Mid Season Recap. The Bad. The Really Bad. And The Ugly

[Jaric]

Well Colt fans, we've made it to the halfway point of this...how do I describe it... Abomination of a season? Lets take this moment to reflect on what we've seen so far.

The Bad:

Why no good you ask? Because when you're 0-8, there is no good. Only things that are less bad that others. So far the running game has managed to elevate itself to the level of just bad. Delone Carter has been one of the few guys that doesn't appear to have quit on the season. While Donald Brown continues to disappoint and has not come anywhere close to justifying his first round selection, he has shown flashes of why we drafted him. It's pretty obvious the coaching staff doesn't trust him, he has the dubious distinction of actually seeming to make Caldwell visibly upset.

The only other thing that can be rated as only being bad would be the 2010 draft class. Costanza and Ijalana showed they might be able to play in this league, and Drake Nevis appeared to be on his way to banishing the curse of the third round defensive player when all 3 got hurt. I'm assuming they got caught up the clouds of crap that have been following Anthony Gonzalez around the past few years raining on him constantly.

The offensive line has also been less offensive than it was last year. Hooray for progress, no matter how small.

The Really Bad:

Special teams. The blocked punt yesterday was the cherry on top of that sucksundae. Why do we even bother running the ball out? Do they have a meeting before the kick and decide that Curtis Painter would rather start from the 13 instead of the 20 this time? Because that's the best way to help out a struggling young QB? Do you think Ray Rychleski has already cleaned out his desk? Or is he waiting the day after the season ends for Irsay to make it official?

The offense. My how the mighty have fallen. Once the scourge of defensive coordinators throughout the league, a shell of their former selves. Comically inept at time, showing signs of promise on occasion but ultimately just not getting the job done. They have by and large failed to meet even the lowered standards forced upon them by the loss of Manning. We can't sustain drives and disappear in the second half.

The just plan Ugly:

Everyone of our former pro bowl players with the exception of Jeff Saturday and guys we talked about as future Hall of Famers has disappeared of the face of the Earth. Reggie Wayne is the most troubling for me personally as I considered him one of the locker room leaders that guys look to for leadership. But no, nothing. Into the Bermuda triangle of fail they've disappeared. Who is this imposter wearing the 44 Jersey I see missing blocks and dropping passes?

Do we really have no leadership on this team? Surely it can't have only been Peyton Manning. I keep hearing interviews with guys talking the talk, but I don't see very many walking the walk on Sunday.

And finally, the coaching staff. It's very obvious the team has quit. When that happens, the Coaching staff gets the axe. That's just how things go.

So what do we do about it?

You aren't going to like the answer.

We have to be patient. Nothing is going to happen this year. They might fire some people, but there is very little you can do in the middle of the season. We just have to ride this year out, and hope that when Irsay cleans house (and he will) the people he brings in to clean up this mess do a good job of changing the culture of the organization right now.

So the best we can do is to sit back and accept that this season is over. I really hope the win a game at some point under Curtis Painter. We have once again put him into an impossible situation. I know he's been mediocre at best this year. But they don't even let him play. What should we expect? He probably won't last too much longer in this league, and I'd like to see him get at least one win.

Anyway, we got 8 more games to go. Lets hope at least one of them is a win.

[deedub75]

I'm glad you stated that the run game has elevated to bad. For some strange reason, some people think the running game is much improved.

[Jaric]

It's "better." But "better" is a very relative term. The offensive line is also "better." But we're still at thinnest kid at fat camp territory here. I do have high hopes that if Ijalana and Costanzo can stay healthy they might help out both those things.

Won't know with Ijalana until at least next year though.

[oldunclemark]

I think the leadership on this team is obvious...

Do you hear anyone bad mouthing anyone else in uniform.?

Me neither.

We know why we're 0-8.....we talk around it and over it..

but we cant change it. It isnt coaching. It isnt leadership. IT isnt expectations...

The running game HAS improved.....

The defense had 2 bad games out of 8.

the bad special teams are no worse than they were last year......

..and we're still 0-8

We average 15 points a game

...and we know why.

[deedub75]

I think the leadership on this team is obvious...

Do you hear anyone bad mouthing anyone else in uniform.?

Me neither.

We know why we're 0-8.....we talk around it and over it..

but we cant change it. It isnt coaching. It isnt leadership. IT isnt expectations...

The running game HAS improved.....

The defense had 2 bad games out of 8.

the bad special teams are no worse than they were last year......

..and we're still 0-8

We average 15 points a game

...and we know why.

It al depends on what you consider to be bad defense. Defense got blown out in 2 games so are you considering those as the only 2 bad games? They also haven't been able to stop anyone for the most part.

[dn4192]

It al depends on what you consider to be bad defense. Defense got blown out in 2 games so are you considering those as the only 2 bad games? They also haven't been able to stop anyone for the most part.

