Andy
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Posts posted by Andy
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I haven't been on much recently, but I felt the need to post this topic, just as an informative one.
Watching the Colts game yesterday, I thought that one of the main reasons they were able to have an efficient and productive day on offense was because of the stellar play of the offensive line. Luck was not sacked, rarely pressured and I think I saw him on the ground once or twice. That may have been their best performance in the Luck era, as they faced Demarcus Ware and Von Miller, two of the best pass rushers in football. They were outstanding.
However, after going on Pro Football Focus this morning, I saw that they disagreed with the general consensus of most football fans and analysts. They gave the Colts offensive line a combined grade of -12.7 and the offense received a grade of -13.0 (including the offensive linemen).
I like Pro Football Focus; I'll quote them in my articles and they give insight of some areas that other places would not. However, if you take everything they say as fact (which I see too often around here) and believe that everything they do is 100% correct, then you're wrong.
Another prime example of why you shouldn't always listen to the site is because of how they graded Luck a couple of years ago. Luck's rating in the 2012 Lions game was worse than the rating Ryan Lindley received in the Panthers playoff game a couple of weeks ago. Every Colts fan can tell you that Luck had an outstanding finish in that Lions game and was the main reason why they won. Lindley didn't break 100 yards and there's argument to be made that he may be the worst QB to start a game in the last few years.
Again, I'm not trying to bash the site, because I do use it and I do LIKE it, but again, I usually don't base my opinions around the site and I take some of what they say with a grain of salt, like yesterday's ratings.
This was just my way of saying to everyone here, who state PFF grades as if they were facts, that you should not always rely on the site for completely accurate information.
I don't want to turn this into a thread just about PFF. Let me know what you guys thought about the game, and specifically how you thought the O-line played. Personally, I thought it was their best performance of the year against a stout Broncos front 7 with two outstanding pass rushers.
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Came back on the forum and expected to see some chaos.
This is a thread that needed to be posted. Chuck is a great person, a great man, the ultimate motivator and he knows how to pump people up, but game after game, he gets out-coached and comes up with some horrendous gameplans.
It's a shame. This roster is talented enough to be an AFC elite team. The defense has its good players (Davis is an elite CB, Adams is playing like an all pro, and the front 7 is talented enough to be a force), and the offense has Luck, yet they always lose to these top teams and it's never close. Any team with some talent and a smart coaching staff could easily beat this Colts team and that's a shame considering our talent and Andrew Luck.
Now, in his first three seasons as a coach, Chuck has clinched three playoff berths and has a playoff win under his belt, so that's impressive. However, a team must always progress; rarely can a team go backwards and the coach not pay the ultimate price.
Grigson did a great job his first season, with his outstanding draft, the great Vontae Davis trade and some good FA signings (Redding, Avery to name a couple), but since then, not much has happened. Both drafts have been average at best, and there was obviously that horrendous Trent Richardson trade. Even if you haven't given up on T-Rich, getting rid of a first round pick was terrible. Then you have to consider some questionable free agent signings and then some minimal impacts from draft picks. It's nice to see Bjoern Werner, Jack Mewhort and Donte Moncrief contribute, but what about the other guys? Despite this, I don't think Grigson is the problem. I think Pagano and the staff has been a problem this year. Pep Hamilton (and I may get crap for this), has been mostly good. No one is perfect, and he has had some baffling calls (like running three times today for example), but overall, I'd give him a positive grade. Manusky has had his moments as well, but there's just too much inconsistency on defense. And then there's Chuck, who as a defensive minded coach, has failed to build a strong defense, despite all the money and picks dedicated towards building the defense. As mentioned earlier, he gets out-coached game after game.
I like Chuck a lot, but things need to change on his end in terms of game planning, preparing for opponents and must stop getting out-coached.
I haven't been on the forum as much recently (or at all), and it's nice to come back.
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Ankle injuries have been killing the Colts this season.
At first, Vick Ballard was out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. That's already a bad start. Since then, the biggest signing of the offseason
Arthur Jones has missed the majority of the season with a nagging ankle injury as well.
Josh McNary has also had some issues with ankle injuries and has missed practices and not been 100% because of it. He missed a game because of it.
Earlier this season, Jack Mewhort and Darius Butler each missed at least one game each because of ankle injuries. Both are key starters on offense and defense and their impact was felt in each game.
Finally, just last night, in a big game against the Patriots, the Colts lost two hugely important players to both ankle injuries. We're still waiting for confirmation on Ahmad Bradshaw but it seems like he has broken his ankle and would miss the rest of the season. On top of that, Dwayne Allen missed the majority of the game due to an ankle injury and reports indicate that it is a high ankle sprain. Nevertheless, the Colts didn't have a great blocker (in a game where the running game amassed 19 yards, 15 of which from Andrew Luck scrambles). If it's a high ankle sprain for Allen, he'd be expected to miss next week's game and be questionable after that. High ankle sprains are tricky and need to be watched carefully.
So the Colts have lost at least one, probably two running backs for the season due to ankle injuries. They haven't gotten any major contributions from their biggest free agent signing due to an ankle injury. Different players over the course of the season (Mewhort, Butler, McNary) have missed games because of the injury. Players like Joe Reitz, RJF, Khaled Holmes, Mike Adams and Josh Chapman have also missed practice time and even games because of the injuries. On top of all of this, the best tight end on the team who excels at blocking and is very good at receiving, is not a question mark going forward (in the next few games) because of an ankle injury.
What I'm still trying to figure out is this is a trend due to poor steps and measures taken by the medical staff (and even coaching staff) or is it a true coincidence?
