Handcuffing Andrew Luck

[OLD FAN MAN]

Well Pep's taking too long to figure it out. 

 

When we were blitzing St. Louis, it took them all of 3 plays to figure it out. They started throwing screens, slants, and a few passes to the RB's out of the backfield. Pep doesn't figure it out for 2 to 3 quarters. We've been doing this all season. Not showing up until the 2nd half. It drives me insane. 

 

He also need to quit running up the middle. Our interior O-Line can't block for it. It's painfully obvious to everyone watching. I don't understand why we keep trying it?  

 

Well Pep's taking too long to figure it out. 

 

When we were blitzing St. Louis, it took them all of 3 plays to figure it out. They started throwing screens, slants, and a few passes to the RB's out of the backfield. Pep doesn't figure it out for 2 to 3 quarters. We've been doing this all season. Not showing up until the 2nd half. It drives me insane. 

 

He also need to quit running up the middle. Our interior O-Line can't block for it. It's painfully obvious to everyone watching. I don't understand why we keep trying it?  

if pep and  the o-line coaches gilbert and hunter would read this forum , the o-line would be fixed, and the colts would score at will.

[ruksak]

Im thinking the new system is just fine considering Luck ran the majority of it under Pep at Stanford and it in part helped him to the top pick in the 2012 draft, Theres plenty of reasons for our bad play vs the Rams absolutely none of which involve the system, I seriously dont get why so many are so quick to jump all over Pep and refuse to admit Luck simply has alot he needs to work on, Combine that with our teams other problems and ya get a game like ya got vs the Rams sometimes...It may not be the last one......Losing Reggie was the 1 guy other then Luck that we could not lose at this stage, Our wr's simply are to young and inconsistent (I aint including DHB in that, thats just a whole nother problem on its own)

I'm certainly not one that isn't giving Luck plenty of blame. He was horrid yesterday, and has looked bad quite a bit this year, only to erase his poor efforts with phenomenal play in the closing QTR's. 

 

What I'm eluding to is; Can we find a way, schematically, to get a faster start with him? 

 

I am troubled by his decision making. When he passed up a wide open Whalen (again) yesterday and threw that pick in the endzone....... that's on Luck. That's not what we've come to expect from him. 

[Gavin]

I'm certainly not one that isn't giving Luck plenty of blame. He was horrid yesterday, and has looked bad quite a bit this year, only to erase his poor efforts with phenomenal play in the closing QTR's. 

 

What I'm eluding to is; Can we find a way, schematically, to get a faster start with him? 

 

I am troubled by his decision making. When he passed up a wide open Whalen (again) yesterday and threw that pick in the endzone....... that's on Luck. That's not what we've come to expect from him. 

He has been passing up on wr's since last year in favor of trying to make the bigger play(very frustrating), He did it alot last year...It worked alot because Reggies nack for making circus catches and consistency doing it, Now that we lost that it left us exposed. We have some good pieces, Coby, Trent will right himself at some point, Hilton, Whalen is going to be a good 3rd down chain mover and has shown signs of it only 2 starts into his career, We need a few more pieces but we will be alright. were not there and wont be this year but we will get there

[lollygagger8]

I saw a lot of underneath routes open, and Luck was still looking/forcing it down field instead of throwing the easy dump off passes. I hope Luck saw them, and was just trying to get chunks of yardage. 

[OLD FAN MAN]

I saw a lot of underneath routes open, and Luck was still looking/forcing it down field instead of throwing the easy dump off passes. I hope Luck saw them, and was just trying to get chunks of yardage. 

they will be pointed out to him when they watch the tape, I hope.

[BOTT]

I saw a lot of underneath routes open, and Luck was still looking/forcing it down field instead of throwing the easy dump off passes. I hope Luck saw them, and was just trying to get chunks of yardage.

I thought he threw quite a few underneath routes, but when you're down 28-0 drinking and dunking isn't going to get it done.

