Worst of the Worst ?

[1959Colts]

That had to be the worst game Cherilus has ever played for us. Very Disappointing.

D'Qwell Jackson was awful in coverage, but what was even worse than his coverage, was his tackling.

Jackson along with Kelvin Sheppard? Good grief!

Now three games into the preseason and we still don't know if anyone on the team is worthy to replace Bethea?

RJF is no better than any of the backup lineman.

[Loneranger]

I too wonder if that big hit that Luck took rung his bell a bit??  I hope it didn't, but he just didn't quite seem himself after that.  Or maybe I was just imagining things?

They slapped him around pretty hard and dirty there for a while. I think it got his attention. It was meant to do just that.

[IndyD4U]

There was definitely some problems last night, but I don't know how much "planning" we did. Some of the situations we put our guys in didn't make much sense. Execution was lacking for sure.

Talk to me in week 3 if we still look like this. BTW, this is what week one will look like. Don't hate... Just cold hard facts

We won't beat Denver

[Bluefire4]

I'm gonna hope that Jackson missed a few tackles from being tired after having to cover Graham and Colston. Also this was Luck's first time with all of his weapons so there will be some growing pains. Werner and Cherilus have to play better even though the Saints lines are really good.

[NewEra]

It's preseason. Try not to get to high, try not to get to low. It's a game if inches and we were a tad slow in many plays. They go the other way it's a whole new ball game. Drop balls doesn't help Luck out either. Is there a back out there who can run behind our first team line? Cause I saw Trent & brad taking hits at the line or behind.

[CardiacColts]

That had to be the worst game Cherilus has ever played for us. Very Disappointing.

D'Qwell Jackson was awful in coverage, but what was even worse than his coverage, was his tackling.

Jackson along with Kelvin Sheppard? Good grief!

Now three games into the preseason and we still don't know if anyone on the team is worthy to replace Bethea?

RJF is no better than any of the backup lineman.

Some fair points. I was thinking throughout the game how DQ really looked like he was uncomfortable without his partner in crime. It could be possible that without Freeman he was trying to do too much to cover for Sheppard's ineptitude. I'd honestly rather see Henoc Muamba in there. I'm just not a fan of Sheppard's play. With that being said, I fully expect DQ to bounce back strong.

Additionally, I don't think anyone will be "replacing" Bethea this season. I'm hoping Adams can provide adequate support for the time being. I was very disappointed in Sergio Brown as well. He looks scared of contact out there. Adams may be a step behind, but he shows a knack for getting to the ball carrier.

Finally, I would like to agree that the RJF experiment is over for me. With the development and acquisition of other players, such as Montori, Kerr, and Art Jones, I find RJF to be expendable after this season. He is overpaid for the production he provides. He has submitted some solid performances in the past, but nothing that jumps out at you as an impact player. He is typically pretty forgettable to me. Hopefully he can step up this year and help out in some capacity.

[dw49]

That had to be the worst game Cherilus has ever played for us. Very Disappointing.

D'Qwell Jackson was awful in coverage, but what was even worse than his coverage, was his tackling.

Jackson along with Kelvin Sheppard? Good grief!

Now three games into the preseason and we still don't know if anyone on the team is worthy to replace Bethea?

RJF is no better than any of the backup lineman.

 

 

Thank you , I thought maybe after 50 + years of watching football , I was maybe getting senile. 

[IndyD4U]

Some fair points. I was thinking throughout the game how DQ really looked like he was uncomfortable without his partner in crime. It could be possible that without Freeman he was trying to do too much to cover for Sheppard's ineptitude. I'd honestly rather see Henoc Muamba in there. I'm just not a fan of Sheppard's play. With that being said, I fully expect DQ to bounce back strong.

Additionally, I don't think anyone will be "replacing" Bethea this season. I'm hoping Adams can provide adequate support for the time being. I was very disappointed in Sergio Brown as well. He looks scared of contact out there. Adams may be a step behind, but he shows a knack for getting to the ball carrier.

