Donald Brown: Is it him, or is it the offensive line? A quick game play review.

[rmarch63]

My GOD!!! Can we put this debate to rest? Brown is not an every down back. He was good at UConn!!!!!!!!!!! For His sake!!!!!!!!!!!

He was a 1st round botched abortion of Bill Polian!!!!

No one could run with this O-line. When DB gets room, he runs, and runs well. It's not Brown, it's the line. You sir are dead wrong.

[jemack]

Hmm is it your time of the month per chance? just kidding , but seriously if you dont get the holes to run through then ya cant run its that simple, he cant, Ballard cant

Yes it is that time! Thanks for rubbing it in!!!

[dgambill]

Brown is not a terrible back...he needs room to run. Now....there are special backs that make plays and cuts that even with poor blocking or just avg blocking can take a loss and turn it into a 2 yard gain...take a 3 yd run and turn it into 8 and take a big hole and take it the distance. Brown isn't that guy to make something from nothing or even get those extra yards. If he has a hole he can hit it and has speed to do damage. We just need to open up some more running lanes.

[oldunclemark]

Walter Peyton never had a line either...but yeah..its nearly impossible with no line..

To me, Brown is a decent back, but it looks like he makes too many mental mistakes, both rushing and receiving

we can probably all agree that Donald Brown isnt Walter Payton

But young Ballard couldnt run either...and they both took a beating..

In the 2nd half..we had three of our projected starters in the O-line injured and out..

........We need to press the issue in the air when we were up 17-6......and got the 2nd half kickoff

once they got that lucky TD.we were just trying to kill the clock

[Gavin]

Yes it is that time! Thanks for rubbing it in!!!

just messin with ya nothing personal of course

[Freeupfreeney]

It's neither Brown or the Line, it's the defense stacking up the Line of Scrimmage to see if luck can bet them with his arm....duh!

[Gavin]

It's neither Brown or the Line, it's the defense stacking up the Line of Scrimmage to see if luck can bet them with his arm....duh!

:hmm: not sure if your serious

[jemack]

No one could run with this O-line. When DB gets room, he runs, and runs well. It's not Brown, it's the line. You sir are dead wrong.

#1 How do you know I'm a Sir? and #2 anyone caught behind the line of scrimage as much as Brown shows a lack of instinct and a great deal of hesitance. Is your rebuttal going to be "I suppose you could do better?" Look at his blown blocking assignments this game. Give me substance, for crying out loud!!!!!!

[Smitto]

:hmm: not sure if your serious

Either way he's right, both the bears and vikings were challenging the colts to pass the ball by stacking guys in the box... its super hard to have success for any team... once teams start respecting Luck they will start to put their safeties back.

[rmarch63]

#1 How do you know I'm a Sir? and #2 anyone caught behind the line of scrimage as much as Brown shows a lack of instinct and a great deal of hesitance. Is your rebuttal going to be "I suppose you could do better?" Look at his blown blocking assignments this game. Give me substance, for crying out loud!!!!!!

You've got to be kidding me!!! 1. I don't give a rats butt if you are a sir, a mam or a duck. 2. If he's getting caught behind the line it means no one is blocking. Instinct my a**. Every back that lines up back there gets caught behind the line way more often than not. That is a very bad O-line. Lord.

[jemack]

You've got to be kidding me!!! 1. I don't give a rats butt if you are a sir, a mam or a duck. 2. If he's getting caught behind the line it means no one is blocking. Instinct my a**. Every back that lines up back there gets caught behind the line way more often than not. That is a very bad O-line. Lord.

Not questioning the Oline's lack of talent. But to say it's all their fault is a reach

[BleedingBlue]

ballard looked much much better than brown.

[mystrymaster]

ballard looked much much better than brown.

on one run

[FRW]

They showed a couple of shots from behind the QB on replays of running plays and all you see is a wall of 5-6 300+ men in white and blue jerseys. No daylight, no holes. I'm not sure Walter Payton or Jim Brown would gain many yards under those conditions.

[Gavin]

I wish Pagano would start Ballard 1 game and play him the majority of that game so everyone would see that Ballard couldn't even run behind the crap we call an O Line so everyone would shut up about Brown being the problem

[Bleedin Blue]

If opposing defenses are going to pile defenders up to stop the run why doesn't Arians just call more screens or have the RB bump-and-run past the line and over the LB group so Luck can dump off more. Maybe even have T.Y. Hilton run a reverse or something just punish opposing defenses for doing that.

Or maybe get the TE's into space behind the linebackers...I dunno but I can think of a half-dozen plays or more that could take advantage of opposing teams putting so much emphasis on trying to making us one-dimensional.

