[Grades] Week 3: Colts @ Bucs

[Superman]

Things to watch for

Offense, C: 17 points, 318 total yards, 6.1 yards/play, 13 first downs (9 passing, 2 rushing, 2 penalties), 4/13 on third down, 1 turnover, 21 minutes time of possession

Offensive line/blocking -- Kind of a regression for our offensive line, because even before the injuries, we weren't getting a consistent push in the run game, nor were we giving the quarterback a consistent pocket. The interior of the line was getting pushed back in pass pro, and they weren't getting a consistent push in the run game. The tackles did a better job blocking the pass, and there were some nice double-teams with guards on outside runs, but it was very hit and miss. The backs also struggled in pass protection, and not just Brown. Carter and Addai both missed blocks also. Link kind of came back down to earth, and Castonzo missed a couple times. As Coffee said in his pregame write-up, AC handled Clayborn pretty well, but he did lose a couple battles. Nothing to worry about too much. And then the injuries started to take their toll, and it got even worse. We broke a couple of nice runs, including a draw for Carter that I was hoping was on its way. We really didn't run nearly enough, but 9 of our 18 run plays went for 2 yards or less. We also gave up a season-high 4 sacks. I don't see this getting better with Castonzo and Diem still out for the foreseeable future. I want to grade on a curve because of the injuries, but there wasn't a lot of positive even before the injuries. D+

Backs/receivers -- Another futile showing for our guys. Sometimes it's like it doesn't even matter that they're out there. I will give full marks for Garcon making up for his two early drops with two really good plays, the highlights of the year for us so far. He's the only receiver who really got anything done. And it's not their fault; the blocking didn't give much time for anything to develop in this game. The few catches that everyone did make, they battled hard after the catch and maximized their opportunities. The backs fought hard in the run game, but didn't get any looks in the passing game. No time to check down. Season low 3.4 ypc for the backs, with only a few really productive runs. The ills were mostly not the backs fault, though. They did all they could, for the most part. The couple moderate runs (9 yarder for Addai up the left side, 13 yarder for Carter on a well-timed draw up the left side), they got really good blocking, and the rest were extreme battles. However, the backs and receivers all fought all game long. Just didn't get very many good opportunities. More on that in the quarterbacking and coaching sections... B-

Quarterback -- The yardage looks good, the two touchdowns look good, but beneath the surface was a mediocre performance that just wasn't enough of what we need, and was too much of what we can't have. The positives are that Painter seems more comfortable throwing the ball on timing routes and when he's under duress; the negatives are that he's not a consistent passer, which means that some of his throws are really bad. He looks better than I thought he would look after the first two preseason games, and he helped the offense finally score a first half touchdown, followed up with another long scoring play. It's still problematic for any hopes this team has or may have had that Curtis Painter is our best quarterback at our disposal. But there is simply no question that he is the best quarterback at our disposal. The offensive line is going to have to pass protect better, and the coaching staff is going to have to focus on (a) being more balanced in the playcalling, and (b) giving him more high percentage chances to throw completions. He had two horrible stretches, one where he was 0-7, and another where he was 3-10 with three sacks, and I believe the bulk of the blame goes to the playcalling during those stretches. (More in coaching.) I'm encouraged, and I expect that he'll get better, but we still have big issues at quarterback. C-

Defense, C-: 24 points, 466 total yards, 6 yards/play, 25 first downs (14 passing, 10 rushing, 1 penalty), 7/17 on third down, 2/2 on fourth down, 0 turnovers

Defensive line -- Started off well, playing gaps perfectly, getting pressure on the quarterback, opening plays up for linebackers, and keeping the quarterback contained. As the game wore on, they started to get battered and bruised, and an already short-handed crew took a severe blow as Eric Foster suffered one of the most gruesome injuries I've ever seen. And from there, we started playing Tyler Brayton at tackle, who didn't do horribly, but the line just couldn't keep it up. They were on the field for two thirds of the game, going against a powerful back and a well-coached offensive line. Started to make some mistakes with gap assignments (which is why Graham got out for a 31 yard run), and I think frustration set in as the Bucs kept holding and grabbing, and then we started committing silly penalties also. Two ticky-tack offsides calls against Freeney (Thank You, Ron Winters, for a 20-penalty game; that's always fun). Jerry Hughes got his first NFL sack, so good for him. Freeman's mobility proved to be an issue at the end of the game, and everything in between neutralized the pass rush. The promising start for our front came to an end as the Bucs pounded them into submission, and with the injuries mounting, I don't know what to expect moving forward. If we have to play Brayton at tackle, we might see more of Hughes on passing downs. C

