Pep has to let Luck air it out

[HtownColt]

On plays against the Chargers where we threw the ball down the field the pass protection wasn't that bad. I think Andrew only got sacked one time.

He only threw the ball downfield 20yrds or more in the air 4 times on 30 throws, the flea flicker, the other two Wayne catches downfield, and the drop by Fleener were the only throws of that nature

[shakedownstreet]

Why bother...

Pep's gonna do what Pep's gonna do until the Colts fall way behind and he is forced to abandon his 'system'.

Arians was miles ahead of this little man...but then, Arians was far more experienced at what works in the NFL with his personnel.

 

[ColtsBTM12]

He only threw the ball downfield 20yrds or more in the air 4 times on 30 throws, the flea flicker, the other two Wayne catches downfield, and the drop by Fleener were the only throws of that nature

 The Colts had success on all those plays that you just named (with the exception of the Fleener drop which should have been caught) but they only ran 4 of them that went down the field 20 yards or more. 

[backshoulderfade]

We are 4-2 with wins over the 2 of the best teams in the NFC. Sure, maybe we arent playing to our potential. We are top of our division and exactly where I ecpected us to be going into the season at this point.

Until we are no longer playoff bound, i'd say Pep is doing his job.

[BlueRedZone]

This is going to be a simple game plan.

 

Play press man coverage throw off the timing routes Manning loves.

 

In the passing game go short routes, thus even though they may be 8 yard gains they keep the time moving and keeping our defense off the field. (also don't run out of bounds on any play)

 

Mix in runs to keep the defense honest

 

I'd look for quite a bit more of Donald Brown in this game.  Because of his skill set.  Then bruse them up the middle with Trent. (we don't need to score fast we just need to score touchdowns)

 

To win this game we need a big play from special teams(TY Hilton).  Pat Mcafee can't have anymore 30 yrd punts.  Also keep Holiday in check.

 

Reed also needs to take the 20 and kneel on kickoffs.

 

And if we do all of that I think we have a great chance of winning.  But as a Mathmatics Prodigy once told me.  "if the Colts score more than the Broncos The Colts will win".

 

I'd take his word for it.

 

 

 

 

[Stephen]

And by assuming this you fall in to the Manning trap. Trying to outcomplicate and outgun him will only frustrate you. The answer is to shorten the game with more runs and keep him off the field so that he has minimal opprotunities to score. That is the best defence, to not let him play.

But that only works if you score tds on every drive. Otherwise you will have 12 minute drives will manning will score in one minute.

[Gavin]

we average passes 3.1 passes a game of 1` or more yards a game after the Charger game which our defense did not show up or we would have gotten the ball more, Prior to that it was closer to 4 at 3.8 passes per game, Our wr's have all kinds of problems separating consistently

[luckyblue]

Don't really need to disguise coverages, like Rodney Harrison said this week, they started having success against Manning when Belichek simplified the defense, just cover 1, cover 2 and cover 3 looks and putting hands on the receivers. The key is just disrupting the timing of his receivers and jamming them because Manning has that mental clock and he wants to get rid of the ball at a certain time and he is not the type to extend plays

I totally agree, no one had more success in holding Manning down atleast a little bit like the patriots did.

[Gavin]

21 or more yards I meant

[hambone35]

The Broncos are going to score points. They are averaging 45 points a game, and we all know that Peyton is shredding everyone. In order to win this game, Pep Hamilton has to come up with a game plan to where the Colts can score a lot of points, and the only way to do that is by letting Andrew Luck do what he does best. The Colts cannot win this game with Trent Richardson and Donald Brown. Pep has got to realize that. 

So let me ask you this How do you beat peyton???????????????????????????? Keep him on the sidelines so to do that we will have to have a balanced game, with a run attack included not just an air attack. So if we dominate on possesion of time and keep manning on the sideline and score as well we have a great chance of winning!!

[CanuckColt]

Post what you want...but Arians was an experienced NFL OC and a good one...Pep is just a new guy learning on the job what works in the NFL and not doing a good job of making best use of his personnel.

[-JJ-]

offense ain't gonna matter. Defense will and it will have to stop Manning and the run game. Pretty tall order. If it does then the offense will matter enough to put up it's typical points and not turn it over.

[shakedownstreet]

Post what you want...but Arians was an experienced NFL OC and a good one...Pep is just a new guy learning on the job what works in the NFL and not doing a good job of making best use of his personnel.

