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In two days, the Indianapolis Colts take the field in their first game against real competition. Even though it is preseason, it is still the maiden event for what has become a completely revamped franchise. One would have to draw some very sketchy comparisons to find a team historically that has changed so many aspects in just one off-season. In review, this franchise lost it's franchise QB to injury and that loss was followed by poor team play, questionable coaching decisions, head scratching coordinator approaches, and overall lack of team confidence. What was a franchise that was feared, was now a team that was almost a lock to get the next years first pick before the season was half over. In short, it was like a plane running out of fuel and the descent gained moment as it plummeted towards the #32 spot in the league. No disrespect to those players who still fought their tail off all season. Far from it. They were simply not put into a position where they could succeed despite the circumstances. Fast forward to the present, we now stand on the edge of a new era. Gone are the gushing articles of praise, heaped weekly upon the Colts as result of their undeniable ability to win and win often. Twelve wins was always a possibility, tens wins was likely, and 8 wins was a given that bordered on ridiculousness when questioned. Gone is the media attention as a whole. What we have now are questions, but there is excitement around the questions. How will the team play? Will we run the football? Will we be tough on defense? Will our coach be animated? Will we do anything like we did before...or will we have a whole new identity? Just the notion that these questions, and many many more just like it are about to be answered, has the beginning of this new era busting with potential, possibilities, and hope. As we talk about what could happen, express concern about how long it might take to get there, and shamelessly heap vast expectations upon this new Colt era to help us get past our own disappointments, this writer hopes that we acknowledge the challenges that this franchise has had to emerge from, and move on. I see article after article about how Andrew Luck is expected to replace Mr. Manning, or how this team needs or wants to erase the ugliness of the past season. I could not disagree more. Like a reawakening of the soul.....player, coach, owner, and fan alike have had their mental framework reset about who the Colts are. The choice belongs to each and every one of us. Tabula Rasa. Blank slate. We can see the success of the past as a reminder of what we no longer have. We can see any failure or challenge that the team faces this season as an example of what this team no longer is. We can also view those challenges and failures through a filter of excitement, hope, and fierce pride, as one who has emerged from the fire. This team, this year, can be the start of the best Colt era ever.....and it can exist, without diminishing or lessening a single accomplishment that any Colt player or team has given their fans in the past. And it can exist without the responsibility of replacing or erasing anything from the past. They are quite simply, two different eras. Bon voyage, Colts. May the journey be a memorable one.
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Merrill Hodge said on ESPN today that he watched a lot of film today and based on 5 categories, he gave RG3 the nod over Andrew Luck. Accuracy RG3 Arm Str RG3 Touch RG3 Decision making Luck (by a thread) Athleticism Tie He says he doen'st have access to the interviews, but based on the film he saw says the Colts should draft RG3.
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Idk how ill do it theres so many holes in the team, and no trade bait outside of mathis, im good at madden and love to play as the colts on all-madden and usally go far in franchise mode every year not always winning the super bowl or going 16-0 but i always make playoffs at least. How will you guys play?? -
I know it stinks to see so many of the veteran players being released. This does not mean I'm happy about any of it. But, with the majority of the fan base (present company included), most new it was time for a change. Fans were calling for Caldwell and Polian to be fired (me included). Well, the wish was granted so I have to expect a change of direction. Now that I got that out of my system I'll get to the real point of this thread...Which veteran players (in the Manning era) have been released by the colts, only to have GREATER success with their new team than they had here in Indy? Marshall Faulk comes to mind, but I cannot think of too many others.
