Superman

I think we've seen about 30% of Steichen's offense so far. Most of what we do in the passing game is RPO, and stresses efficiency and getting rid of the ball quickly. We have a QB who doesn't handle pressure well, and doesn't threaten down the field. And the run game should be exponentially more diverse once we have a QB who can play a role. I think Steichen's offense and play calling should be the least of our worries going into 2024.

Pagano as well. The 2013 Colts beat the Chiefs in the wild card round, that was the ridiculous comeback. And then they won two playoff games the next season. Agreed with the bolded, though. There's usually 5-7 new teams in the playoffs every year, so breaking into the postseason once isn't that high of a bar to clear.

So the Colts having some success this season is a bad thing in your eyes, because of how it reflects on Ballard. Got it. You don't enjoy watching the Colts win games if Ballard is involved.

I think the gameplan this week was less conservative than last week, which I appreciated. Still not my favorite gameplan, or scheme. Also, I think the DBs made mistakes on that final drive. Those weren't throws underneath, those were intermediate throws that mostly should have been contested by the outside corners. But our outside corners are both rookies, and our nickel is a replacement from the practice squad. Seemed like mistakes to me, just how I saw it. Do you think they replace Bradley in the offseason? As much as I think we need a different defense, I doubt they make a change.

We actually didn't get a Thursday night game, don't know why, I thought every team got a Thursday night game... And Germany is the opposite of prime time!

Which is why I think Colts/Texans will be in the late afternoon slot next week. I think Jags/Titans will be one of the early games. Edit: Wrong, Colts/Texans on Saturday night.

Just announced, it's Bills/Dolphins, for the AFC East.

Exactly. People have some weird interpretations of Ballard's comments on character, IMO. There are reports that almost every team viewed Pickens as a first round talent, but almost every team had serious questions about his personality, and other things. The Steelers have had good results with mercurial receivers in the past, but in just the last two seasons, they've had some discouraging situations with really talented guys that just have bad attitudes. The issues with Pickens character showed up a couple weeks ago, when he decided not to block for his teammate on a potential TD play. Meanwhile, Pierce gets one target today (officially; another got wiped out by penalty), generally gets overlooked in the gameplan and by the QB, IMO. And even last week, with Pittman out, he didn't get the Pittman role on game day. Yet he's never complained. Even Pittman was in his feelings earlier this year, which is way out of character for him. And then today, late in the game, Pierce is completely engaged and blocking for Pittman on a smoke screen. This is a play that could easily be called for Pierce to get the target, but it ALWAYS goes to Pittman. And Pierce just does his job. And that's an example of what "football character" is really about.

It's been playing with house money all year, especially after Richardson went out. But sadly, his injury puts a big damper on this season for me. We don't know whether we really have a chance to contend in the future until we know what the QB can do, and that's on pause until next year. Compare that to 2012, when we'd seen how magical Luck could be. Even though the roster still needed a lot of work, we knew we had our guy, and my optimism was through the roof. But yeah, it's hard to understand why someone can't just appreciate this season for what it is. It's almost like they don't actually want the Colts to win games...

He didn't bother me at all, I think he's pretty good and wouldn't mind him being in a 2 man booth. But they need to figure out his mic situation, his audio was awful all day.

I don't blame Bradley for the Browns game, and it's not about the refs. The Browns scored a defensive TD, blocked a kick, and scored plenty of points on short fields. The way that game went was very strange. The Browns defense is really good, and was hot at the time, and they made a ton of plays. Still, we had a season high 456 yards, season high 38 points, we threw it well and ran it well. But the turnovers and little mistakes were killers. That's the last team we played that I felt was legit better than the Colts, and we almost won, despite all those mistakes.

I haven't seen this anywhere else, but they said during the game today that Pierce has run 40 more go routes than any other receiver in the NFL.

This team was expected to win 6 games this year. They just got their ninth win today, and are now knocking on the door to the playoffs. Does any of this bring you any pleasure or joy?

