Game 3 Breakdown

[Rich Cannon]

Game 3, a very interesting game I might add. So why not start out by talking about what seems to be one of the most popular topics in colt land “Curtis Painter”. In the 1st quarter once again Painter looked flustered in the pocket Missing on several easy passes. A few dropped balls also hurt his campaign as well. Then there was the 2nd quarter. Painter looked like a totally different man. Actually throwing the ball with confidence, connecting on several deep throws, resulting in 2 td’s. He played much better in this game. (i’m still inclined to say he lost his back up job) The offensive line opened some big holes for Joe Addai and company. Reggie Wayne was the pro bowler we all know and love. And another impressive acrobatic catch from Pierre Garcon. (We get one a game from him)

Now the most encouraging part of this game had to be the defensive line. As a whole 1st -3rd unit was outstanding against the run. I seem to be mentioning Drake Nevis’ name an awful lot every pre-season game review which is excellent. Nevis making his presence felt early and often with another half a sack. Another thing i liked is on third down the D-line looked as follows Freeney, Mathis, Harris and Foster which resulted in a huge sack on Arron Rogers by Tommie Harris. Ernie Simms returned to action and was all over the place in the 1st quarter.

And then there was Chip Vaughn #49 enough said, he lost his job and will be cut with those bone headed penalties.

Overall a good performance

[rvca]

I agree with everything you said. Our run D was great today. Harris and Sims were great pickups.

Our secondary still seems to have a problem though, especially with Lacey.

I did like seeing Philip Wheeler stepping it up today.

[Colts20593]

D line was in beastmode today

[sb2001]

Lacey could be a problem this season. Its gonna be tough for him to turn it around this late.

[Wyld1]

I don't like Lacey as our starting LCB...cushion galore!

[Smitto]

I am loving the defense with the way nevis plays i dont see foster being the starter for long, and harris is gonna be a huge plus for the colts going into the season. this has to be the best preseason game ive seen from the colts in years, they actually looked like they had depth against a really good team. The way freeney was getting sacks out there..... man am i excited for the regular season to start...

[Knuckles79]

I enjoyed watching the game our d really looks to be improving lacey still sucks cant cover or tackle i dont feel good with him in there atleast if powers missed a tackle he recovers fast enough to still tackle where lacey just all out fails

[DILLIGAFER]

Ok, obvious question from someone that couldn't watch the game... did we win?? I realize it doesn't matter, but a win would feel good right about now.. lol

[Peyton>brady]

Lacey . Painter, who? Vaughn showed some fire, would be a valuable addition.

[Smitto]

Lacey is a good player, there was one pass where they tried to go deep on him and he was all over the guy. Lacey is only gonna get better... wish he would put on a few more pounds though.

[Peyton>brady]

Oh yeah, that D-LINE

[chad72]

Vaughn showed some fire, would be a valuable addition.

You mean Chip Vaughn, who lost us the game? Are you being sarcastic?

[amff]

The D looked so good tonight. Our offense finally clicked and chip vaughn is a freaking *!

[Peyton>brady]

You mean Chip Vaughn, who lost us the game? Are you being sarcastic?

He lost the game? How? He wasn't in when they scored, he wasn't in on special teams. He didn't lose anything and actually i got a good laugh from " hey man you dropped this"

[StaticColt77]

Oh well, we lost.

But on the bright side, I loved our run D, and D-line overall. But, it's worth noting that the Packers have an average to below average O-line. Nonetheless great job, the only part on D that we did horrible in tonight was pass coverage. The cover 2/tampa 2 base defense, continues to show its age and weakness. The defense is waaaay too easy to expose, and is too predictable. But in our pass D's defense, Aaron Rodgers is not slouch, and good QB's always expose our D.

Addai had a good game, regardless of the few carries he had. Carter continues to show his potential, Painter played good, but I'm still not convinced he's a sure started. Brown didn't do much, he didn't have many open holes, but when he did. He froze.

Reggie clearly had an outstanding game, and played like the young Reggie he said he felt like. He certainly lived up to what he said about making Painter look good, he clearly showed Mr. Collins that if he's gonna play that he better develop some chemistry with him before all the other WR's lol.

Vinny missed a kick, better now, than in the regular season. Even robots glitch sometimes, right??

