My Two Cents.

[GoColts8818]

Ok, we are getting close to being on the same page. The line IS the main issue with the colts offense. I agree. It his is has been for 3 years (this being the start of the 4th). The oline needs to improve if we ever have a shot at another superbowl.

What I have basically been saying this whole time is this, even with the oline playing bad I think we still wouldve won with peyton (sorry ruksak). Thats all im saying. Yes the line has been bad for a while. Yes, that is what has held the offense back the past few years.

Totally agree with that.

And the D, yes its a problem. But weve known that for a while now. That shouldnt be a surprise especially since not much has changed since last year.

So the question I ask myself is: Did we play any different today (excluding QB position) than we did in most games last year? My opinion, no we didnt. And thats why I think healthy peyton=win (sorry again ruksak).

Maybe you have a different thought process about this than me. but thats the way i look at it.

Who knows what would have happened with Manning out there it would have been a very different game. I have a feeling Manning takes that drive after the INT and sticks it in the endzone but he wasn't.

When I say we lose even with Manning I mean if the game had unfolded as it had namely Manning getting hit as much as Collins did. Like I said several times Collins did dump the ball quickly and just got drilled. Manning is going to get hit on those plays as well. They just showed Williams first sack of the game again on TV and there Collins dropped back facked the hand off held it for a second and gets hit. Even Manning was going to get sacked on that play. The only thing that might have been different is that Manning probably sees it coming and goes down like he has in the past.

Again, I guess to me the whole Manning arguement doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact the line stunk up the joint today. That's the real issue here and I want to make sure that's seen as the issue more than just blaming the guy who has only been here for 17 days because he didn't dump the ball like Manning normally does.

[wordofmouth]

I think Dungy said it best, NOBODY "stepped up". I thought the game might look like this, although I didn't think it would be this bad. I really think we will struggle for a while ( I have no idea how long) with the combination of our O line developing cohesion and Collins learning the Offense.

The D was put in some bad situations, but did not respond. Then they gave an an 89? yard drive where they really looked bad. Can't blame Collins for that. When it's 17-0 and you have the other team on their own 11 you need to "step up" !

Then there was the punt return. OK, nuff said on that.

In the second half we looked better but as many have pointed out, part of that was due to the Texans playing conservative. While we did out score them in the second half, it's not like you can say we beat them in the second half.

There were positives ( running game some individual linebacker play etc. ) but they were way too little too late. I think, structurally, we have the ability to be a .500 or better team but that is going to take different players, and units to play above their heads from time to time. That's were the coaches come in. We will learn a lot about this staff in the next couple weeks.

[GoColts8818]

I think Dungy said it best, NOBODY "stepped up". I thought the game might look like this, although I didn't think it would be this bad. I really think we will struggle for a while ( I have no idea how long) with the combination of our O line developing cohesion and Collins learning the Offense.

The D was put in some bad situations, but did not respond. Then they gave an an 89? yard drive where they really looked bad. Can't blame Collins for that. When it's 17-0 and you have the other team on their own 11 you need to "step up" !

Then there was the punt return. OK, nuff said on that.

In the second half we looked better but as many have pointed out, part of that was due to the Texans playing conservative. While we did out score them in the second half, it's not like you can say we beat them in the second half.

There were positives ( running game some individual linebacker play etc. ) but they were way too little too late. I think, structurally, we have the ability to be a .500 or better team but that is going to take different players, and units to play above their heads from time to time. That's were the coaches come in. We will learn a lot about this staff in the next couple weeks.

The only guy I would argue that steped up was Reggie Wayne. He caught everything he got his hands on and had a very good day. You know Addai steped up too but frankly we wouldn't give him the ball enough. At some point they have to understand if you want to improve the running game you have to give the backs the ball and if you won't do it in a game in which the starting QB has 17 days to get the offense down and Addai is gettng 5.0 yards a carry I don't know when they will. I knew the Texans took us out of the game early but I would have kept running the ball in the second half just to show other teams we can do it because we weren't coming back.

