Pep Hamilton under pressure

[CanuckColt]

If chuck is going to refuse to make significant moves on the line then maybe its time to make a coaching change as well. I sure hope irsay puts his foot down next week.

Chuck is stunned as a HC...he just does the same thing over and over....play the longest tenured vet and make a change only when there is an injury....and when the injury is over go back to the vet whether meritted or not.

[Johnny Bui]

At this point I'm not quite sure.  Pep offensive uses the 2 TE system; Fleener is our only good TE and lots of starters are injured and our OLine is bad.  I say give Pep one more season to improve and if he doesn't i say let him go.  With multiple TE we will be able to run and pass the ball.  I don't like changing the offense back to back seasons.  We need to make the WR routes shorter and get high completion percentage passes.  Tom brady thrived on the 2 TE system, so I'll give pep another season

[GoColts8818]

You know I've read this a couple of times and it sounds like the Colts are frustrated with the slow starts, I didn't see anything in there to suggest they are thinking about making a change.  Maybe I am just being naïve but I read it as saying the Colts want him to make changes to make the offense work better at the start of games that's about all. 

[Deathiltis]

Really don't want the young guys in their 3rd offense in 3 years and I'm willing to blame the struggles on it being Pep's rookie season, injuries, bad O-Line for his scheme. But that's the thing I've been upset about, Pep doesn't adjust his scheme or play calling to his players strengths, that's why I think he'll be gone after the season if things get any worse.

[oldunclemark]

we are too conservative....conservative teams struggle to win titles

[CanuckColt]

we are too conservative....conservative teams struggle to win titles

Yeah, unless they are stacked with talent on both sides of the ball.

[Robert Johnson]

If that's what it takes, then here's to a slow playoff start and one-and-done.

So you hope we lose in the playoffs,just so Pep gets fired? Sorry,thats just wrong.

[Manning->Luck]

I think a third offensive change in 3 years will hurt Luck's progress, yet i don't necessarily want him in Pep's system.  Pretty tough choices!  You need time to mature under a system, not learning a new playbook every year.

[YOUR GM]

Disagree....the D played well...Pep was his normal incompetent self.

The defense won the game, I agree, but they still had trouble getting pressure and getting off the field on 3rd down. The turnovers were more a result of Fitzpatrick being an * than it was our defense confusing and disrupting him. Manusky is just as unimaginative as Pep, IMO

[krunk]

The line is terrible. Somebody ought to be calling for he O line coaches head.  Hard to finger point Pep with such a terrible Oline, but it is up to him to adjust the plays a bit to make up for the bad blocking.  It is what it is.

[CS Colts Fan]

Deathiltis

 

Pep doesn't adjust his scheme or play calling to his players strengths,

 

I agree and that is my frustration with him... I was happy with his hiring and thought that with experience with Luck, Flenner and Whalen was a win win...

 

It Frustrates me to No-end that they say we are a power running team, when we Do Not have the O line to make it happen at this point...

 

I question the lack of play calling or lack there of, but I also question the efficiency of our Oline coaching and Wide Receiving Coaching... I don't have rewind, but I find it hard to believe our receivers can't get open or run routes to get open... I believe that we do have a poor O line, but maybe the need to more basic and do less pulls ??? seems like this years Oline has multiple scenarios ..  I like that we finally started trying new personal to help the Offense... want to see more.. 

 

I'm not for the continue switching OC...  I would like to see all of our coaches be willing to adjust there calling or try another approach to use our strengths... 

 

Good News.. they have started this yesterday.. some successful, some not.. let's hope the continue to plug and play until we find the best use of what we have to pull from..

 

​PS... I was never an Arians Fan of Offense play calling... IMO he gets his QB hit way to much... that said we are not to far off of Luck's hit's from last year and the Offense seems to be much less potent

[NewEra]

The line is terrible. Somebody ought to be calling for he O line coaches head. Hard to finger point Pep with such a terrible Oline, but it is up to him to adjust the plays a bit to make up for the bad blocking. It is what it is.

My biggest problem is we don't play to out strength. Instead we keep trying to pound a square peg into a round hole like Pagano said we wouldn't do. We don't have the personnel to be a smash mouth running team. Not with our injuries at least. So failing to adapt is what chaps my bottom big time.