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Okay, personal rant on... I purposefully stayed away from the board yesterday. I took the day off from work and sulked. Watched the press conferences and all of the rigamorole surrounding Manning's departure. And I came away with one major conclusion: As fans, If we are to support the continuation of success, if we are to support the continuation of the standards that Irsay, Polian, Dungy and Manning set down vis-a-vis a Championship calibre organization, then we have to give Andrew Luck a lot of latitude these first two seasons. Colts fans are acclimated to our QB being the greatest QB in the history of the game. And with that comes some instinctive expectations with regards to game play, decision making, execution and ultimately victories. But Andrew Luck has nothing to do with our muscle memory, our atmosphere or expectations. He is not Peyton Manning. He is not going to do what Manning did. He may exceed it (as I hope) or he may not. But he is not Peyton Manning. IMHO He deserves a clean slate. No Manningesque expectations from us as "fans". All cheers. All encouragement (because you know the Krapitz' of the World are gonna open fire at the first loss. Especially if we do not fly out the gate with 10 wins). But we're not Dolphins fans. We're not Raiders fans. We're Colts fans. We've endured some of the worst football teams in the history of the league. So let's stay humble. Let's give this kid all of the support and latitude he needs (from the fans) in these first few years to be succesful. If we want to have the next 14 years look anything like the previous 14, then we have to throw everything Manning out the window (for now), focus on Andrew Luck's team and roll with him. ...rant off.
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Per Michael David Smith at PFT - "...any team can sign Wallace to an offer sheet, and if the cap-strapped Steelers don’t match the offer, Wallace will cost only one first-round draft pick. Acquiring a 25-year-old who’s arguably the best deep threat in the NFL for a first-round draft pick isn’t a bad deal at all, especially if there’s a playoff contender that believes a big-play receiver is just the thing they need to win the Super Bowl." ...just throwing it out there. With the possibility of losing Reggie and the Waiter (one or both) could Mike Wallace be a FA option? -
From the album: Colts @ Patriots
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There are many threads and post on this forum, who should be Indianapolis Colts' new HC. Many thinks Jim Caldwell is on a hot seat, however there are no sign of it. Lets, outline a HC! In my opinion an HC at Indy is able to set fire in players is a good matcher designs up to date play schemes thinks Specials are important puts more emphasis on D sometimes calls rushing plays makes good calls is able to handle Manning AND Luck What is Your opinion? What do You think, what are the most important features of a HC at Indy? Who is fitting the best these features? Brad Childress? Mark Zimmer? Jack Del Rio? Jim Caldwell? Marty Mornhinweg? Else? (these names don't mean I want them, but more or less they are available)
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https://twitter.com/#!/AJCFalcons From Falcons website: Les Snead begins his 13th season with the Falcons personnel department and the third under his title of Director of Player Personnel. Snead oversees both the college and pro scouting efforts and works closely with Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff. He also plays a day-to-day role in the analysis and evaluation of the Falcons current roster and provides salary value analysis of all player acquisitions, while aiding in the research on how to acquire future free agents. Snead came to Atlanta from Jacksonville, where he worked in the pro scouting department for the Jaguars from 1995-97. During his NFL career he has participated in one Super Bowl appearance (with the Falcons) and three Conference Championship Games. Les played tight end for Auburn from 1992-93 and was part of the Tigers’ perfect 11-0 team in 1993. He also earned Southeast Region Academic All-American honors during his college career. This 37 year-old native of Eufaula, Ala., was a graduate assistant at Auburn after his playing days were over. Snead also was an administrative assistant of football operations at his alma mater in 1995. He holds a bachelor of science degree in Psychology and planned to attend medical school until he was offered a graduate assistant coaching position at his alma mater. While working as a graduate assistant he received a Master’s of Education degree. Les has finished two marathons. He and his wife, Elizabeth, reside with their son, Logan, and daughter, Cannon, in Braselton, Georgia. http://www.atlantafalcons.com/roster-staffs/les-snead/
