Coaching, coaching, coaching

[FireJimCaldwell]

No Jim Caldwell was named head coach in waiting and was introduced when Dungy stepped down. There was no search. Caldwell was the guy all along.

Mistakes #1, 2, & 3

For what the Colts wanted when they hired Caldwell yes I can say he was the best coach they could get. As for the rest of the staff. Christison is coaching very well on offense. Frankly the players aren't making play and I am willing to chalk that up to missing Peyton Manning. On defense I do think the time has come for Coyer to go.

I don't care what Caldwell looks like on the sidelines. Listen to the players talk it's pretty clear they like him and they play hard for him. Wheeler was even asked about Caldwell's actions during games and he said "We are grown men we don't need people in our faces yelling at us. How would you like your boss doing that to you at your job? We are profesionals and we know when we screw up and we know we have to fix it, the team tells us all the time they only keep self starters and if you need someone yelling at you to get your attention you aren't going to last long here." Do I think he's a great coach? No he clearly has his flaws, time managment and he's very slow to make changes, he sorta comes up with a plan and sticks with it. That's what seperates him from Dungy. Dungy knew the little changes to make that made all the difference. That's why Dungy is going to Canton one day.

His demeanor means nothing to me, but his lack of involvement one can easily take issue with. Take the Sunday night game, Rex Ryan was often over with the defense, but then again, he was a coordinator for a number of years, just another example of Caldwell not being qualified for the job to start with.

With that said there wasn't a better coach on the market to go get that wasn't going to make drastic changes. Had a guy like Lovie Smith been on the market I would have taken him over Caldwell but he wasn't. The Colts wanted someone off the Dungy coaching tree and there weren't many options out there.

Even sticking with the Dungy tree, he wasn't the best option.

Also it's not like Caldwell has lead us to three straight years of not making the playoffs. The only year he's a had a fairly healthy team he took us to the Super Bowl. Last year he lead the team to a division title with an injury riddled team that would have kept most teams out of the playoffs. I know that people say well the Packers won the Super Bowl last year with all those injuries but they were the exception to the rule which is what makes what they did so remarkable. This year he's missing the guy our team is built around and maybe the best QB in the history of the NFL. That counts and is major factor in why we are losing. This was our first game our biggest issue wasn't QB play and even then our QB play wasn't great. What's being proven is what people have said for years, if something happened to Peyton Manning the Colts were in big trouble.

This last paragraph is mostly congecture of Caldwell being the reason for the playoff trips, division titles or trip to the Super Bowl, when clearly he was not.

[doogansquest]

I thought our coaches would make adjustments to the check down bonanza after half time, but we never did. The simplest thing would have been to drop an extra DE (like Hughes - who didn't play too badly), or bring Angerer up to cheat the route. Freeman was never even looking anywhere else all night.

Otherwise, the only thing I can say is that the Bucs o-line played pretty well.

Caldwell dropping that pick REALLY hurt. People don't even realize.

[chrisfarley]

you'd be wrong, Painter was on the radio last week and talked about how the Peyton process works and Painter went out of his way to say Peyton doesn't call plays because that was the first question he was asked. In fact tonight they showed the phone and said Painter has to call Manning to talk to him not the other way around and Painter said Peyton isn't in his helmet because NFL rules the only guy who can talk to the QB in his helmet is the coach on the sideline and that is Christison.

i heard that, he talked more about his hair than football

[ruksak]

The singular coaching error that stands out to me was the failure to challenge an obvious fumble that we recovered. Less than a minute later TB scored a game tying TD.

Yet Caldwell stood there with his stoic expression, red flag in his pocket. Caldwell doesn't have the instinct to be a coach. He should've jumped on that challenge, if for no other reason out of pure desperation. Yet he remains passive, saving us that timeout. The timeout we never needed. Sad, sick and faulty leadership.

I have had enough of this conservative, safe, umbrella cover 2, "lets not risk a timeout to get that turnover" bull pies.

Gruden pointed out how CB #23 Johnson was in err to play off 8 yards when we have 8 in the box. Yet, this is how they are coached. We've seen it since week 1 preseason. Safe, cushioned, play-back and let them come to you. I don't get it. We have the players to make a season, but they are betrayed by their leadership.

[deedub75]

Was it Jim Caldwell who dropped the INT in the endzone that turned the game around? Like they said on the broadcast you have to make that play and teams that don't lose.

Jim, get off of the forum and go coach!

[Malakai432]

Yet Caldwell stood there with his stoic expression, red flag in his pocket. Caldwell doesn't have the instinct to be a coach. He should've jumped on that challenge, if for no other reason out of pure desperation. Yet he remains passive, saving us that timeout. The timeout we never needed. Sad, sick and faulty leadership.

