Run the Ball - Stop the Run

[Smonroe]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

[pacolts56]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

Yep....we were beaten by a Pep Hamilton style offense that was executed to perfection tonight. The interior of their O-line was brutally effective.

 

Seattle pretty much snuffed out the high-flying Saints the same way this afternoon.

 

It's still a game of keep-away.

[gacoop1]

Andrew needs to cut down his INTs.  Need to focus more Andrew.....

[Smonroe]

Yep....we were beaten by a Pep Hamilton style offense that was executed to perfection tonight. The interior of their O-line was brutally effective.

 

Seattle pretty much snuffed out the high-flying Saints the same way this afternoon.

 

It's still a game of keep-away.

It's the right philosophy, if you have the players. We need to have a power run game, not talk about it.

Chances are you're going to be playing at least one foul weather game in the playoffs.

[aamdavis]

Hasn't this always been the issue with the Colts??? I cannot fathom how the Colts D is always bottom of the barrel! Rather than draft say Hightower we draft 2 TE's in a row. Sure offense is great, exciting, and puts fans in the stadium but nothing is more frustrating than seeing the same story unravel year after year with the Colts D getting pounded and embarrassed. Close to 90pts in 2 games? LBs and Dline needs the most work 1st and foremost. Going to be a tough mountain to climb every year having to score 45+pts to win playoff games. For the love of God can we bring in some legit talent at D! and im not talking about paying 24m for a no name Dlineman. same story same result...ints left and right and corey dillon/blunt/ridley/Kraft mac&cheese pounding the ball down the colts throats. WAKE UP !

[pacolts56]

It's the right philosophy, if you have the players. We need to have a power run game, not talk about it.

Chances are you're going to be playing at least one foul weather game in the playoffs.

Agreed...without all the injuries I believe we had the players to win a game like this, but there's not much a team can do about that....its brutal out there.

 

Once we build the kind of depth into the roster to better deal with injuries when they do happen, we should be able to move further. The team and the coaches are still growing and experience will help too.

 

But IMO....the front office and coaching staff have the right idea.

 

We just gotta be a little patient.

[Bluefire4]

We lost two productive running backs and picked up a very unproductive one. That killed our run game.

[krunk]

I think it would have been a different game if we were able to run the ball effectively.  Andrew ended up having to take too many passing attempts for a game like this. The more you have to pass against the Pats you end up paying for it.

 

I didn' t think the defense was all that bad for most of the game. They gave Luck any number of opportunities to put some points on the board.  It just didn't turn out the way we wanted it to.

[GoColts8818]

We lost two productive running backs and picked up a very unproductive one. That killed our run game.

I just didn't like the trade for T-Rich because I just don't think it was needed.  I think Grigson panicked some and clearly had no faith in Brown at all.  Honestly had Williams played a little better in the pre-season he might have very well cut Brown and gone with Williams.  Yeah we lost Ballard for the year but he's going to be back and honestly I think he's the kind of guy you just win with.  Even on bad plays he still falls forward and gets extra yards.  He didn't know Bradshaw was going to be gone when he made the trade.  With that all said if we keep Brown, add Ballard and T-Rich can improve with a full year of camp and workouts I don't think people are going to be able to say the running backs are the issue if we can't run the ball.  That's one heck of a stable of backs in the NFL. 

[krunk]

I don't know how much of a ceiling T Rich has.  It seems to be sitting on top of his head right about now.

[lennymoore24]

I'm glad you made this post, because it is so true.  You get all these sackless jacks screaming about how this is a passing league and a power running team is a thing of the past.  Then you look at Seattle...and SF...and NE...and Carolina....and SD.  Wow, what do they all have in common?  They all run well.  And the ones that stop the run best will end up winning.  In the playoffs, that is how you win.  Teams that just throw and throw are sitting home.    So critics of that should actually get off the couch and actually watch NFL football games.

