the Texan's for so long. He definitely makes us better and should take pressure off of TY. Add in Moncrief and Carter and that looks like a great receiving corp. on paper.
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I saw Josh McDaniels' name mentioned in a serious manner. I'm done.
You think that's bad? How about Charlie Weis being mentioned? Yikes!
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Definitely depends on the price. If he is dirt cheap then I don't think there is any risk. He still looked good this season the few times I saw the 49ers play. Still would want us to draft a RB regardless.
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I disagree with the premise of this thread. I'm not interested in making moves to stop the Pats. Keep building the roster, add talent at every position, scout hard, draft well, improve some schemes, and keep getting better. You don't build your team with the goal of beating one team.
Not to mention that I would think that NE's Super Bowl window is probably closing here within the next couple of seasons with Brady nearing retirement. The Colts are only scratching the surface and their window looks to be open within two years and will remain open for probably the following ten. I actually think Grigson has done a pretty good job so far. The Richardson trade is really about the only strike against him, but I like that he willing to take a risk.
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Is this guy really that good? This has shades of Da'Rick Rogers to me. I would rather the Colts went through the draft.
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The Patriots roster is full of seasoned veteran players. To say the Colts problems are all on the coaches is narrow minded IMO. I don't care what coaches you have without the right players in place the Colts are not going to win a super bowl. Even the great Belichick didn't start out winning championships like you are expecting the Colts to do.
I didn't expect the Colts to win last night. I was hoping they would, but I certainly wasn't banking on it. I did, however, expect the Colts to be competitive, which they were far from. I think you have to admit getting beat 45-7 is more about a lack of preparation than it is talent level in the NFL. There is not that big a talent gap, seasoned vets or no.
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Instead of pointing fingers at coaches and all kinds of shade tree coaching things how about realizing the Colts are just not good enough yet? It's not rocket science. The Colts are not talented enough across the board and whining and pointing fingers will not help till the right players are brought in.
I look at NE's roster and outside of Brady and Gronk, I don't think they have any transcendent players nor a far superior roster to the Colts. I would go so far as to say Luck has better offensive weapons than Brady does between Hilton and his TE's. I would take Hilton over Edelmann (sp?) and I would say that Fleener and Allen together could offer the same potential mismatches that Gronk does. Defensively, NE has not been incredibly special this year and just came off of getting eaten alive by the Ravens last week who our defense I believe held to 14 points earlier in the year.
It was just flat out bad game-planning on both sides of the ball. NE looked like it knew what the Colts were going to do on almost every play both offensively and defensively and the Colts did not do anything to adapt by the look of it.
Not saying that the Colts talent, especially defensively, couldn't be better -- it could. But to simply say the Colts don't have the talent to compete and win just isn't correct, nor should this team ever get spanked 45-7 by any team in the NFL, the Pats included.
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Offense:
Pep really stunk at play calling this game. I might even start calling him Pepe Le'Pew he stunk so bad. WE PUT UP 7 POINTS. I still can't believe I could call from my couch when we were going to run/throw. Barely any roll outs, No 3 TE sets. Is Pep allergic to slants? I was unpleasantly surprised at the offensive play calling. He knew pats would take away TY, why was there no game plan to compensate for this?
I love you Reggie Wayne, but holy crap. I think it's time up to hang up your cleats in honor and accept the inevitable. Don't be like Manning and drag it out too long.
No possible scenario where Trent Richardson is a Colt next year. I like Boom, but he needs to work on his hands. What do we do with Bradshaw and Ballard? Tipton isn't bad, but we need help at RB.
Defense:
Landry needs to go away. Far, far away. We'll have to eat whatever dead money that insane contract was worth. Beat it dude. Go work on your arms in someone else's gym. You are freaking terrible.
Why does Chapman keep playing instead of Hughes at NT?
Can anyone rush the passer? We can't just hope that Mathis returns to form next year and that Newsome develops. We need to hunt in FA for some pass rush. Our lack of depth is astounding.
