Thoughts on the game

[Danfish98]

Obviously a very disappointing and frustrating performance today.  Many, many problems today and I think we're starting to see some trends the past 2 weeks.  First, we didn't lose today because the offense went conservative.  I spent most of the second half yelling at the TV to run the ball and then come here after the game and see mostly complaining that we ran too much.  Bradshaw looked fantastic but we inexplicably gave up on the run and even more inexplicably didn't have him in for the last drive when he's known as one of the best pass protecting RBs in the game.  

 

Another thing I noticed about the offense is that things went downhill quickly after DHB went out.  With him in TY destroyed the Miami defense.  Without him TY got nothing.  Anyone still want to question why DHB was playing where he was?  Really hope the injury isn't serious.

 

On defense things looked good when there was a pass rush.  When Tannehill had time he shredded our secondary.  On the plus side, Werner looked good.  On the negative side, Walden was invisible and Toler got owned for the second game in a row.  He looked great in preseason and was extremely aggressive.  Suddenly in the real games he's playing with a huge cushion and looking about like Vaughn.  Baffling.  

 

Overall I'm definitely concerned about the season.  The schedule the next several weeks outside of Jacksonville is brutal and we could very easily be looking at 2-5.  I hope to see a full game commitment to the run, better protection for Luck (though I'm not holding my breath there with losing Thomas for the year), and pass coverage doesn't leave receivers wide open all over the field.  On the plus side, for the second week in a row the offense put up good yardage numbers.  Need to turn those into points though.

[Colts129238]

i completely agree with everything you have stated only one thing i wanna throw out there  5 sacks 2 FF  we played good D in my opinion just didnt make the plays when we truly needed them and as for offense i agree bradshaw was a stud today should have got him more involved in the 2nd half  instead of donald brown i think hugh played good for coming in cold of the bench

[Freenyfan102]

worse lineman ever

[cm43sports]

I think the Colts definitely looked like a rebuilding team during the game. They have pieces in place but it looks like they may have as many holes as pieces with more holes appearing soon in the form of Reggie Wayne's and Robert Mathis' eventual decline. I really hope they can talk Brandon Moore out of retirement to fill in for Donald Thomas for the season. There was another thread about a possible trade for Von Miller which I would be more than ecstatic about because for most of the game there simply wasn't enough pressure. Best of wishes to Ballard and Thomas and a quick recovery to Haywerd-Bey.

[jamesie jr]

I don't think Toler played well this game but i certaintly thought he played well against the raiders though. Think Hilton looked good out wide for when Wayne retires. O line sucked. Luck just didn't hit many targets in the 2nd half, ie. Reggie.

[HungarianColtsFan]

My instant thought is, that Luck's never made such poor decisions in his NFL career. With a hapless O-line our Offense collapsed, we passed the monument away by the reversed TD.

 

Based on first 2 games we aren't PO caliber team this season.

[coltsfanatic24]

I don't think Toler played well this game but i certaintly thought he played well against the raiders though. Think Hilton looked good out wide for when Wayne retires. O line sucked. Luck just didn't hit many targets in the 2nd half, ie. Reggie.

Toler didn't play too well vs Raiders and seemed timid against the Dolphins of getting beat deep by Wallace. Toler is lining up on the left side  usually that's where the team #1 WR's are. He played slot CB for the Cardinals and was great at it, he's being played as our #1 CB. He's not physical enough to play on the outside he's being played out of position.

[CroatianColtsFan21]

agree with everything that has been said here.. just wanted to add that i was very upset with the call not to go for it on 4th&1 on the opening drive.. even before adam missed it.. you are at home, had the long drive, if you make it, you send a statement and maybe get a td, if you don't miami gets the ball on 34 yard line.. well, adam missed it and miami started at 42.. a 52 yarder is not a given anymore with A.V.

 

oh, right, and the fact it was 2nd&1, 3rd&1, both passes.. talk about power run game..