I'm no Bradley fan and I'll always have issues with how he calls the defense. I thought his gameplan today was kind of refreshing. Maybe his blitzes looked more effective because the QB is a rookie and was caught off guard, but he did a better job of mixing things up today. Compared to last week's gameplan, when Bradley and Steichen confirmed that they played it conservative to protect the secondary. This week, we had two additional starters out, yet the gameplan was more aggressive from the beginning. Days like today make me scratch my head, because if Bradley was this versatile every week -- and let's be clear, he was only about 20% more versatile today than he usually is, it's not like he's suddenly Dick LeBeau -- I'd be less concerned with him being the DC. That said, some of the coverages were annoying. It seemed like the Raiders had an open receiver right in the middle of the field on every passing down. I'd rather clamp down the middle and make the QB try a more difficult throw to the outside. And we absolutely have to tackle better. Doesn't mean he won't be in protocol tomorrow. I'm mostly joking, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Wait until tomorrow when EJ Speed winds up in protocol...

The first element is the scheme. The passing game revolves around Pittman, by design. And last week, they mostly put Montgomery in Pittman's spot. The second element is the play of the QB, and that's pretty obvious and self-explanatory. But to answer your question, I don't think it's only about Pierce getting open after the pressure is affecting the QB. I think the play of the QB is the biggest factor.

Plays from under center in the first half: 1st quarter: 10:54, 2nd and 8, play action, incomplete pass 7:42, 1st and 10, toss right to Taylor, 0 yards 2nd quarter: 13:42, 1st and 10, handoff middle, 0 yards 3:23, 1st and 10, double fake, screen, incomplete pass Just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. Two runs from under center, two play fakes from under center, zero success. To your point, if we tried to get the run game going with plays from under center, not just sporadically doing it as a wrinkle, it could have an impact. But the small sample size from the Falcons game isn't encouraging.

Yeah I was just doing the same on ESPN. But if we win out, and the Steelers win out, I think we're in no matter what the Jags do.

I guess the main path is to get the division, which is still in play even if we lose one of the next two. But the Jags would have to lose.

Trevor Lawrence is out...

Bingo. It's an anomaly that will be corrected over time. And even though it's good to have a high pressure to sack ratio, the problem with having a low pressure rate is that there are 30+ pass attempts per game where we get no pressure on the QB. And it's those plays where the defense gets hurt the most. I think sacks are very valuable, but pressure is also very important, and we just don't get enough.

It's almost like the Colts have an entire department dedicated to PR / engagement, and it has nothing to do with football operations...

Based on what? What do you think happens when he gets thrown a catchable ball? He's only been charged with three drops this season... Catch rate is a stat based on total targets, not catchable targets. So no, he doesn't have a 91% catch rate. Break it down further. Pierce has 60 total targets this season. If 34 were catchable, that leaves 26 not catchable. That's 1.7 bad throws to Pierce per game. Don't you think that holds up to the eye test? You don't think Minshew overthrows Pierce 1-2 times per game?

I don't think he owes the Colts anything -- loyalty, gratitude, etc. They paid him in exchange for his play, not out of the kindness of their hearts. There are feelings and personal relationships involved, but the bottom line is about business.

That's fair. It's not the foundation of the defense that I dislike. Like you said, it's the overall rigidity and lack of variety that I think will limit its effectiveness. And against really good QBs and offenses, it really doesn't stand a chance; the hope is that they'll make a mistake in the red zone. Bradley showed real flexibility against the Ravens, using an opponent specific gameplan. If he had a similar approach week to week, I'd be fine with him. Bettcher can run a 4-3, his defense has a variety of principles. I think he just kept what Todd Bowles had established. I wouldn't mind him being on the list of potential DCs. You make a good point about the Vikings defense. I'm not super familiar with all their young players so I don't want to compare the quality of the roster, but it's not like they have a bunch of household names making huge plays every week. What Flores has done shows that scheme can improve the quality of a defense even if the roster still needs work.