DougDew

We would have gotten blown out because of a poor passing game. HOU shut down our passing game, because passing the ball is key to playoff success. JT played like a RB that benefited from a defense that was focusing on stopping the pass. More up the gut runs that succeeded in the middle of the game, but got stuffed when it mattered (like after the HOU injury 3 more run plays resulted in a punt). Even Steichen knew not to run him up the gut on 4th and 1.

He was open. So what ever route he ran, a playoff caliber Qb should put it on him. I doubt that AR would have either, but that's the current state of the Colts QBing right now. And most teams have 3rd down RBs that are not PS guys. But our star RB can't be counted on to run plays like that one. Steichen is absolutely the last person to blame for the play fail.

Goodson was wide open and across the FD line. Seems like the play caller did a great job.

You are talking about calling a different play? Why would a different play have worked if Minshew threw it behind that receiver too? Or maybe in another play, the defense covers every other player except the PS guy....just like the play that was ran.

My thoughts on the game: A well played game overall. Just got beat by a better team. It was as if HOU allowed JT to run but shut down the pass,,,,knowing that NFL playoffs are about passing the ball and a RB running for 200 yds is less harmful. There is no trophy for "making the playoffs", so I don't know why folks made such a big deal about it. The chances of this team winning the AFCCG after getting in by an expanded playoff setting was very remote anyway. Overall a good season, and Steichen should be commended for getting this team as far as Frank usually took the Colts. But shuffling HCs, DC, schemes, playcalling, etc. are not going to get this team where it needs to be. Kind of like worrying about what RB you have when you are playing in a passing league.

Because people think that a "star" can do anything, even though he couldn't have caught that pass any better than Goodson. JT showed us why he signed the contract with that long TD run (but HOU was in a blitz and they really blew the containment more than JT made a dominating play to get loose, IMO)

What is needed is playmaker's in the passing game both on offense and defense. This has been painfully obvious for several years. Come playoff time, Ws are made by playmakers in important positions making better plays against other team's playmakers. Without that, the Colts have been basically a .500 team for 7 years...give or take a few games here and there. Troy Aikman was pointing out the shortcomings of the passing game, after touting the abilities of Minshew. The shortcomings are not all on the backup QB. and Minshew did very little if anything to hurt the Colts against HOU.

OK. The only way AZ turns down a trade offer like that is if THEY wanted a player at 3. Its doubtful that even they would hold back from accepting that much capital for one player they liked. Not even the best player in the draft...but at best the 3rd best. But AZ did not like a player. They were selling the pick to the highest bidder. When you advertise that you are selling to the highest bidder, you sell the pick to the highest bidder. There is no keeping the pick. DUH! That offer would have blown away the offer they did accept. No way the offer is true. It's Colts playoff time, so its Colts hype time. The media/ X bots rev up the portion of the fan base who will believe anything positive said about the Colts. Good timing to float this absurd rumor.

That concept in law is based on the moral of fairness. But companies and internet pundits don't care about fairness. Companies fire people all of the time based upon what they think is true. And internet pundits love to grandstand off of the same reports.

Seemed like a solid effort all around.

Fields is throwing long balls. And scrambling for FDs and TD. Two things the Colts didn't do.

Believe it or not, for over a year I have had no interest in arguing with you. We have been on this board for a long time, and whether you see it or not, we agree on a lot of things compared to many of the reactive extremists on this board. We have some differences, but not many. Your comment I quoted indicated that the HC (Reich) was sort of responsible for all of the big slow....bad...WRs...but that the HC (Steichen) is not responsible for Downs, the one different WR that's also good, but that Ballard is.. Only a "Blind Ballard Lover" would see it that way, and you are not one of those, so I was just pointing out that the way you said it implied some things I didn't think you meant. I have no real idea who picked who, or who influences what pick. I think its a collaborative effort where Ballard, Irsay, and the HC each assert their opinions...and with different levels of assertiveness from time to time based upon the position or the player. All I'm saying is that whatever level of input you think Frank had on the roster, I'd wager that Irsay has allowed Steichen to have more input now than Frank ever did. As far as Irsay, when he says " I want to see progress this year", what is he talking about? What are the consequences if there isn't progress this year? Is the new HC that he just signed to a 6 year contract on the hot seat, or is his long-toothed GM more likely to be on the hot seat? IMO, no, they are not tied together anymore than either Grigson or Frank were when each of them was fired independently from their colleague. And each time, Irsay said they were linked...when it turned out they were not. And Irsay hasn't even implied his HC and GM are linked this time, so I don't know why anybody would assume that they are.

Because Mallory and Granson are limited, and Ogletree is only a 5th round pick talent coming off of a knee. Cox and Woods have been pretty one dimensional/useless. Ogletree is the only TE of the 5 that resembles a TE that can be effective both blocking and receiving, so he is the only TE that has any real versatility. The other guys are pretty much role players. Its why I said near the beginning of the season that our TE room is not as good as many believe. JMO.

Then that is a bad omen for this team. Because the reason Philly can run the O through only 2 outside WRs is because those two guys are both high first round picks. Smith and Brown (traded for a first). Pitt and Downs aren't good enough to simulate that passing game, IMO.

