Painter has a rare opportunity

[oldunclemark]

I'm just hoping for average..15 of 30...maybe 175 yards and no interceptions...

..but what if he's actually good.? What if he rises to the occasion..and more..?

here's a guy who's being made fun of because of his long hair hippie looks..

He's somewhat of a laughing stock playing behind Peyton...

...Everybody remembers game 15 of 2009..

But THIS is his first-ever REAL start...On National TV..in a game where his team is desperate for a win....and everyone in his home state is watching....

His team is a double-digit underdog......and the season is almost lost..

I hope he forgets about how its all come down to him....

And think about how this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a legend/..

If only for one night.

[MoM]

I think "average" is definitely acceptable and going to happen.

I don't think he'll perform any worse than Collins has this year. In fact, I won't be surprised if he pulls of the victory.

[Moose Of Woe]

Odds of Painter doing the following on the opening drive. (And pretty much every other one)

Fumbles the snap.

Sack/Fumble

Leads us to an impressive 3 and out.

Int.

Consistently hits his favorite receiver - the grass.

Empty hand.

Drives the Colts down field for a FG.

Drives the Colts down field for a TD.

I hope I'm wrong, but I suggest going in to this expecting the worst. That way it'll feel great if we win a game or two this season....and the defeats are significantly less crushing. Just when you thought we had PIT? nope!

[Andy]

Goldylocks has got to step it up. All lights are on him. He needs to come through, and he's got the weapons around him to succeed. Reggie WAyne, Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, plus he has a rejuvenated running game.

[pacolts56]

I think Painter should start for the rest of the season...assuming Peyton will not play.

There's no use restarting the Kerry Collins experiment when the guy is 38 years old, our season is already teetering on a losing, non-playoff record, and Collins is clearly not in our long term plans.

Let's see what Curtis can do without him having to look over his shoulder....at the very least it'll make him a better back-up for Peyton next year.

[Malakai432]

Painter was 5-11 vs the steelers for 60+ yards in a game where he was just thrown in against a better defense. The sack/fumble was on A.C. for the most part. However this will be much different playing @ Tampa opposed to playing @ home. I think Painter & Reggie actually might tear them up. If the defense plays good, the Colts should be ok. With Nevis, Angerer, and possibly Lefeged/Caldwell or Heinz @ SS the Bucs should have a tough time running the ball. I think Freeman will be flustered, get sacked multiple times and throw INT's or fumble the ball. However I'm worried about the CB play.

I'm also looking forward to Edds who played with Angerer @ Iowa and were considrered one of the best LB cores in college ball. Hopefully Edds recovered from that knee injury.

[Smitto]

Odds of Painter doing the following on the opening drive. (And pretty much every other one)

Fumbles the snap.

Sack/Fumble

Leads us to an impressive 3 and out.

Int.

Consistently hits his favorite receiver - the grass.

Empty hand.

Drives the Colts down field for a FG.

Drives the Colts down field for a TD.

I hope I'm wrong, but I suggest going in to this expecting the worst. That way it'll feel great if we win a game or two this season....and the defeats are significantly less crushing. Just when you thought we had PIT? nope!

Thats the thing some colts fans dont realize... all the colts need right now is a avg QB and the colts WILL win games, in comes painter and he is exactly that.. the colts will win more than two games and you can bet on that.

[chrisfarley]

prediction:

Painter under heat all day, holds on to the ball too long. O-Line will get blamed and Painter gets off the hook, unfairly. Painter will also choke on ball accuracy. Will have at least 2 INT's, which hopefully won't be blamed on bad routes by receivers he "hasn't had enough time with".

Caldwell will protect his little Goldilocks in post-presser.

Wayne will "see the light" but still not throw Painter under the bus.

Tampa Bay's defense let Atlanta have it last week......doesn't look good for Mullet-Man.

Painter, shave your head....... George Steinbrenner would be embarrassed.

[Bleedinblue]

Thats the thing some colts fans dont realize... all the colts need right now is a avg QB and the colts WILL win games, in comes painter and he is exactly that.. the colts will win more than two games and you can bet on that.