[GoColts8818]

Obviously a very disappointing and frustrating performance today. Many, many problems today and I think we're starting to see some trends the past 2 weeks. First, we didn't lose today because the offense went conservative. I spent most of the second half yelling at the TV to run the ball and then come here after the game and see mostly complaining that we ran too much. Bradshaw looked fantastic but we inexplicably gave up on the run and even more inexplicably didn't have him in for the last drive when he's known as one of the best pass protecting RBs in the game.

Another thing I noticed about the offense is that things went downhill quickly after DHB went out. With him in TY destroyed the Miami defense. Without him TY got nothing. Anyone still want to question why DHB was playing where he was? Really hope the injury isn't serious.

On defense things looked good when there was a pass rush. When Tannehill had time he shredded our secondary. On the plus side, Werner looked good. On the negative side, Walden was invisible and Toler got owned for the second game in a row. He looked great in preseason and was extremely aggressive. Suddenly in the real games he's playing with a huge cushion and looking about like Vaughn. Baffling.

Overall I'm definitely concerned about the season. The schedule the next several weeks outside of Jacksonville is brutal and we could very easily be looking at 2-5. I hope to see a full game commitment to the run, better protection for Luck (though I'm not holding my breath there with losing Thomas for the year), and pass coverage doesn't leave receivers wide open all over the field. On the plus side, for the second week in a row the offense put up good yardage numbers. Need to turn those into points though.

your DHB point is a key one that most have ignored. Luck has been going to him a lot since he got here and when Reggie is covered I think that's Lucks next look. I noticed when DHB went out Luck started holding the ball longer or running more which told me either guys weren't open or Luck didn't like what he saw. I know he tried to force it to TY over the middle a couple of times after DHB went out maybe we are seeing the real reason TY is in the slot he struggles to get open against number two corners or Luck doesn't trust him as much as DHB. Just a theory that I am sure many wont like but I don't think it's an accident that DHB went out and the offense stalled out after that.

[crazycolt1]

One of the positive things in this game was Fleenor. There has been talk of him being a bust and that was put to rest today. I think the real problems are with both the o-lines an d-lines. Luck not getting the time he needs and the d-backs not getting enough help with pressure from the d-line. A few good plays here and there is not enough. 

[Dark Superman]

Where was Josh Chapman today?

Bring back Ceaser Rayford!!!

[NagelHausForge]

I definitely did not like how the Colts abandoned the run on that last drive.  Miami was vacating the middle of the field and leaving it wide open.  Either have Luck run it himself or hand the dang thing off!  Very frustrating.  Lots of work to be done if we are to even think about playoffs this year...

 

On the upside if we stink it up it may be easier to upgrade my season tickets for next season... LOL.

[Carl Dzienkiewicz]

colts should be 0-2,spent all kinds of money to upgrade o-line and D------sorry dont see it.secodary still giving up big plays and o-line stinks.luck ran well but missed big passes-----those are locks for peyton

[OffensivelyPC]

I think people are being a bit too harsh in grading Toler last week.  He played well last week, but when your DL can't contain the QB, of course the secondary is going to give up plays.  Can't cover forever.  This week, he played bad and the DL played very well.  They were constantly getting pressure on Tannehill.  Secondary just gave up too many big plays.  All this is to say that when one unit plays bad, the other unit looks bad as well.  No pressure, even with good coverage, you're going to give up big plays.  No coverage, even with good pressure, you're going to give up big plays. 

[jvan1973]

Where was Josh Chapman today?

Bring back Ceaser Rayford!!!

yeah, that rayford is really killing it in Dallas. With a total of zero tackles

[King Colt]

19, nineteen new players, what do you expect? Many teams look laid back yesterday including the 49ers, Saints, Baltimore. The Pats aren't lighting the world on fire, The skins lost,, Cowboy lost to KC. I guess if you were hoping for a perfect season today must be a real bummer.  Remember the old saying, "Beer wasn't built in a day"!

[jameszeigler834]

I don't think 2-5 but 2-4 maybe if they don't fix this the season could get out of hand fast. The sooner they fix these problems the better off they will be.