I compared our injury report to the one of the Broncos & Packers. These are somewhat random, but these are two of the best teams in the NFL, with pass first offenses and top notch quarterbacks (like Indy). Indianapolis has had 12 different players show up on the Injury Report for ankle injuries and have Ballard and Bradshaw (assuming Bradshaw's ankle is broken) on the IR for the injuries as well. Dwayne Allen's ankle injury will also make him show up on the injury report, bringing that number up to 15 different players. The amount of money that is off the field due to ankle injuries!
Compared to teams like the Broncos, they have had 3 different players show up on the Injury Report for ankle injuries (none on IR). The Packers had 4 different players show up on the Injury Report for ankle injuries (none on IR, at least no major players on IR (didn't check practice squad caliber players on IR). The Colts have double the amount of those teams combined!
So I ask the question again, trend or coincidence? Personally, when I played football I always taped my ankle tight and it was something our coach preached and we rarely had ankle injuries. I'm not sure what the rules are towards taping ankles or ankle protection, but clearly something isn't working. To start calling for the heads of the medical staff would be (funny at first) irrational, but with the Colts being a team known for it's various amounts of injuries in the past, it's time to perhaps start changing some things behind closed doors (in terms of their mentality). I'm not a medical expert or a doctor or anything, but this is when it's time to start putting their pHd's together, start thinking as one and start to come up with ways of reducing injuries, especially ankle injuries because this is getting ridiculous.
Thoughts on this?
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The defense has potential and if they play well, this team is dangerous, but having down games like this one can kill anyone.
Brady didn't play well, yet they won by 22.
It's not that the defense is horrible, they're just inconsistent and that's frustrating.
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The Colts have done a great job versus Brady, but just cannot stop Gray and that's made all the difference.
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It's gotta be the beard, it's just gotta be.
In all seriousness, my guess is that it says Luck on the back, and of course girls probably find that cool.
Look at me trying to configure what a girl is thinking
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I don't know if we can even talk to you anymore, since you've been writing all those articles on Stampede Blue
..congrats on your articles...you've even gotten other reporters to link to you...Its going ok so far...except that everything IndyD4U touches turns to gold...looks like we are never going to catch him..
Thanks for the kind words bud, and I'm glad to hear that everyone is enjoying the league.
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Perfectly placed bye week.
Come back strong and take down the Pats.
Great win today!
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Every year, I always have one or two players that I love to watch (very closely) and I believe (and predict) will be very good players in the NFL. Usually around mid October (in this case, early November), I announce the guys. I've done this for the past few seasons. For example, in 2012 my prospects were Keenan Allen and BJ Daniels. Allen has been a superstar and Daniels is third stringer. Last season, I had Brandin Cooks, who at the time (mid-October) was projected to go in the 5th round and ended up going 20th overall.
This year, my prospect is Devante Parker, wide receiver from Louisville. Parker has great size, very good ball skills and goes up for the ball. He uses his size very well and has underrated athleticism. I can see him becoming a great impact player for almost any team. So he's my guy for the year.
Who is your prospect to watch and what are your thoughts on Devante Parker?
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Yes and I don't even think there's a question about.
The guy has won two Super Bowls, been to 3 and shows up in big games. He has stats to back up his great accomplishments and has been to the playoffs many times. I can't say he's a guaranteed first ballot guy, but he'll definitely get in.
He still has a few good years left in him and he should pad up his career stats to a very high level when it's all said and done.
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Yeah and at one point they were actually tied with them........
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Man, Welker is useless.
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Patriots look great. Broncos need to make some things happen very quickly.
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How's everyone enjoying their league?
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I'd be surprised if Luck breaks 5000 yards, let alone the single season pass yards record.
His numbers look great now, but these are only projections and are Sup said, it's only going to come down from there.
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I'm not worried and here's why:
- Ben Roethlisberger, who in my opinion is a Hall of Famer, had himself one of the greatest games you'll ever see from any quarterback. It was pure magic out there and he made huge plays. Games like that rarely happen, and this guy was on and there weren't many defenses in the league that could have stopped him today.
- The Colts did score 34 points, which more than their average and a very healthy amount.
- The game was in Pittsburgh and their fans were fired up. Playing in Pittsburgh (maybe not on paper this year) has been tough for the last 25 years (some older fans would say even longer).
- The Colts are at 5-3 and have won 5 of their last 6 games. They have a nice grip on the division and are still very much in the chase for the top spot in the AFC. THe Broncos are at 6-1 and the Patriots are at 6-2.
- This team is so resilient. Andrew Luck is a real fighter and this offense is amongst the best in the league. Donte Moncrief is an animal as well and he needs to get that #3 receiver spot (full time) over Nicks. The Nicks project isn't working out too well.
This is where we need to just stay patient, overcome this loss and move forward.
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I can't believe they called offsides on that field goal.
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The Colts needed that drive badly.
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This is the old Colts defense playing here. They can't pressure Big Ben and he's just picking them apart.
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Hopefully this is what wakes up the defense.
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Smart pass heavy drive for the Steelers.
Colts need to start pressuring him.
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Really nice to see Richardson have a great game.
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Another "quiet" big game for TY Hilton.
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Richardson has been the best offensive player today.
..congrats on your articles...you've even gotten other reporters to link to you...
Peyton Manning played past month with a torn quad
in NFL General
Posted
Manning's still got another year left in him. Keep in mind he had 39 touchdowns this year and had another stellar season.
He needs to rest up big time, go see Cutcliffe for his tune up and come back next year. However, the Broncos cannot rely on him as much and they need to limit the amount of attempts he has, especially in the earlier part of the season (against weaker teams especially).
The injuries are starting to mount now, but I hope he thinks this one through and comes back.
We shouldn't be hearing a decision for awhile. Of all people, he's not the one to come and make a rash decision.