[scorptile]

ive read everything said here and agree with most of it. from what i saw the D looked a bit out of sorts in the first half and the second half they looked different. i blame not only collins on the turnovers but the punt return as well. along with blaming caldwell for not handling the team and giving them energy and guidance throughout the game. i mean he just stood there like he always does no words just staring off into space. without manning he needs to step up and be the coach. like ive said on facebook these next few months is irsay's and polians test to see if caldwell is a head coach or is he just along for the ride.

[wordofmouth]

T

he only guy I would argue that steped up was Reggie Wayne. He caught everything he got his hands on and had a very good day.

You know Addai steped up too but frankly we wouldn't give him the ball enough. At some point they have to understand if you want to improve the running game you have to give the backs the ball and if you won't do it in a game in which the starting QB has 17 days to get the offense down and Addai is gettng 5.0 yards a carry I don't know when they will. I knew the Texans took us out of the game early but I would have kept running the ball in the second half just to show other teams we can do it because we weren't coming back.

Good point! I forgot about Reggie. He really helped Collins out tonight. I have to give Addai and Carter credit for their running as well as the O line for doing a decent job of run blocking, but when I say "step up" ( actually Dungy said it) I mean making plays. Doing something to change the momentum of the game. While the running game was good it wasn't game altering in any way.

I would give an honorable mention to Bracket who deflected one pass ( into Johnson's hands, but that's just the way it went last night ) and had that nice interception. The poor guy deserves a little shout out as his first good play lead to a Houston TD and the next to a shoulder injury.

[Tsarquise]

Shut up about the irrelevant absence of a guy that was 2,000 miles away. Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up about Manning. Y'all sound pathetic. Might as well ponder what difference Unitas woulda made, cuz his corpse had as much impact on todays game as Manning's broke neck did.

Invoking his name is an excuse. Excuses are like buttholes, we all have 'em and they all stink.

Some of these posts are so funny in this thread....

I agree with everything Hockey87 has said. Peyton would not have fumbled the ball twice.. end of story... Take away the fumbles and the punt return touchdown and the Colts likely win with Peyton....

And what's up with the guy telling everyone to shut up about speculating the difference Peyton would have made? It's pretty natural that a fan of the Indianapolis Colts would question the difference that they're 4 time, MVP, Super Bowl winning quarterback, who has never missed a start until now, would have made. This is the first real game for the Indianapolis Colts, since 1998, where Peyton did not start! We have never seen anyone else seriously run this offense. The fact is Peyton doesn't fumble often at all. So if you take away those fumbles, the dynamics of the game completely change!

The Texans didn't start scoring until Kerry Collins gift wrapped good field position... The Texans always score points on us. It's not that big of a deal. The defense did okay. They shut them out in the second half. We usually score more than seven points. It might have to do a little with the QB position. Don't you think? lol. It should be common sense to any Colts fan, that having a healthy 18 in the game, would likely give us a win.

Special teams were ugly as usual.

This just shows how valuable Peyton is to the team and how deserving he is of his 4 MVP awards.

Anyways this is a forum to talk with other fans about the Indianapolis Colts. It seems like the perfect place to strike such a conversation. It seems ludicrous for someone to tell one to shut up for being a fan.

Some people should quit acting like they are actually on the team, as if thinking about "what if" scenarios will lose their focus on improving the team, or their focus on the next game. We are fans. That is all.

Man i miss the old forum... way back in the day like 04 days...(sigh)

[tboh]

GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!!!............. and that's all I have to say about that!

Mods if you feel like this thread needs to be merged go a head and do that, sorry there is just so much stuff out here tonight I don't know where to put this.

Next thing I am not going to take a shot at anyone in this post so please understand that going in, if you feel like I am talking about you then that's on you.