[ColtsBlueFL]

The defense won the game, I agree, but they still had trouble getting pressure and getting off the field on 3rd down. The turnovers were more a result of Fitzpatrick being an * than it was our defense confusing and disrupting him. Manusky is just as unimaginative as Pep, IMO

 

I think TN has a huge number of 3rd down conversion.  We are just another notch on that stat post. Fortunately, bad Fitz showed up and TN lost this game every bit as much as we won it.

[OLD FAN MAN]

The defense won the game, I agree, but they still had trouble getting pressure and getting off the field on 3rd down. The turnovers were more a result of Fitzpatrick being an * than it was our defense confusing and disrupting him. Manusky is just as unimaginative as Pep, IMO

I agree no pressure on the qb, not an aggressive defense, just sitting back and making the tackle after a gain.

[Dudley Smith]

There are a lot of problems on this team on both sides of the ball. The defense played well enough yesterday to win the game, and the offense moved the ball on the last drive, but there are still a lot of concerns on both sides.

 

That said, the offense is definitely the most troubling. Luck is starting to look more and more uncomfortable in the pocket with every game, and with good reason. He is being hurried and/or hit on seemingly every snap, his receivers are struggling to get open, and he has an at-best inconsistent run game to help him out. Pep Hamilton is doing nothing objectively to alleviate any of these issues. He trots the same tired run formations out there and tries to slam the RBs up the middle for the same results of 1-2 yards, or throws a pitch for the same yardage or a loss. He does nothing to help Luck complete some easy throws. Honestly, Pep's pass plays look like they all are either intermediate to long pass routes. Where are the slants, screens, and other easy completions so Luck can get some rhythm and keep the chains moving?

 

I wasn't sold on Arians last year, but I sure liked him a lot more than I do Pep Hamilton so far. This offense has taken a big step back this season outside of the 49ers game, which in retrospect was just a day the stars lined up for the offense (and we had Bradshaw). I don't like the idea of a 3rd OC for Luck in 3 years either, but the Colts simply can't keep a guy on the staff that doesn't have the goods to be an NFL coordinator. Especially in Luck's early years where he needs to be learning and growing as a player. Unless something changes, I hope a change is made at the OC position this off-season.

[1959Colts]

Bob Kravitz ‏@bkravitz 1h

Colts sources telling me stories about increased heat on pep are just "speculation". No more pressure on him than is normal in an nfl season

[BOTT]

My biggest problem is we don't play to out strength. Instead we keep trying to pound a square peg into a round hole like Pagano said we wouldn't do. We don't have the personnel to be a smash mouth running team. Not with our injuries at least. So failing to adapt is what chaps my bottom big time.

It's not like the colts have the firepower to throw it all over the field either.

[Dark Superman]

Peps run the ball more with no line said it all to me.

It's like a little kid playing with a broken toy.

[SkyBane]

It's not like the colts have the firepower to throw it all over the field either.

Should be running off the tackles instead of up the middle with some stretch and toss plays and just let Brown use his speed to gash outside. Follow that up with dink and dunk passes to Fleener and Brown/Richardson out of the backfield. Go down field to Hilton when the defense creeps up and spreads out to stop the outside of the tackle box play, while taking pressure off the interior of the line.

[throwing BBZ]

When the Colts win the Scheme is good, when they lose the Scheme is bad. Look for that to continue. 

 

Has anyone mentioned that Luck misses Wayne? 

 

Much if not Most of Luck`s success last year was him escaping magnificintly through whichever way Castonzo`s man Wasn`t beating him making time for our receivers (Reggie) to get 20+ yards downfield.

 Andrew then threw up what were almost Hail Mary`s into coverage with Reggie and his Magic hands so often snagging the HIGH ball out of the air, then getting CREAMED, drawing lots of "Oh Chits". 

 

 We see now that Andrew can throw scripted passes to his Primary and Open receivers using 3 step drops or in the shotgun + one step, pretty well.

 Past that, he struggles (is SLOW) to trust his receivers running their routes, so he waits till they have made their breaks and are clearly open before he will throw his pass Late, & Consistently thrown to the shoulder closest to the Defender. That is BAD!

 With NO Brees like touch in the short game, he kinds Sucks!  He better RUN well, but teams started playing the Castonzo Rush Lane tighter starting around game 12 last season better locking him in the pocket.

 

 Heart of a Staubach, with some Terry Bradshaw there too. ;)

[Jason_]

Chuck is stunned as a HC...he just does the same thing over and over....play the longest tenured vet and make a change only when there is an injury....and when the injury is over go back to the vet whether meritted or not.