[snkdy]

I'm glad you made this post, because it is so true. You get all these sackless jacks screaming about how this is a passing league and a power running team is a thing of the past. Then you look at Seattle...and SF...and NE...and Carolina....and SD. Wow, what do they all have in common? They all run well. And the ones that stop the run best will end up winning. In the playoffs, that is how you win. Teams that just throw and throw are sitting home. So critics of that should actually get off the couch and actually watch NFL football games.

Yeah, you can't deny the role running backs had in the two games today. I expect the same thing to happen tomorrow, especially in the NFC game.

[krunk]

The only time that we have ever been able to beat New England in the playoffs was a game in which we were able 

to establish the running game.  You have to be able to do that against the Pats because when they get you one 

dimentional it's very hard to overcome.  The running game is important and we didn't have one today.

[crestmount]

While everyone wants to bag T-Rich at least the Defense doesn't get near Andrew when T-Rich plays a blocking role

[Slick_Rick]

This game exploited our injuries, and showed that we have work to do. We aren't there yet. It's coming, and it will be there.

[#12]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

 

The problem is we beat our heads against the wall with that philosophy and it almost killed the season.  We only turned things around because we opened it up.  I'd rather go down swinging like they did tonight than give away possession after possession with a power running game you can't pull off.  When we tried to play in that manner we either lost by 4 TDs or only won because of Luck's miraculous comebacks.  It was not working.  If by 2014 you can build the Steel Curtain, a dominant O-line and play in that manner, more power to you. 

 

The philosophical approach tonight was fine, but the defense must play better and Luck can't turn the ball over.  

[#12]

As far as stopping the run goes, had the Patriots wanted to open it up in the passing game, I saw nothing to suggest we would have stopped that either.  I half felt they kept us in the game by running the ball. 

[TennEngr]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

Defense wins championships ... always has ... always will!

 

Colts fans have been asking for a run defense forever and we are not there yet.  I believe that we need to fix the defense before all else.  Our offense will be fine with Andrew Luck.  He needs experience to be able to win playoff games with very little receiving help.  The running game has rarely every been solid that I can recall and the Colts have been very good to great without it.

 

Last night was so disappointing.  It looked like New England could have thrown the ball more but chose to run it down our throats.  3rd year is the charm and I hate to say it but I will ... wait until next year.  GO COLTS!

[chrisfarley]

Do you think if we featured and ran TRich for the majority of the game, it would have worked? Possibly or probably not, Hard to say but we don't have an identity of anything in that game. Luck makes inexplicable throws, perhaps keeping the ball out of his hands in a rain-storm would have been a good thing. Whatever we needed to do to NOT get embarrassed in front of BB would have been acceptable.

[tenbears1971]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

This post nailed it. Interior O-Line needs retooling but at least we hopefully have one solid piece back next year that really hurt us (Thomas). Defensively - will take two or more seasons to fix all the problems we have on D.

[ricker182]

Defense wins championships ... always has ... always will!

So do high powered offenses.

[Smonroe]

Defense wins championships ... always has ... always will!

 

Colts fans have been asking for a run defense forever and we are not there yet.  I believe that we need to fix the defense before all else.  Our offense will be fine with Andrew Luck.  He needs experience to be able to win playoff games with very little receiving help.  The running game has rarely every been solid that I can recall and the Colts have been very good to great without it.

 

Last night was so disappointing.  It looked like New England could have thrown the ball more but chose to run it down our throats.  3rd year is the charm and I hate to say it but I will ... wait until next year.  GO COLTS!

I know what you mean, but I don't agree that defense wins championships anymore. Offense wins games, defense just have to survive. The way the rules are set up the defenses have little chance to be dominant.

Simply put, if you can run the ball you can do whatever you want on offense. Easily said, hard to do. But you have to have a line, which we clearly don't.

[Smonroe]

So do high powered offenses.

The Ravens won because Flacco Actually played like a pro QB, their D was average at best.

Once we get an interior line that can protect Luck and not put him into constant second and eights, we'll be great.