[OLD FAN MAN]

I thought he threw quite a few underneath routes, but when you're down 28-0 drinking and dunking isn't going to get it done.

it might with the speed of our receivers and rbs who can take it to the end zone

[Warhorse]

Im thinking the new system is just fine considering Luck ran the majority of it under Pep at Stanford and it in part helped him to the top pick in the 2012 draft, Theres plenty of reasons for our bad play vs the Rams absolutely none of which involve the system, I seriously dont get why so many are so quick to jump all over Pep and refuse to admit Luck simply has alot he needs to work on, Combine that with our teams other problems and ya get a game like ya got vs the Rams sometimes...It may not be the last one......Losing Reggie was the 1 guy other then Luck that we could not lose at this stage, Our wr's simply are to young and inconsistent (I aint including DHB in that, thats just a whole nother problem on its own)

Nice post, Gavin.

 

So..........

 

We have issues protecting Luck

We have issues blocking for our RB's

We have issues running routes

We have issues catching the ball

We have issues defending the pass

We have issues with our QB comfort zone

We have issues QB's progressions

We have issues with our OC getting a season under his belt

We have issues blocking on ST punts and kicks

We have issues with starting WR depth

We have issues blitz PU's

We have issues with WR breaking off routes.......

 

 

..........yet fans choose to select one or two of these points, suggest a firing or cutting of some players or coaches....as if that will solve everything. I have a suggestion, how about a "we have lots of areas we need to improve", thread.

 

Because that is really what is needed, is improvement everywhere. Perhaps some have heaped too high of expectations on this young, injury riddled team, and now they have to blame someone?

 

Throwing out names of players to be cut or released who are working their donkeys off and who wear the horseshoe, doesn't affect on the quality of the team as much as it does affect the quality of the fanbase.

 

We are better than this, IMO. Lets go....Colt Nation.

[The Fish]

All things considered, yesterday was as much about Luck's inability to get in the endzone, on mulitiple occasions. That drive in the 4th where the PI got us to the one, I was thinking, "Why don't you just run it in #12". Low and behold on 4th and distance he scrambles up the middle and ends up a half yard short. How many other red zone crap outs where there? I'm thinking 2 or 3. If they had scored earlier in the game, it might have stopped that massive wave of momentum the Rams had.

 

Anyway. The scheme. I said this in another thread, I think I might change my signature to it. The Scheme is good when it works and bad when it doesn't. Deep. Stuff.

[nerd12]

Luck can no doubt play better but I wont say its his fault until I see this oline protect him better.

 

Lol, poor Luck. he gets hammered every other play and is somehow 6-3. He is a great kid although far from perfect so I understand some of the criticisms. 

 

Maybe this picture will end all the criticisms until next loss. How could it not?

 

[Le Neon]

We had a chance to see just how much Luck relied on Wayne. Luck will get better because of this, but he really needs to work on his accuracy and timing with the other receivers.

Tough when defensive players have been living in our backfield the last couple of weeks.

[IUfan_Charlie]

For the first time since early last year Luck looked rattled, probably because he was getting pressured so often. But he was consistently overthrowing his targets. In the first half of the game he missed an open Brazil in the end zone, missed Fleener wide open twice, and missed T.Y. open as well. 

[throwing BBZ]

Why put training wheels on a guy who can win the Tour De France?  Why make a chess master only play checkers?  Why force a 3 point shooter to shoot only 2 ft layups?  None of it makes sense. 

 

Just like this offense doesn't make sense for Andrew Luck.  Luck is a superstar.  Luck is one of the 4 or 5 best QBs in the NFL right now.  But Pep's offense takes the game completely out of Luck's hands.  It's not until the game is out of hands that they ask Luck to take over.  wth?!!  Let Luck do his thing from the get-go!  I know today's game is a bad example because Luck did come out slinging from the no-huddle and was doing well until Costanzo's horrific whiff of a block.  But I am talking about in general this year. 

 

You can complain about Peyton's Colts not winning more Super Bowl.  But I'll tell you what, the organization never wasted an ounce of Peyton Manning's talents.  Every single thing the organization ever did was to maximize Peyton's abilities because they saw clearly that doing so gave the Colts the best chance to win.  And think about it.  Peyton's Colts had HoFer Marshall Faulk and future HoFer Edgerrin James running the ball.  Luck may never have RBs who could even hold those two guy's jocks.  Yet we slam our RBs into the line over and over again every week to set up our passing game?  Right...

 

Andrews FIXATION with Ignoring wide open receivers underneath is killing everyone.