Caldwell saved a timeout?? Unbelievable considering his bad time management. I'm surprised he didn't call a timeout right before half time to allow the Bucs to kick fieldgoal, hahahah, maybe our defense could've deflected the fieldgoal and ran it back for some points!!!!! 

[deedub75]

They don't know the advanced stuff to do the things like the blitzs and what not. They were playing the base Tampa-2 defense because that's what they know. Now like I said in another thread I would listen to an arguement that the Tampa-2 needs to go but it's not going to go in the middle of the season.

That's all they know because that's all they are taught. The Tampa 2 needs to go and the coaches need to go with it.

[ruksak]

Caldwell saved a timeout?? Unbelievable considering his bad time management. I'm surprised he didn't call a timeout right before half time to allow the Bucs to kick fieldgoal, hahahah, maybe our defense could've deflected the fieldgoal and ran it back for some points!!!!! 

It was far more of an injury than the dropped INT. The INT that should've been only resulted in a FG. TB proceeded into the endzone for 7 after the failure to challenge. In my estimation, that was unforgivable.

[Thewholefnshow28]

The coaches that need to go are Coyer and our special team coach.

I just do not get why Coyer did nothing to adjust to their check down plays. All game long they used it as a way to get into 2nd and short and we continually just had Angerer immediately turn and run to go play a third safety. The middle of the field was open all day long and the Bucs took it every single time. Why not put Jamaal Anderson in at DT and have him drop in coverage once or twice? He is athletic enough to do that. Why not have Angerer fake dropping back, but stay in that area? Why not mix it up once or twice to make the Bucs think instead of running the prevent the win defense every single time?

Also, what is the point of blitzing when our corners are giving them huge cushions? The WR get easily open in the area voided by the blitzer which is an easy 8-10 yards.

It is time for a new defensive coordinator.

[ALCATRAZ]

So what does it say when our coach calls a play action pass on 3rd and inches or doesnt have the guts to go for it on 4th and inches when your team is 0-3. I hate to say it but Bill Bilecheck would have gone for that. We need stronger leadership and our coaches to be more aggressive. Why is angerer playing 20 yds off the ball on 3rd and 18 which allows them to run crossing routes for a 1st down. Cmoooooooooooooooooooooooooooon MAAAAAAAAAAAAN

[ruksak]

So what does it say when our coach calls a play action pass on 3rd and inches or doesnt have the guts to go for it on 4th and inches when your team is 0-3. I hate to say it but Bill Bilecheck would have gone for that. We need stronger leadership and our coaches to be more aggressive. Why is angerer playing 20 yds off the ball on 3rd and 18 which allows them to run crossing routes for a 1st down. Cmoooooooooooooooooooooooooooon MAAAAAAAAAAAAN

I liked that call. That was gutsy and smart.

And it would've been successful had Dallas not tripped and fell, again.

[bdogg]

It was a very frustrating night to be a Colts fan. We are probably the only team in the league that would punt with 3 minutes left when we are down by a touchdown. We are the only team in the league that would punt on a 4th and inches play near center field. We are the only team in the league with a coach that is afraid to throw his challenge flag. This game should have been ours. It is not Painters fault either. He did more in one game than Kerry did in 3. Come on Caldwell, grow a backbone! Our defense was exhausted and you put the fate of the game on their shoulders with 3 minutes left when we have had trouble stopping tampa from getting 1st downs all night? I think it's time we have a coaching tryout. I am willing to bet there are at least a handful of people who would love to have Caldwells job who would have walked away last night with a win.

[tigerkz]

I'm all for bringing in Jeff FIsher... He seems to be able to do a lot with a little. And right now we have less than a little. The Colts are too stubborn to realize they made a mistake with signing Caldwell and we will continue our pathetic coaching ways. Same thing with Lacey, why is the guy still playing. Man up and realize that you made a mistake with him and Tryon should have been starting opposite of Powers, but you let Tryon go. I don't get these coaching decisions at all.

[hawkeyes]

If they don't do something about Johnson #23 the release of Tryon is going to make even less sense - that is unless it was a major character issue of some sorts. Polian needs to get out there and bring someone else in that can defend a pass and make a tackle!

As for that cardboard cutout that goes by the name of Caldwell - he needs to be on a steady game day diet of red bull or rock star or something!

[jskinnz]

Personally, I don't know how you look at not say that Caldwell got an undermanned team to perform at a pretty high level and competed against a tough opponent on the road. At the end with all the injuries sustained in the game, they were simply in a gun fight holding only a knife. The Colts had no chance once Ijalana got hurt as they were never going to be able to protect Painter long enough to do anything.