[Goodtimes]

colts should be 0-2,spent all kinds of money to upgrade o-line and D------sorry dont see it.secodary still giving up big plays and o-line stinks.luck ran well but missed big passes-----those are locks for peyton

 

Free agents rarely work out well for a team. The exception being Peyton and he was run out of town by the "Suck for Luck" crowd. Not many teams make great improvements with free agents. You can used one here and there to fill a real need but when you start using lots of them, you have forgotten that they have been cast aside by their old teams. Draft picks are a 50/50 proposition. I think free agents are lower than that.

[Dark Superman]

yeah, that rayford is really killing it in Dallas. With a total of zero tackles

It was sarcasm.

[CoachLite]

I think people are being a bit too harsh in grading Toler last week.  He played well last week, but when your DL can't contain the QB, of course the secondary is going to give up plays.  Can't cover forever.  This week, he played bad and the DL played very well.  They were constantly getting pressure on Tannehill.  Secondary just gave up too many big plays.  All this is to say that when one unit plays bad, the other unit looks bad as well.  No pressure, even with good coverage, you're going to give up big plays.  No coverage, even with good pressure, you're going to give up big plays.

I think a confused defensive scheme was a bigger problem than bad individual play. I might even say the same about the offense, too. The way it works: Given these players in that formation, anticipating these play options, this is what we are trying to accomplish by our players doing these actions in these positions. If parts of that system are missing or tentative, confusion reigns, and losing becomes a possibility.

I'm not saying "fire the ***", but there are some coaching issues and player execution (not meaning "kill the ***) that need improvement.

[Danfish98]

One of the positive things in this game was Fleenor. There has been talk of him being a bust and that was put to rest today. I think the real problems are with both the o-lines an d-lines. Luck not getting the time he needs and the d-backs not getting enough help with pressure from the d-line. A few good plays here and there is not enough. 

I forgot to mention Fleener.  Great to see him contribute!  He also disappeared after DHB got hurt though.

[lollygagger8]

My thoughts: 

 

My biggest "what tha ___ are we doing" moment was in the 4th quarter, if you aren't going to run the ball why the heck was Brown in there for pass protection!??!? Put Bradshaw and/or Havili back there......DUH PEP!!!! Brown whiffed on his assignment on a play and got Luck blasted. We already knew he is not good at pass pro. 

 

It's also totally inexcusable that we basically abandoned the run in the 4th qtr drive. That's the only way play action works. Again, DUH. 

 

What happened to the quick passing dink and dunk that will shut that constant blitzing down?? We should've been throwing quick slants and screens. This play calling drove me insane. 

 

Walden looked absolutely atrocious. I still am not seeing why we got him. 

 

I was impressed the Miami rookie kicker nailed the 2nd FG just as well as the first one after Pagano called the T.O. I was also disappointed that Vinateri missed his attempt. 

 

Angerer looked great against the run but not in coverage. He never turned his head around on one of the passes thrown right over him for a completion. 

 

Side note:

 

Miami has ZERO penalites. That is unbelievable. Especially since there should've been holdling and pass interference a few times. 

[COLTFAN0751]

Sorry if this is off topic but I am a new member and will learn. Would someone explain to me why we choose to give up the huge home field advantage of a very noisy place to play as a visitor by choosing to open  up our roof eliminating much of the crowd noise. and flooding the field with bright sunlight and shadows. we are a dome team and the dolphins are used to bright sun and shadows..Our punt returners and receivers need to see the ball. I am not saying it cost us the game but did you notice there were no penalties for false starts or off sides on the Dolphins. the 12th man is and has always been a big advantage for us .I realize it was a beautiful day outside but I can go out AFTER THE GAME. If you can't make it to the game at least you can see it on tv in high def without the crappy picture with all the glare.just sayin'

[el duderino]

2 Questions to our Coaches:

 

Why isn't Vontae on the other Teams best Reciever?

Why was Donald Brown in on that last play?

 

I just dont get it.

[chrisfarley]

Where was Josh Chapman today?

Bring back Ceaser Rayford!!!