 

you may be right you may be wrong. i just see a lot of over reaction to last week's game on the forum and i tend to over react to that. it tends to happen after a loss

 

i am not sold pep's plan is a bad one. in 2006 we ran a similar conservative system and colt fans were up in arms about it just like now. but towards the end of the season it began to work & we won a lombardi

[CanuckColt]

offense ain't gonna matter. Defense will and it will have to stop Manning and the run game. Pretty tall order. If it does then the offense will matter enough to put up it's typical points and not turn it over.

That is asking a lot to put on the D...too many options for Peyton...can't defend them all...need to score a lot and defend reasonably.

[HtownColt]

Post what you want...but Arians was an experienced NFL OC and a good one...Pep is just a new guy learning on the job what works in the NFL and not doing a good job of making best use of his personnel.

Ask the Cardinals if they like that downfield Arians offense, the answer is No by the way

[tfunky14]

Ask the Cardinals if they like that downfield Arians offense, the answer is No by the way

Yea Palmer isn't going to finish the season at his rate get knocked down

[Gabriel Alexander Morillo]

Cowboys came the closest to beating the broncos this year and how did they do it? A shootout...romo ended up romoing in the end when they should have won. But if any of you here have faith in Luck than you know he doesn't throw that pick.

[CanuckColt]

you may be right you may be wrong. i just see a lot of over reaction to last week's game on the forum and i tend to over react to that. it tends to happen after a loss

 

i am not sold pep's plan is a bad one. in 2006 we ran a similar conservative system and colt fans were up in arms about it just like now. but towards the end of the season it began to work & we won a lombardi

I don't know how dedicated (stubborn) Pep is about his system, but the run game is not nearly as productive as our passing game...no road-grader OL and questionable RBs.

They were saying on NFL network how Richardson "gains what is blocked" and has a hard time changing his run to take advantage of a different opening.

BTW, Bradshaw was excellent at it.

[HtownColt]

I don't know how dedicated (stubborn) Pep is about his system, but the run game is not nearly as productive as our passing game...no road-grader OL and questionable RBs.

They were saying on NFL network how Richardson "gains what is blocked" and has a hard time changing his run to take advantage of a different opening.

BTW, Bradshaw was excellent at it.

Through week 6, Colts are the Number 1 ranked run blocking line and the 19th pass protecting line according to football outsiders

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/OL

Also read on PFF that Richardson has averaged 2.8 yards after contact in two out of the four games he played with us

[indy1888]

And I understand that we want to run the ball and control the clock to keep Manning off the field but Trent Richardson is barely averaging 3 yards per carry. I'm not sure that approach would work.

 

Agreed.   The formula of running the ball well and converting short 3rd downs is solid.  But i think expecting this Colts team to do that for 4 qtrs is wishful thinking at best. Most importantly you have to end every drive with 7.  Even in the 9ers game where people think we dominated, we had 13 points at one point in the 4th qtr.  Think were in the game tomorrow with 13 points at the start of the 4th? I don't expect the Colts to win anyway, but i know i'd rather lose it more with Luck then i would with Richardson or Brown. Not saying we should just ignore the run and sling it every play, but i don't see us being in the game very long if we think we can just run everytime and keep the ball from Peyton.

[GoColts8818]

I think we can safely say we aren't going to win this game if we take Luck completely out of the game.  By the same token I think we will lose this game if we put it all on Luck's shoulders too.  So that's where the OC comes in.  Pep needs to mix it up and get the right balance of run and pass in there and before people starting complaining that he can't do that Pep did just that in the 49ers, Jags, and Seahawks games.  I don't even think the play calling was as bad as everyone made it out to be in the Chargers game.  We had five dropped passes that completely killed our passing game.  If our guys hang on to those I think most people are okay with the play calling. 

 

I think it's important to keep finding the right balance between Richardson and Brown too.  I think teams are starting to catch on to the idea when Brown comes into the game we are going to try to hit them with a run out of a passing formation. 

 

The other thing I think we are going to see at some point this season (maybe not tomorrow night) is a pass to Joe Reitz out of the heavy formation.  He comes in and plays tightend and that's what teams first look at him as when he came into the NFL before he got here and looked at him as an o-lineman.  I am sure we have a short yardage pass play out of that formation. 

 

The biggest key tomorrow is no mistakes, Luck can't get greedy and take more than the Broncos are giving him and turn the ball over and we can't drop passes.  If we do that I think our offense can stay on the field.  The other problem at times for our offense is finishing inside the 20.  We have to do that tomorrow we can't trade field goals for touchdowns. 