Secondary -- I've been grading them harshly so far, because we're giving up too many completions, and we're giving up too many big completions. The Bucs had several pass plays of 20 yards or more, and had two called back due to penalties. Freeman also completed 25 passes overall, which makes it incredibly hard for you to win games. The guys also missed some tackles after underneath completions. But I think the pass coverage issue lies mostly with coaching. We can't vacate the middle of the field and allow 8-12 yard completions over and over again. And if you are okay with that, then you better make sure you're not getting beat for bigger pass plays, but we did get beat for bigger pass plays. It has to be one or the other. We've all been hard on Lacey, and now we're being hard on Terrance Johnson, and both players deserve some criticism, but the scheme is a bigger problem for me than the players right now. Give me better tackling, and give me fewer mistakes on the back end. That lies with the players. I'll get on the coaches in a minute. C-

Linebackers -- They deserve their share of the blame for the pass coverage also, but like I said, this is more a scheme issue than an execution issue. Didn't miss very many tackles in this one, though there were a few, particularly one by Wheeler that allowed a first down. Still, our linebacker corps has made huge strides in the first month of the season. Started out very problematic, but they were our best unit in this one. Which isn't that good, considering that they had a few problems also. Not much to say, though. WIth 36 tackles, they were certainly active. Just playing behind a depleted line and in front of a depleted secondary, and playing a scheme that doesn't make much sense right now. B-

Special teams, B-

Four total returns, with nothing to speak of. But we locked their return game down as well, with Pat continue to kick the living daylights out of the ball. There was only one punt return that had a chance of getting somewhere, and we held it to 13 yards. Big mistake on the botched hold, which cost us points, but that's just one of those things. At least we've fixed the coverage, it seems. And without kicking punts out of bounds every time. Good work. Tighten up that hold and this is an A.

Coaching, D+

On defense, we continue to employ a scheme that not only isn't effective at limiting big pass plays, but it also completely invalidates our great pass rush. I've been saying it loudly since we lost the Super Bowl, and I've been saying it in general for longer than that: If we allow the other team to complete short passes, we have zero chance of pressuring the quarterback, our defense gets left on the field for long stretches of time, and we won't be a good defense. Not only were we back to giving up cushions on the outside, we also continued to drop the middle linebacker deep on passing plays. There's nothing wrong with that Tampa 2 coverage (really should be called Tampa 3, since the linebacker makes it a Cover 3 look), unless the other team is sitting a receiver in the vacated zone in the middle of the field over, and over, and over, and over again. We used to play man in certain situations; have we played man at all this season? We got much more aggressive on the final drive, but we had a very slim margin for error, and our defense had been battered for 70 plays already to that point, so we didn't tackle very well. I understand that we have personnel suited for a base Cover 2 defense. We don't have to stick to it so religiously, though, and I wish we'd make adjustments more quickly throughout the course of the game. D

On offense, we started out very well, I thought, and then suddenly we forgot that we have those short, strong guys called running backs, who you can hand the ball off to and let them gain yards without having to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage. Those guys, along with the offensive line, make up what we call a "running game," and you can use this running game in lieu of throwing passes. Why in the wide, wide world of sports would we throw the ball 30 times (not including four sacks) and only run it 18, considering who we have playing quarterback? I don't get it. We had the lead most of the first half. We didn't trail at all until three minutes left in the fourth quarter. By that time, we had already thrown 27 passes to 18 rushes, with four sacks. RUN THE FOOTBALL!!! And when you do pass, give your quarterback high percentage throws, like screens, slants, outs, crossing patterns, rubs, etc. Give him some max protect and let him throw the ball down the field a little bit to loosen up the underneath coverage and keep the safeties out of the box. I already mentioned that Painter had two terrible stretches of ineffectiveness in this game. I didn't mention that in those two stretches, we threw the ball significantly more than we ran it. The possession after the Bucs tied it at 17, we called 12 pass plays (7 incompletions, 2 sacks, one first down on pass interference penalty), and 2 run plays. Our quarterback is Curtis Painter. We can't throw the ball twice as much as we run it. C-

