Recapping the Colts Season (Bye Week Special)

[Andy]

Quick little thing I put together. Unedited

It's the bye week, which means it's the perfect time to recap the Colts' season to date.

It's been an interesting start to the year for the Colts. They've had 2 very close games that have come down to the final seconds, and those games have gone both ways for the Colts.

Offense

Everyone wants to know how Andrew Luck is doing, well based on the first 3 games, he's doing fine, actually better than fine. Most of the negative stats that you see (interceptions, high number of incompletions) are due to his poor performance against the Bears D, who as you know are one of the more elite defenses in the league. If it weren't for that, he'd have a passer rating of 88.5 and 4 touchdowns to 1 interception. The Bears defense is probably the toughest defense he'll be facing all year (along with the Texans' D). One aspect where Luck has impressed me a lot is his running ability and his improvisational skills. He uses his legs to buy time and a lot of times he finds his target. Also, when the pocket collapses, he rushes and he's fast. He has 80 yards rushing this year, that's pretty impressive for a pocket first guy. Anyways, all in all, a solid first 3 weeks to Andrew Luck's career.

The running game can't get going, but that's mostly because of the terrible play of the offensive line. Donald Brown has been doing not bad considering the play of the O-line. He has a touchdown and some other pretty good runs, but all in all, it's pretty crap. All I'm saying is expect to see more of Vick Ballard as the weeks go on.

Reggie Wayne is having the fastest start to his career, and that's without Peyton Manning. He's been making great catch after great catch and through 3 weeks, he has the 5th most receiving yards out of any receiver in the NFL. Also, it seems that on top of Reggie Wayne, there's a good performance every week. Against the Bears, Coby Fleener looked good, against the Viks it was Donnie Avery, and against the Jaguars, it was TY Hilton. That's very encouraging from a young group. There's a lot of potential there.

The offensive line has been bad. Bit of a buzzkill after the nice paragraph about the receivers. The only good lineman is Anthony Castonzo. He's been doing a good job against the best in the business. However, the rest have been bad. Seth Olsen should be gone, or at least not starting. He's been horrible. Mike McGlynn seems to be a better center than guard, and that's unfortunate because he won't be the starting center with Samson Satele on the team. Satele's been a bit of a disapointment. He hasn't been horrible, but he hasn't been great. Winston Justice has been better than I expected, but there's still room for improvement.

Then the play calling. I think the play calling in the first half has been awesome. They've been aggressive and if you read my Double A Breakdown's that's what I said they should do. It's worked in the first half. For some weird reason, they slowed it down in the 2nd half. It's not conservative, but it's not aggressive. They run more and the running game never gets going, thus they rely on Luck too much and as a rookie QB he can't deliver all the time. Having a balanced attack is what the Colts need, but running at the wrong moments is not how you achieve that. On paper, they have a more balanced attack in the 2nd half, but they run the ball at the wrong times and the play calling is very predictable. They need to mix it up more and be more unpredictable, which is why the Saints offense was so great for the last few years (not this year) under Sean Payton.

Defense

Then the defense. I don't know what to think of them. They've been good and bad.

The defensive line has had many bright spots. Cory Redding has been a monster. What a pickup he was! He's been great against the run and has had his moments against the pass. Fili Moala has picked it up too. He had a good game against the Vikings, and looked pretty good against the Jags. However, Mookie Johnson, as I expected and predicted, has been awful just awful. He doesn't deserve to be a starter or even a backup. Harsh but true. Once they replace him, that'll be perfect.

The linebackers have been great thus far this year. Jerell Freeman has been the Colts' best find out of all the offseason pickups (free agency wise) and that's saying something. He's been a tackling machine and even has a pick 6 with a fumble recovery. Kavell Conner has been pretty too. He's made some good tackles and is getting better in coverage. Unfortunately with the return of Pat Angerer, you can expect to see a lot less of him. Robert Mathis has been a monster too, especially in the 1st quarter. He has almost all of his sacks in the first quarter, actually, the first drive! Jerry Hughes is still inconsistent, but he's clearly better than last year or the year before. Dwight Freeney better get back soon.