 

Also I am sure there are going to be a couple of times that the deep ball is there for Luck I am sure he'll take his shots but we really need him not to over throw them like he has a times.  He needs to hit them.  I am guessing at some point DHB or Hilton is going to have a deep pass to them.

[ThatOneColtFan]

Luck is gonna have to throw a lot this game, that's just how it has to be. You can't beat Peyton running the ball now that he's on a team that can defend well against the run and generate inside pressure. It wasn't Pep's playcalling that lost the Chargers game, we were just awful that game. Same with a lot of the Dolphins game ( we did get a TD called back over a rare penalty).

 

The Oakland game is where Pep almost lost it for us, we were still new to his system and we still are now. But it was crazy for him to take the ball out of Luck's hand while he was blazing hot earlier that game. We ran more than we passed that game, and that secondary was incredibly suspect, yet we didn't attack their weakness. We also refused to adjust to their blitzing that was clearly getting to us.

 

Anyway, we're gonna have to be mistake free to win Sunday. Unless the Broncos have a bad game, which they won't. There is no way Peyton is gonna choose tonight to have a bad game. Not after Irsay said all that nonsense. 

[braveheartcolt]

Right, I'll be first to admit it. I don't understand this, 'keep Manning of the field' stuff. Let's assume there are no turnovers. If we have 4 possessions, and the Broncos have 4 possessions, or if we have 15 possession, and they have 15 possessions, what difference does it make? It's all about converting those opportunities? Are we therefore saying that Manning is more likely to convert each drive at a higher rate than Luck? And if that is the case, what does it matter how many drives each team have?

 

I'm sure there will be a mathematical or a skill level reason, but I'm too stoopid to get it. 

 

Help!

[SkyBane]

Right, I'll be first to admit it. I don't understand this, 'keep Manning of the field' stuff. Let's assume there are no turnovers. If we have 4 possessions, and the Broncos have 4 possessions, or if we have 15 possession, and they have 15 possessions, what difference does it make? It's all about converting those opportunities? Are we therefore saying that Manning is more likely to convert each drive at a higher rate than Luck? And if that is the case, what does it matter how many drives each team have?

I'm sure there will be a mathematical or a skill level reason, but I'm too stoopid to get it.

Help!

Its not just possession numbers, its time on the field. When you play ball control, the opposing offense is forced to sit on the bench for long periods and cant keep in a rhythm, while your defense stays fresh. You also beat on the opposing defense and wear them down faster making it easier on your offense.

It creates a situation where the opposing offense has less opprotunities against a less tired defense and must always start from square one with 0 momentum. Its the best defense against an unstoppable force because they can never get going to steamroll you.

[FicmanS]

And let's hope that Manusky comes up with a plan on D to help us out too.  The DBs have to play physical and shove the WRs off their routes and delay the timing, and they have to get pressure up the middle and get in Manning's face.  While we may get in a shootout, the Defense can have a lot to say of just how much of one it needs to be.

 

Add Mathis in Manning's face, we've got to get Payton on the move off his spot.  We all know what happens when you get him on the move...

 

Air that ball Pep!!!

[braveheartcolt]

Its not just possession numbers, its time on the field. When you play ball control, the opposing offense is forced to sit on the bench for long periods and cant keep in a rhythm, while your defense stays fresh. You also beat on the opposing defense and wear them down faster making it easier on your offense.

It creates a situation where the opposing offense has less opprotunities against a less tired defense and must always start from square one with 0 momentum. Its the best defense against an unstoppable force because they can never get going to steamroll you.

So can't the other team do the same back, which puts everyone level again?

[shakedownstreet]

So can't the other team do the same back, which puts everyone level again?

 

my brain just sploded

[SkyBane]

So can't the other team do the same back, which puts everyone level again?

Technically yes, but that means the game clock runs out really fast and its a predominately run oriented approach, which in this case means taking the ball out of Peyton's hands for a large stretch of the game, something the Broncos simply will not do.

[-JJ-]

So can't the other team do the same back, which puts everyone level again?

What SkyBane said and it's only one team that can do it.

 

btw I love how you spelled stupid. That's good  old fashion DOS.

[-JJ-]

That is asking a lot to put on the D...too many options for Peyton...can't defend them all...need to score a lot and defend reasonably.

But history of this team this season says you won't score a lot. And yes its asking a lot (too much) from the D. Its pretty much impossible on paper- So any "given Sunday" will have to rear it's ugly head to win:)