I want to say first what a disapointment. We lose that game even if Manning was there. We did more things wrong than I can count and it seemed like even when we did something right (Brackett's tipped ball on the TD pass) things went right for the Texans. That effort today was just not good. I put that on the players, they spent a lot of time this week talking about how uspet they were. Well all they did tonight was prove the national pundits right. You want to shut them up you have to play like that. Several times today the right calls were made by the coaches and the players did not make the plays, a couple of rushing TDs come to mind where the Colts hit the back in the backfield and didn't bring him down. That means the right play was called our guys just didn't make the play. It is not all the players fault either though. There were several areaes where the coaching failed. Whoever had the bright idea to have Dallas Clark blocking Mario Williams made a horriable call. Why we just refuse to adjust to a play that is killing us like the little slant pass is beyond me. I don't know if it was coaching or players but the Texans were getting huge runs by running right at Freeney and Mathis and they would run themselves right out of the play. We spent this money to get Anderson and Brayton put them in there to stop the run. We finally put them in the game when the game was out of reach. Don't even get me started on our special teams, why even put them on the field? You might as well have them just block on the snap and have McAfee try to tackle the guy because that's all that happens anyways. There is alot of blame to go around and frankly EVERYONE who work for the Colts franchise had a hand in the loss today, the defense was bad, the offense wasn't much better, the special teams made the defense look good, an the coaching was poor. So you can honestly blame everyone.

Next the game did have some poistives and fans of teams are going to find those to build on. Remember a fan cheers for their team and while they will admit there are fualts (and there are several) they find the things that went well as well. Bullitt played well today and frankly made me comfortable with not having Sanders. Castonzo was about the only lineman who didn't get beat at some point today, worth noting Diem played pretty well as well. We were able to run the ball some. Addai had close to a five yards per carry average. Reggie was well Reggie. We forced some turnovers on D. Collins when he had more than two seconds to throw the ball looked decent. Yes he missed some throws but like the annouers said you just aren't going to have timing with only 17 days to work with. Also frankly I thought the offense looked better in the no huddle at the end of the game, that could have also been product of the Texans laying off some. We also picked up a third one when running the ball for the first time in I don't know how long. Brackett also played well and I really hope he's not hurt too bad. Frankly when they didn't have o-lineman getting out and blocking on them all three linebackers played pretty well today.

What must improve, the line MUST play better. I said before the line was going to be the key to the offense and they sure looked like it today. When they were blocking we were able to move the ball down the field on the Texans defense. The pentalies have to stop. I know you are never going to have a flag free game but we had at least three really good drives today stopped by a big flag at the wrong time. We don't have Peyton Manning who can pick up a third and 20. I say bring back the no huddle offense. I really looked to be messing with the other 10 guys on offense and I think took them out of rythem and I think Collins looked better in it towards the end of the game. Also run the ball more, Addai had a 5.0 yard per carry today, it does look lke the line has improved on run blocking, give him the rock more often. On defense wow, just wow. It starts up front. Challenge those guys pride, fine them game checks, I don't care what it takes but get the message to them they can NOT get blown off the ball like they were. Also, note to the coaches when the Texans are running it down your throat that is the time to play Johnson, Nevis and Moala and not Foster. I thnk Foster is a really nice pass rushing DT but he should not be on the field on 1st or 2nd down unless it's near the end of a game. Also, note to Freeney and Mathis, you can't rush the passer on EVERY play. The Texans got several big runs by running right where they were supposed to be. We have to adjust the defense I know the cover-2 is our base defense but clearly teams have figured out how to exploit that back the corners off every play and teams aren't going to stop attacking it till we change some. Frankly I would like to see us get burned deep at this point because that mean we are being aggresive. Special teams, just no, find 9 new guys for next week (McAfee and snow can stay) and if it's starters so be it.