Finally, I would like to agree that the RJF experiment is over for me. With the development and acquisition of other players, such as Montori, Kerr, and Art Jones, I find RJF to be expendable after this season. He is overpaid for the production he provides. He has submitted some solid performances in the past, but nothing that jumps out at you as an impact player. He is typically pretty forgettable to me. Hopefully he can step up this year and help out in some capacity.

Not a big Sheppard supporter, but he's played surprisingly well this year. While Henoc hasn't showed a repeat of his first performance.

[tenbears1971]

Players receiving an F grade for the night. Cherilus, DJ, and anyone involved with pass rush. As a sidebar I think whoever said they got in Lucks head after they roughed him up nailed it.

Now we flush this turd and hope it was an aberration.

[superrep1967]

No doubt a putrid performance. Lets just give the game ball to Kerr as he excelled vs their 3rd team , but hey …that's a lot better than their second team kicking butt vs our first team. So being honest , we have to say that this team really was very bad tonight. My question is who should get the game turd ?

 

My nominees are..

 

1) Cherlius . Signed a huge contract to protect the right side of Luck and was just beaten to a bloody pulp by Jordan… play after play after play.  Ridiculous performance.. tough to beat.

 

2) Werner . Had a chance to make a few plays that would have been huge and came up emply. One was a whiff on a second and 16 tackle that turned a no gain into a 36 yard scamper and led to their 2nd TD.

 

3) Luck. Just a bad game . I would give a free pass but he was no doubt not good .

 

4) D Jackson. That was just terrible. 

You to give Jackson a break he had a impossible cover on Graham no linebacker is going to cover Graham. 

[superrep1967]

No doubt a putrid performance. Lets just give the game ball to Kerr as he excelled vs their 3rd team , but hey …that's a lot better than their second team kicking butt vs our first team. So being honest , we have to say that this team really was very bad tonight. My question is who should get the game turd ?

 

My nominees are..

 

1) Cherlius . Signed a huge contract to protect the right side of Luck and was just beaten to a bloody pulp by Jordan… play after play after play.  Ridiculous performance.. tough to beat.

 

2) Werner . Had a chance to make a few plays that would have been huge and came up emply. One was a whiff on a second and 16 tackle that turned a no gain into a 36 yard scamper and led to their 2nd TD.

 

3) Luck. Just a bad game . I would give a free pass but he was no doubt not good .

 

4) D Jackson. That was just terrible. 

The only thing that concerned me was the pass rush. If we can't get to Peyton at all against them he will pick us apart. no Mathis is hugh in this game. 

[superrep1967]

It was a preseason game, you guys will be fine.

 

 

Saints defense was great last year, think you guys are forgetting that. We were ranked 3rd overall and they looked like it tonight if you count that performance.

 

 

The Colts will be fine, as long as no starters are hurt. This is just warm up, I wouldn't fret it much if I were you. Even if there is problems, you still own a very weak division and a schedule that guarantees at least 10 wins.

 

Go Colts!....No, seriously, I'm rooting for these guys too!

Yeah the only ppl who are not concerned are ppl who really aren't Colts fans. But it's easy for you to say that. We had no pass rush very concerning. 

[coltsfanatic24]

Werner didn't pay bad, he was held a couple times against the Saints. I was really disappointed in the pass rush last night and Manusky play calling. No interior pass rush at all with Chapman and Redding and Walden isn't a good pass rusher. Manning and Foles will have all day in the pocket to throw if we don't rush 5 at all times.

[chrisfarley]

No , I guess we are wrong to be critical because it's pre season. If Andrew Luck dislocates a shoulder because Cherlius get's over powered or whiffs on Jordan every pass play … It's OK .. it's preseason. 

Cherilus was awful in real-time and amazingly enough, during re-plays and slow-motion.

[tenbears1971]

The only thing that concerned me was the pass rush. If we can't get to Peyton at all against them he will pick us apart. no Mathis is hugh in this game.

I'm beginning to think Werner isn't fast enough for this level. He's had a couple plays where he's had pressure this preseason but in general he doesn't look like he can consistently get to the QB and finish him off.

[jmac_48]

If this was a "Dress Rehearsal" then it is obvious that this "show" is not ready to be taken on the road!

 

It just seemed that the team was not ready to play, much like many games last year.

There was not a lot of effort shown until players whose jobs were on the line got in the game.