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This upcoming offseason is really important which is why I hope the Colts find the right GM for the job. It is probably the most important offseason since the '97 offseason when Manning was drafted. The Colts now have to make a decision on him and many other veterans who's contracts are expiring. I recently have been thinking through scenarios about what the major decisions could cause. 1. Manning's future: One of the decisions the Colts could make is to keep him do nothing about his contract. But there are still uncertainties with that choice. What about FA's? Are we going to continue to base the team around him even after this season's results? I don't think so, what could they do to sign some FA's and still keep Manning? The most welcome way is to restructure Manning's contract to make it more cap friendly but what about other options? Another option that I recently thought of is they could resign the younger guys and maybe sign one veteran, they still would be building the team for the future but they would lose much of the veteran leadership. Of course the Colts could let him go, he would probably retire and the colts would draft Luck but some problems and uncertainties still arise from that scenario. Who has ever seen Luck play in an NFL game.... No one has so how do we know how that will turn out? Some names come to mind (Ryan Leaf, Jamarcus Russell, Vince Young) and if that is true we pretty much sacrificed that season and maybe more after that. But there are still some positives that come out of that scenario, more money to resign and sign FA's, and it creates a team ready for the future. I personally think Manning will stay on the team. 2. Head Coaching Position This is obviously just as big of a decision as #1. One scenario is that the Colts fire Caldwell and hire a veteran coach like Fisher or Cower. The only concern is that they hire the wrong one for the job. There are quite a few of benefits. They could build a strong overall team, they could also focus on specific needs(which could be good or bad) I do believe this is the way to go, not that Caldwell did a poor job he just didn't do a great job. They could also keep Caldwell, but that does carry a lot of uncertainty. We have seen what injuries has done the past 2 years will that happen again? Maybe we don't have injury problems and win a Super Bowl? It just carries too much unknown effects. I personally think we should hire Jeff Fisher. Well I only talked about two topics but there are many more, how will the Colts build for the future? What will be their focus on how to prepare for the future? Who will be the new GM? The list goes on and on. Which just proves how important the next couple months are.
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Replacing Bill Polian, a legend in the NFL, an icon. Tough challenge, firstly because it's been "his" team for 14 years, and i won't be easy making it "your" team. First off; the HC dilemma: Word on Twitter(and everywhere else) is that the players worked their butts off for Caldwell. Problem is, his game management leaves much to desire. However, I would do my best convincing him to be reassigned to his former job as a QB-coach, as P-Money and Caldwell has a great relationship. I would look for a defensive HC, Jeff Fisher will be coveted by a lot of teams, and he might be gone by the time you're hired as GM. Bill Cowher is another option, as P-Money clearly is an established QB. The outside pick, could be Rob Ryan from the Cowboys. Assuming Jeff Fisher is available, he would be my pick. He knows the team, the staff and his philosophy matches the roster. A change of scheme would be a nightmare, due to the player material. He would have his hands free to get the coordinators he wants, but i think a person like Mike Murphy would be allowed to keep his job as DC. He impressed late in the season, and he has huge knowledge of the cover-2. He would be a great guy to have around, at least in a transition period, as Fisher's scheme is similar in many ways, but the small o-line will be new to him, and an experienced hand would be a good thing. Clyde Christensen would be replaced. His playcalling this year has not been satisfactory. Problem is, he has strong ties to P-Money. I think i would be a little unorthodox. A name like Mike Martz, would be a nice addition in my opinion. Martz' pass heavy offense would match the skills of P-Money perfectly, and could become "the greatest show on turf" v2.0. Second big decision; The Peyton Manning situation: Actually, this is Jim Irsay's decision. I would keep him, this would be a great cornerstone on at team with a former DC as HC. P-Money can take care of the offense with Martz, and Fisher can start rebuilding the offense, making sure the next couple of seasons will be better than the one we just left. I truly think it's the right decision, and as Irsay have strong ties to him, i would be surprised if he leaves. Of course, this is assuming his health has been cleared by the medical staff. If he can't play 100%, he should be cut. Many propose a trade, but he has a 28 mil bonus march 8. so the decision has to be made before that, and the league doesn't allow trades until march 13. If he were to be cut or traded after march 8., it would be a cap suicide. "#Pleasepeytonplay" Third big decision; The Draft and the #1 overall Pick: I truly believe the right thing to do, is trading the pick to the highest bidder. According to Adam Schefter a trade would be worth 3 1st rounders and 2 2nd rounders. On top of that, the word on the street is that The Browns aren't sold on Colt McCoy, and could have luck on their radar. Again, this is Irsay's decision, but i believe it is the right choice. Assuming this trade goes through, it would give us 2 1st rounders and two 2nd rounders this year. This would be a huge boost to Fisher's new defense, and replace some of the FA's on offense. I won't put any names up, I'm not that experienced in the scouting world.(although as The Colts GM, i actually should be) next big decisions; Free Agency: I won't make a huge deal of this, as a lot of it depends on the draft. No matter what, i would do my best to keep Robert Mathis an Pierre Garcon. Payers like Jeff Saturday, Anthony Gonzalez, and Reggie Wayne, would be evaluated and compared to drafted players, and may be retained if the price is right. And then, your first season as the Colts GM would begin. If they did like i say, they'd probably go 0-16 but hey, this is just one amateur colts fans opinion.