Now this is the part that isn't going to go well. Some of the things being posted here disgust me. I think some people need answer the following question are they a fan or are they just here to complain? Again there is a lot to be upset about today and is more than fine to voice that displeasure but fans stick by their team when the going gets hard and does more than just complain. I know today was disapointing but it's ONE game. We got beat up pretty bad in the Texans game last year and came back and had a nice season. Let's just see how things go and if we have a bad season we have a bad season. It would be first one in 10 years. To say we are due is an understatement. Also just like the last time we had a bad season I am sure there will be changes made if we have one. That's getting a head of ourselves right now though. We just need to take it one week at a time and get out there and support our team. They need us more than ever right now. We know how this defense feeds off the crowd so I challenge everyone here who has tickets to the game next week to bring it just like the Texans fans brought it today. That's the only thing we can really do because you know what the Polians and Caldwell aren't going to start looking to the forums for advice on how to run the team and for coaching advice. Also, it's worth remembering none of us here are responsable for what happened today so I would also suggest that we stay respectful to each other right now. EVERYONE is upset about today and we were already on edge because what is happening with Manning. Going at each other to say "Look I am right" or "I know so much more about football than everyone else here" isn't going to help. Nor is complaining about how much we suck. Yes I would agree today the Colts would have done well to tie their own shoes without doing something wrong but remember again it was one game. That doesn't mean I am saying you can't talk about what's wrong with our team. You can do it without being a wet blanket or being a jerk though (again I am not talking about anyone in general here) and also remember just because some chooses to see something that we well does not make htem a homer or has rose colored glasses on it just means they have a different view than you and that maybe they are seeing something beyond the negative and yes even on a day like today there were some good things to take away.

I'll close on this. Again, remember it's a game. Today was a picture perfect reminder of that. If the Colts struggling is the worst thing going on in your life tell God thank you tonight. No one likes to see their team lose but none of us get a pay check from the Colts and I doubt our livly hood depends on the Colts success. So remember it's a game and it's ment for enjoyment and as frustrating as a day like today was try not to let it carry over, just let it go. I understand wanting to vent frustrations and there is nothing wrong with that just try to remember it's not life and death like some people make it seem like.

Again this was not directed at anyone. I am not out to challenge anyone's fanhood or tell anyone how to be a fan. So if you take it like that please know that is not my intent. It's just my two cents on a day like today and it's probably not even worth that.

[GoDeep]

By week 4 i doubt you will hear anything about peyton other than when will he be back.

You won't hear anything about that until Wednesday before he comes back!

And, I wonder if we are out of playoff contention, if they would bring him back at all.

[deedub75]

Manning would have made different blocking adjustments. Collins probably just left it up to Saturday. Manning would have adjusted routes, altered the cadence, screwed with the play clock, etc., to keep Mario Williams guessing. And again, he would have picked up more than 1 3rd down.

So bringing in 5 Free Agent D-Linemen, drafting a monster in Nevis, bringing in extra LB and Safety talent, etc., all in an effort to improve the defense, are failures to address said defense? What else could they have done?

This isn't Madden where everyone just has a rating number next to them so it's easy to tell who works better. Schemes, health, contracts, play style, etc., all affect how a player will work out in a new system. If the fixes were easy, every team would be perfect.

Who am I kidding? You know better than the professionals, right?

Are the Steelers bad defensively? I mean, they gave up 35 to the Ravens. THE RAVENS. The same Ravens who are known for offensive mediocrity.

What about the Chiefs? Stifling defense last year; let Fitz and the Bills put up 41 in their own house!

Cleveland let the Bengals score 27.

Rex Grossman torched the Giants. Enough said.

So all of those teams failed to address defense in the off-season apparently, right? They need new philosophies! New coaches! They ignored what has to be done, because it's so easy to figure out! A 330 lb. All Pro NT who somehow fits a fast-flow 4-3 is just waiting to be had for vet minimum! Or better yet: we can switch to a 3-4 mid-season because it's easy to do in Madde-...I mean, er, real life!

Blah.

Blah.

Blah.

They brought in typical players to run their typical defensive scheme which typically only works if Peyton scores his typical 21+ points per game so no they did not address the typical defensive issues. Nevis will be a future beast. Face it. They gambled and thought Peyton would be there to bail them out as usual and they lost that gamble.

[doogansquest]

They brought in typical players to run their typical defensive scheme which typically only works if Peyton scores his typical 21+ points per game so no they did not address the typical defensive issues. Nevis will be a future beast. Face it. They gambled and thought Peyton would be there to bail them out as usual and they lost that gamble.