The secondary has been meh. Antoine Bethea is still a tackling machine, but he did have a tackle-less game against the Jags. He hasn't been as good this year, but he's still a monster. He needs to breakdown when he makes his tackles, because sometimes he just dives at the guy and that almost never works. Got back to basics. Speaking of basics, Tom Zbikowski doesn't know them. He's been terrible thus far. He's invisible on the field. He needs to wake up or Lefeged will replace him. As for the cornerbacks, Jerraud Powers has been pretty good, but he could be better. He still gets beat a lot on those slants, but is awesome on the deep passes. Vontae Davis is getting better, but needs to work on his recognition skills. He's slow to react to route cuts (ex. when the receiver cuts to the inside on an "in" route). However, it's finally good to have 2 legit starting cornerbacks. Justin King, the nickelback, has been ok, he's made mistakes, and he's allowed some big plays, but he's not horrible. He's a better backup though.

Special Teams

Adam Vinatieri has had some short misses, but a 52 yard game winning field goal and a 47 yard should tell you that he's no where near retirement.

Pat McAfee is having another great year, and had a 64 yard boot a couple of weeks ago.

The coverage teams have been great. They haven't allowed any major returns, which is a first for the Colts.

The return teams have been meh, but TY Hilton seems to be a great fit at the punt return spot.

All in all, I'd give the overall team a B-

[stat2883]

nice write up I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of game plan they put together with 2 weeks to prepare for the packers.

[SOMDColtsfan]

1. Why Vic Ballard if the Oline has been crappy? Its not the man what runs with the

football, its the lack of a place to carry it.

2. Agree on the receivers, alot of potential and they look interchangable on the field in a good way

3. They slowed it down because they were leading, thats what good teams do and should do. Clock management is something the Colts havent been good at and the only way to improve is practice!

4. Agree. The D is still a work in progress. After showing great promise in the preseason, Hughes hasnt really emerged in this new system like it looked like he might. Freeman has been a beast and what to do when Angerer is healthy? Lengthy thread on that one! Zibikowski has been as much a disappoinment as Freeman a surprise. Too slow!

5. After watching the Colts special teams the past several years, this years squad is off the hook!

6. A losing record is anything but satisfactory. A play made here or there and the Colts could be 2-1. Could have easily lost to the Vikes and or beat the Jags. IMO, a "C" for now

[Andy]

1. Why Vic Ballard if the Oline has been crappy? Its not the man what runs with the

football, its the lack of a place to carry it.

2. Agree on the receivers, alot of potential and they look interchangable on the field in a good way

3. They slowed it down because they were leading, thats what good teams do and should do. Clock management is something the Colts havent been good at and the only way to improve is practice!

4. Agree. The D is still a work in progress. After showing great promise in the preseason, Hughes hasnt really emerged in this new system like it looked like he might. Freeman has been a beast and what to do when Angerer is healthy? Lengthy thread on that one! Zibikowski has been as much a disappoinment as Freeman a surprise. Too slow!

5. After watching the Colts special teams the past several years, this years squad is off the hook!

6. A losing record is anything but satisfactory. A play made here or there and the Colts could be 2-1. Could have easily lost to the Vikes and or beat the Jags. IMO, a "C" for now

The Vick Ballard comment I made was just a follow up on my prediction from a couple of months ago. I think he'll be the starter by midseason whether or not the O-line is good.

When Angerer gets back, it'll be Angerer and Freeman (unless Angerer is on a snap count), with Conner rotating in. A smaller role from Conner is expected.

C, B-, pretty much the same.

[Jason_]

However, Mookie Johnson, as I expected and predicted, has been awful just awful. He doesn't deserve to be a starter or even a backup. Harsh but true.

Harsh, yes. True? not even close. I know you don't like Mookie but this is just ridiculous. Doesn't deserve to be a starter or even a backup? He's been better than McKinney (when he was in) and Tevaseau so what does that say about them? Mookie isn't going to be a pro-bowl NT any time soon, I'm not debating that. But he has been very solid for the most part., He was inconsistent in the Jags game but still made some very good plays. Tevaseau made a couple of good plays too but made far more bad ones. I remember one play he was thrown to the ground by the Jags center and taken completely out of the play. I believe it was the play just before that when Mookie split the center and guard to take the RB (don't remember if it was Jones-Drew or a backup) down behind the LOS.

Again, I know a lot of people don't like Mookie even though I haven't seen a single one of them give an articulated opinion with examples as to why. However, to say he doesn't deserve to even be a backup is just ignorant. There have been few, if any, run plays right up the middle with mookie in the game whereas there have been several when he was out of the game. I've seen the LB's more consistently free to roam without being blocked when Mookie is in the game as opposed to when he's out. When Mookie is in, a LB might be blocked by the FB, but multiple times with Tevaseau in the LB's were getting blocked by Guards.

