Things To Watch For

[Coffeedrinker]

Superman did a great job with his post game grades, so the things to watch for this week are going to based on the good and bad things Superman pointed out in his post.

QUARTERBACKS

Superman mentioned two things worth watching for this week; one identifying where the pressure is coming from and moving around in the pocket or getting rid of it quickly and ball security. On the first I think he will, in the 2nd half of the game, particularly the 4th quarter he started looking very comfortable back there and played much more fluid. The ball security thing I'm not too sure about, for as long as I can remember he is a guy who is going to match his TD passes and turnovers. The other thing to watch for his is playing calling at the LOS. That can be done, although not as effectively, from a huddle offense. We will see more hand signals and checks this game.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Missed assignments. All the lineman had some negatives in the game, although I though AC played extremely well, he got beat a couple of times but he never seemed to be out of position or blocking the wrong guy (cough**Link**cough and I'm not even talking about not helping Clark with Williams that will be discussed in the coaching section). But those mistakes have to be eliminated, especially on the interior. Houston got too much push up the middle that forced Collins to throw without being able to fully step into it. They should be helped somewhat by the Browns Dts because from what I saw in the Bengals game, none of them are great at getting much push up the middle. So can Link continue his stellar play? Reitz did well for the most part but I counted 5 pass plays where he gave up more than 3 yards on pass blocking, so he needs to improve that, you don't want to give up more than 2. Saturday and Diem each had 3 where they gave up more than 2 yards on pass blocking. See if they improve on that. Link did better than I thought he would but he's still the weak link along the line, I counted 7 times where his defender was on the same line as Collins, as a tackle you need to push the defender about a yard deeper than the QB; I think it's because he's just not strong enough to direct the defender. The run blocking was good so, let's see if that improves even more this week.

BACKS, TIGHT ENDS AND WR

Probably the one bright spot of the game was this group. All seemed to be running good routes, Wayne is as effective as ever and cannot be covered by one guy (unless he's a top 3 CB in the league) and his TD is a highlight clip for a career. Garcon looked good (although he was at 50% for targets and catches but not all were his fault, there were 3 overthrows). Addai and Carter both looked to run hard and were decisive. And how about seeing Gronkowski playing at FB and the Colts picking up a first down on 3rd and short. So I look for more of the same, I expect both Addai and Carter to have solid games, I would like them in the 20-25 carries category which wasn't possible last week after getting down so much so early. Watch for Clark and Collie to have big games the Browns Lbers and safeties are not great in coverage and with the base 4-3 D the Browns run they are going to be matched up with them quite a bit. Lastly, I was still very impressed with Eldridge's blocking. I don't think he will get much of a chance in this game but watch him while he's in there... if he was 30lbs heavier, I'd lobby for him to be the starting RT.

D-LINE

I agree with Superman in his grades. Some of the running game can be blamed on the dline but for the most part it was the Lbers. In this game watch for Nevis to have a monster game. The Browns center is good but the guards are average and in watching Nevis last week he looked overwhelmed in the 1st quarter but then it was like it clicked and he decided it was just football and he started to play more like what we saw in the preseason. Moala was another one that played well. Watch Moala, he is always playing on the other side of the line, he gets immediate penetration and holds his ground. I would like to see better hand play from him so he can move the blockers rather than just holding his ground. Foster does what he always does, he so fast he is going to make a few plays because of his quickness off the snap, but if he doesn't beat his guy off the snap he's pushed around a lot. I thought Mookie was not good, he was standing up too much and getting pushed back 3-5 yards consistently against the run game. Hopefully he can improve that.

Watch for Hughes to get 10-12 snaps this week. Mathis had limited participation on Thursday and DNP on Wed and Friday, so it's not looking good for him to get a lot of time. This will be a good week for him to miss because I think Anderson is going to get a lot of snaps because of Hillis.

Lastly watch how many times Freeney is tripled. I counted 6 pass plays in the Houston game where Freeney was tripled.

LINEBACKERS

This group was horrible last week and I think the bulk of the blame goes on Brackett, he was late in his zones, took himself out of running plays and did not play football like he normally does. This week Angerer is taking over (I assume) in the middle with Brackett out. Watch to see if there is improvement in LB this week, that will consist of those 8+ yard runs being kept to 4 yard runs and not allowing so man completions in that 8-12 yard area in the middle 1/3 of the field.

SECONDAY

Again another group that I thought played well. Not mistake free or perfect but well. Lacey played better than he did in the preseason. Bethea and Bullit as the last line of defense in the run game played well, they prevented several of those 8+ yard runs from becoming 20+ runs. Against the Browns they are going to have to be on their toes because McCoy is adept at running the bootleg but he can also then just take off running and he's faster than he looks.

Special Teams

Watch to see if they tackle.

COACHING

I know a lot of people blamed the coaches for a lot of things but overall they did a good job. There was only 1 drive over 20 yards that resulted in a TD, they made some good adjustments at half time. Caldwell had the guys ready to play (of the first 4 plays of the games, 3 of them were wins for the Colts) But things got ugly quickly. The only coaching issue I had was with Metz and the line. I don't think Clark on Williams was a mistake, because I remember wondering (and posting) about the same thing last year in the first Houston game where Clark tried to block Williams one on one. I did not see it after that game so I thought it was something Metz took out of the playbook... apparently not. When it happened a 2nd time, Clark and Collins need to recognize it and have Clark just shield him for a second and then run a screen, it may not gain any yards but it's better than the alternative. As far as Caldwell taking the blame for that, good for him and part of it is on him. I remember during Caldwell's first year, Polian stated in an interview that if a play didn't work, Dungy would immediately remove it from the game plan for the rest of the game. But Caldwell doesn't do that, Caldwell gives it two times and then he pulls it. I, personally, agree with Caldwell on that because the reasons for it not working once could be varied.

Hopefully the end result of this game will be better than Week 1. I think it will be.

[jbaron04]

i agree for the most part i personally like angerer as the mike

[Coffeedrinker]

i agree for the most part i personally like angerer as the mike

I like Angerer as the MIKE as well. In the Green Bay preseason game he played the position about as well as it could be played, even with the TD pass. That was a great throw and a great catch.

[ruksak]

I expect our offense to move the ball much better, but still struggle to cash in with TD's. Same with the Browns, however they will have better average starting field position. I expect Colt McCoy to hit the ground early and often, leading to turnovers.

A field goal battle with a score differential of about 3 points.

[Coffeedrinker]

I expect our offense to move the ball much better, but still struggle to cash in with TD's. Same with the Browns, however they will have better average starting field position. I expect Colt McCoy to hit the ground early and often, leading to turnovers.

A field goal battle with a score differential of about 3 points.

So far you are being proven correct.