 

Really?  Because Vaughn wasn't benched because of injury.  Richardson wasn't bench due to injury.  And injury being the reason for McGlynn's benching is flimsy at best since he'd already played with the cast on.  So, kind of dispels your thesis just a little bit don't you think?

[The Fish]

Much if not Most of Luck`s success last year was him escaping magnificintly through whichever way Castonzo`s man Wasn`t beating him making time for our receivers (Reggie) to get 20+ yards downfield.

 Andrew then threw up what were almost Hail Mary`s into coverage with Reggie and his Magic hands so often snagging the HIGH ball out of the air, then getting CREAMED, drawing lots of "Oh Chits". 

 

 We see now that Andrew can throw scripted passes to his Primary and Open receivers using 3 step drops or in the shotgun + one step, pretty well.

 Past that, he struggles (is SLOW) to trust his receivers running their routes, so he waits till they have made their breaks and are clearly open before he will throw his pass Late, & Consistently thrown to the shoulder closest to the Defender. That is BAD!

 With NO Brees like touch in the short game, he kinds Sucks!  He better RUN well, but teams started playing the Castonzo Rush Lane tighter starting around game 12 last season better locking him in the pocket.

 

 Heart of a Staubach, with some Terry Bradshaw there too. ;)

What's the ratio from Much to Most?

 

Some of this is true, not all of it. 

 

I'd like to see a more effective short game as well, but its never going to work when guys aren't open or won't hang on to the ball.

 

I see Luck playing with a lack of confidence in his guys. He want's to make the "correct" play more often than he want's to just make a play. I don't really need him running more though, the party is over if he gets hurt.

[throwing BBZ]

My biggest problem is we don't play to out strength. Instead we keep trying to pound a square peg into a round hole like Pagano said we wouldn't do. We don't have the personnel to be a smash mouth running team. Not with our injuries at least. So failing to adapt is what chaps my bottom big time.

 

Please, describe our strength. Does Andrew EVER throw the ball just before his Sometimes Open receivers make their break?

No!  He missed DHB twice yesterday on good routes. Not that he would have caught them! Ugh!

 

 Andrew plays A LOT of StinkaRoo FB! The same dodoo he did last year.

[throwing BBZ]

What's the ratio from Much to Most?

 

Some of this is true, not all of it. 

 

I'd like to see a more effective short game as well, but its never going to work when guys aren't open or won't hang on to the ball.

 

I see Luck playing with a lack of confidence in his guys. He want's to make the "correct" play more often than he want's to just make a play. I don't really need him running more though, the party is over if he gets hurt.

 

Much is like 38- 45%

Most would be like 60% or more.

 Ya I was thinking he needs to run more, in the Escape from the Rush mode for sure. Then see what happens. That was How he succeeded last season.  He is hanging in the pocket to no avail.

It SUCKS in there!! Thank Goodness Link was Available to shore things up.

[BelieveinB]

Luck is mobile... let him be mobile

TY has quickness... develop plays that's utilize his quickness

DHB drops the ball... fire the guy that drops the balls.

[NewEra]

It's not like the colts have the firepower to throw it all over the field either.

True, but we could work in more short passes and screens. Especially when we have constant pressure in Lucks grill.

[NewEra]

Please, describe our strength. Does Andrew EVER throw the ball just before his Sometimes Open receivers make their break?

No! He missed DHB twice yesterday on good routes. Not that he would have caught them! Ugh!

Andrew plays A LOT of StinkaRoo FB! The same dodoo he did last year.

Yes exactly, he's holding into the ball to long. Or being to indecisive. Id say more bootlegs, or whatever we were successful at doing against SF and Seattle.

[Johnny Bui]

With DHB at WR and pressure in yo face consistently, who wouldn't be indecisive?

[Balzer40]

Yes exactly, he's holding into the ball to long. Or being to indecisive. Id say more bootlegs, or whatever we were successful at doing against SF and Seattle.

 

 

 

Lucks biggest problem is he has no confidence in his receivers or his O-line. He's trying to make something happen on his own because he sure as hell isn't getting any help from anyone else(with the exception of DB). I think people putting blame on Luck don't realize whats going on. Everything is very erratic to him on every snap, receivers can't get open, inside o-line don't know who or how to block, and he has a defender in his face before he even gets to make his 1st read. This has all been building up on him all season and I'm sure he's extremely frustrated with it. 

[Iancolts]

So which Coach can be our OC cause I'm all for a new OC!!