But you're dead wrong. That's an indisputable fact. They brought in guys with slightly different skill sets than we are used to seeing (ie: run-stuffing specialists), all with additional size. That's not the same old philosophy. Face it. :-P

To the comments on O-line play and Manning getting hit: Collins may have had a quicker release than normal, but he doesn't know the Texans defense as Manning would have with months of study, and he also doesn't know our own playbook well enough to adjust properly to visible pressure. There's no way Manning would have let Clark stay lined up against Williams, for example, and Manning also wouldn't have fumbled the ball.

On top of that, our O-line was very good in the run blocking department. That is a big change compared to the last 3-4 years. Anyone suggesting otherwise is being delusional on principle.

With the opportunities Manning would have afforded us over Collins in terms of time of possession and a reduction in mistakes, the Texans would have had to respect the improved ground attack (thanks to improved O-line play) in a tight game, or suffer the same fate as the 2010 Giants. Suddenly pass blocking becomes easier when Houston isn't blitzing every other play.

[ruksak]

Some of these posts are so funny in this thread....

I agree with everything Hockey87 has said. Peyton would not have fumbled the ball twice.. end of story...

Because Manning never fumbles the ball away, right? Getting blasted by a 6'7 monster from his blindside, after a failed blocking assignment, Kerry did what most QB's woulda done, he coughed it up. But we're gonna blame the new guy, not the guy that was supposed to pick it up, Link. The only difference was Manning would have scolded Link for the goof, because Manning is in charge. Kerry needs to follow suite and be the Boss.

Take away the fumbles and the punt return touchdown and the Colts likely win with Peyton...

Peyton played on special teams?

And what's up with the guy telling everyone to shut up about speculating the difference Peyton would have made?

HEY, thats me!

I'll have you know that I was voted smartest football fan on the internet, TWICE!

Stop livin in the past, man.

...and if you had bothered to read my posts in this thread you would have seen where I explained I was teasin people for not being able to deal with Manning's absence. I was just bustin y'alls chops.

It should be common sense to any Colts fan, that having a healthy 18 in the game, would likely give us a win.

But we don't have #18, he's out, and to speculate about what he may or may not have done is inconsequential and unhealthy going forward. I'm a huge fan, I like to talk football, but not once have I been tempted to ponder the path of 'woulda coulda shoulda' in regard to a player that we don't have.

Hey, I bet 1989 Joe Montana woulda won that game for us! Should we explore that avenue of thought as well, because it is just as relevant.

It seems ludicrous for someone to tell one to shut up for being a fan.

For being a fan or for being a cry baby? I'm leaning toward the latter. Boo hoo....tissue for baby tears gah gah goo goo?

Cry babies get a smart bottom while bent over my knee of common sense. Common sense says its wholly unproductive and foolish to ponder what-if's to that extent. My disdain for this wasn't that people are talking about Manning and the difference he may, or may not have, made. My disdain is that people are all over this place with that crap. As a matter of a fact, it is all people want to think about, which is going to make this season even more torturous for them.

Man i miss the old forum... way back in the day like 04 days

There you are livin in the past again. Get with the times, bro. It's not '04, this isn't the old forum, Manning ain't comin back for a long while and I'm sexy cool with huge muscles and great hair.

I will accept your apology only if you do so while postured on your knee at my feet.

You see, as I explained above, which you chose to ignore, I was just clownin with y'all. But you chose to omit that so I was forced to smart you.

Never lose your sense of humor. Without it, life is hard, and this season will be painful.

[braveheartcolt]

But you're dead wrong. That's an indisputable fact. They brought in guys with slightly different skill sets than we are used to seeing (ie: run-stuffing specialists), all with additional size. That's not the same old philosophy. Face it. :-P

To the comments on O-line play and Manning getting hit: Collins may have had a quicker release than normal, but he doesn't know the Texans defense as Manning would have with months of study, and he also doesn't know our own playbook well enough to adjust properly to visible pressure. There's no way Manning would have let Clark stay lined up against Williams, for example, and Manning also wouldn't have fumbled the ball.