[The Peytonator]

That run where Brown got hit in the backfield by Williams if I'm not mistaken, then he stiff armed him and managed probably the longest run of the game (7 yards or so), was a testament of how good Brown can be. It is not his fault if the DT is in his face as soon as he gets the rock. How people can blame this on any of the RBs is beyond me.

If Barry Sanders and Jim Brown had a love child, then Walter Payton and Edge had a love child, then those two love childs had a love child, that RB would have probably averaged 3 YPC today.

[King Colt]

Both! The offensvive line looked weak and disinterested and I will not be sold on Don Brown as anything special.

[chrisfarley]

right, he goes down with any contact. the guy has talent and is worthy of being on an nfl roster. but he's not exactly what you want in a starting RB

He's a 2nd tier back, flat-out. We all know it, but there's nothing that can be done. We have to "hit" on a gem like EJ via draft. Crossing fingers.

[Dan]

I wish Pagano would start Ballard 1 game and play him the majority of that game so everyone would see that Ballard couldn't even run behind the crap we call an O Line so everyone would shut up about Brown being the problem

Well, no, all it would mean is people could reliably say "So, Donald Brown is better than a 5th rounder."

[mystrymaster]

I saw a lot of 8 and 9 mine fronts that we decided to Run against, I would love for Andrew to be given the ability to check out of the run when we are facing that many men in the box.

[rittdk01]

Its Donald Brown. Watching yesterdays game he danced around instead of hitting the hole nearly every time he touched the ball. There was a guy sitting behind me that kept yelling "stop dancing and run!" every time Brown had the ball. vick Ballard on the other hand ran straight ahead every time he ran it. I think Ballard has the right idea and Brown would be better off trying his style of running.

[Mouthfire]

Its Donald Brown. Watching yesterdays game he danced around instead of hitting the hole nearly every time he touched the ball. There was a guy sitting behind me that kept yelling "stop dancing and run!" every time Brown had the ball. vick Ballard on the other hand ran straight ahead every time he ran it. I think Ballard has the right idea and Brown would be better off trying his style of running.

Yeah, but Brown had a better night than Ballard last night (2.8 YPC vs 2.2 YPC). I haven't gone back and looked yet, but I'm guessing he was dancing around because the hole didn't open up like it was supposed to.

[NewColtsFan]

It's not him.

It's the offensive line. One of the worst run blocking OL's in modern history. They're poor at pass blocking, but they're worse at run blocking. (bad combination)

It's not Donald Brown. He may not be great, but he knows how to hit a whole. But there has to be a hole to hit....

Hey, I'm just sayin...

[YOUR GM]

Yeah, but Brown had a better night than Ballard last night (2.8 YPC vs 2.2 YPC). I haven't gone back and looked yet, but I'm guessing he was dancing around because the hole didn't open up like it was supposed to.

Brown doesn't have good instincts. Sometimes you just have to bounce it outside if the hole doesn't open. I saw one play yesterday where our TE's and WR's had the edge to the right completely sealed for a big gain if Brown bounced it outside. Instead, Brown waited for a hole that never opened and ran into traffic.

[Mouthfire]

Brown doesn't have good instincts. Sometimes you just have to bounce it outside if the hole doesn't open. I saw one play yesterday where our TE's and WR's had the edge to the right completely sealed for a big gain if Brown bounced it outside. Instead, Brown waited for a hole that never opened and ran into traffic.

I'll have to go back and look at that. My impression, though, was that they were stacking the defense against the run, and I'm not sure bouncing it outside would've helped.

[Mouthfire]

I will point out, though, that within the last few posts, we've had complaints that "Brown dances around too much and just doesn't hit the hole" to "Brown needs to dance around the hole and bounce it out to the outside".

[YOUR GM]

I'll have to go back and look at that. My impression, though, was that they were stacking the defense against the run, and I'm not sure bouncing it outside would've helped.

I got NFL rewind. I'll go find the play and tell you where to look. BRB

[chad72]

Do we have no fullback on our roster?

[YOUR GM]

I'll have to go back and look at that. My impression, though, was that they were stacking the defense against the run, and I'm not sure bouncing it outside would've helped.

9:21 left in the 3rd quarter

[Mouthfire]

9:21 left in the 3rd quarter

I think I see that play a bit differently than you did.

That was supposed to be a run play to the outside of the Dwayne Allen on the right side. Reggie Wayne motioned to the outside of Allen to pick up the safety, who moved to the LOS in order to blitz. Reggie blocked the safety, and knowing where the run was supposed to go, pushed the safety to the outside. If you watch very carefully, you can see Reggie doing this. Brown then did what he was supposed to: he took the hole that was supposed to open up and picked up 2 yards.