Having said that, clearly something needs to be done about the 3rd down defense. And those drags across the middle against the Tampa two need to be accounted for

[ruksak]

At the end with all the injuries sustained in the game, they were simply in a gun fight holding only a knife.

Perhaps we should have sharpened our knife?

[jskinnz]

Perhaps we should have sharpened our knife?

If they have a sharp or dull knife, against a gun - what is the difference?

[LUVTHESHOE]

Was it Jim Caldwell who dropped the INT in the endzone that turned the game around? Like they said on the broadcast you have to make that play and teams that don't lose.

They also said that the indy staff needed to make some in game adjustments, and there is no debating this team needs

a coaching upgrade. even if caldwell makes that catch!

[Rich Cannon]

They don't know the advanced stuff to do the things like the blitzs and what not. They were playing the base Tampa-2 defense because that's what they know. Now like I said in another thread I would listen to an arguement that the Tampa-2 needs to go but it's not going to go in the middle of the season.

I know we are basically running with all rookies in the secondary and I can understand being passive at times but theres no reason for Pat to be 20 yds of the line on any play no matter how bad he is in coverage. That being said I think we also abandoned the run when we were running so well. We need to run more and take pressure off young offensive line. People often forget good offensive lines have continuity, which we dont have right now because most of these guys are new. We need alomost flawless coaching to win a game unfortunantley. And we arent going to get that. All winnable games are going down the drain. :whiteflag:

[LUVTHESHOE]

It was a very frustrating night to be a Colts fan. We are probably the only team in the league that would punt with 3 minutes left when we are down by a touchdown. We are the only team in the league that would punt on a 4th and inches play near center field. We are the only team in the league with a coach that is afraid to throw his challenge flag. This game should have been ours. It is not Painters fault either. He did more in one game than Kerry did in 3. Come on Caldwell, grow a backbone! Our defense was exhausted and you put the fate of the game on their shoulders with 3 minutes left when we have had trouble stopping tampa from getting 1st downs all night? I think it's time we have a coaching tryout. I am willing to bet there are at least a handful of people who would love to have Caldwells job who would have walked away last night with a win.

that is for sure, we do have a past history (only a few years worth) of not being able to get off the field on 3rd downs.

i would be willing to bet that not five people in indy thought we would ever see the ball again. in most cases punting there was the

correct call but not with our soft zone coverage. give up to angerer he is gonna be good. it was not his fault he put 12 yards off

the ball all night. was'nt even close to the D we used against the steelers, maybe that d worked too well.

[John Waylon]

Gruden had me lol'ing last night. It was like he was subliminally interviewing for our coaching position. The only thing he didn't just come right out and say was "Jeez, I could do better than this."

"I wonder what the Colts have for them on third down?"

You know he was looking around in the booth trying to make the other guys laugh on air about something they're not supposed to laugh about, right?

[LUVTHESHOE]

The singular coaching error that stands out to me was the failure to challenge an obvious fumble that we recovered. Less than a minute later TB scored a game tying TD.

Yet Caldwell stood there with his stoic expression, red flag in his pocket. Caldwell doesn't have the instinct to be a coach. He should've jumped on that challenge, if for no other reason out of pure desperation. Yet he remains passive, saving us that timeout. The timeout we never needed. Sad, sick and faulty leadership.

I have had enough of this conservative, safe, umbrella cover 2, "lets not risk a timeout to get that turnover" bull pies.

Gruden pointed out how CB #23 Johnson was in err to play off 8 yards when we have 8 in the box. Yet, this is how they are coached. We've seen it since week 1 preseason. Safe, cushioned, play-back and let them come to you. I don't get it. We have the players to make a season, but they are betrayed by their leadership.

yes but our challenge coach will be back in two weeks!!!!

[ruksak]

If they have a sharp or dull knife, against a gun - what is the difference?

Guns jam?

I'm saying, we have to do better with what little we have. The coaching errors overshadowed the players errors.

Angerer didn't choose to fall back near 20 yards, he was told to. He was following orders. Yet people here are still mistaking that he did so of his own volition.

[unitaswestand]

Because he has maybe the best o-line in football. You give any QB as long as Brady has to throw and he is going to pick defenses apart. That's been the biggest problem on the offense right now the o-line. The first attempt to fix the line didn't work and this is what happens when you miss on a guy like Ugoh you feel it for years to come. It looks like the second attempt is going to work but the young guys have to learn and Castonzo has bene playing well and Ijalana did pretty good for getting thrown into the fire tonight and Reitz has done well. At the end of the game we were down to playing undrafted guys on the line and the protection broke down not shocking.