[NewEra]

Lucks biggest problem is he has no confidence in his receivers or his O-line. He's trying to make something happen on his own because he sure as hell isn't getting any help from anyone else(with the exception of DB). I think people putting blame on Luck don't realize whats going on. Everything is very erratic to him on every snap, receivers can't get open, inside o-line don't know who or how to block, and he has a defender in his face before he even gets to make his 1st read. This has all been building up on him all season and I'm sure he's extremely frustrated with it.

Yes I agree. Sorry, didn't mean to sound like putting blame on Luck. He's not getting much help at all and takes way to long for someone to get open. Line is getting him killed. DB has been doing a heck if a job running the ball but gets worked in pass protection also. Out best weapon is Lucks legs but I'd hate for it to wind up getting him hurt. Someone needs to step up.

[Balzer40]

Yes I agree. Sorry, didn't mean to sound like putting blame on Luck. He's not getting much help at all and takes way to long for someone to get open. Line is getting him killed. DB has been doing a heck if a job running the ball but gets worked in pass protection also. Out best weapon is Lucks legs but I'd hate for it to wind up getting him hurt. Someone needs to step up.

 

 

 

Yeah, I didn't mean to include you on that. I worded it badly. I've just seen some posters constantly pick at everything Luck does and makes it his fault. He has made mistakes, there's no doubt, but it's because of the horrible play of his playmakers and his o-line. If I was Luck, I would rip the o-line's @$$ and would probably be giving the coaching staff an earful too. Kid has no chance to put his team in a better position because of the inexcusable bad play of others.

[NewEra]

Yeah, I didn't mean to include you on that. I worded it badly. I've just seen some posters constantly pick at everything Luck does and makes it his fault. He has made mistakes, there's no doubt, but it's because of the horrible play of his playmakers and his o-line. If I was Luck, I would rip the o-line's * and would probably be giving the coaching staff an earful too. Kid has no chance to put his team in a better position because of the inexcusable bad play of others.

The only option I see is to throw the ball so hard as to hope to stick it right in the receivers facemask! Lol. While DHB has been mr,brickchest. The others have been pretty inconsistent also. As far as the line, I would love to water board a few of them.

[Balzer40]

The only option I see is to throw the ball so hard as to hope to stick it right in the receivers facemask! Lol. While DHB has been mr,brickchest. The others have been pretty inconsistent also. As far as the line, I would love to water board a few of them.

 

 

 

Weird thing is, I was thinking this exact same thought earlier. There was a movie, I believe it was called "little Giants" where a kid couldn't catch the ball. At one point in the movie the QB threw it to him and it stuck in his facemask and he ran for a TD. May be DHB's only chance to stick in the NFL if he can somehow line the throw up with his face every time and hope it sticks.

[Jim H.]

Woohoo!  Jim Caldwell for Colts OC.  Can i get an Amen?   J/K 

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

Chuck is stunned as a HC...he just does the same thing over and over....play the longest tenured vet and make a change only when there is an injury....and when the injury is over go back to the vet whether meritted or not.

That not true the longest tenured vet was Donald Brown, he barley saw the field. The problem with this team IMO is Pagono an Grigson have a vision on what the want this team to be & also on the players as well, which is passed down to the OC & DC. They want to be a mash mouth run team and take periodic shots down the field, & on defense they want to be a Very physical defense that blitz's from everywhere & plays man to man on the corners. Heres a news flash we DON'T HAVE THE PERSONAL TO DO EITHER! The Ol is not a smash mouth OL especially in guard and center positions, & our corners are not great man guys, & the only pressure we get is from Mathis, Our ILB are to small and really aren't true thumpers. What you do about it is you adapt to the players you have and figure a different way. Its like taking a square peg & smashing it repeatably into a circle determined to make it work. IT DOESN'T"T I think Arrians success last year was he did adapt, PEP is unable or afraid to do soo.

[k9copinmd]

Its hard to run the ball consistantly or complete short passes when the defense is getting so much pressure and pressing up every play. The way to relieve some of that pressure is to burn them for a couple longer passes but that is impossible to do when Andrew only has 2 seconds a play before half the defense is in his face. The very few times that he does have more time either the WR can't get open, drops the ball, or Andrews throws are off because his internal clock is set at 2 seconds and he is so used to constant pressure that he expects it any moment.

[bavanlan]

I'm ready to move on from Hamilton.

[ColtsBlueFL]

....