I'm still not sold on our O-line, still very inconsistent. But we're getting there, and the run blocking is a bit better. Link has to go. Didn't pay much attention to Pollack though, how did he do??

ST was ok on coverage, but our KR's weren't anything spectacular, but they were consistent. Our PR were pretty good. Gilreath shows some potential, we should keep him and work on him more.

Mike Newton should be out 3rd string. Vaughn made some poor *ic decisions, but I will not blame the game on him. We should've had a sack on that TD play, poor fundamentals. That fake that the QB made shouldn't have worked, and he wouldn't even had made it if he ran, plus it was 4th down... oh well. A lot of promising things tonight. Oh and by the way, Peyton is totally starting week 1 and based off that smile, 18 knows he won't miss that 1st snap.

[chad72]

He lost the game? How? He wasn't in when they scored, he wasn't in on special teams. He didn't lose anything and actually i got a good laugh from " hey man you dropped this"

No, field position due to undisciplined penalties mattered in the game and Chip Vaughn's 2 bone headed penalties gave the Packers a chance to tie it. 30 yards is a lot of yardage with the clock running down with a team down by 8. He was a key reason why we lost, IMO.

[PreManningColtsFan]

I am loving the defense with the way nevis plays i dont see foster being the starter for long, and harris is gonna be a huge plus for the colts going into the season. this has to be the best preseason game ive seen from the colts in years, they actually looked like they had depth against a really good team. The way freeney was getting sacks out there..... man am i excited for the regular season to start...

Interesting that you mentioned noticing depth. For the first time in a long time, I felt the same thing. Our db's scare me though. Lacey seemed to have a very good rookie year and is fastly becoming the guy teams pick on. He gives far too much cushion and missed a big tackle that resulted in a huge gain for the Packers. All in all, a very inspiring performance. Sadly, even with Manning, I don't see this unit as a "super bowl" caliber team. I found it interesting that Simms mentioned a "slower" indy team tonight. I got the same feeling. We don't seem as fast as we have been in the past.

[PreManningColtsFan]

The D looked so good tonight. Our offense finally clicked and chip vaughn is a freaking *!

Our first unit gaved up 150 yards and 10 points in the first qtr. I don't see how that's looking good. While they looked improved (consider what we are comparing to). but that first quarter and halfway through the second qtr was domination by the Packers over our defense. We were fortunate to only be down by 3 at the half.

[chad72]

I found it interesting that Simms mentioned a "slower" indy team tonight. I got the same feeling. We don't seem as fast as we have been in the past.

They were playing faster than the previous games. They started out slow but then the pressure inside got better from our D-line, and so did the tackling, and hitting. Both of Freeney's sacks and Harris' sack came versus their first team O-line. With Manning out there, no way in heck do they blitz that much and they play mostly coverage with an occasional blitz.

The key was knowing that our DTs could beat one-on-ones and be disruptive against a good O-line, bodes well when we play the Saints and Patriots, the best passing teams we will face. Run D will be tested amply by our division rivals, no doubt about that

[chad72]

We were fortunate to only be down by 3 at the half.

With Manning playing, they wouldn't be as fortunate either if our D recovered like that in the second quarter, IMO .

[chad72]

Anyone else think we might do better using Jerry Hughes as a stand up rusher like we used Philip Wheeler on those passing downs? Might bode well against teams that go max. protect, sending that extra pass rusher.

[Smitto]

Interesting that you mentioned noticing depth. For the first time in a long time, I felt the same thing. Our db's scare me though. Lacey seemed to have a very good rookie year and is fastly becoming the guy teams pick on. He gives far too much cushion and missed a big tackle that resulted in a huge gain for the Packers. All in all, a very inspiring performance. Sadly, even with Manning, I don't see this unit as a "super bowl" caliber team. I found it interesting that Simms mentioned a "slower" indy team tonight. I got the same feeling. We don't seem as fast as we have been in the past.

Yea the secondary seems a bit susceptible, rogers had over 200yds passing in the 1st half that just cant happen but of course its the packers... and the colts were playing some basic coverage schemes. As much as i hate to say it brackett is the best zone coverage LB the colts have so i expect the colts to be in sync come game time for the texans. I think the whole playing slower thing is because of all the rotation ive never seen it that much on the colts, in time i think thats gonna come back but if thats what it takes for the D to be causing so much trouble in the backfield then hey let it be slow.