At least try to be a little bit impartial instead of trying to further your agenda that you don't like him and want to see him replaced. If he's that bad, then why did the coaching staff keep him as the starter, despite his lack of familiarity in the system, when guys like McKinney (who came from the exact same system in baltimore) and then later Tevaseau (who played 3-4 with the Jets) were brought in? Even though both of those guys were more familiar with the type of system we're running, AJ, who is brand new to the system, was kept as the starter. Care to explain?

[Andy]

Harsh, yes. True? not even close. I know you don't like Mookie but this is just ridiculous. Doesn't deserve to be a starter or even a backup? He's been better than McKinney (when he was in) and Tevaseau so what does that say about them? Mookie isn't going to be a pro-bowl NT any time soon, I'm not debating that. But he has been very solid for the most part., He was inconsistent in the Jags game but still made some very good plays. Tevaseau made a couple of good plays too but made far more bad ones. I remember one play he was thrown to the ground by the Jags center and taken completely out of the play. I believe it was the play just before that when Mookie split the center and guard to take the RB (don't remember if it was Jones-Drew or a backup) down behind the LOS.

Again, I know a lot of people don't like Mookie even though I haven't seen a single one of them give an articulated opinion with examples as to why. However, to say he doesn't deserve to even be a backup is just ignorant. There have been few, if any, run plays right up the middle with mookie in the game whereas there have been several when he was out of the game. I've seen the LB's more consistently free to roam without being blocked when Mookie is in the game as opposed to when he's out. When Mookie is in, a LB might be blocked by the FB, but multiple times with Tevaseau in the LB's were getting blocked by Guards.

At least try to be a little bit impartial instead of trying to further your agenda that you don't like him and want to see him replaced. If he's that bad, then why did the coaching staff keep him as the starter, despite his lack of familiarity in the system, when guys like McKinney (who came from the exact same system in baltimore) and then later Tevaseau (who played 3-4 with the Jets) were brought in? Even though both of those guys were more familiar with the type of system we're running, AJ, who is brand new to the system, was kept as the starter. Care to explain?

Mookie has been bad. He doesn't deserve to be the starter on this team or any team. Mookie has not been very solid for the most part, and actually Tevaseau has done a better job when on the field than Mookie has. DOn't believe me, look at PFF's in-depth look at the Colts-JAgs game, the game that supposedly Mookie was doing really well (https://www.profootb...s-colts-week-3/). He was doing so well, that HE DIDN'T EVEN PLAY! I mean, how can I believe you now on any of the things you just said? That run you were thinking of was probably Tevaseau.

Again, PFF is great here again. Before the season, they did a breakdown on the Colts and posted that

"Antonio Johnson and Fili Moala are projected to be the starters, but they had a combined -26.7 rating in 2011. Most of the rating came from their poor play in run defense, but their combined 14 pressures in 2011 aren’t impressive."

Now, this is a new year with a new D, but if he isn't good at run defense, what makes you think he'll change. Wait wait, why am I asking that, we already know he hasn't changed. He's constantly pushed back by one blocker (around 50% of the time), and he's suppose to be the big body that draws double teams.

He's so good, they replaced with Tevaseau.

Here's my question for you Brian. If he's so good, why did the Colts draft an NT and sign another. Both of those guys are injured. They kept him in, because they have NO ONE ELSE, except Tevaseau, who they are starting to realize is BETTER!!

I won't be able to respond to you because Im out of town for the next couple of days. Chow.

[Gavin]

Mookie has been bad. He doesn't deserve to be the starter on this team or any team. Mookie has not been very solid for the most part, and actually Tevaseau has done a better job when on the field than Mookie has. DOn't believe me, look at PFF's in-depth look at the Colts-JAgs game, the game that supposedly Mookie was doing really well (https://www.profootb...s-colts-week-3/). He was doing so well, that HE DIDN'T EVEN PLAY! I mean, how can I believe you now on any of the things you just said? That run you were thinking of was probably Tevaseau.

Again, PFF is great here again. Before the season, they did a breakdown on the Colts and posted that

"Antonio Johnson and Fili Moala are projected to be the starters, but they had a combined -26.7 rating in 2011. Most of the rating came from their poor play in run defense, but their combined 14 pressures in 2011 aren’t impressive."

Now, this is a new year with a new D, but if he isn't good at run defense, what makes you think he'll change. Wait wait, why am I asking that, we already know he hasn't changed. He's constantly pushed back by one blocker (around 50% of the time), and he's suppose to be the big body that draws double teams.

