Blame It On The Injuries

[grmasterb]

So says Bill Polian. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7155435/bill-polian-says-injuries-not-jim-caldwell-reason-indianapolis-colts-0-7

Given these comments from Bill, I'm really beginning to believe that his job may not be safe.

[Thewholefnshow28]

[IndyTrav]

We didn't lose lineman till after the Bucs game. Bullet hasn't played in 2 years, and Brackett gave way to Angerer which I feel was actually a good thing.

The injury excuse us just that, an excuse.

[dn4192]

Injuires are part of the game and part of the reason we are not playing well. To say they are not playing a role is short sighted, but also there is issues of players not performing up to expected level, some poor coaching and drafting choices. All have gone into what we are seeing now.

[chad72]

Peyton is the main and only valid reason, to be honest. Packers did not lose Aaron Rodgers, the main reason they were able to compete at a high level.

Brackett's leadership, more than on field prowess is missed, I will grant that but someone needs to step up in the locker room and assume leadership, whether it is Freeney or Mathis defensively, IMO. Bullitt has missed a lot of games and he was taking real bad angles last year before he went on IR but it did not matter since we were putting points on the board and were able to overcome the points our D gave up.

Heck, the Packers lost their MLB in 2010, Nick Barnett (who was released and plays for the Bills now), he was their anchor in the middle but the Packers found a way to overcome that. They lost their best pass coverage LB in Brandon Chillar too and their safety Morgan Burnett too last year, much like we lost Bullitt. Polian citing defensive injuries are clearly an excuse to cover up the fact that the talent drafted behind the key guys is not good enough to overcome the injuries. The Packers talent comprised of quality depth, our depth is just in quantity unfortunately.

Edited October 27, 2011 by chad72

[chad72]

but also there is issues of players not performing up to expected level, some poor coaching and drafting choices.

True dat, I agree totally with this aspect. Quality depth has not been drafted.

Polian should be taking some blame there. Since the draft choices are his fault, he wants to divert the true issues with injury excuses on fronts other than QB. Peyton does not play D and the defensive lapses can only be explained with bad defensive coaching and bad draft choices made for depth.

Edited October 27, 2011 by chad72

[GoDeep]

I think he's done a terrific job of, given where we are from a standpoint of personnel.

I tend to disagree.

[indy1888]

Had more injuries last year and went 10-6. Only difference was the QB. But then again, thats the problem here, this team is garbage without Manning and that falls on the Polians. If he thinks the coach has done a "terrific" job, and the players gave 110 percent on Sunday night, then that has to mean the players just aren't very good.

[John Waylon]

Perfectly apt response. I mean for years we were supposed to be the very embodiment of "Next Man Up".

The Packers won the SB with half their team on IR. Injuries aren't a reason for excuse, except in the case of Manning.

[presto123]

Now it has come down to blaming injuries? The blame always goes everywhere except where it should go. The guy that makes all the decisions.

Edited October 27, 2011 by presto123

[Thewholefnshow28]

Perfectly apt response. I mean for years we were supposed to be the very embodiment of "Next Man Up".

The Packers won the SB with half their team on IR. Injuries aren't a reason for excuse, except in the case of Manning.

When everyone mentions injuries we all know they refer to Manning. If he is that valuable then that pretty much means guys like Clark and Collie are just products of Manning and over paid for Dallas.

He might as well just scream hey I have not done my job over the years to build a real team around Manning and we are a one trick pony.

[John Waylon]

When everyone mentions injuries we all know they refer to Manning. If he is that valuable then that pretty much means guys like Clark and Collie are just products of Manning and over paid for Dallas.

He might as well just scream hey I have not done my job over the years to build a real team around Manning and we are a one trick pony.

I don't so much think guys like Dallas and Collie are products of Manning. They are good players who could excel elsewhere, but in this system, Manning uses them like tools against what the defense is doing. He sees the coverage and tells those guys what routes to run to beat that coverage. They are his "beaters" because if Manning guesses the coverage right, those guys are going to be open, or in position to make a catch. Now with Manning not here to do that, and our offense as a whole bringing a new meaning to "Suck" everyone's production is down. Collie and Clark are just a side effect of that. I think you could put those guys in another offense and they would be highly valuable.