NFL teams adjusted to this, look at his pathetic stats the last 5 games of last season, and mostly modest #`s to start this season.

 he did look better when we were grinding some rush yards and he was throwing Peps short passes.

 The loss of Donald Thomas, Bradshaw, Reg, and it falls on Andrew. JMO, but going forward, if he doesn`t decide to take what the D gives him there is much more Ugly on the way.

As they make him a pocket passer by staying in their rush lanes and keep him from running, he looks like an average Young player.

 High and Wild and has been very week with his ball placement from day 1.

Few turnovers and penalties,and great movement in the pocket has held him together.

 Andrew needs to find his inner Montana and dump his Big Ben to help his Team.

 I think he chooses to live or die by holding onto the ball and going deep. And the Int`s will mount and the Hits keep on coming.

 He will put it in his hands.

[nerd12]

One thing nobody has mentioned is this thing we call a sophomore slump. In Luck's case its not much of a slump because he is still winning games but it is a slump nonetheless. Every young QB goes through this at some point in their careers.

[throwing BBZ]

I thought he threw quite a few underneath routes, but when you're down 28-0 drinking and dunking isn't going to get it done.

 

Ya, like taking what the D GIVES YOU and moving the chains, moving the ball down the field, helping your D with time of possession, what a stupid thing to do when you can hold onto the ball, sling it long down field on low% passes and into coverage, if you don`t get stripped, or sacked. Of course he likes to get hit, it kinda wakes him up he says. he got Really Awake Sunday. lol

 Live and Die by it. yes i`m Andrew Luck and that is my game and this is my neckbeard, how do you like me now?

 

 I still Love him tho, I mean he did beat Peyton! ! That was some great stuff. Thank the D too of course, and TY Painter.

[The Fish]

If I had any photo shop skills this thread would have an excellent picture of Pep arresting #12. It would be cool.

[BOTT]

Ya, like taking what the D GIVES YOU and moving the chains, moving the ball down the field, helping your D with time of possession, what a stupid thing to do when you can hold onto the ball, sling it long down field on low% passes and into coverage, if you don`t get stripped, or sacked. Of course he likes to get hit, it kinda wakes him up he says. he got Really Awake Sunday. lol

 Live and Die by it. yes i`m Andrew Luck and that is my game and this is my neckbeard, how do you like me now?

 

 I still Love him tho, I mean he did beat Peyton! ! That was some great stuff. Thank the D too of course, and TY Painter.

Ok, but I'm not sure what that had to do with my post.

[dudeski]

To be blunt......Andrew and his tunnel vision at times does an excellent job of handcuffing himself

that is exactly right

[YOUR GM]

Pep's play calling has been awful he call run plays on almost every first down. Luck needs to start off with 3 to 4 passes to open up the run. The interior of the o-line is a joke there should be more stretch runs and hb tosses to Castonzo side. Maybe Pep still thinks he's at Stanford but he needs to wake up and realize we don't have the o-line to be a power running team.

I'm not gonna blame Pep for all of the offensive struggles because 75% of it goes to Grigson. He over pays for RJF, Walden but doesn't sign Louis Vasquez who many of us wanted. Walden has played decent at times so as Toler but RJF has been terrible this year. . Moala is a better player and Hughes could have done better even as a rookie if he had more reps. There was no need for RJF he was a backup and Grigson payed top money for him when he could have got Vasquez.

Pep's play calling is part of the problem, but I honestly think Pagano is handcuffing Pep to a degree. If anyone remembers, Pep came into his introductory press conference talking about using various formations and schemes to maximize the offense. He even said we'd run some pistol read option concepts initially. Then what happened? Pagano went to the press the next day and all but shut that down, saying he wasn't gonna run anything that willingly exposed Luck to more hits. I think Pagano is the unimaginative one and has little grasp of the offensive side of the ball. He wanted a run heavy offense here because that's what he's accustomed to at Baltimore. Most defensive-minded coaches want a time consuming, heavy run offense to protect their defense more. All of that is well and good IF we actually had the personnel to execute that strategy, but we don't. I think our head coach's philosophy is just as much a part of the problem, to be honest

[Superman]

Take more shots deep with TY and DHB. Hit short and intermediate passes with Fleener, Brazill, Whalen...