 

Seems to me this team is not ready for the season, for whatever reason.

Lets hope things get corrected before the opener in Denver.

[Superman]

 

I'm not worried about Cherilus, or his contract (and I don't think that's a fair way to judge any player). Great pass rushers can beat good pass blockers. Dwight Freeneey used to destroy HOFer Jonathan Ogden.

 

 

 

 

 

1) Freeney never dominated Ogden like Jordan dominated Cherlius tonight. Freeney beat him badly every so often and got little carried away by a commentator or two. No doubt Freeney gave him fits but Ogden had some games where he held him without a sack and he very seldom had any help blocking Freeney.

 

2) I have no idea why I was unfair judging Cherlius the way I did. He was paid huge money to pass block. He's never been known for his run blocking. I thought the consensus for 2013 was he did OK. No doubt he was horrible tonight and his grades in other preseason games have been pretty low from what I've seen. I believe he graded out horribly last week ? Anyway , I don't get what's unfair about saying a player was paid big money to do something and isn't or didn't do it.

 

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/every-play-counts/2004/every-play-counts-ogden-vs-freeney

 

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/every-play-counts/2005/every-play-counts-ogden-freeney-ii

 

 

I disagree on Freeney vs. Ogden. The article you linked to makes the point at the end that blockers are supposed to win the majority of the matchups, so when the DE gets a sack, it's a huge play. And Freeney always gave Ogden fits, whether he got sacks or not. But really, the point was that even the best have a bad game now and then, especially against other really good or great players. Cherilus might deserve to be on your list for this game, so that's fine. But I'm not worried about Cherilus, or the contract he got, especially not on the basis of preseason play.

 

I don't think Jordan dominated Cherilus tonight. I think he got him once or twice, but I haven't rewatched the game yet, so I can't say for sure. 

 

As for bringing up his contract, I just don't think it's relevant. IMO, I think you judge players based on how they play, not what they're paid. In the offseason, when we're talking about signings and cuts and whatnot, then contracts matter. But during the season, I don't even think about contracts, personally. It's like every time Cherilus has a bad play, we have to say "this guy is being paid $34m for that?" It's just not a legitimate part of player evaluation, and I think it skews the way players are graded. 

[Loneranger]

Players receiving an F grade for the night. Cherilus, DJ, and anyone involved with pass rush. As a sidebar I think whoever said they got in Lucks head after they roughed him up nailed it.

Now we flush this turd and hope it was an aberration.

I think Clowey and Watt will watch replays of this game and note how being slapped up side the head got to Luck. I don't think they will care about getting penalties the first few times they hit him just like the Saints didn't care.

[Superman]

I think Clowey and Watt will watch replays of this game and note how being slapped up side the head got to Luck. I don't think they will care about getting penalties the first few times they hit him just like the Saints didn't care.

 

There's plenty of book on Luck taking hits and bouncing up with no problem. The hit didn't get to Luck. He made some of his best plays of the night on that drive after the hit, including the TD throw. He just had a bad game overall.

[dw49]

I disagree on Freeney vs. Ogden. The article you linked to makes the point at the end that blockers are supposed to win the majority of the matchups, so when the DE gets a sack, it's a huge play. And Freeney always gave Ogden fits, whether he got sacks or not. But really, the point was that even the best have a bad game now and then, especially against other really good or great players. Cherilus might deserve to be on your list for this game, so that's fine. But I'm not worried about Cherilus, or the contract he got, especially not on the basis of preseason play.

 

I don't think Jordan dominated Cherilus tonight. I think he got him once or twice, but I haven't rewatched the game yet, so I can't say for sure. 

 

As for bringing up his contract, I just don't think it's relevant. IMO, I think you judge players based on how they play, not what they're paid. In the offseason, when we're talking about signings and cuts and whatnot, then contracts matter. But during the season, I don't even think about contracts, personally. It's like every time Cherilus has a bad play, we have to say "this guy is being paid $34m for that?" It's just not a legitimate part of player evaluation, and I think it skews the way players are graded. 