Chapman is not working out, Rayford did not work out at all and is not working out for Dallas.

[OffensivelyPC]

Chapman is not working out, Rayford did not work out at all and is not working out for Dallas.

That's unfortunate.  Of course, this is effectively his rookie season, so I'm still holding out hope for the guy.

[Gavin]

I dont think you can pin our loss on any 1 particular element, They all had a hand in our loss, Playing off several yards on Mike Wallace inside the 20 and giving up an easy screen pass for a td? Not gonna get it done, Showing blitz to early? Not gonna get it done, Missed field goal, Not gonna get it done, Missing your receiver on a curl route on 1st down (to Bey) when the Corner is playing 6 yards off, Not gonna get it done, Lack of creative blitz packages? Not gonna get it done, ya dont have Peyton Manning out their disecting the blitz, Despite our 5 sacks we did not get much pressure....only 4 hits on Tannehill, wont get it done

[Larry Horseman]

Chapman is not working out, Rayford did not work out at all and is not working out for Dallas.

 

Where'd this come from? He's been active for two games and isn't working out? Everything I read is that he was progressing in camp and I didn't think he looked terrible against the Raiders. I think it is safe to say he is still adjusting to the NFL game and being healthy, but I think, from what I have observed and heard, that he is far from not working out.

[jvan1973]

Where'd this come from? He's been active for two games and isn't working out? Everything I read is that he was progressing in camp and I didn't think he looked terrible against the Raiders. I think it is safe to say he is still adjusting to the NFL game and being healthy, but I think, from what I have observed and heard, that he is far from not working out.

he, like a lot of posters here like to freak out if young players don't play like hall of famers every week

[JWF]

I went back and rewatched the game.

 

I thought offensively we actually played pretty well but just missed on some key plays. The O-line was better overall despite a few bad series here and there. The run game was solid but not spectacular.

 

Luck looked great for the most part but did seem to start forcing it a bit towards the end of the game. It looked like he rushed the throw that led to the INT and didnt get enough on it. Not worried about Luck after rewatching. He's still going to make mistakes but you can see is starting to improve his game already.

 

The Defense def. was up and down. They had some nice series but just too many key big plays. To Miami's credit, they looked solid on O. Tannehill was impressive.

 

Overall it really was a team loss.

[FinNasty]

Hey guys... great game yesterday!  I wanted to come by and start a thread to get some of your thoughts, but I guess I don't have permission to do so as a poster.  So, I thought the most appropriate place to post this would be here...

 

 

I wanted to get your guys thoughts on Luck vs. Tannehill Round 2?

 

Last year, these guys squared off as rookies and had a pretty good show down. Tannehill threw for almost 300 yards and a TD (90.9 QBR)... but Luck out did him with 430 yards and 2 TDs (105.6 QBR). This year, Tannehill took it down outdoing Lucks 320 yards on 58% 1 TD and 1 INT (79.7 QBR) with 320 yards of his own on 68% and 1 TD and no interceptions (107.4 QBR).

 

In the 2 games these guys have squared off... a combined 5 points have separated the score... both coming down to the wire in the 4th. I honestly am excited to see both of these guys square off so young b/c I think there is a real chance of a rivalry to form between these 2 talented young QBs.

 

I wanted to come by and get your thoughts on the potential rivalry and your thoughts on Tannehill? Tannehill still has some things he could learn from Luck. Luck's ability to manipulate a pocket is ridiculous, and while Tannehill is a fantastic athlete like Luck, Luck uses his athleticism MUCH better (did Tannehill take off an run even once yesterday? Dude has 4.5 speed... run sometimes!). However, while Luck has a better handle on some of the finer intricacies and is ahead of Tannehill in terms of experience... I think Tannehill has shown to have plenty of potential in his right.

 

What are your thoughts on these 2 QBs both now and moving forward?

 

[FinNasty]

Anyone? I'd love to get some of your thoughts on these 2 QBs, as well as the 2012 QB class as a whole. I think we're both pretty lucky to have been able to get one of these guys!