I agree with what you are saying here. I do see Brady standing back there all day getting to throw the ball. But on the other hand, the Patriots are great for scheming for a particular game/team. One week, their offense will be two tight ends with Woodhead running more. Next week, they are doing more screens, running four wideouts. They are very creative. The Colts, I feel, are more "This is what we do. We will do it every week. And if we execute right, there isn't much you can do to stop us"..

[SanAntonioColt]

you'd be wrong, Painter was on the radio last week and talked about how the Peyton process works and Painter went out of his way to say Peyton doesn't call plays because that was the first question he was asked. In fact tonight they showed the phone and said Painter has to call Manning to talk to him not the other way around and Painter said Peyton isn't in his helmet because NFL rules the only guy who can talk to the QB in his helmet is the coach on the sideline and that is Christison.

I have nno idea if PM made the call, but he didn't have to talk to Painter, if he could communicate with Christianson.

[Malakai432]

If they have a sharp or dull knife, against a gun - what is the difference?

Perhaps the gun jams, then a sharp knife would be looking pretty solid over a dull one.

[FireJimCaldwell]

I have nno idea if PM made the call, but he didn't have to talk to Painter, if he could communicate with Christianson.

I've never seen that in the rule book, and I know for a fact that Manning has been communicating with Sorgi before in games that were deemed "Throwaway" games by the front office.

[Jason_]

I thought our coaches would make adjustments to the check down bonanza after half time, but we never did. The simplest thing would have been to drop an extra DE (like Hughes - who didn't play too badly), or bring Angerer up to cheat the route. Freeman was never even looking anywhere else all night.

The thing is it wasn't just that they didn't make adjustments at half time....teams have been burning the Tampa 2 through all 4 games so far. I haven't gone back through and fully analyzed the Tampa game yet like I have the other games but so far the opposing QB is playing brilliantly against the tampa 2 through all 4 games. The little faith I had that Coyer might see this and make some changes is gone and Coyer should be gone as well. I'm not usually one for in-season firings but in this case I think it's warranted, especially considering we're only a couple of more losses and Houston wins from being fully eliminated from the playoffs. Make the change now so the defense can adjust to the modified scheme throughout the rest of the season instead of only having the offseason to do it.

[Coffeedrinker]

This will probably be my only comment in this thread. I do find it quite humorous that people try to; a) claim the Colts did not make any adjustments during the game and B) act like they actually know what they are talking about and that what they say is true.

I'm not a big Coyer fan at all (actually I think he is a lousy DC and have thought that when he was hired and most of the posters on the forum called me crazy and as you can see in other threads) but the only time Angerer dropped to the deep middle in the 2nd half was when it was 3rd and 26. A poster comments on putting the LBers on the outside on the last play... um yeah right, they have 5 guys between the guards, you can't get any more bodies than that in that space. If they stack any more up there they are useless and he just runs a bootleg like he did 3 plays before and then all of you would be crying because he put all the defenders in the middle when every knew they were going to do a bootleg.

[LUVTHESHOE]

The thing is it wasn't just that they didn't make adjustments at half time....teams have been burning the Tampa 2 through all 4 games so far. I haven't gone back through and fully analyzed the Tampa game yet like I have the other games but so far the opposing QB is playing brilliantly against the tampa 2 through all 4 games. The little faith I had that Coyer might see this and make some changes is gone and Coyer should be gone as well. I'm not usually one for in-season firings but in this case I think it's warranted, especially considering we're only a couple of more losses and Houston wins from being fully eliminated from the playoffs. Make the change now so the defense can adjust to the modified scheme throughout the rest of the season instead of only having the offseason to do it.

omg thank goodness someone else gets it, if it is gonna happen, which it better do it know!!!!!!!!

[Malakai432]

This will probably be my only comment in this thread. I do find it quite humorous that people try to; a) claim the Colts did not make any adjustments during the game and B) act like they actually know what they are talking about and that what they say is true.

I'm not a big Coyer fan at all (actually I think he is a lousy DC and have thought that when he was hired and most of the posters on the forum called me crazy and as you can see in other threads) but the only time Angerer dropped to the deep middle in the 2nd half was when it was 3rd and 26. A poster comments on putting the LBers on the outside on the last play... um yeah right, they have 5 guys between the guards, you can't get any more bodies than that in that space. If they stack any more up there they are useless and he just runs a bootleg like he did 3 plays before and then all of you would be crying because he put all the defenders in the middle when every knew they were going to do a bootleg.