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This might not be the most popular choice, but if I was the Colts GM then I would go all-in with Peyton Manning or all-in with Andrew Luck at the #1 pick. This team needs a lot of help all over the field, and both Manning and the #1 pick could bring us back a LOT of draft picks and/or players. The Colts do not have the luxury of keeping both for a few seasons simply because we have holes all over the field. I wish we did, but we need to many players at too many positions to keep both high-value QB's on the roster next season. If the Colts had been successful on their past 4-5 1st-round picks (excluding the 2011 draft) and made better choices, then depth wouldn't be the issue that it is. The lack of young talent on this team wouldn't be an issue. However, we have been missing on our picks and the result is that we have a severe talent deficiency all over the field, especially on defense. Think about it, here are our positions of major need going into the offseason: -Young QB prospect to take over for Peyton Manning -Young elite WR to take over for Reggie Wayne -New C to replace Jeff Saturday when he retires or leaves -Another OG or OT to add to the Castonzo/Ijalana duo -CB and S... our secondary is the biggest weakness on this team -LB depth, although Brackett coming back will help -New DE's to replace Mathis if he leaves in Free Agency -A run-stuffing DT to pair with Nevis Those are a lot of needs for a team to keep 2 high-level QB's on their roster. And here's the catch: with the team coming back next season as it looks now, even including the new draft picks that we will have, we are still going to struggle. We might be able to win the division (big maybe), but we aren't going to be able to cover up our deficiencies as we have in the past. We still have aging vets. If we end up taking Luck and keeping Manning, that only leaves us with a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and later picks to add to our defense. Bottom line is we need more than that to get this team back on track. With that being said, both Manning and Luck deserve to be equipped as well as possible in order to give them each the best chance to succeed. If we bring Peyton back, he is only coming back to try and win another Super Bowl. The talent that we could get for the #1 pick would be incredibly high, and would get us much closer to contending for a title. Peyton deserves that kind of commitment from us, and anything short would be incredibly disappointing. The same goes for Luck. Being a rookie QB who will have to live in the shadow of Peyton Manning, he needs to get the best possible shot from us to allow him to succeed in the NFL. This team has a lot of holes that even Luck wouldn't be able to fix from Day One. Therefore, trading Peyton for 1st, 2nd and maybe more draft picks would let the Colts either give him a stud WR or a franchise OL who could protect him or give him a great weapon to help out. Or he could at least have a great defense to take pressure off of him. Otherwise, if he comes in to next season with a roster that is similar to what we have now, it would be extremely unfair to him and would put him in a similar place that Sam Bradford is in right now... a good franchise with very little help around him. And that's not going to help him one bit. Either way, the Colts will have a tough choice to make. But both QB's and the franchise's future will benefit if we fully invest with either QB. Hopefully the Colts give each guy their best possible chance to succeed.