I think the RBs are on the roster. The C is not.

[Ken S.]

I'm glad you made this post, because it is so true.  You get all these sackless jacks screaming about how this is a passing league and a power running team is a thing of the past.  Then you look at Seattle...and SF...and NE...and Carolina....and SD.  Wow, what do they all have in common?  They all run well.  And the ones that stop the run best will end up winning.  In the playoffs, that is how you win.  Teams that just throw and throw are sitting home.    So critics of that should actually get off the couch and actually watch NFL football games.

I give credit to Pep and the organization for trying to build a power run team, we just don't have the right pieces yet. So to me, they have recognized that running the ball wins football games. We just have to get the right personnel to do it. And unfortunately, they may take a few years.

[ponyboy]

Do you think if we featured and ran TRich for the majority of the game, it would have worked? Possibly or probably not.

 

 

Sounds like a lot of 3 and outs to me.  The offense started getting better near the end of the regular season when we stopped trying to establish Trent as a runner.

[Drewbacca]

Trent tries to run like he's Warrick Dunn. He needs to learn to be a one cut back and step in and punish, fall forward and gain positive yards on every carry. 

[sfergson727]

Yep....we were beaten by a Pep Hamilton style offense that was executed to perfection tonight. The interior of their O-line was brutally effective.

 

Seattle pretty much snuffed out the high-flying Saints the same way this afternoon.

 

It's still a game of keep-away.

Josh McDaniels is no Pep Hamilton.  I don't think Pep has it in him to be a top tier O.C.

[coltsfanatic24]

Wayne and Allen wouldn't have made a difference if the Patriots had Gronk, Wilfork, Mayo, and Spikes. Every team has injuries were just not a talented team. We need Werner to become a 10+ sack guy, Arthur Jones, a play making S, and a run stopping ILB.

 

This game exploited our injuries, and showed that we have work to do. We aren't there yet. It's coming, and it will be there.

[Slick_Rick]

Wayne and Allen wouldn't have made a difference if the Patriots had Gronk, Wilfork, Mayo, and Spikes. Every team has injuries were just not a talented team. We need Werner to become a 10+ sack guy, Arthur Jones, a play making S, and a run stopping ILB.

I disagree. Wayne and Allen would have made a huge difference. It would have freed up T.Y., Fleener, and DB. We are a talented team, but we are depleted. It would be nice to have Werner be a 10 sack guy, but that doesn't happen over night. To go through our schedule and come out 11-5, I think we have to be somewhat talented.

[Coltsman1788]

Run the ball - Stop the Run.  Colts haven't really been able to do both consistently since I've been a fan. 

 

Far too often...there have been many years of...Can't run the ball - Can't stop the run...though. 

[OLD FAN MAN]

the front office needs to look at every lineman on both sides of the ball and see if they can improve that position, we have to have power linemen that can manhandle other teams , o-line needs to blow holes, pull and run block and form a wall around luck. d-line needs to push their o-line back into the qb and get off their blocker on runs and make the tackle for a loss, lbs need to fill the gaps ,if o-line cant get off their blocks. imo need more talent on lines

[chrisfarley]

It's too bad the season is over, and by who's cause, the New England Patriots of all people and Bill Bilichick, it's just too much to digest and have to live with. To say they are a thorn in our playoff side is an understatement.

[tfunky14]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

I was going to write the same thing but you beat me to it.. So many people on here wanted Luck to fling it away but it doesn't work in the playoffs. You need a run game and need to stop the run in the playoffs to win, it's simple as that.

 

Everybody wanted Pep to pass more well he had to, to win regular season games. 

Everybody wanted Pep gone but we need him to stay and build a running game to go with the next Manning.

Everybody wanted Richardson gone but we need him next year to move the chains.

 

That's my offseason moves, just build a better run game and be able to stop the run..

[tfunky14]

I know what you mean, but I don't agree that defense wins championships anymore. Offense wins games, defense just have to survive. The way the rules are set up the defenses have little chance to be dominant.