Don't bootlegs usually slaughter the Colts anyways???

[wercolts]

Was there a coach picking up the blitzer when Painter got stripped of the ball? I don't remember the coaches name that over/under threw receivers. How many drops did the coaches have? How many penalties? If only that coach had hit a very makable FG.

[GoColts8818]

Jim, get off of the forum and go coach!

I am getting really tired of any post that isn't bashing Jim Caldwell being dismissed as if it's Jim Caldwell coaching. The INT and tackling last night were key plays. I've said in other posts that I didn't think the coaching was perfect either but it was far from the only thing that went wrong last night. Just because someone has a different view point as you doesn't mean they are the coach. Let me guess you are just being a realist though right?

[wercolts]

I'm not a big Caldwell fan either, could have done better at the time of Dungy's resignation, but people cannot ignore sub par play by substitute players just because they don't like the coach.

[braveheartcolt]

I am getting really tired of any post that isn't bashing Jim Caldwell being dismissed as if it's Jim Caldwell coaching. The INT and tackling last night were key plays. I've said in other posts that I didn't think the coaching was perfect either but it was far from the only thing that went wrong last night. Just because someone has a different view point as you doesn't mean they are the coach. Let me guess you are just being a realist though right?

Pray tell, what is the reason for us being out of the play-offs by week 4? You don't blame the Polians and you don't blame the coaching. So what is wrong.

We are not a one man team, so why are we so poor without Manning?

The fact is, we are a one man team, and our FO and Coaching Staff have been bailed out for years by #18. Irsay needs to act now.

[GoColts8818]

Pray tell, what is the reason for us being out of the play-offs by week 4? You don't blame the Polians and you don't blame the coaching. So what is wrong.

We are not a one man team, so why are we so poor without Manning?

The fact is, we are a one man team, and our FO and Coaching Staff have been bailed out for years by #18. Irsay needs to act now.

I'll say it again, the coaching has not been perfect. I've pointed out my issues wih the coaching in other threads. I have even said the time has come for Coyer to go. Does that sound like someone who is saying coaching isn't part of the issue?

As for Polian, just earlier today I brought up how Ugoh was Polian's biggest bust here. I said Brown was a bust as well. The man has made mistakes I never said he didn't.

With that said the players have not been perfect either. People seem to just excuss that away by saying those plays did not matter and scap goat the coaching staff. Heck some around here can't even bring themselves to give the coaches credit when they do something right like the good calls to go Garcon. What do people say about that? Oh Manning must have called those plays.

There are a lot of issues going on right now, everyone can share in some of the blame in this and it's not going to be a simple fix of just firing one person. If I told anyone that by week four half the team's opening day starters would be out due to injury, we would be down to one DT, three of the four captains would be pretty much on IR and the only one who wasn't is our kicker, we were down to one hurt o-lineman from having to play someone like Brody Eldridge on the o-line, we were down to what the Colts viewed as their third string QB on opening day what do you think people would be expecting to have happen to us? I know people don't like to use injuries as excuse but sometimes they are part of the reason. Most around here aren't even willing to admit that.

With that said, being hurt has nothing to do with not being able to get off the field on third down all year. Clearly either the players aren't making the plays on third down or Coyer isn't calling up the right plays. I went with the latter, hence why I said it's time for Coyer to go. I will admit his hands were a little handcuffed last night due to injuries but that doesn't account for the other three games. I will also say part of that is because we don't have good enough players on defense either. I laid out a plan in the draft thread as to how I would fix that. I would draft a cornerback with our high pick. I would take a safety in the mid to late rounds since Bullitt is going Bob Sanders on us. I think if we do that and add a DT some where in the draft for depth reasons you will see our defense improve dramaticly.

Also it pretty clear here that some people have a personal grudge against Bill Polian. They have been waiting for us to lose since the Jets game so they could scream get ride of them and if they want to do that fine that's their right. However, Jim Irsay isn't going to fire him for having one bad season in 10 years. A lot of people just seem to over look that.