But that's in a working system. Without Manning our system is broke beyond repair.

[BIGugly]

Had more injuries last year and went 10-6. Only difference was the QB. But then again, thats the problem here, this team is garbage without Manning and that falls on the Polians. If he thinks the coach has done a "terrific" job, and the players gave 110 percent on Sunday night, then that has to mean the players just aren't very good.

If our injured players are not very good, then we must not have lost much.

Green Bay won a Super Bowl with more injuries than we had.

[ReMeDy]

That reminds me of...

[Thewholefnshow28]

I don't so much think guys like Dallas and Collie are products of Manning. They are good players who could excel elsewhere, but in this system, Manning uses them like tools against what the defense is doing. He sees the coverage and tells those guys what routes to run to beat that coverage. They are his "beaters" because if Manning guesses the coverage right, those guys are going to be open, or in position to make a catch. Now with Manning not here to do that, and our offense as a whole bringing a new meaning to "Suck" everyone's production is down. Collie and Clark are just a side effect of that. I think you could put those guys in another offense and they would be highly valuable.

But that's in a working system. Without Manning our system is broke beyond repair.

Yeah I really do not feel they are products of Manning. Well I feel more strongly about Clark then I do Collie, but like you said guys like Garcon, Collie, and Clark are good players, but under the guidance of Manning they are catapulted to greatness because he is able to diagnose the defense and put them in the perfect spot.

I am willing to buy Polian's injury comment about the offense. With how dependent we are on Manning it is a wonder we can even move the ball.

Now on the defensive side of the ball there is no excuse. We have lost one key player and we should be able to overcome that if we have real depth. The Packers lost Burnett last year and that defense just kept trucking. Then again our defense has always been lackluster except for one run in the playoffs. This year I think Bill just did not do a good job building depth and addressing glaring issues like or corner backs.

[BIGugly]

Perfectly apt response. I mean for years we were supposed to be the very embodiment of "Next Man Up".

The Packers won the SB with half their team on IR. Injuries aren't a reason for excuse, except in the case of Manning.

Exactly....

[John Waylon]

Yeah I really do not feel they are products of Manning. Well I feel more strongly about Clark then I do Collie, but like you said guys like Garcon, Collie, and Clark are good players, but under the guidance of Manning they are catapulted to greatness because he is able to diagnose the defense and put them in the perfect spot.

I am willing to buy Polian's injury comment about the offense. With how dependent we are on Manning it is a wonder we can even move the ball.

Now on the defensive side of the ball there is no excuse. We have lost one key player and we should be able to overcome that if we have real depth. The Packers lost Burnett last year and that defense just kept trucking. Then again our defense has always been lackluster except for one run in the playoffs. This year I think Bill just did not do a good job building depth and addressing glaring issues like or corner backs.

Yep. Offense I'm willing to be a little more forgiving, especially in the case of Manning (But even still, it shouldn't be THIS bad) but on defense it's pretty well inexcusable.

[BIGugly]

Yep. Offense I'm willing to be a little more forgiving, especially in the case of Manning (But even still, it shouldn't be THIS bad) but on defense it's pretty well inexcusable.

darn, JW, You're 2 for 2....you drunk????

[dn4192]

Yep. Offense I'm willing to be a little more forgiving, especially in the case of Manning (But even still, it shouldn't be THIS bad) but on defense it's pretty well inexcusable.

Just wondering, given the lack of experience adn injuries the offensive line has gone through so far, a basicall inexperienced somewhat rookie QB why do you believe it should not be this bad? Heck the St. Louis Rams are pretty healthy have a decent young QB and their offense is horrible. The Vikings have/had a vet QB one of the best RB in the game and some quality WR and such and their offense was/is pretty bad.

[The Peytonator]

I thought in years past Polian always talked about how we don't use injuries as an excuse. It was always 'next man up'.

Our injuries aren't even that bad other than Peyton. Big deal we lost Bullitt who has become the new Bob Sanders just with far less talent. Brackett's down but he's getting older and has lost a couple steps anyway. All our CBs are healthy...imagine that. They just suck. We also lost Nevis but he's a friggin rookie. Can't use that as an excuse. Castonzo is out and that hurts but it's not like the line is playing bad anyway.

I get madder and madder every time Polian talks.