[PreManningColtsFan]

With Manning playing, they wouldn't be as fortunate either if our D recovered like that in the second quarter, IMO .

True...........Manning would have got us more points, but it doesn't change the massive yardage our first unit gave up in the first 20 minutes of the game. I know this has been overplayed tonight, but we are in big trouble with Lacey as our starting corner. He's terrible.

[PreManningColtsFan]

Yea the secondary seems a bit susceptible, rogers had over 200yds passing in the 1st half that just cant happen but of course its the packers... and the colts were playing some basic coverage schemes. As much as i hate to say it brackett is the best zone coverage LB the colts have so i expect the colts to be in sync come game time for the texans. I think the whole playing slower thing is because of all the rotation ive never seen it that much on the colts, in time i think thats gonna come back but if thats what it takes for the D to be causing so much trouble in the backfield then hey let it be slow.

I agree. I'll take slow if that equates to stops and being more physical and disruptive. Our d tackle play was outstanding! Talk about depth at a position. We went from having none to having 5 solid guys who we can rotate in and out. That was certainly a bright spot to tonights game.

[chad72]

Bullitt still does mop up duty, more than making plays . Or, he takes bad angles, like the Hightower run vs the Redskins when he is in position to make plays.

[chad72]

As much as i hate to say it brackett is the best zone coverage LB the colts have so i expect the colts to be in sync come game time for the texans.

Last year, Brackett wasn't so good with his depth in pass coverage, probably because he had to sell out for the run. Hopefully he can get that depth in pass coverage this year better. It has been a while since Brackett has made plays in pass coverage.

In fact, I think Angerer's younger legs might give him an edge in a year and Angerer looked natural as an MLB out there, to be honest.

[21isSuperman]

From the little bit of the game that I saw, the front 7 of the defense played pretty well. Rodgers was torching the secondary, but the DL and LB groups played pretty well.

[indy_nick]

Last year, Brackett wasn't so good with his depth in pass coverage, probably because he had to sell out for the run. Hopefully he can get that depth in pass coverage this year better. It has been a while since Brackett has made plays in pass coverage.

In fact, I think Angerer's younger legs might give him an edge in a year and Angerer looked natural as an MLB out there, to be honest.

He looks good at times. However, on other occasions he will give up a big play in coverage (like the TD pass where he was out of position and did not locate the ball). Angerer is very green and shows a lot of promise. He also can get burned on occasion. It's a double edged sword when it comes to him.

[Smitto]

Last year, Brackett wasn't so good with his depth in pass coverage, probably because he had to sell out for the run. Hopefully he can get that depth in pass coverage this year better. It has been a while since Brackett has made plays in pass coverage.

In fact, I think Angerer's younger legs might give him an edge in a year and Angerer looked natural as an MLB out there, to be honest.

Yea that is true, in the old forum i was always bashing brackett on how slow he is now and all but with him at MLB the colts are better at covering intermediate throws.. Thats one of the main reasons i like Pat cause he's a really good tackler and much quicker than brackett he reminds me of rob morris but with better skills.

[GoColts8818]

Just got home from the game.

My first question is is Chip Vaughn cut yet?

Also note for those who don't think Caldwell shows emotion he went nuts after his second personal. threw his hat and was screaming. They showed him on the big screen. It's as mad as I have ever seen Caldwell. I've noticed he's been much less robot like his presser this year, could be he's starting to grow into the job.

I love our D-line, man the tackles played great all night long all strings.

Carter, I want to see him with the first stringers. Addai had a couple of nice runs as well. Brown did nothing again...

Painter played pretty well. I have to give him credit. He missed a couple of passes but overall tonight he played like an NFL back up and I mean that as a good thing. It's just too bad it took the NFL version of almost losing your job to get it out of him.

I loved our returners tonight. Our kick guys were getting about 25 yards a return since they were bringing it out of the endzone and our punt returner did a good job.

The tackling tonight was MUCH better. They were gang tackling and swarming and when the Colts D plays like that they are hard to beat.

I don't know how he did on TV but Caldwell was in on a lot of tackles.

Sims did a decent job was in on a lot of hits but missed a couple too. Any word on why Brackett was a no go?

Wheeler played very well with the second stringers. I think he's one of those guys who is better than most NFL back ups but struggles against NFL starters most of the time.