 

​PS... I was never an Arians Fan of Offense play calling... IMO he gets his QB hit way to much... that said we are not to far off of Luck's hit's from last year and the Offense seems to be much less potent

 

That was THE knock on Arians... Luck was in harms way.  The other was that Luck didn't check down.  Well, those two items  haven't changed at all.  But the rest of the numbers are down.

 

Arians has now turned around a Cardinals team folks said had a worse O line than us and Palmer would be in a hospital by now.  Typical Arians style, Palmers numbers aren't much different than Lucks last year under Arians in most areas.  LOL

 

[GoColts8818]

You know Pep's become the latest in the long line of forum whipping boys and I don't think it's all warranted. 

 

All I have heard all year is how we need to throw the ball and turn Luck loose.  Well they tried it on Sunday and Luck was getting hit left and right because the line can't protect for him and his WRs can't get open and the offense was just stuck because they couldn't get anything going.  So what do I see after Sunday?  What were the Colts coaches doing?  They should have been running the ball!  So which is it?  Do you want them to throw it or do you want them to run it or are you just upset with the fact that what they did wasn't working?  Frankly I think it's the later.

 

From there I understand why they are trying so hard to run the ball.  First of all the line has proven they can at least run block some what.  They are better at that than they are in pass protection.  Note, saying better doesn't mean they are great at it and frankly at times they can't even run block.  Also, they have two first round picks at running back.  Look at our skill positions beyond the running backs.  At the moment we have two guys who were drafted before the fourth round at a receiver position.  One of them is DHB who has been awful and the other is Fleener who frankly has been playing really well.  They don't have the guys needed to throw the ball around the yard.  So they are trying to play to what in theory should be the strongest point of the team.

 

The truth is this team just doesn't have enough good players on offense to make any kind of offense dominate.  I like Hilton as much as the next guy but he is having a chance to prove he can be a future number one and while he's making plays here and there he's not exactly showing me he can be a number one guy in an offense.  He hasn't caught a TD since the Texans game and hasn't been over 50 yards in receiving since the Rams game.  Since teams have figured out to double team him he's struggling.  That's what makes Reggie Wayne so special he knew how to get open vs. double coverage and since he drew the double coverage it opened up the rest of the offense for everyone else.  DHB is about as worthless as Curtis Painter was at QB.  He seems more focused on doing anything but catching the ball rather about thinking about running before he catches it or complaining to the ref for a flag.  Brazil is coming on and making some plays but let's see what he does as he becomes more of a focus in the offense.  Rogers showed some nice explosion on the PI he drew but one play does not a super star make.  Teams are going to get film on him too and we'll see what he can do then.  With that said at this point play him it's not like we have a better option at WR might as well see what the kid has or doesn't have.  The Colts might get lucky and stumble on to something there. 

 

When it comes to running T-Rich at best has been a disappointment.  Brown is serviceable but he's hardly a super star.   

 

Honestly I think the guy who has been playing the best in our offense as of late is Fleener.  He has stepped big time this season and is making plays.  However, there is only so much your tightend can do for you. 

 

Then you have Luck.  He's been a second year QB who makes mistakes here and there because he's young.  Still I think he's played pretty well when you look at the lack of talent around him on offense and a line that can't protect him. 

 

The bad news is I don't think we are going to find any kind of magical answers for the problems on offense this year.  The good news is that I think most of them can be fixed with guys getting healthy next year other than maybe the o-line and hopefully Grigson will do that in free agency.  We could use another young WR but if Reggie comes back healthy they might be able to hold off on getting a WR till the 2015 draft.  Still if the right guy is on the market I would be all for them bringing him in.  I think we have some really nice supporting players, namely Hilton, but we need to find a future number one guy. 

 

Now I don't think Pep has been perfect.  He hasn't been.  I've voiced my opinion on some things I would like to see done differently in the past but I also don't think Pep is THE problem with the offense like some want him to be.  I think people either don't want to blame the players or just want a quick fix so it's easier to blame the coaches.  I also think some just voice frustrations and say things that are really not true.  Like the idea the Colts don't adjust.  If they don't adjust then someone needs to explain all the second half comebacks to me.  To me it means either the coaches adjust and do things differently or the players start playing better.  If the later then I got news for people it's not the coach that's the main issue.  If you want to see a coach that didn't know how to adjust look at Caldwell when he was the Head Coach here.  His teams were known for getting out coached in the second half.  ironically he was good at doing something that Pep seems to struggle with and that was coming up with a good game plan out of the box. 

 

All and all Pep has made his fair share of mistakes but he's far from the only and I'd even say the main problem with the offense.