On top of that, our O-line was very good in the run blocking department. That is a big change compared to the last 3-4 years. Anyone suggesting otherwise is being delusional on principle.

With the opportunities Manning would have afforded us over Collins in terms of time of possession and a reduction in mistakes, the Texans would have had to respect the improved ground attack (thanks to improved O-line play) in a tight game, or suffer the same fate as the 2010 Giants. Suddenly pass blocking becomes easier when Houston isn't blitzing every other play.

We are all armchair coaches. You say we were run blocking well. Probably true. Yep we still passed twice as much as we ran. The OC and HC need to grow some and start running more. But I've got no faith in Caldwell whatsoever. Despite his 2 year record, I really do believe he is out of his depth.

[Tsarquise]

Because Manning never fumbles the ball away, right? Getting blasted by a 6'7 monster from his blindside, after a failed blocking assignment, Kerry did what most QB's woulda done, he coughed it up. But we're gonna blame the new guy, not the guy that was supposed to pick it up, Link. The only difference was Manning would have scolded Link for the goof, because Manning is in charge. Kerry needs to follow suite and be the Boss.

Peyton played on special teams?

HEY, thats me!

I'll have you know that I was voted smartest football fan on the internet, TWICE!

Stop livin in the past, man.

...and if you had bothered to read my posts in this thread you would have seen where I explained I was teasin people for not being able to deal with Manning's absence. I was just bustin y'alls chops.

But we don't have #18, he's out, and to speculate about what he may or may not have done is inconsequential and unhealthy going forward. I'm a huge fan, I like to talk football, but not once have I been tempted to ponder the path of 'woulda coulda shoulda' in regard to a player that we don't have.

Hey, I bet 1989 Joe Montana woulda won that game for us! Should we explore that avenue of thought as well, because it is just as relevant.

For being a fan or for being a cry baby? I'm leaning toward the latter. Boo hoo....tissue for baby tears gah gah goo goo?

Cry babies get a smart bottom while bent over my knee of common sense. Common sense says its wholly unproductive and foolish to ponder what-if's to that extent. My disdain for this wasn't that people are talking about Manning and the difference he may, or may not have, made. My disdain is that people are all over this place with that crap. As a matter of a fact, it is all people want to think about, which is going to make this season even more torturous for them.

There you are livin in the past again. Get with the times, bro. It's not '04, this isn't the old forum, Manning ain't comin back for a long while and I'm sexy cool with huge muscles and great hair.

I will accept your apology only if you do so while postured on your knee at my feet.

You see, as I explained above, which you chose to ignore, I was just clownin with y'all. But you chose to omit that so I was forced to smart you.

Never lose your sense of humor. Without it, life is hard, and this season will be painful.

lol wooow... It looks like you take this internet football fan stuff way too seriously. I bow to you almighty "Smartest Internet Football Fan". Anyways everyone is able to deal with his absence. This is just football. There are a lot more pressing matters in the world. We aren't on the Colts. I don't even know Peyton Manning. It's just a game. No one is freaking out. And I salute you for not being tempted to ponder the path of 'woulda coulda shoulda' in regard to a player that we don't have. For that, I'm definitely voting for you to retain your title! I hope you become the three time champion of internet fan.

And Joe Montana isn't on the 53 man roster... big difference. You know that silly. What internet champion doesn't?

And no one is livin in the past man when one ponders the effect that Peyton Manning has on this team.

People are trying to gauge how well this team is. With Peyton Manning we are usually a perennial Super Bowl contender. We just saw this team for the first time with out him. This is also a new season, with new players. So people are trying to see if this is the same Colts. The typical Colts don't get beat 34 to 7 often. So when they say, "We would have won the game with Manning", people are just saying that for the most part it was a typical Colts showing. the only difference is we just had a new Quarterback that has only practiced for two weeks, playing under center. That was the difference.