 

 

I suggest you watch the 1st half again. If you thought it was a play to two , let's just say are miles apart . It appears Krunk agrees with you and while there are others who agree with my assessment. As far as your "judging criteria" , c mon… your just kidding here right ? Other words , if we get down to playing a rookie free agent at RT due to injuries , you are going to "grade "  him with the same criteria as a 5 year vet that you paid top 3-4 money to protect Andrew Luck ? Like I said , he rated very average at run blocking (when we signed him) and was signed to protect the franchise on the right side. If you paid all that money mostly for him to protect your franchise (as he's not a good run blocker) , and Luck's is flushed all night , you , IMO, have a problem here. Doesn't management  have to rate a player in relation to how much of the salary cap they are taking up ? If not , then I'll agree with your statement of "As for bringing up his contract, I just don't think it's relevant. IMO, I think you judge players based on how they play, not what they're paid. In the offseason,"

 

I don't think I've ever done the "every time a guy makes a bad play , we say we paid 34 mill for that." You can look back and if you find anything in my past posts that indicate that , Ill donate 5K to your favorite charity. 

[BOTT]

Thank you , I thought maybe after 50 + years of watching football , I was maybe getting senile.

No, he stunk

[dw49]

No, he stunk

 

 

I don't get pleasure out of saying Cherlius and D Jackson were terrible. Nor do I think it's the end of the world. I challenge anyone on this board to find 1 .. just one single post I've ever made being negative about Andrew Luck. All I said was , he had a bad game and he deserves a pass for it. What I can't understand is why some posters feel it's necessary to take a simple and what was really a tongue in cheek post (game turd .. instead of game ball is what I said ) and try to pick away at it. Anyone that thought Jackson was "just put in a bad situation now and the " and thought Cherlius was Ok is either kidding themselves , didn't watch the game or just taking offense to an observation that they didn't think was proper or "nice?" . I think it's more of the latter and it kind of befuddles me. 

[Superman]

I suggest you watch the 1st half again. If you thought it was a play to two , let's just say are miles apart . It appears Krunk agrees with you and while there are others who agree with my assessment. As far as your "judging criteria" , c mon… your just kidding here right ? Other words , if we get down to playing a rookie free agent at RT due to injuries , you are going to "grade "  him with the same criteria as a 5 year vet that you paid top 3-4 money to protect Andrew Luck ? Like I said , he rated very average at run blocking (when we signed him) and was signed to protect the franchise on the right side. If you paid all that money mostly for him to protect your franchise (as he's not a good run blocker) , and Luck's is flushed all night , you , IMO, have a problem here. Doesn't management  have to rate a player in relation to how much of the salary cap they are taking up ? If not , then I'll agree with your statement of "As for bringing up his contract, I just don't think it's relevant. IMO, I think you judge players based on how they play, not what they're paid. In the offseason,"

 

I don't think I've ever done the "every time a guy makes a bad play , we say we paid 34 mill for that." You can look back and if you find anything in my past posts that indicate that , Ill donate 5K to your favorite charity. 

 

I wasn't accusing you of doing the "every time" thing. Some do, though. And not just with GC.

 

I'm just saying that I don't think his contract is relevant. Not at this point of the season. He's the starting RT in 2014, whether he's overpaid or not. The time for rating him in relation to his pay is early in the offseason. That's why Samson Satele isn't here anymore. After the year is up, if Cherilus isn't playing up to his contract and the team thinks they can make a more cost-effective decision at RT, then fine. (It will be hard to make that kind of determination, given the dead money on his contract; he'd have to be really terrible.) If, along the way, his play is awful, then he'll get benched. 

 

As for how you grade a minimum salary player compared to a highly paid player, you grade them exactly the same. You might make roster decisions with contracts in mind, usually early in the offseason (especially for our team, as we don't have cap issues). And we're more appreciative of average play from a minimum guy than a top contract guy, for sure. But when you grade them, their contract doesn't matter. The same play gets the same grade for both players.

 

And yeah, I'm gonna watch the game again. I was paying more attention to the interior linemen than the edge play last night, so maybe I just missed GC getting dominated. It's very possible.

[ruksak]

TY was pretty bad too. 

 

Make no mistake, this team will dominate many games in 2014. Just a bit disheartening to see them go cold like that. 