No we aren't a one man team. However, that doesn't mean that Peyton Manning doesn't mean the world to our team. Peyton doesn't win games by himself but it's pretty clear that in three of the four games we've played this year our biggest issue has been the QB poistion and there is a pretty good likely hood that if we had Peyton Manning this team would be at worst 3-1 if not 4-0 because the Texans game would in all likely hood been different because I'd bet you Manning takes that INT that started the game down and turns it into a TD and I doubt he would have fumbled two snaps. Peyton pretty much won two MVPs because of how important he was viewed to be to our team. That is being proven right. Everything on our team is based on Peyton Manning and we you take that away you can't over come that. That's what happens when you have a super star and you build around him and then gets hurt in sports. You struggle to over come it. That's why Peyton gets paid the money he does because he's worth it to our team. We have probably at least two hall of famers on this team besides Manning in Wayne and Freeney if not three depending on what Mathis does (and I am not counting AV in that). This team isn't lacking talent (when they aren't all hurt), it's lacking it's all world QB that makes the whole ship go. LIke Kravitz said before the Steelers game this isn't like Marlin Jackson or Bob Sanders getting hurt it's Peyton freaking Manning. What do you think would happen to the Sants if Brees went down or to the Chargers if Rivers went down? They would be in the same boat we are in right now.

It's also pretty clear people don't like Caldwell and frankly don't give him a fair shake. Is he perfect? Far from it I've said I don't know how many times I think he's a decent coach. He's not as good as Dungy. He is slow to adjust. His clock managment is a joke (although it's been better this year). He's a little too conservative. However, people wont even give him credit for getting this team to the Super Bowl in his first year after they went one and done the two years before that under Dungy. Then they wont give him credit for gidding an extremely injuried team to a division title last year. Yes I know the Packers won the Super Bowl with as many injuries but again they were the exception to the rule. Just about any other team that was as beat up as the Colts and Packers last year wouldn't have even thought about going to the playoffs. Now this year he loses the guy the team is built around and about 9 other starters and people go oh coaching must be why we aren't winning. It's not the coaching we are running out of good players. Does that make the coaching perfect? No. However is far from the sole or even main reason we are losing like people make it seem.

That's not even including the people who call Caldwell a puppet to Polian but yet turn around and blame Caldwell when things don't go well. If he's a puppet then you can't blame him because he's not making the calls. Then when things do go right the only person people want to give credit to is Peyton Manning. You said it yourself we aren't a one person team. If we aren't a one person team when we lose you can't turn around and say they are one when we win which is what you do when you give Manning all the credit for us winning.

It's one thing to call people out for mistakes it's another to pretend the like the Colts have never been any good or act like this one bad year over rides the past 9 good years. Frankly a lot of fans are doing the later and I think it's because they hold a personal grudge against Polian and Caldwell from the Jets game a couple of years ago and have just been dieing for them to fall on hard times so they could tear into Polian and Caldwell.

[hawkeyes]

or bring Angerer up to cheat the route. Freeman was never even looking anywhere else all night.

Agreed, but they were retreating Angerer back 40 yards like a safety - they appeared to fear a roethlisberger to wallace type throw instead of the one they kept getting beat on. If they couldn't see that and make the proper adjustments - I can only suspect that they were trying to lose the game and not win in it! Seriously we have to assume they have some football smarts - why else would you not make any adjustment at all?

[hawkeyes]

double post DOH!

[deedub75]

I'll say it again, the coaching has not been perfect. I've pointed out my issues wih the coaching in other threads. I have even said the time has come for Coyer to go. Does that sound like someone who is saying coaching isn't part of the issue?

As for Polian, just earlier today I brought up how Ugoh was Polian's biggest bust here. I said Brown was a bust as well. The man has made mistakes I never said he didn't.

With that said the players have not been perfect either. People seem to just excuss that away by saying those plays did not matter and scap goat the coaching staff. Heck some around here can't even bring themselves to give the coaches credit when they do something right like the good calls to go Garcon. What do people say about that? Oh Manning must have called those plays.

There are a lot of issues going on right now, everyone can share in some of the blame in this and it's not going to be a simple fix of just firing one person. If I told anyone that by week four half the team's opening day starters would be out due to injury, we would be down to one DT, three of the four captains would be pretty much on IR and the only one who wasn't is our kicker, we were down to one hurt o-lineman from having to play someone like Brody Eldridge on the o-line, we were down to what the Colts viewed as their third string QB on opening day what do you think people would be expecting to have happen to us? I know people don't like to use injuries as excuse but sometimes they are part of the reason. Most around here aren't even willing to admit that.

With that said, being hurt has nothing to do with not being able to get off the field on third down all year. Clearly either the players aren't making the plays on third down or Coyer isn't calling up the right plays. I went with the latter, hence why I said it's time for Coyer to go. I will admit his hands were a little handcuffed last night due to injuries but that doesn't account for the other three games. I will also say part of that is because we don't have good enough players on defense either. I laid out a plan in the draft thread as to how I would fix that. I would draft a cornerback with our high pick. I would take a safety in the mid to late rounds since Bullitt is going Bob Sanders on us. I think if we do that and add a DT some where in the draft for depth reasons you will see our defense improve dramaticly.