He's so good, they replaced with Tevaseau.

Here's my question for you Brian. If he's so good, why did the Colts draft an NT and sign another. Both of those guys are injured. They kept him in, because they have NO ONE ELSE, except Tevaseau, who they are starting to realize is BETTER!!

I won't be able to respond to you because Im out of town for the next couple of days. Chow.

Actually played plenty in that game as well as Tevasue, It appeared to me Mookie was playing mostly 1 Technique(which Mookie it appears is more of a 0 Tech and NOT 1 Tech) as well as Tevasue, I wouldnt say Mookie had a bad game, He drew double teams and even had 2 tackles in the game, also Moala had a great game as well recording 3 tackles one of which came on a misdirection play he chased down

[Jason_]

Mookie has been bad. He doesn't deserve to be the starter on this team or any team. Mookie has not been very solid for the most part, and actually Tevaseau has done a better job when on the field than Mookie has. DOn't believe me, look at PFF's in-depth look at the Colts-JAgs game, the game that supposedly Mookie was doing really well (https://www.profootb...s-colts-week-3/). He was doing so well, that HE DIDN'T EVEN PLAY! I mean, how can I believe you now on any of the things you just said? That run you were thinking of was probably Tevaseau.

Again, PFF is great here again. Before the season, they did a breakdown on the Colts and posted that

"Antonio Johnson and Fili Moala are projected to be the starters, but they had a combined -26.7 rating in 2011. Most of the rating came from their poor play in run defense, but their combined 14 pressures in 2011 aren’t impressive."

Now, this is a new year with a new D, but if he isn't good at run defense, what makes you think he'll change. Wait wait, why am I asking that, we already know he hasn't changed. He's constantly pushed back by one blocker (around 50% of the time), and he's suppose to be the big body that draws double teams.

He's so good, they replaced with Tevaseau.

Here's my question for you Brian. If he's so good, why did the Colts draft an NT and sign another. Both of those guys are injured. They kept him in, because they have NO ONE ELSE, except Tevaseau, who they are starting to realize is BETTER!!

I won't be able to respond to you because Im out of town for the next couple of days. Chow.

1. I don't lend any more credence to what PFF says about Mookie than I do for what you say about him.

2. Tevaseau has NOT been better than Mookie, not by a long shot. I've been very careful to identify which of the 2 is in the game on a given play to make sure I can correctly evaluate each player in my own eyes. However, some people only see what they want to see and not necessarily what is actually happening. You can say that applies to me if you like but it is not the case.

3. I don't know who you think said that Mookie had a good game against the jags. I very clearly said he was very inconsistent in that game but he did make some good plays none the less. However, he had more bad plays in that game than he had in the previous too. Again, I think another case of you just seeing what you want to see.

4. They drafted Chapman and brought in Mckinney because Mookie was the only true NT we had at the time, and at the time they could have had no idea how he would perform in the new defense. Add to that McKinney has been a career backup, I don't think he was ever meant to be more than a 1-2 year stop-gap backup. Hopefully, Chapman will meet or exceed expectations and form a very solid rotation with Mookie. Even better if Jean-Baptiste can improve and keep all 3 around, perhaps using them at DE as well as NT on running downs. Either way, you've yet to attempt to answer my question as to why Mookie was kept as the starter even when McKinney was healthy. McKinney was far more familiar with the system yet he was kept as a backup. If Mookie is so terrible, why would Pagano and Co. keep him starting when McKinney was a healthy option?

5. I don't know what you mean about Mookie not even playing. He was rotated in and out the entire game.

6. I don't know why you called me Brian, that's no my name. Perhaps you meant to call me "Brain" and misspelled it. If so you should already know that name calling is against the TOS. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised after your consistent petty whining last year in the chat room on game days to be granted a temporary reprieve from the "no profanity" rule so you could be given special treatment and allowed to vent with all the profanity you wanted. Very classic juvenile behavior.

[SOMDColtsfan]

The Vick Ballard comment I made was just a follow up on my prediction from a couple of months ago. I think he'll be the starter by midseason whether or not the O-line is good.

When Angerer gets back, it'll be Angerer and Freeman (unless Angerer is on a snap count), with Conner rotating in. A smaller role from Conner is expected.

C, B-, pretty much the same.