[dw49]

TY was pretty bad too. 

 

Make no mistake, this team will dominate many games in 2014. Just a bit disheartening to see them go cold like that. 

 

 

TY looked like he had a hot date and was thinking about a plan of attack

[dw49]

I wasn't accusing you of doing the "every time" thing. Some do, though. And not just with GC.

 

I'm just saying that I don't think his contract is relevant. Not at this point of the season. He's the starting RT in 2014, whether he's overpaid or not. The time for rating him in relation to his pay is early in the offseason. That's why Samson Satele isn't here anymore. After the year is up, if Cherilus isn't playing up to his contract and the team thinks they can make a more cost-effective decision at RT, then fine. (It will be hard to make that kind of determination, given the dead money on his contract; he'd have to be really terrible.) If, along the way, his play is awful, then he'll get benched. 

 

As for how you grade a minimum salary player compared to a highly paid player, you grade them exactly the same. You might make roster decisions with contracts in mind, usually early in the offseason (especially for our team, as we don't have cap issues). And we're more appreciative of average play from a minimum guy than a top contract guy, for sure. But when you grade them, their contract doesn't matter. The same play gets the same grade for both players.

 

And yeah, I'm gonna watch the game again. I was paying more attention to the interior linemen than the edge play last night, so maybe I just missed GC getting dominated. It's very possible.

 

 

 

Yes , if a expensive player earns a grade of say minus 3.5 , the same play from a "cheap player " would earn that same negative grade. Hopefully I didn't appear to think differently. What I'm saying is it's a bit more of a "concern" when Indy paid Cherlius in 2013 to protect our "franchise." Also mind you , I didn't say Cherlius was lazy or anything like that . I don't imply that he wasn't trying and just banked his 15 mill guaranteed and doesn't care. When you re watch the game as you say you will , he appears to me to be very upset with himself on at least a few occasions. he's a high effort , good character guy who IMO was terrible last night. I think he was Ok in 2013 . Nothing great but not bad. So far this pre season , he's not graded out too well by those that assign these grades. I thought he was a little off his game last week and was terrible last night. I have not given up on him being a better than average RT but last night concerned me a bit. Hopefully you are right to have no concern at all as it really doesn't make me wrong anyway. What would make my post incorrect and bad would be if as you stated , he played OK. Take a look and let me know.

[Warhorse]

I'm just saying that I don't think his contract is relevant. Not at this point of the season. He's the starting RT in 2014, whether he's overpaid or not. The time for rating him in relation to his pay is early in the offseason. That's why Samson Satele isn't here anymore. After the year is up, if Cherilus isn't playing up to his contract and the team thinks they can make a more cost-effective decision at RT, then fine. (It will be hard to make that kind of determination, given the dead money on his contract; he'd have to be really terrible.) If, along the way, his play is awful, then he'll get benched. 

Umm.....but its so much more rewarding to throw in salaries when complaining about a player. That way you get to diss the player, and the front office in the same complaint! Dissing satisfaction El Primo!

[Superman]

Yes , if a expensive player earns a grade of say minus 3.5 , the same play from a "cheap player " would earn that same negative grade. Hopefully I didn't appear to think differently. What I'm saying is it's a bit more of a "concern" when Indy paid Cherlius in 2013 to protect our "franchise." Also mind you , I didn't say Cherlius was lazy or anything like that . I don't imply that he wasn't trying and just banked his 15 mill guaranteed and doesn't care. When you re watch the game as you say you will , he appears to me to be very upset with himself on at least a few occasions. he's a high effort , good character guy who IMO was terrible last night. I think he was Ok in 2013 . Nothing great but not bad. So far this pre season , he's not graded out too well by those that assign these grades. I thought he was a little off his game last week and was terrible last night. I have not given up on him being a better than average RT but last night concerned me a bit. Hopefully you are right to have no concern at all as it really doesn't make me wrong anyway. What would make my post incorrect and bad would be if as you stated , he played OK. Take a look and let me know.

 

Fair points. I'll rewatch, then stick to the topic.

[dw49]

Umm.....but its so much more rewarding to throw in salaries when complaining about a player. That way you get to diss the player, and the front office in the same complaint! Dissing satisfaction El Primo!