[indycrazy1887]

Its apparent that tannehill has been working hard this off season to improve his game. I think we will play each other more often, and in the future the Colts and Dolphins will be the next big AFC rivalry, like the colts and pats were. Your free agent acquisitions gel really well together, with wheeler ellerbe and grimes defensively. With the exception of weeden, last years qb class has easily been the best in yeaaars. Both the colts and phins still need a few more pieces to be legitimate contenders but we are easily well on our way

[Gavin]

We let Tannehill shred us sunday, if we were not getting sacks he was shredding us apart. It was a feast or famine defense for us, He made alot of good decisions yesteday and in my opinion outplayed Luck, I cant really say he took a step forward yet because he played an Indy defense right now that (despite what 6 sacks say on the season) through 2 games is not very good, Luck hangs onto the ball to long and has happy feet in the pocket, I personally think Tannehill went entirely to high in the draft and thought Wilson could have been a 1st or 2nd round , when I watched Tannehill at A&M I thought he looked to run to quick and just had not been playing the position long enough to be a top 10 pick. I still think  if you can get pressure on him he will get unsettled and force him into bad decisions(we hardly got any hits on him despite 5 sacks), Many of Lucks bad decisions (not all) come when Luck does not have alot of pressure around him. He stares down receivers to much, does not see open wr's underneath,  hangs onto the ball to long  (part of that is wr's cant consistently get open) and all that leads to trouble and a QB that I have not seen progress to this point from year 1 to year 2. He left alot of passing yards out on the field with wide open misses as well as a couple 3rd down coversions to guys underneath

[FinNasty]

Its apparent that tannehill has been working hard this off season to improve his game. I think we will play each other more often, and in the future the Colts and Dolphins will be the next big AFC rivalry, like the colts and pats were. Your free agent acquisitions gel really well together, with wheeler ellerbe and grimes defensively. With the exception of weeden, last years qb class has easily been the best in yeaaars. Both the colts and phins still need a few more pieces to be legitimate contenders but we are easily well on our way

Totally agreed. It's early... but this QB class has a chance to go down as one of the best ever. Talk about picking the right year to invest in a QB!

Luck definitely has had a leg up on Tannehill just in terms of experience alone... but Tannehill is really coming along nicely, and looks like he will contribute nicely towards the conversation about this QB class going down in history.

[FinNasty]

We let Tannehill shred us sunday, if we were not getting sacks he was shredding us apart. It was a feast or famine defense for us, He made alot of good decisions yesteday and in my opinion outplayed Luck, I cant really say he took a step forward yet because he played an Indy defense right now that (despite what 6 sacks say on the season) through 2 games is not very good, Luck hangs onto the ball to long and has happy feet in the pocket, I personally think Tannehill went entirely to high in the draft and thought Wilson could have been a 1st or 2nd round , when I watched Tannehill at A&M I thought he looked to run to quick and just had not been playing the position long enough to be a top 10 pick. I still think  if you can get pressure on him he will get unsettled and force him into bad decisions(we hardly got any hits on him despite 5 sacks), Many of Lucks bad decisions (not all) come when Luck does not have alot of pressure around him. He stares down receivers to much, does not see open wr's underneath,  hangs onto the ball to long  (part of that is wr's cant consistently get open) and all that leads to trouble and a QB that I have not seen progress to this point from year 1 to year 2. He left alot of passing yards out on the field with wide open misses as well as a couple 3rd down coversions to guys underneath

Just a point of information... statistically Tannehill was one of the better QBs in the league last season when under pressure.

As far as Tannehill's draft position... I totally understand your feelings around the time of the draft. However, do you still feel he wasn't worth the pick now that he's started to put a body of work together in the NFL? He was considered raw and unready when drafted... however he proved las year that he was ready and that the game wasn't too big for him IMO.

Do you still feel he wasn't worth the pick? Other than Wilson, what player would have been better for the Fins to draft at #9 last year? And what in Tannehill's game do you feel he lacks that would still make him not worthy of such a pick?