Manusky. Why did we play 5-10 yards off of the receivers??? What happened to tight press man coverage to throw the timing off?? Instead, give Brady the slant all day and dink and dunk our a$$es into the end zone.
Not to mention we were last in the league at red zone defense. Sad play calling, per usual.
And Josh Cribbs needs to go.
Agree with everything you just said. I too was very perplexed as to why Manusky went away from the press coverage which worked wonders against Denver. I realize Brady would have made us pay a few times unlike Manning, but the soft coverage we saw was an absolute disgrace. When has that EVER worked? We essentially allowed NE to do whatever they wanted, and outside of Brady's INT that is exactly what they did.
I just mentioned it in another thread, but offensively, I also believe there needs to be some type of schematic change. There is plenty of talent between Hilton and the TEs to devise pass patterns that would result in open receivers against a fairly average NE defense. To only put up 7 points really showed how lackluster the offensive game plan was.
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But to their credit they took away our passing game for the most part. Ninkovich always plays well against us and is a game wrecker.
They knew we couldn't run on them and they got pressure on Luck by exploiting our RT
We're getting there! We need to shore up a couple positions and I feel we're golden
This is what I haven't understood about playing the Pats the last few years. Not so much that they have put up points on our sorry D which lacks talent, but that our offense just cannot move the ball. Sure, it was a monsoon yesterday, but you didn't see the Pats struggling to score (understatement of the year). That Pats D is nothing special, but they have continually made the Colts offense look silly the last few years. The fact that no receivers were open last night sounds more like a schematic problem vs. the Pats than it does talent to me, because we know that between Hilton and our TEs there is considerable talent. The offense needs to diversify and needs a lot of new wrinkles to deal with NE it would appear. They have the O's number.
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While there is no doubt this Colts team has been playing pretty underwhelming football lately, Harrison's comment on "no one is scared to play Indy" seemed to imply that Pitt and Cincy would prefer to lose last night's game and play them instead of Baltimore. I find this completely ridiculous and I am actually surprised so many Colts fans are agreeing with his take. There is no playoff team that would rather play on the road and lose 2 seeds to having a home game and better seed. To suggest otherwise is just silly regardless of who the opponent is going to be. This is before we even get to talking about the implications of what would happen if the Steelers and Bengals both won out and met in the AFC Champ game.
I normally like Harrison even though he is a ex-Pat, but that comment was just plain dumb.
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I'm not one of those that bashes him constantly because for the most part he's done well.
But we start the game with three straight runs
And we ran like 100 screen passes today. It was the most vanilla/ predictable play calling I've seen in a long time.
How about the Richardson draw play on the first drive, 3rd and 14? That was a gem.
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We'd be 5-10 or 6-9 just like the Saints, Falcons, and Panthers. Like those teams, the Colts go as their QB goes and play no defense against other good QBs.
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Does it really matter? The way we looked today, we're not going very far.
I'd rather not play SD anyway.
Exactly. After today's performance the Colts are looking like they will be one and done no matter who lines up on the other side.
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Starting the game with 3 runs, including a stupid draw on 3rd down, capped by a foolish fake punt from your own 19 yard line tells you all you need to know about this coaching staff. This is just an instance. We can talk forever about the lack of adequate game plans and predictability on offense.
Seriously. That first drive draw on 3rd and 14 with Trent Richardson was one of the dumbest play calls I have seen this season. Pathetic play-calling.
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It certainly doesn't help with the coaching staff playing musical chairs with the linemen we do have as well as benching Shipley who was playing well at the start of the year for a completely unproven rookie. Impossible for any type of chemistry to develop.
I'm not ready to give up on this season yet
in Colts Football
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I guess it depends on what it means to "give up on the season." I certainly still believe this team can get into the playoffs. However, right now thinking this team has any shot at winning a Super Bowl much less getting there seems to be pretty unrealistic. The season is still young -- I would feel much better if at the very least play-calling duties were shaken up and I'd feel even better if Hamilton was out.