And there were several questionable game management decisions in this one. I agree with the last punt, given the field position, the time left, and the timeouts. I don't agree with the earlier punt from midfield, on 4th and short, especially after we went play-action on 3rd and short. I thought for sure we'd called that so we could take a big chance before running it straight ahead on 4th down. No. We punted. I also thought that a challenge would have been appropriate on the incomplete pass, but I don't know for sure that it would have been overturned, nor do I really care, since we scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive. The only reason I bring it up is because at that spot on the field, the other team can pin you deep in your own territory (we got the ball on our own 2), whereas you maybe have a chance to take over at your own 40 or so. I thought the challenge flag should have been thrown. Suffice it to say, the coaching left a lot to be desired in this game, and some different decisions could have led to a different outcome in such a tight game on the road. C-

Next up, we host the Chiefs, who are only slightly less irrelevant than we are at this point. I thought this might be a winnable matchup, but with our offensive line banged up against their front, which can be really good, I have serious questions.

GO COLTS!

[thetigerfox]

Nice breakdown!

Would rank the secondary much lower but agree with everything else. I agree about the scheme playing a part, but no matter what scheme, the tackling was horrid, Johnson got a lot of deserved heat, but Powers(who up to now I thought was doing good) whiffed on a couple.

Under coaching was thinking the samething about the 4th and 1 play, thats why you run a playaction on third and attainable, because if you don't get it, its still Fourth and "Attainable"

However disagree with the punt call late in the fourth, we had been decimated at dt, and not really stopping anything in the fourth, more like trying to contain. Is there a reason for thinking we would have converted, not really, but that was the final chance.

Great post man!

[Superman]

Nice breakdown!

Would rank the secondary much lower but agree with everything else. I agree about the scheme playing a part, but no matter what scheme, the tackling was horrid, Johnson got a lot of deserved heat, but Powers(who up to now I thought was doing good) whiffed on a couple.

Under coaching was thinking the samething about the 4th and 1 play, thats why you run a playaction on third and attainable, because if you don't get it, its still Fourth and "Attainable"

However disagree with the punt call late in the fourth, we had been decimated at dt, and not really stopping anything in the fourth, more like trying to contain. Is there a reason for thinking we would have converted, not really, but that was the final chance.

Great post man!

Thanks.

I really don't think there's any reason to be confident that we could have converted that 4th and 5, and because you're at your own 25 yard line, if you fail, the game is over. The Bucs either kick a field goal, or they convert a couple of first downs and run the clock out. Either way, the game ends with a failed 4th down. We had three timeouts, plus the two minute warning, so they need two first downs. If you punt, you at least have a chance of getting the ball back. Yes, we were thin at tackle, and we'd already been on the field for more than half the game, but at least you have a margin for error. It's slim, sure, but there's a margin there. They need two first downs, and we almost stopped them, as it is. I think it can go either way, and I understand the argument for going for it. I wouldn't fault that decision, actually. But I think the better option (and by better, I'm talking 51/49) is to punt it. Only because of the field position and the time left on the clock.

[thetigerfox]

Splitting hairs, and that's why I put there was no reason to think we would've converted. I just believe there are times in a game where you just have to take that risk to seize the game. I'd have to go back and watch for exact time, but I believe it was around 3 and some change. We were thin and tired on D, it just felt like if we were going to get a win we were going to have to take it, and punting there felt like giving up the game to me. Even if we could have held them to a field goal if we didn't get it we had three timeouts left to work with it.

And really I'm stretching, but right now, when your scratching, crawling for that win, I feel like there are those times in a game where that risk has to be taken. But still agree with the grade you gave the coaching.

[ruksak]

[Grades] Week 3: Colts @ Bucs

minor edit in title required.........