No one is whining and wallowing around depressed.

Kerry Collins looked uncomfortable out there. He looked like someone who had been with the team for only two weeks. Which he is. That was the only difference with this team. His biggest blunders were the fumbles.

Peyton doesn't fumble much.

Therefore if this is the only difference, the Colts team should be average with average quarterback play.

Get it?

Internet Champion?

[coltfaninnewyork]

Collins with more practice will get better,is it enough to make the playoffs i don't think so.

[Evilleprowler]

Why do we end up with the old and busted quarterback from no where. Collins was washed up three or four years ago in Tennessee. Why did we pick him up!? David Gerrard is a great prospect to go for. Anyone else think that? He can atleast move. Collins is a statue and has old man butter fingers...

[MAC]

Why do we end up with the old and busted quarterback from no where. Collins was washed up three or four years ago in Tennessee. Why did we pick him up!? David Gerrard is a great prospect to go for. Anyone else think that? He can atleast move. Collins is a statue and has old man butter fingers...

Garrard may be more mobile than Collins, but he is 33, has a history of inconsistency, is more expensive than Collins, and wasn't available when the Colts were looking.

At this point I can't imagine how they would pay him or why they would want to change gears again so quickly.

For what it's worth, I always thought that Garrard was more dangerous than Leftwich and wasn't surprised when he was promoted. At his best he can make good things happen.

[leatherman]

I think if manning was in there we win that game.......Longer drives....no huddle.....eating blitzes and crapping TDs

[ruksak]

lol wooow... It looks like you take this internet football fan stuff way too seriously. I bow to you almighty "Smartest Internet Football Fan".

Internet Champion?

lol....I didn't ask to be voted smartest guy on the internet, I spread my vast knowledge of all things football and the people spoke.

No one is whining and wallowing around depressed

I could link you about 100 posts by various members that far exceed just simply whining. People need to temper their expectations and understand that our preseason is unfortunately spilling over into our regular season. Due primarily to our QB whom hasn't even been on board for 3 weeks.

I think we win next week, and over the next 3 games we should start to see some encouraging signs of life in our offense.

Don't you dare make the mistake of taking me too seriously. Anyone here that is familiar with my posting style knows that I am a goofball who expresses himself with humor and sarcasm. Much truth is said in jest, so that is the route I take. I hope you understand and please, do not mistake my chicanery for weakness. I like to play tricks to expose the truth, I'm tricky.

As for discussions of Manning and what he may or may not have done, I suppose you make a solid point that people are using him as a yard stick to measure the competency of our team as a whole. Much truth to that and to that end I relent. However people are taking this angle and devising a rouse that our season is over after week 1. It is the panic that is associated with such discussions that draws my ire.

I suppose requesting that people abstain from this irrelevant train of thought is as useless as requesting that we cease with Brady versus Manning debates.

[Jason_]

Ok well I'm not going to waste time going back through and quoting what I want to reply to so...well here goes:

Oline: Yes they started out horrible but they improved as the game went on. Yes you could argue that the Texans took their foot off the gas pedal but you could also argue that the Oline just got a little bit better. We have a virtually brand new offensive line with only Saturday returning in his previous position from last year. We have a rookie at LT and these guys had no where near the normal offseason that they should have had. Anyone who expected them to play better in the first game is just expecting too much. Most of us knew and posted many times on how it's going to take time for them to gel as a unit and hopefully they will. That's going to take time and experience though and we simply can't rush that. How many posts were there before that game from people saying "well at least Kerry will be in there while the Oline is trying to get their groove so it's him getting hit and not Peyton" (yes I'm paraphrasing). Then we play the game and people are posting all over the place how our Oline sucks and it's never going to get any better. Yes, it will get better but you have to give it time.

Same thing goes for Collins, the playbook and the receivers. It's going to take time for them to all get on the same page and get a good chemistry with each other. This includes Collins and Saturday as well. It's not uncommon to see a botched snap here or there when there's a new QB. Those types of issues can and will be corrected.