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Let me tell you guys about a rather strange dream I had last night as I closed my eyes to go to bed. As I enter the dream world land, I woke up at Lucas oil stadium to see my wonderful colts in the super bowl. Now still not knowing this was a dream, I didn’t understand how the season went and how we got here, aka what record we had, and what teams did we beat and etc. Some things that I did notices were the roster. Here are just a few of the players I’m talking about: QB: Curtis, Painter Kerry Collins Jim Sorgi------->was signed at the near end of the seasons and was the starter. (I’m not sure why?) RB: Joe Addai Delone Carter Chris Gronkowski Darren Evans---------> was signed after Donald brown was cut. CB Kelvin Hayden was resigned from a trade The Story Here was the story I heard al Michaels talking about in the booth about the colts. He was saying something about our two DE Robert Mathis and Freeney putting up 16.5 sacks each and our d-line played so well that it created many picks for a secondary, where our defense was able to turn it around and barley get us into the players with a tiebreaker at the end of the season and us winning the division over Tennessee. On offences we had a good 3 headed monster a RB. Addai Delone Carter and Darren Evans was a home run hitter who broke away the most 20+ yard runs with low amounts of carries. Delone Carter was 10 for 10 on 3 and 1 this season and addai was just two hard to tackle. Ok now back to the Game. As I stand there on the steps of Lucas oil stadium, the fact that I never been there before because I’m a young man from PA and don’t have really the money to fly out there, I Stood there in amassment , still not knowing this was a dream, We was facing the Detour Lions who had the best record in the NFL this season, The Kick off was set and ready to go, the game was on the way!. THE GAME We gotten the ball first, and boy oh boy let me tell you Jim Sorgi looked Great as the first played they called was a PA-pass that went to Austin Collie for 16 yards(because the defense had 8 men in the box). The very next play the colts ran a quick TE screen pass to Dallas Clark who pick up 9 yards. The fan in the stand was going crazy. Also let me note that the Fans of the Indianapolis area had filled the stadium, there where colts jersey everywhere. The Next play the ran a stretch play running away from Ndamukong Suh but we only picked up 1 yard. As the lions were celebrating the stop the colts quickly ran the no huddle and threw a 59 yard touchdown strike to Pierre Garcon. THE SAD ENDING I guess this is the part where I started to wake up and come back to life, Jim sorgi looked really good on that first drive, but after that the lions defenses took over, I’m not too sure what happen between the game, as I guess I was starting to wake up. It’s like the game fast forward itself to the end where we lost horrible 35-10. Even though I always said to myself that I rather not make the playoffs if that means I would have to feel the pain again from losing a super bowl,(And Once again Jim Caldwell Keeps his Job). At least we was able to get a spark on defense, and that what we been missing for years. And with number 18 playing we would have won every game that year even the super bowl.
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Things to watch for Offense, C: 17 points, 318 total yards, 6.1 yards/play, 13 first downs (9 passing, 2 rushing, 2 penalties), 4/13 on third down, 1 turnover, 21 minutes time of possession Offensive line/blocking -- Kind of a regression for our offensive line, because even before the injuries, we weren't getting a consistent push in the run game, nor were we giving the quarterback a consistent pocket. The interior of the line was getting pushed back in pass pro, and they weren't getting a consistent push in the run game. The tackles did a better job blocking the pass, and there were some nice double-teams with guards on outside runs, but it was very hit and miss. The backs also struggled in pass protection, and not just Brown. Carter and Addai both missed blocks also. Link kind of came back down to earth, and Castonzo missed a couple times. As Coffee said in his pregame write-up, AC handled Clayborn pretty well, but he did lose a couple battles. Nothing to worry about too much. And then the injuries started to take their toll, and it got even worse. We broke a couple of nice runs, including a draw for Carter that I was hoping was on its way. We really didn't run nearly enough, but 9 of our 18 run plays went for 2 yards or less. We also gave up a season-high 4 sacks. I don't see this getting better with Castonzo and Diem still out for the foreseeable future. I want to grade on a curve because of the injuries, but there wasn't a lot of positive even before the injuries. D+ Backs/receivers -- Another futile showing for our guys. Sometimes it's like it doesn't even matter that they're out there. I will give full marks for Garcon making up for his two early drops with two really good plays, the highlights of the year for us so far. He's