Also it pretty clear here that some people have a personal grudge against Bill Polian. They have been waiting for us to lose since the Jets game so they could scream get ride of them and if they want to do that fine that's their right. However, Jim Irsay isn't going to fire him for having one bad season in 10 years. A lot of people just seem to over look that.

No we aren't a one man team. However, that doesn't mean that Peyton Manning doesn't mean the world to our team. Peyton doesn't win games by himself but it's pretty clear that in three of the four games we've played this year our biggest issue has been the QB poistion and there is a pretty good likely hood that if we had Peyton Manning this team would be at worst 3-1 if not 4-0 because the Texans game would in all likely hood been different because I'd bet you Manning takes that INT that started the game down and turns it into a TD and I doubt he would have fumbled two snaps. Peyton pretty much won two MVPs because of how important he was viewed to be to our team. That is being proven right. Everything on our team is based on Peyton Manning and we you take that away you can't over come that. That's what happens when you have a super star and you build around him and then gets hurt in sports. You struggle to over come it. That's why Peyton gets paid the money he does because he's worth it to our team. We have probably at least two hall of famers on this team besides Manning in Wayne and Freeney if not three depending on what Mathis does (and I am not counting AV in that). This team isn't lacking talent (when they aren't all hurt), it's lacking it's all world QB that makes the whole ship go. LIke Kravitz said before the Steelers game this isn't like Marlin Jackson or Bob Sanders getting hurt it's Peyton freaking Manning. What do you think would happen to the Sants if Brees went down or to the Chargers if Rivers went down? They would be in the same boat we are in right now.

It's also pretty clear people don't like Caldwell and frankly don't give him a fair shake. Is he perfect? Far from it I've said I don't know how many times I think he's a decent coach. He's not as good as Dungy. He is slow to adjust. His clock managment is a joke (although it's been better this year). He's a little too conservative. However, people wont even give him credit for getting this team to the Super Bowl in his first year after they went one and done the two years before that under Dungy. Then they wont give him credit for gidding an extremely injuried team to a division title last year. Yes I know the Packers won the Super Bowl with as many injuries but again they were the exception to the rule. Just about any other team that was as beat up as the Colts and Packers last year wouldn't have even thought about going to the playoffs. Now this year he loses the guy the team is built around and about 9 other starters and people go oh coaching must be why we aren't winning. It's not the coaching we are running out of good players. Does that make the coaching perfect? No. However is far from the sole or even main reason we are losing like people make it seem.

That's not even including the people who call Caldwell a puppet to Polian but yet turn around and blame Caldwell when things don't go well. If he's a puppet then you can't blame him because he's not making the calls. Then when things do go right the only person people want to give credit to is Peyton Manning. You said it yourself we aren't a one person team. If we aren't a one person team when we lose you can't turn around and say they are one when we win which is what you do when you give Manning all the credit for us winning.

It's one thing to call people out for mistakes it's another to pretend the like the Colts have never been any good or act like this one bad year over rides the past 9 good years. Frankly a lot of fans are doing the later and I think it's because they hold a personal grudge against Polian and Caldwell from the Jets game a couple of years ago and have just been dieing for them to fall on hard times so they could tear into Polian and Caldwell.

You're not seeing that these "issues" were created by the front office down to the coaches. They picked these subpar players and expected them to all play like pro bowlers. They picked a coach who would rock the boat. They have not been fiscally responsible with the payroll. The Polian family runs the team. If the Polians could fire Irsay they probably would. We have been the Indianapolis Peyton Mannings for the past 9 years. This team has always been one Peyton Manning injury away from being the worst team in the league. The "do what we always do and pray that Manning doesn't get injured" attitude was bound to catch up with us sooner or later and it finally has.

[braveheartcolt]

I'll say it again, the coaching has not been perfect. I've pointed out my issues wih the coaching in other threads. I have even said the time has come for Coyer to go. Does that sound like someone who is saying coaching isn't part of the issue?

As for Polian, just earlier today I brought up how Ugoh was Polian's biggest bust here. I said Brown was a bust as well. The man has made mistakes I never said he didn't.

With that said the players have not been perfect either. People seem to just excuss that away by saying those plays did not matter and scap goat the coaching staff. Heck some around here can't even bring themselves to give the coaches credit when they do something right like the good calls to go Garcon. What do people say about that? Oh Manning must have called those plays.