If Brown bounced it to the outside on the right, then the safety probably would've tackled Brown for either no gain or a short loss, since Wayne wouldn't have been in a position to keep him blocked.

All things considered, I don't think that play turned out too badly, considering the defense had eight defenders stacked in the box.

[Gavin]

nope it went for positive yards thats always a good thing

[YOUR GM]

I think I see that play a bit differently than you did.

That was supposed to be a run play to the outside of the Dwayne Allen on the right side. Reggie Wayne motioned to the outside of Allen to pick up the safety, who moved to the LOS in order to blitz. Reggie blocked the safety, and knowing where the run was supposed to go, pushed the safety to the outside. If you watch very carefully, you can see Reggie doing this. Brown then did what he was supposed to: he took the hole that was supposed to open up and picked up 2 yards.

If Brown bounced it to the outside on the right, then the safety probably would've tackled Brown for either no gain or a short loss, since Wayne wouldn't have been in a position to keep him blocked.

All things considered, I don't think that play turned out too badly, considering the defense had eight defenders stacked in the box.

Yeah, after looking at it again, I can see how you would see it that way. I know the play was designed to be an inside run. What I'm saying is, he made a movement to bounce outside momentarily and then cut back inside for a gain of a few yards. With Brown's speed, I'm not so sure he wouldn't have beat that safety to the edge, had he bounced outside. Eitherway, I don't like all the dancing in the backfield. It's like watching Addai all over again.

[Mouthfire]

Yeah, after looking at it again, I can see how you would see it that way. I know the play was designed to be an inside run. What I'm saying is, he made a movement to bounce outside momentarily and then cut back inside for a gain of a few yards. With Brown's speed, I'm not so sure he wouldn't have beat that safety to the edge, had he bounced outside. Eitherway, I don't like all the dancing in the backfield. It's like watching Addai all over again.

Really, though, if Wayne's instructions beforehand were to block the defender to the inside rather than outside, then Brown possibly could have taken it to the outside. All in all, though, everyone did what they were supposed to do, and they picked up a few yards for it.

[Quantum88]

Luck had more yardage than Ballard.

[HtownColt]

Kyle Rodriguez‏@ColtsAuth_Kyle

I mean, listen to this: Donald Brown is averaging 3.7 YPC so far this season... And averaging 3.3 yards after contact per carry. Wow.

[YOUR GM]

Kyle Rodriguez‏@ColtsAuth_Kyle

I mean, listen to this: Donald Brown is averaging 3.7 YPC so far this season... And averaging 3.3 yards after contact per carry. Wow.

The line isn't giving him many lanes, but that stat can just as easily be attributed to his indecisiveness in the backfield. I say it's 65-to-35 O-line's fault, but Brown needs to stop the dancing. Even though Ballards numbers don't reflect it, I walked away more satisfied with his carries than Brown. I think Brown left more yards on the field than Ballard yesterday.

[Superman]

The line isn't giving him many lanes, but that stat can just as easily be attributed to his indecisiveness in the backfield. I say it's 65-to-35 O-line's fault, but Brown needs to stop the dancing. Even though Ballards numbers don't reflect it, I walked away more satisfied with his carries than Brown. I think Brown left more yards on the field than Ballard yesterday.

That's probably because of the name on his jersey, because it wasn't his play. Vick Ballard was just as ineffective with the ball as Brown was. That stat above basically means that all of Brown's yardage this season has come after contact. I wonder what else people want him to do.

Someone said above that Brown is a second-tier back, and I agree. He's nothing special. I like his breakaway speed, but there's nothing outstanding about him as a player. Those of us who defend him only do so because it's obvious that there's nothing he can do when he's being hit in the backfield on virtually every carry.

[HtownColt]

Pagano let Delone Carter suit up over Mewelde Moore this sunday

[YOUR GM]

That's probably because of the name on his jersey, because it wasn't his play. Vick Ballard was just as ineffective with the ball as Brown was. That stat above basically means that all of Brown's yardage this season has come after contact. I wonder what else people want him to do.

Someone said above that Brown is a second-tier back, and I agree. He's nothing special. I like his breakaway speed, but there's nothing outstanding about him as a player. Those of us who defend him only do so because it's obvious that there's nothing he can do when he's being hit in the backfield on virtually every carry.

Don't do that. I'm not a Donald Brown hater so you don't have to say the only reason I have my opinion is because of a bias against him. Vick Ballard ran straight to the hole (even when they weren't there.) Donald Brown kept hopping and skipping before he went up field. Most coaches teach you to make a quick cut and get up field. I don't know how many more yards Brown would've gained had he hit the hole hard, but it certainly didn't help him. There was a definite difference in running style between the 2 backs.

Looking at that statistic and ignoring how said player runs is ignoring a key factor in that statistic.