the only receiver who really got anything done. And it's not their fault; the blocking didn't give much time for anything to develop in this game. The few catches that everyone did make, they battled hard after the catch and maximized their opportunities. The backs fought hard in the run game, but didn't get any looks in the passing game. No time to check down. Season low 3.4 ypc for the backs, with only a few really productive runs. The ills were mostly not the backs fault, though. They did all they could, for the most part. The couple moderate runs (9 yarder for Addai up the left side, 13 yarder for Carter on a well-timed draw up the left side), they got really good blocking, and the rest were extreme battles. However, the backs and receivers all fought all game long. Just didn't get very many good opportunities. More on that in the quarterbacking and coaching sections... B- Quarterback -- The yardage looks good, the two touchdowns look good, but beneath the surface was a mediocre performance that just wasn't enough of what we need, and was too much of what we can't have. The positives are that Painter seems more comfortable throwing the ball on timing routes and when he's under duress; the negatives are that he's not a consistent passer, which means that some of his throws are really bad. He looks better than I thought he would look after the first two preseason games, and he helped the offense finally score a first half touchdown, followed up with another long scoring play. It's still problematic for any hopes this team has or may have had that Curtis Painter is our best quarterback at our disposal. But there is simply no question that he is the best quarterback at our disposal. The offensive line is going to have to pass protect better, and the coaching staff is going to have to focus on (a) being more balanced in the playcalling, and (b) giving him more high percentage chances to throw completions. He had two horrible stretches, one where he was 0-7, and another where he was 3-10 with three sacks, and I believe the bulk of the blame goes to the playcalling during those stretches. (More in coaching.) I'm encouraged, and I expect that he'll get better, but we still have big issues at quarterback. C- Defense, C-: 24 points, 466 total yards, 6 yards/play, 25 first downs (14 passing, 10 rushing, 1 penalty), 7/17 on third down, 2/2 on fourth down, 0 turnovers Defensive line -- Started off well, playing gaps perfectly, getting pressure on the quarterback, opening plays up for linebackers, and keeping the quarterback contained. As the game wore on, they started to get battered and bruised, and an already short-handed crew took a severe blow as Eric Foster suffered one of the most gruesome injuries I've ever seen. And from there, we started playing Tyler Brayton at tackle, who didn't do horribly, but the line just couldn't keep it up. They were on the field for two thirds of the game, going against a powerful back and a well-coached offensive line. Started to make some mistakes with gap assignments (which is why Graham got out for a 31 yard run), and I think frustration set in as the Bucs kept holding and grabbing, and then we started committing silly penalties also. Two ticky-tack offsides calls against Freeney (Thank You, Ron Winters, for a 20-penalty game; that's always fun). Jerry Hughes got his first NFL sack, so good for him. Freeman's mobility proved to be an issue at the end of the game, and everything in between neutralized the pass rush. The promising start for our front came to an end as the Bucs pounded them into submission, and with the injuries mounting, I don't know what to expect moving forward. If we have to play Brayton at tackle, we might see more of Hughes on passing downs. C Secondary -- I've been grading them harshly so far, because we're giving up too many completions, and we're giving up too many big completions. The Bucs had several pass plays of 20 yards or more, and had two called back due to penalties. Freeman also completed 25 passes overall, which makes it incredibly hard for you to win games. The guys also missed some tackles after underneath completions. But I think the pass coverage issue lies mostly with coaching. We can't vacate the middle of the field and allow 8-12 yard completions over and over again. And if you are okay with that, then you better make sure you're not getting beat for bigger pass plays, but we did get beat for bigger pass plays. It has to be one or the other. We've all been hard on Lacey, and now we're being hard on Terrance Johnson, and both players deserve some criticism, but the scheme is a bigger problem for me than the players right now. Give me better tackling, and give me fewer mistakes on the back end. That lies with the players. I'll get on the coaches in a minute. C- Linebackers -- They deserve their share of the blame for the pass coverage also, but like I said, this is more a scheme issue than an execution issue. Didn't miss very many tackles in this one, though there were a few, particularly one by Wheeler that allowed a first down. Still, our linebacker corps has made huge