There are a lot of issues going on right now, everyone can share in some of the blame in this and it's not going to be a simple fix of just firing one person. If I told anyone that by week four half the team's opening day starters would be out due to injury, we would be down to one DT, three of the four captains would be pretty much on IR and the only one who wasn't is our kicker, we were down to one hurt o-lineman from having to play someone like Brody Eldridge on the o-line, we were down to what the Colts viewed as their third string QB on opening day what do you think people would be expecting to have happen to us? I know people don't like to use injuries as excuse but sometimes they are part of the reason. Most around here aren't even willing to admit that.

With that said, being hurt has nothing to do with not being able to get off the field on third down all year. Clearly either the players aren't making the plays on third down or Coyer isn't calling up the right plays. I went with the latter, hence why I said it's time for Coyer to go. I will admit his hands were a little handcuffed last night due to injuries but that doesn't account for the other three games. I will also say part of that is because we don't have good enough players on defense either. I laid out a plan in the draft thread as to how I would fix that. I would draft a cornerback with our high pick. I would take a safety in the mid to late rounds since Bullitt is going Bob Sanders on us. I think if we do that and add a DT some where in the draft for depth reasons you will see our defense improve dramaticly.

Also it pretty clear here that some people have a personal grudge against Bill Polian. They have been waiting for us to lose since the Jets game so they could scream get ride of them and if they want to do that fine that's their right. However, Jim Irsay isn't going to fire him for having one bad season in 10 years. A lot of people just seem to over look that.

No we aren't a one man team. However, that doesn't mean that Peyton Manning doesn't mean the world to our team. Peyton doesn't win games by himself but it's pretty clear that in three of the four games we've played this year our biggest issue has been the QB poistion and there is a pretty good likely hood that if we had Peyton Manning this team would be at worst 3-1 if not 4-0 because the Texans game would in all likely hood been different because I'd bet you Manning takes that INT that started the game down and turns it into a TD and I doubt he would have fumbled two snaps. Peyton pretty much won two MVPs because of how important he was viewed to be to our team. That is being proven right. Everything on our team is based on Peyton Manning and we you take that away you can't over come that. That's what happens when you have a super star and you build around him and then gets hurt in sports. You struggle to over come it. That's why Peyton gets paid the money he does because he's worth it to our team. We have probably at least two hall of famers on this team besides Manning in Wayne and Freeney if not three depending on what Mathis does (and I am not counting AV in that). This team isn't lacking talent (when they aren't all hurt), it's lacking it's all world QB that makes the whole ship go. LIke Kravitz said before the Steelers game this isn't like Marlin Jackson or Bob Sanders getting hurt it's Peyton freaking Manning. What do you think would happen to the Sants if Brees went down or to the Chargers if Rivers went down? They would be in the same boat we are in right now.

It's also pretty clear people don't like Caldwell and frankly don't give him a fair shake. Is he perfect? Far from it I've said I don't know how many times I think he's a decent coach. He's not as good as Dungy. He is slow to adjust. His clock managment is a joke (although it's been better this year). He's a little too conservative. However, people wont even give him credit for getting this team to the Super Bowl in his first year after they went one and done the two years before that under Dungy. Then they wont give him credit for gidding an extremely injuried team to a division title last year. Yes I know the Packers won the Super Bowl with as many injuries but again they were the exception to the rule. Just about any other team that was as beat up as the Colts and Packers last year wouldn't have even thought about going to the playoffs. Now this year he loses the guy the team is built around and about 9 other starters and people go oh coaching must be why we aren't winning. It's not the coaching we are running out of good players. Does that make the coaching perfect? No. However is far from the sole or even main reason we are losing like people make it seem.

That's not even including the people who call Caldwell a puppet to Polian but yet turn around and blame Caldwell when things don't go well. If he's a puppet then you can't blame him because he's not making the calls. Then when things do go right the only person people want to give credit to is Peyton Manning. You said it yourself we aren't a one person team. If we aren't a one person team when we lose you can't turn around and say they are one when we win which is what you do when you give Manning all the credit for us winning.

It's one thing to call people out for mistakes it's another to pretend the like the Colts have never been any good or act like this one bad year over rides the past 9 good years. Frankly a lot of fans are doing the later and I think it's because they hold a personal grudge against Polian and Caldwell from the Jets game a couple of years ago and have just been dieing for them to fall on hard times so they could tear into Polian and Caldwell.

You misread my post. We are so a 'one man team'. As Deedub has said, if we have poor players it's because we draft poorly, coach poorly, and we ignore the FA market. Caldwell brought in Coyer. They both need to go.

This great team is slowly getting destroyed by the men in suits, and the men with the headsets. Injuries happen, and we've had our share of bad luck, but we have a squad of 53. And don't even mention Special Teams. I can assure you I want this team to win games WAY more than oi want to gloat at the Polian Dynasty.

Such a waste.