Those are the throws Luck was missing in the first half. He wasn't handcuffed in this one. He just didn't throw it well.

[rittdk01]

Why put training wheels on a guy who can win the Tour De France?  Why make a chess master only play checkers?  Why force a 3 point shooter to shoot only 2 ft layups?  None of it makes sense. 

 

Just like this offense doesn't make sense for Andrew Luck.  Luck is a superstar.  Luck is one of the 4 or 5 best QBs in the NFL right now.  But Pep's offense takes the game completely out of Luck's hands.  It's not until the game is out of hands that they ask Luck to take over.  wth?!!  Let Luck do his thing from the get-go!  I know today's game is a bad example because Luck did come out slinging from the no-huddle and was doing well until Costanzo's horrific whiff of a block.  But I am talking about in general this year. 

 

You can complain about Peyton's Colts not winning more Super Bowl.  But I'll tell you what, the organization never wasted an ounce of Peyton Manning's talents.  Every single thing the organization ever did was to maximize Peyton's abilities because they saw clearly that doing so gave the Colts the best chance to win.  And think about it.  Peyton's Colts had HoFer Marshall Faulk and future HoFer Edgerrin James running the ball.  Luck may never have RBs who could even hold those two guy's jocks.  Yet we slam our RBs into the line over and over again every week to set up our passing game?  Right...

 

Its not Pep bro its Luck and the Colts.  Packers, Lions and Titans last year were one sided until halftime.  The Jets game last year reminded me of yesterdays game.  Those  were with Arians so that throws the Pep stuff out the window.  Running the ball with throwing is a much better idea oline just needs to block better.

 

Take a deep breath and wait for Thursday when the division will be pretty much won. 

[Superman]

Pep's play calling has been awful he call run plays on almost every first down. Luck needs to start off with 3 to 4 passes to open up the run. The interior of the o-line is a joke there should be more stretch runs and hb tosses to Castonzo side. Maybe Pep still thinks he's at Stanford but he needs to wake up and realize we don't have the o-line to be a power running team.

 

I'm not gonna blame Pep for all of the offensive struggles because 75% of it goes to Grigson. He over pays for RJF, Walden but doesn't sign Louis Vasquez who many of us wanted. Walden has played decent at times so as Toler but RJF has been terrible this year. . Moala is a better player and Hughes could have done better even as a rookie if he had more reps. There was no need for RJF he was a backup and Grigson payed top money for him when he could have got Vasquez.

 

 

RJF has been one of our best defensive linemen this year. LOL at Moala is a better player. Moala has been serviceable, RJF has been very good. And you ignore the fact that we signed Donald Thomas, who was rated as one of the best guards in the league before he got hurt. You mention Toler and Walden, both of whom have been instrumental to the success of our defense this year (or have you not seen Cassius Vaughn getting torched at corner?)

 

By the way, none of this has anything to do with whether we signed Vasquez or not. We still had the cap space to sign him if we wanted him and if he wanted to be here. 

[throwing BBZ]

Ok, but I'm not sure what that had to do with my post.

 

 You posted he threw quite a few short passes, in response to a post that he Missed opportunities to throw short to guys who were actually very open.

 As we watched Andrew on one play have a guy wide open short to his right and Ignored him ony to turn left and throw a crap pass to a tightly covered TRich, incomplete.

 He had maybe a half dozen nice open short throws to make, several in the first half, and chose to go long into coverage.

 Andrew was instrumental in digging the hole. JMO

 It is not like he doesn`t do this a number of times each game.

[BOTT]

You posted he threw quite a few short passes, in response to a post that he Missed opportunities to throw short to guys who were actually very open.

 As we watched Andrew on one play have a guy wide open short to his right and Ignored him ony to turn left and throw a crap pass to a tightly covered TRich, incomplete.

 He had maybe a half dozen nice open short throws to make, several in the first half, and chose to go long into coverage.

 Andrew was instrumental in digging the hole. JMO

 It is not like he doesn`t do this a number of times each game.

Maybe, but but like I said, it's not wise to keep throwing short passes when the team is getting whipped. Unless you just want to pile up worthless stats.

[Superman]

We are better than this, IMO. Lets go....Colt Nation.

 

You are a great person.