Okay people here say the only stat that matters when it comes to D is points allowed. So what is an acceptable PAPG? I would go with between 17-20 per game allowed to be an amount that I would be happy with given our Defensive scheme, talent and coaching we have. Is that to high?

[Dustin]

Okay people here say the only stat that matters when it comes to D is points allowed

I agree, but you have to throw in 3rd down conversion as well. Which at this point, we allow a 49% conversion rate.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

I'm glad you stated that the run game has elevated to bad. For some strange reason, some people think the running game is much improved.

I dont know the stats. But it seems we get more 3rd and 1s - 2s, than we did last year and previous years... Or maybe the rest of our game sucks so bad that our running game seems a lot better.

[SubZero]

IMO the biggest problem is our screen passes, they were so predictable last weekend. If we just kept pounding Carter then i could have seen alot more help

[coltfaninnewyork]

I do not need to see stats to know our defense is bad,it's the ole eyeball test for me.

[ColtsBlueFL]

Still looking for that silver lining...

[Fatboyslim11]

It al depends on what you consider to be bad defense. Defense got blown out in 2 games so are you considering those as the only 2 bad games? They also haven't been able to stop anyone for the most part.

No matter how you cut it this is a historically bad defense. We allow opposing QBs to complete 73% of their passes, they average a 125 QB rating and we have given up around 16 TD passes and have only 3 interceptions. Our run defense is average but that is more a reflection of the other teams passing us silly. We allow other teams to complete over 50% of their 3rd downs which is the worst in the league.

[The Fish]

I think the leadership on this team is obvious...

Do you hear anyone bad mouthing anyone else in uniform.?

Me neither.

We know why we're 0-8.....we talk around it and over it..

but we cant change it. It isnt coaching. It isnt leadership. IT isnt expectations...

The running game HAS improved.....

The defense had 2 bad games out of 8.

the bad special teams are no worse than they were last year......

..and we're still 0-8

We average 15 points a game

...and we know why.

So really these things are the reason we sputter out in the playoffs so often. IF approached with making the team overall better for next season we do have a shot at some rings in the future with Peyton at the helm. It's frustrating to watch all of the losing, and it tends to breed the need to over think everything, but it is really as simple as Peyton being out. The simple answer's are the one's least likely to be understood.

[oldunclemark]

So really these things are the reason we sputter out in the playoffs so often. IF approached with making the team overall better for next season we do have a shot at some rings in the future with Peyton at the helm. It's frustrating to watch all of the losing, and it tends to breed the need to over think everything, but it is really as simple as Peyton being out. The simple answer's are the one's least likely to be understood.

Bless you, Fish.

[Curveball]

I can find at least two ‘goods’:

l. The development of Curtis Painter. He has moved the needle from zero confidence to something more; at least as a serviceable NFL back-up.

2. The flaws have been exposed for all to see, which will bring maximum attention. Defense is a three legged stool; DL, LB and DB. I believe the DL and LB’s to be competent, but because the defensive secondary has been so bad, with the exception of Bethea, that the other two facets are collapsing under the added weight. I would expect the defensive secondary & OL (depth) to be addressed heavily in the draft & UDFA’s.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Curveball

[FanFromtheWasteland]

So really these things are the reason we sputter out in the playoffs so often. IF approached with making the team overall better for next season we do have a shot at some rings in the future with Peyton at the helm. It's frustrating to watch all of the losing, and it tends to breed the need to over think everything, but it is really as simple as Peyton being out. The simple answer's are the one's least likely to be understood.

But it really is not that simple. Are you saying that when Peyton comes back that that will fix everything? I don’t think so. It is only treating the symptom and not finding a cure. It is like putting a bandaid on a severed arm.

There have been a lot of people here over the last several years complaining about the lack of effectiveness of the defense, the special teams, the run blocking, and the running game in general. These are the more glaring problems imo. These problems go a long way to answering the question as to why we have so many one and dones in the playoffs (eight I think).

Whether it be personnel, scheme, FO, or coaching, the actual problem needs to be admitted to and fixed. To think and expect a QB to come in and make everything better is not being very realistic. And also to expect to draft Luck and throw him into this situation and expect him to be our savior is not being very realistic either.

[kayakaster]

seeing your season ticket waiting list of 10,000 reduced to nothing; if Irsay is not careful i see this situation escalating to that of the pacers; good luck i hope we can right this ship

[Coltssouth]

seeing your season ticket waiting list of 10,000 reduced to nothing; if Irsay is not careful i see this situation escalating to that of the pacers; good luck i hope we can right this ship

Hey! Where did you see that? I would love to have season tickets, but didn't want to get on a three year waiting list to get them.

Edit

My bad. Misread your post within the content of the thread.

Sorry