strides in the first month of the season. Started out very problematic, but they were our best unit in this one. Which isn't that good, considering that they had a few problems also. Not much to say, though. WIth 36 tackles, they were certainly active. Just playing behind a depleted line and in front of a depleted secondary, and playing a scheme that doesn't make much sense right now. B- Special teams, B- Four total returns, with nothing to speak of. But we locked their return game down as well, with Pat continue to kick the living daylights out of the ball. There was only one punt return that had a chance of getting somewhere, and we held it to 13 yards. Big mistake on the botched hold, which cost us points, but that's just one of those things. At least we've fixed the coverage, it seems. And without kicking punts out of bounds every time. Good work. Tighten up that hold and this is an A. Coaching, D+ On defense, we continue to employ a scheme that not only isn't effective at limiting big pass plays, but it also completely invalidates our great pass rush. I've been saying it loudly since we lost the Super Bowl, and I've been saying it in general for longer than that: If we allow the other team to complete short passes, we have zero chance of pressuring the quarterback, our defense gets left on the field for long stretches of time, and we won't be a good defense. Not only were we back to giving up cushions on the outside, we also continued to drop the middle linebacker deep on passing plays. There's nothing wrong with that Tampa 2 coverage (really should be called Tampa 3, since the linebacker makes it a Cover 3 look), unless the other team is sitting a receiver in the vacated zone in the middle of the field over, and over, and over, and over again. We used to play man in certain situations; have we played man at all this season? We got much more aggressive on the final drive, but we had a very slim margin for error, and our defense had been battered for 70 plays already to that point, so we didn't tackle very well. I understand that we have personnel suited for a base Cover 2 defense. We don't have to stick to it so religiously, though, and I wish we'd make adjustments more quickly throughout the course of the game. D On offense, we started out very well, I thought, and then suddenly we forgot that we have those short, strong guys called running backs, who you can hand the ball off to and let them gain yards without having to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage. Those guys, along with the offensive line, make up what we call a "running game," and you can use this running game in lieu of throwing passes. Why in the wide, wide world of sports would we throw the ball 30 times (not including four sacks) and only run it 18, considering who we have playing quarterback? I don't get it. We had the lead most of the first half. We didn't trail at all until three minutes left in the fourth quarter. By that time, we had already thrown 27 passes to 18 rushes, with four sacks. RUN THE FOOTBALL!!! And when you do pass, give your quarterback high percentage throws, like screens, slants, outs, crossing patterns, rubs, etc. Give him some max protect and let him throw the ball down the field a little bit to loosen up the underneath coverage and keep the safeties out of the box. I already mentioned that Painter had two terrible stretches of ineffectiveness in this game. I didn't mention that in those two stretches, we threw the ball significantly more than we ran it. The possession after the Bucs tied it at 17, we called 12 pass plays (7 incompletions, 2 sacks, one first down on pass interference penalty), and 2 run plays. Our quarterback is Curtis Painter. We can't throw the ball twice as much as we run it. C- And there were several questionable game management decisions in this one. I agree with the last punt, given the field position, the time left, and the timeouts. I don't agree with the earlier punt from midfield, on 4th and short, especially after we went play-action on 3rd and short. I thought for sure we'd called that so we could take a big chance before running it straight ahead on 4th down. No. We punted. I also thought that a challenge would have been appropriate on the incomplete pass, but I don't know for sure that it would have been overturned, nor do I really care, since we scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive. The only reason I bring it up is because at that spot on the field, the other team can pin you deep in your own territory (we got the ball on our own 2), whereas you maybe have a chance to take over at your own 40 or so. I thought the challenge flag should have been thrown. Suffice it to say, the coaching left a lot to be desired in this game, and some different decisions could have led to a different outcome in such a tight game on the road. C- Next up, we host the Chiefs, who are only slightly less irrelevant than we are at this point. I thought this might be a winnable matchup, but with our offensive line banged up against their front, which can be really good, I have serious questions. GO COLTS!