I saw Bullitt, Clark and Diem all get hurt. I think Clark and Diem came back and play so I am guessing they are good to go. Bullitt went to the locker room on his own in the second half so hopefully he's okay.

Link is not the answer at right tackle but Diem might be the answer at right guard.

How did Reggie Wayne get that wide open?

For what's worth Moala and Foster were introduced as the starting DTs. I am not sure if saw AJ out there tonight. Still Harris looked like the pro-bowl Harris when he got in there and Nevis had a couple of nice plays. I am loving our DTs. Best group we have had for years.

It was fun to watch the Colts run D being run stuffer tonight. I know the Packers aren't the best running team in the NFL themsevles but they couldn't run the ball tonight to save their lives.

Credit to the Colts tonight, even though it was the pre-season it was the season warm up game. To have the starters beating the defending World Champions was a good sign. I think if we bring that kinda game play against the Texans week one without Manning we are going to have a fighting chance.

Also just a note, heard Lamey on the radio this afternoon, he said he thinks Manning is playing week one. Take it for what it's worth but Lamey does get a pay check from the Colts and probaby knows more about the inner workings of the Colts than anyone else in the media.

[ColtsHoosiersBB]

Lacey . Painter, who? Vaughn showed some fire, would be a valuable addition.

I'm sure you are being sarcastic about Vaughn, but you are being trouted anyway.

[Smitto]

Gocolts8818 pretty good sum up on the game, they said brackett had some type of minor injury not sure what it was. I wonder if bullit hurt his shoulder again hopefully not, but if he did i would love to see Joe in his spot. sims is a fast dude with attitude i like it.... All in all the defensive starters looked great.. I just hope they stay predominantly healthy and get synchronized.

[unitaswestand]

I still feel Painter looks pretty bad. He had a couple decent passes. The pass to Wayne was so open JaMarcus Russell could have completed it. I can't get over the one play where he had a blitz coming up the middle and seemed frantic throwing to ball away. It was really weird.

Nevis and Moala looked great! Addai and Carter looked good. Brown, I think it has more to do with the run called. I am not sure why the Colts run outside because it rarely does well. They are much better off hitting the a or b gaps.

[IndyTrav]

One thing I haven't noticed mentioned, but I am concerned about. Garçon 7 targets, 1 catch. That just isn't gonna cut it.

[Mouthfire]

One thing I haven't noticed mentioned, but I am concerned about. Garçon 7 targets, 1 catch. That just isn't gonna cut it.

Yeah, I noticed that too. Some of those were slightly low on Painters end, but he should have caught a few of those.

[Mouthfire]

Just to add: Sims looked like he was always around the ball in the first half. Pretty good for his first game.

[coltfaninnewyork]

I thought angerer had good coverage on the finley td,perfect throw by rodgers.

[Rich Cannon]

I am loving the defense with the way nevis plays i dont see foster being the starter for long, and harris is gonna be a huge plus for the colts going into the season. this has to be the best preseason game ive seen from the colts in years, they actually looked like they had depth against a really good team. The way freeney was getting sacks out there..... man am i excited for the regular season to start...

Foster isnt the starter hes a situational 3rd down players

[Balzer40]

Our first unit gaved up 150 yards and 10 points in the first qtr. I don't see how that's looking good. While they looked improved (consider what we are comparing to). but that first quarter and halfway through the second qtr was domination by the Packers over our defense. We were fortunate to only be down by 3 at the half.

Im gonna agree with you here. Sometimes I wonder if people are watching the same game I was. Our Defense didn't look very good at all in the 1st qtr. I will say they done good in run defense, but in reality the Packers barely ran the ball at all. Heck, even the announcers mentioned that our d-line was giving Rodgers all day to throw the ball and how that was unusual for a Colts defense.

Colts fans have a tendancy to overexagerate the play of our defense when they are playing just ok. I guess thats because we are use to terrible defense. The defense was much better against the Packers 2nd unit, but im not sure thats anything to get real excited about. The pass defense was an absolute joke and an embarrassment in the 1st half.

[geinsteder]

I was happy with the 4 sacks. Not happy with Lacey at all.. As far as Vaughn- dont think he will make the team with that behavior. I dont recall ever seeing Caldwell so hot before until he did that stupid move.. lol