Plus, Painter should be average against the Tampa defense. I think they still use the base Tampa 2 same as the Colts. It's not like Painter has never seen that in practice before. But he'll still have to execute...

[Smitto]

prediction:

Painter under heat all day, holds on to the ball too long. O-Line will get blamed and Painter gets off the hook, unfairly. Painter will also choke on ball accuracy. Will have at least 2 INT's, which hopefully won't be blamed on bad routes by receivers he "hasn't had enough time with".

Caldwell will protect his little Goldilocks in post-presser.

Wayne will "see the light" but still not throw Painter under the bus.

Tampa Bay's defense let Atlanta have it last week......doesn't look good for Mullet-Man.

Painter, shave your head....... George Steinbrenner would be embarrassed.

Im gonna quote you one that one.... wonder what your excuse will be when painter has a good game.

[mystrymaster]

Odds of Painter doing the following on the opening drive. (And pretty much every other one)

Fumbles the snap.

Sack/Fumble

Leads us to an impressive 3 and out.

Int.

Consistently hits his favorite receiver - the grass.

Empty hand.

Drives the Colts down field for a FG.

Drives the Colts down field for a TD.

I hope I'm wrong, but I suggest going in to this expecting the worst. That way it'll feel great if we win a game or two this season....and the defeats are significantly less crushing. Just when you thought we had PIT? nope!

I see no odds in this post

[Smitto]

Plus, Painter should be average against the Tampa defense. I think they still use the base Tampa 2 same as the Colts. It's not like Painter has never seen that in practice before. But he'll still have to execute...

Exactly thats what ppl dont understand... painter knows this defense because he sees it every day at practice, i expect the colts to have a great game.

[mvbighead]

I love how people dog on Painter, despite the fact that he's already shown that he's more useful than Collins. I don't know why we can't give the guy a chance. To me, with the way the rest of the team has been playing, if Painter can help us move down the field a series or two (he did it once with limited time against the Steelers), and hopefully keep us close enough to run in a touchdown or even possibly throw 1 or 2, we'll be in a much better position to win some games.

I am just happy that someone besides Collins is getting a shot. Despite being a 15 year plus vet, the guy is simply lost out there.

[ruksak]

prediction:

Painter under heat all day, holds on to the ball too long. O-Line will get blamed and Painter gets off the hook, unfairly. Painter will also choke on ball accuracy. Will have at least 2 INT's, which hopefully won't be blamed on bad routes by receivers he "hasn't had enough time with".

Caldwell will protect his little Goldilocks in post-presser.

Wayne will "see the light" but still not throw Painter under the bus.

Tampa Bay's defense let Atlanta have it last week......doesn't look good for Mullet-Man.

Painter, shave your head....... George Steinbrenner would be embarrassed.

You seem more preoccupied with hair styles than football.

It is key that we get the run game moving tonight. However, TB locked Micheal Turner to 20 YDS last week. It was raining at Raymond James and this had much to do with the tractionless Turner's lack of production.

Either way, no run game tonight equals no win. We have to establish Addai early and often.

One thing I picked out about Collins game was his horrid execution of the play-action. The subtleties are often overlooked, and his inability to sell the play-fake was key in its failure. Often, he wouldn't even come within 2 yards of Addai when faking the hand-off, and these NFL safeties and LB's didn't go for it.

Painter sells the play-fake with much more enthusiasm and tact, lowering the shoulder and stepping out of it with skill. The play-action used to drive the Indy engine. Look for this tonight, watch the play-fake and lets hope that Painter can hit his target on the business end of the play-action.

[chrisfarley]

You seem more preoccupied with hair styles than football.

It is key that we get the run game moving tonight. However, TB locked Micheal Turner to 20 YDS last week. It was raining at Raymond James and this had much to do with the tractionless Turner's lack of production.

Either way, no run game tonight equals no win. We have to establish Addai early and often.