The defense: Well they had pretty much zero chance to rest in the first quarter so yeah, they're going to get tired and when that happens to any defense they're going to give up a lot of ground. Now add to that that, just like the Oline, there are several new players that also have to develop a chemistry with each other and learn to gel as a unit. My biggest fear is how long this is going to take considering the majority of our defensive players are situational and either come in on passing OR running downs. My other fear is that this situational type of play is no mystery. Other teams know what we're thinking by the personnel we put on the field. They see Freeney and Mathis with Foster in the middle and of course they're going to check to a run. Then we bring in Anderson, Brayton and Johnson and of course they're going to check to a pass. I love that we went into Free agency and brought in some new names. I love that we went after guys who are bigger, stronger and more stout against the run. But we're not going to see many times when the opposing offense plays into our hands since we telegraph so much by the personnel we put on the field.

Maybe we need to start mixing this up. Put in combos like Mathis/Johnson/Nevis/Brayton or Anderson/Moala/Foster/Freeney. Mix up the run guys with the pass rushers so we have some of both on the field at the same time. Oh and to clarify the second set I suggested I still feel very strongly that we need to stop playing Foster at DT altogether. We need to bring in another big DT and move Foster out to DE permanently. Putting Foster in at DT is just inviting the other team to run right up the gut.

Even with the horrible first quarter, the defense also did seem to improve somewhat as the game went on. Again you could argue that the Texans took their foot off the pedal in the second half, but how many times have other teams been in similar "known running" type situations and just kept running at will on us? The fact that we were able to start slowing them down, even though they were in known running situations, is still an improvement.

I saw someone mention Nevis earlier and getting pushed around by the longer-armed OL. I saw him get pushed around quite a bit early on as well but later in the game he was starting to get some penetration. It didn't help his cause though that it seemed like every time I saw him on the field it was Foster next to him.

Regardless of how things play out, our defense will continue to improve imo. They aren't working as a team defense and that's to be expected with how many new guys were brought in and the short amount of time they had to prepare.

Coaching: I think the biggest mistake the coaches made was still playing to win the game after the first quarter. It was Kerry's first full game with the Colts, the first game with a virtually brand new OL and a very new defense. And of course we didn't have Manning. There was virtually zero chance of us coming back to win the game so I would have preferred to see them continue to try running a balanced offense and run the ball a lot more than they did. This would give the OL more of a chance to get their hands dirty and run block. Granted you could also argue that all the passing they did allowed the OL more time to gel in pass protection and it'd be hard to argue against that. However, all in all for us to have success this season the offense is going to have to be adjusted because no one is going to be able to run it like Manning. We need a lot more balance and a lot more running than we saw against Houston. Carter and Addai played well averaging a little over 4.0 per carry and you can compare that to the 4.1 yds per carry that Houston averaged. So going that route you could argue that our running game and our run defense played as well as Houston's did....Houston simply racked up more yards on the ground because they ran the ball more.

Yes, the Houston game was one of the ugliest Colts games we've seen in a long time, but take away some of the mistakes that were made simply due to inexperience working together and it's a much different game. I also just want to clarify that I'm not putting the 2 fumbles on Collins alone. They were both the unfortunate byproducts of our OL not having had enough experience with each other and with Collins. If you take away those 2 fumbles though, our defense actually is able to get some rest in the first quarter and our offense can stay more balanced. That would have made for an entirely different game. The outcome may very well have still been a Loss for us but it may not have been quite as ugly as it was. Things will get better though, of that you can be sure. How much better still remains to be seen though.

[bleed blue4life]

You know maybe its a blessing Peyton didn't play, the hits Collins took were not somthing I would have like Peyton taking just having surgery. Our O line will get better but in time . Maybe and really maybe this all is a good thing for now . I am hoping for a complete turnaround this week against the browns

Lets make it a real homefield advantage this week at the Luc. Our guys need our support. GO colts

[GoColts8818]

Collins with more practice will get better,is it enough to make the playoffs i don't think so.

Not with the rest of the team playing like this it's not.