Simply put, if you can run the ball you can do whatever you want on offense. Easily said, hard to do. But you have to have a line, which we clearly don't.

nope you need a defense to win a championship, you have to get other team's offenses off the field on 3rd down.

[tfunky14]

So do high powered offenses.

not if they can't stop anybody

[NewColtsFan]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

 

For what it's worth, I want our first three picks....   our 2/3/5 all to go to defense.

 

I know offense is more fun...   offense is more sexy....    offense is easier to see and evaluate with your eyes....

 

But defense is very important and we need a ton of it.  

 

Watching SF and Carolina this morning and WOW,  do they both have great D's!! 

 

Big, strong, fast, physical, smart, intimidating....    everything you look for.

 

We need more of that.

 

We have to win the line of scrimmage.   Both sides of the ball.

 

That's where the game is won and lost at the highest level.

[Smonroe]

nope you need a defense to win a championship, you have to get other team's offenses off the field on 3rd down.

I'm just saying you don't need an elite D. With today's rules, there are no elite Ds.

An average defense will do it if you can control the ball with your offense.

[throwing BBZ]

That was our philosophy, but we never did it in practice. A lot of people thought it was a bad philosophy in today's NFL. Don't waste Andrew, use his talents, etc.

The Patriots just used that exact philosophy the way it was meant to be executed.

We may be able to run the ball with a decent center and Thomas back. I don't know how we can fix that D given the cap space and draft picks left.

 

 It was just a glimpse i know but i predict Khalid Holmes will be impressive next year. Pray for a healthy Allen & Ballard.

Those two are diference makers.  

 lol that Thornton with his -15 PFF  (not far behind Pagano`s boy McGlynn -23 near the WORST in the NFL) rating comes back stronger and improved.

 

 The D? Montori Hughes could be good in year 2. There are a few Good 3-4 DE`s that could be had, maybe good enough to make Cory take Ricardo Mathews spot. SOMEBODY PLEASE! That might be our ONE costly FA pickup.

 I believe Pendleton looks promising for Depth.

 

 Walden was a mistake but we are stuck with him one more year. Werner (another mistake?) has to get better and take some of Waldens PT.lol

 Our Two SS`s?, take Bethea`s -4 PFF rating and his 2013 $5,750,000 cap # and go after a good FS.

 

 Our #2 pick for a worthy draft slotted CB, or tackling ILB. our 3rd for more D.

  We know Grigs will give up a 2015 pick to move up for his guy.

  Take Your pick, but I would get a new DC, maybe Wade Phillips.

 

 And looking forward, I would 100% rather have our Team, and Andrew, lead by Whisenhunt.

 Chuck has had his 15 minutes and needs to go back to what he is best at, Coaching DB`s.

[TennEngr]

I know what you mean, but I don't agree that defense wins championships anymore. Offense wins games, defense just have to survive. The way the rules are set up the defenses have little chance to be dominant.

Simply put, if you can run the ball you can do whatever you want on offense. Easily said, hard to do. But you have to have a line, which we clearly don't.

I probably put it a little too strong ... still hurting from last night.  Defenses have to be "pretty good".  The high powered offenses will kill poor defenses.  We have to get better on defense though.

[krunk]

Do you think if we featured and ran TRich for the majority of the game, it would have worked? Possibly or probably not, Hard to say but we don't have an identity of anything in that game. Luck makes inexplicable throws, perhaps keeping the ball out of his hands in a rain-storm would have been a good thing. Whatever we needed to do to NOT get embarrassed in front of BB would have been acceptable.

 

I think in a rainy game like this one was we should have been doing more of our power running sets.  The Pats ranked somewhere in the mid 20s as a run defense. I think we should have at least tried to see if we could get something going.  Not saying we should have been as run heavy as the Pats, but I think less passing attempts were needed from Andrew. In some ways it felt like we played into their strengths.