Yeah whats what I thought, a follow up on your own prediction and not an unbiased view on Donald Brown. Give Donald a hole and he will get the job done. Ballard hasn`t really impressed, even in open space, but again usually nowhere to run

[swflacoltsfans]

Adam V. scares me every time he lines up to kick a fg. Two fgs he missed were closer than 40 yards. I believe he is the highest paid kicker in the NFL. Time to think about using that money elsewhere next year.

[Jason_]

Mookie has been bad. He doesn't deserve to be the starter on this team or any team. Mookie has not been very solid for the most part, and actually Tevaseau has done a better job when on the field than Mookie has. DOn't believe me, look at PFF's in-depth look at the Colts-JAgs game, the game that supposedly Mookie was doing really well (https://www.profootb...s-colts-week-3/). He was doing so well, that HE DIDN'T EVEN PLAY! I mean, how can I believe you now on any of the things you just said? That run you were thinking of was probably Tevaseau.

I actually misread this the first time you posted it. You thought that Mookie didn't even play in the jags game, yet he very clearly did. So, that said, how can anyone take anything YOU say seriously? You come on here trying to be some kind of guru (a self-proclaimed "colts expert") and you give what you call in depth player evaluations, yet you didn't even know that Mookie played against the jags. How can you possibly give any kind of player evaluation when you don't even know when each player has played? Just to help you out, Mookie is #99. It's hard to miss him when he's on the field, he's a pretty big guy.

So, did you even watch the jags game before giving your player and team evaluations of the game? Did you just read some PFF articles and change the wording a little bit so it sounds like it came from you? Fraud is the key word that comes to mind here.

[JoKeR]

Why so serious guys? Lets not argue about which of 2 very average defensive linemen is better. Neither is a long term answer as a starter, lets just hope they both play well in their limited roles.

Actually the back and forth is kinda funny.

[Jason_]

Why so serious guys? Lets not argue about which of 2 very average defensive linemen is better. Neither is a long term answer as a starter, lets just hope they both play well in their limited roles.

Actually the back and forth is kinda funny.

IDK, I kinda think AJ has long-term potential. Not necessarily as a starter but in my opinion, if he were our 2nd string NT then I think we'd be in excellent shape. I'm hoping Chapman develops into the starter and we can keep AJ as the backup. This of course is dependent on AJ continuing to improve. So far though, I think he's played pretty well, especially considering the low expectations I had coming into the season. And it irks me to see people keep ragging on him unnecessarily, and then to find out one of the most outspoken people against him appears to not even watch the games yet still claims in authoritative manner that AJ has been terrible....it's a bit irritating.

If you're going to try to claim to be some sort of guru or act like you have advanced knowledge of the game, then at the very least watch the freakin games and know what games a player actually plays in. That seems like it would make sense, but what do I know?

[Andy]

I actually misread this the first time you posted it. You thought that Mookie didn't even play in the jags game, yet he very clearly did. So, that said, how can anyone take anything YOU say seriously? You come on here trying to be some kind of guru (a self-proclaimed "colts expert") and you give what you call in depth player evaluations, yet you didn't even know that Mookie played against the jags. How can you possibly give any kind of player evaluation when you don't even know when each player has played? Just to help you out, Mookie is #99. It's hard to miss him when he's on the field, he's a pretty big guy.

So, did you even watch the jags game before giving your player and team evaluations of the game? Did you just read some PFF articles and change the wording a little bit so it sounds like it came from you? Fraud is the key word that comes to mind here.

Jason, you clearly misread (not surprised) what I said. Don't be a freagin jerk and listen.

He didn't play that much in the Jags game, Tevaseau saw the majority of the time. Mookie started the game, but did not finish it.

Mookie played, he just didn't play that much. I said he "didn't even play" because he didn't play most of the game.

So shut up and stop throwing so many shots at me, you're very annoying.

[Jason_]

Jason, you clearly misread (not surprised) what I said. Don't be a freagin jerk and listen.

He didn't play that much in the Jags game, Tevaseau saw the majority of the time. Mookie started the game, but did not finish it.

Mookie played, he just didn't play that much. I said he "didn't even play" because he didn't play most of the game.

So shut up and stop throwing so many shots at me, you're very annoying.

I didn't mis-read anything. You did a very poor job of communicating what you meant if in fact you originally meant what you're now claiming, which I have my doubts. Gavin also interpreted your original comment as saying that Mookie didn't play the entire game as he corrected you before I did.

I don't have the game recorded anymore but I distinctly remember Mookie being rotated in during the entire game.

Also, like you, I will not shut up, but very mature of you to tell me to. Can't say I'm surprised though considering what I saw from you in chat rooms last year.