What Are The Bright Spots On The Field This Season? No Negativity Please.

[Kenneth Rogers]

No negativity? LOL.... the only bright spot I am seeing at this time us going 0-16 and snagging the first round draft pick.

[Freenyfan102]

PAT anger leading tackler on the NFL MLB core right now

[unitaswestand]

1) RBs have show it wasn't that they couldn't run, it was that they were getting little help up front.

2) The new offensive line has been very good. I was really surprised at Reitz at LG but he has done well. Diem is a good OG, and Castonza is a very good LT already

3) Drake Nevis and Fili Moali are playing very well at DT, I think it gives us great promise going forward.

4) The three starting LBs are playing very good.

5) The weaknesses of the coaching staff is exposed so that hopefully something can actually be done about it instead of masked.

6) We might get a trade bonanza for the Luck pick iff we have it.

7) Peyton Manning has proved he is, without a doubt, the MVP of the league.

[Andy]

The running game

The Linebacking Play

Antoine Bethea

Pierre Garcon

Pat McAfee

Pretty much it...

[Zebra3]

I was referring to the season in total. There have been long stretches where he has looked every bit the NFL QB - something that few fans or writers considered even a remote possibility prior to this season. In that sense there has been considerable improvement.

I realize that he has regressed in the past two games - inaccurate, ineffective, mental mistakes, etc. It doesn't bother me "that" much because all QBs have ups and downs when they are just getting the chance to play, and because the offensive line - which had issues to begin with - has been torn apart by injuries. A young QB playing in a scheme where every pass has to be released virtually as soon as he catches it is a recipe for disaster. Painter is now playing as if he is about to get sacked momentarily even when he isn't. I think it's mental, and correctable.

Once again, we are looking for bright spots. I've seen Painter do some things well that Orlovsky (and even Collins) appear to be simply incapable of ever doing. The bottom line isn't working out well for a variety of reasons, but I'm figuring that if somebody can make a good throw once, they can make it 1,000 times. That's preferable to having someone who can't make the throw at all. Painter just needs to calm down and get some more experience and confidence.

Painter has also been throwing a *lot* of passes, that's down to game planning, and when that happens, you are always going to put the QB in a no win scenario unless the line and receivers are stellar.

[CR91]

luck vs mallet will be the future manning vs brady

[Zebra3]

I'm sure that a lot of the time we're running when the defense is not focusing on it, but you should give Painter some credit for frequently changing the play to get the Colts into a run. I'm no expert, but when I see him running around talking to every player (the RB stepping up to hear him) and the result is a 5+ yard running gain, I tend to assume that the original play might have been pretty ugly if they had stuck with it. Strangely though, it seems that our OL - chock full of scrubs and rookies - seems better running the ball than any Colts line in years. I'd like to attribute that to positive changes since Mudd has left, but the fact that they are pretty awful in pass blocking mutes my enthusiasm a lot. I'm hoping that the line will heal, Castonzo will improve, and Painter will calm down. He steppe backwards in the NO debacle - running for his life for three hours in a hostile environment - and hasn't been the same since. Hopefully the game will slow down for him again soon.

I have to ask why you are sticking with your avatar at this point? :smile: Unless it is actually an insult that my eyes aren't good enough to pick out.

Fortunately Painter has the team behind him, and should recover from that debacle. Personally though, I find that kind of experience really shows up the game plan and an inability to adjust (at the game plan/team level), but as you say Painter has shown he can and will adjust at the line. I just wish he was getting more support from the game planning department.

[Captain Americolt]

luck vs mallet will be the future manning vs brady

lol that would be kind of awesome. This time luck wins his first 6 straight against the pats. *just imagining*