One thing I picked out about Collins game was his horrid execution of the play-action. The subtleties are often overlooked, and his inability to sell the play-fake was key in its failure. Often, he wouldn't even come within 2 yards of Addai when faking the hand-off, and these NFL safeties and LB's didn't go for it.

Painter sells the play-fake with much more enthusiasm and tact, lowering the shoulder and stepping out of it with skill. The play-action used to drive the Indy engine. Look for this tonight, watch the play-fake and lets hope that Painter can hit his target on the business end of the play-action.

i'd also like to see the no-huddle executed a bit more with Painter, who is more accustomed to it (in addition to what you are saying with play-action - which is a very good point).

p.s. - i heard Painter on a radio program and they spent half the interview talking about his "locks"......and how that all got started. I just want him to get down to business, take advantage of this HUGE opportunity and hit some receivers for big yards or small dinks,,,whatever it takes to move the chains, and the running game should take care of itself with Addai running well and getting support from full-back.

[The Fish]

I'm really hoping Tampa comes out and lay's a big ole' stinky game, so we might be able to play the odd's and get a win. 0-4 sounds like **** to me.

[ruksak]

i'd also like to see the no-huddle executed a bit more with Painter, who is more accustomed to it (in addition to what you are saying with play-action - which is a very good point).

This is actually a grand point you make. The no-huddle is essential being that we're playing in front of a hostile crowd that will no doubt be cranked for this MNF game. Its going to very very loud, so Painter will need to utilize all that he's learned about no-huddle communication from Manning.

Also, I'd like to see a highly variable snap-count cadence to keep the TB defense from keying off.

[mystrymaster]

Yeah the no huddle will be key for Painter to be able to execute. I hope he can.

[wanabecoach]

I can't wait to see how Curtis plays...I hope he does well, or above average. Go Colts!!!

[No 1 Manning Fan]

I don't understand why we have all of this Painter hate or Painter love going on. I say let's support him and root for him. Be pleasantly surprised if he has a good game, because he is second string QB. If he has a bad game, just shrug your shoulders and say "oh well, he's just a second string QB". The pressure should be on the rest of the starters on the team to win despite Painter. It is his job to keep himself from losing the game for the rest of the team. Honestly, no one expects a team to win without the starting QB. I think most people here are being a little unfair to Painter, on both sides of the argument. Don't expect too much, and don't hate on him either.

[jgstriker]

I would be stoked to see Painter do well...

But why in the world would someone convince themself that Painter will play "Average"

He has never yet been average. Not ever.

He did have one good drive in his career. But that is not an average game.

I actually don't hate the guy, but I do get driven nutssss by the homerism. The same people who adamently defense Painter were the ones who adamently stated that Collins could win games with us who are the same people who said that The Colts could still make the super bowl (I know this is a generalization, but I have noticed a number of the same faces who chirp this stuff)

Obviously this season brings out some angst not just at our team and our front office but among fans, myself included especially.

My prediciton is that this isn't a terrible game for the colts, but I think our defense will get exposed more than it was last week. Blount has a stud game and Freemen is a good game manager. Painter has a couple of brilliant throws but can't be consistent enough to sustain enough drives to keep us close. The o-line is a bit beat up and we won't look as good running the ball, I expect the Bucs D to be much less respectful of our passing game than teams even were agianst Collins, leading to more Blitzs and more potential for Painter put the ball on the turf and into the defenders hands. Thoughts?

[oldunclemark]

But the question still stands.

Forget everythng and everybody else..

What if he's really good?

[Steagles]

Next Matt Cassel? Anyone?

[oldunclemark]

Could be ..Jason...

.....The team is behind him...

Everyone is predicting doom......but I'm not sure...

[Nadine]

...Everybody remembers game 15 of 2009..

But THIS is his first-ever REAL start...On National TV..in a game where his team is desperate for a win....and everyone in his home state is watching....

His team is a double-digit underdog......and the season is almost lost..

This kid has got some serious issues with karma. Hope for his sake he does at least as well as Collins.