IMO, Downs was a Reggie/Steichen assertion, not a Ballard top-down force-on. I think Ballard has gotten his hat handed to him a bit by Irsay (despite public expression), and Steichen has more say into personnel than Reich did...or Steichen is being more assertive because he's the new hire and has got a longer contract than Ballard's remaining years. Contractually speaking, Steichen will be here longer than Ballard will, and probably has strong input into the team.

To the point of tackling. So many defenders in the NFL have gotten into the habit of trying to knock the runner down by a hard hit rather than wrapping up and tackling him. Knock him over? yeah right. Provided that the player came into the NFL equipped with enough college experience and coaching to have learned the fundamentals before he got drafted, bad tackling is usually about not getting into the right position quickly enough...and they have to lunge at the runner. That could be the result of scheme and coaching. But being perpetually a half step late could also be the lack of football instincts, which might happen if the player doesn't have a lot of college production and is more of a RAS player with "ceiling". Also, our two best drafted LBers under Ballard were Leonard and Okereke. 2nd and 3rd rounders. None of our current LBers were drafted higher than the 5th ? round. Go ahead and blame Gus, but he's had a drop off in raw talent to work with, IMO.

I don't have a big problem with the size of the contract. The offense need's any kind of play maker, so mildly over paying for 3 years is what desperate GMs/owners should probably do. I have a problems with the idea that he is a difference maker....that the Colts are a lot better offense when he is in the game (I'm not sure we are worse). In some respects, I'd prefer even Allgeier. At least Allgeier would get tough yards in a 4 minute clock kill, and provide something when the blocking isn't perfect. A little of both. I think they ask him to do what he is good at, and don't ask him to do what he can't do very well. I mean, it only takes one crease and things to fall right for an 80 yard TD. So you try it a lot no matter how many two yard stuffs you get. Even if RB was being instructed to run into the pile, any decent RB with 3 years of college experience and 4 years of NFL experience should want to get yards where ever they see the opportunity, and not just blindly follow orders every play. There is something wrong with his ability to run outside. Gotta be, after 4 years of the same thing with two different play callers.

What's also funny is that for a GM who seems to value interior positions over edge/boundary positions, our LBers and Ss may be the least talented group of players.. Even Pittman and Downs elevate the WR talent. .

What game did you watch? I saw Pitts get behind our LBers and Ss for a 30 yard TD, not a check down. I saw Allgeier run 25 yards down the sideline on...a pitch play to a slow guy of all things....for a second TD...not a check down. I saw Bijan make people miss, because that's what he does, and Corderalle Patterson do what he has done for 8 years. ATLs RBs ran all over the Colts...because ATLs RBs and TE have more talent than our LBers and Ss. Which is what I said in the Don't Overlook the Falcons thread. ATLs strength in offensive talent is exactly where our weakness in defensive talent lies. Ballard's first hire was Elberflus. He also hired Bradley....and their were some rumors last year that any new HC had to be willing to work with Bradley. IMO, its tough to divorce Ballard from the scheme many here hate. Also, IMO, I'd say that Shane carries more weight with Irsay than Ballard does at this point. We'll see what happens.

What is funny, and many here probably don't see it. is how Arthur Smith uses his RBs compared to how the Colts coaches use JT. Tyler Allgeier burned us on a 25 yard TD run from an outside pitch play. I've never seen ATL run that play with Allgeier....ever.....its usually Robinson. They actually called a to-the-boundary pitch play for their inside runner RB...and it went for 25 yards, untouched TD. I've never seen Frank or Shane call that kind of a pitch to JT, or, have the sense that JT could remotely turn the corner as effectively as even Allgeier. And then there is Bijan, who is probably the best open field runner in the NFL...but people don't know that yet. JT...run to the pile, and hope their is a crease by the time he gets there. (Then blame failure on the Oline)

ATL probably has the best defense the Colts have played in a long time. Their offense has players, but give up bad plays at bad times and that's why they are not at least 9-6

When I say that JT sucks as a runner, and has for 4 years outside of a few big games in 2021, I'm being honest about others' favorite player. When I see him totally miss wide open areas to the outside to turn it up inside, I know I've been right about him as a runner for 4 years. We run between the OTs, because that's the only place JT will run unless some teammate or coach could scream at him and point ''Over there is where no defenders are" . I've said it for 4 years, and have been right about him for 4 years. Reality bites for some I guess,

I see ATL games every week. I know about them. When you see a team every week, you learn about them, but it doesn't mean you are a fan.

What game did you watch? Heineke didn't pick anybody apart. He looked like a normal NFL QB having a normal NFL game...nothing spectacular. Their skilled position players beat our defenders. Period. But we also did do poorly in the trenches.

Bijan makes defenders miss...because he's a real NFL RB. (he was a top 10 pick for a reason). Allgeier and Patterson are hard to bring down. It was always going to be a tough game because ATL has superior skilled personnel than the Colts have defenders to stop them. I'm surprised we lost in the trenches as badly as we did though.