 

 

Your post is unnecessary and unfair to the observation I made . I do not have a history of complaining about players and or management. This was a very bad performance and I thought Cherlius put Luck in serious peril last night. Furthermore when management signs as many free agents as we did the past two off seasons , you will have bad signings. Not saying Cherlius is one of these, but it's the nature of the beast. The top level free agents are for the most part over paid and that's why Polian chose to just resign as many of his own as he could afford. Fact is you have to overpay your own guys too , so hard to win either way. Point is unlike your crude little statement insinuates , I'm not a complainer and I wasn't dissing Grigson as you accuse me of. If you want to say it doesn't matter as this is preseason , or I'm wrong and he played well , that's cool … have at it. 

[dw49]

Fair points. I'll rewatch, then stick to the topic.

 

 

BTW.. I started watching the game as you did. I was looking at the interior OL play and mostly concentrating on Mewhort. Then I shifted to Cherlius and as you say , it's hard to watch both. I thought Mewhort was doing fine in the early going . What was your assessment of his play ?

[Coltsman1788]

Where do the fans jumping off the bandwagon after a pre-season game rank? Btw that's more based on the board as a whole tonight than this thread to this point.

Those who constantly complain about some fans' negative post game posts and so called "sky is falling" type comments are becoming just as annoying as the fans who are over reacting to a bad preseason game in my opinion.

Just because everyone isn't in "don't worry be happy mode" doesn't mean that they are ready to kick their team to the curve.

[1959Colts]

Those who constantly complain about some fans' negative post game posts and so called "sky is falling" type comments are becoming just as annoying as the fans who are over reacting to a bad preseason game in my opinion.

Just because everyone isn't in "don't worry be happy mode" doesn't mean that they are ready to kick their team to the curve.

 

I agree.

I will be a fan of the Colts no matter what.

But I get very disappointed when we just plain stink. Preseason, Regular Season or Post Season (last years playoff game at NE)

[Dark Superman]

For those of you being hard on D. Jackson.. I also a lot of plays where he seems to be catching my eye. I like his leadership, aggressiveness, and his ability to get to the QB on certain blitzes. Plus, he gets in on his fair share of run plays.

[dw49]

Its preseason relax

 

 

I emailed Jeff Fisher this just in case he was not happy with the pass protection on the play that he lost his starting QB for the year.

[Superman]

BTW.. I started watching the game as you did. I was looking at the interior OL play and mostly concentrating on Mewhort. Then I shifted to Cherlius and as you say , it's hard to watch both. I thought Mewhort was doing fine in the early going . What was your assessment of his play ?

 

I thought Mewhort looked decent. I didn't notice any blown assignments, he stopped his man cold several times, and I don't think he gave up any pressure. He also looked better on the move than he did against the Jets, showing better feet when pulling and doing a better job making the block once he got around. Some of our runs to the left were wonky, and he didn't get great drive on those, but they had moving schemes. He had a good game, IMO.

 

Back to Cherilus, he didn't have a good game. He had six bad snaps in 35 plays, which isn't good. Early on, I thought he was fine. He got overpowered on a bull rush by Jordan, but they both went to the ground as Luck threw the ball, so no harm, no foul. Not a good rep, but nothing to get excited about. He got beat around the outside a couple more times in the next two series, but pushed his man back and out of the play, allowing the QB to step up, kind of salvaging the rep. (You mentioned the late hit on Luck earlier, but that wasn't poor blocking. Cherilus stopped his man, Luck wiggled out of a sack from the other side, and then Cherilus' man grabbed onto Luck and threw him down. I'd give Cherilus a positive grade on that play. Just FYI, not sure if you were suggesting that it was poor blocking.)

 

Then came the two-minute drive at the end of the half. Actually started with three minutes left. There was a series of three snaps where Cherilus first gave up a sack to Jordan on an outside speed rush, then a pressure where Luck bailed out quickly and ran (and there was a defensive holding penalty for a first down), then another pressure on a hard count where half the frontline players on both sides got a jerky start and offsides was called. Then GC kind of shook it off, had a few nice snaps, and the drive ended with a field goal after some weird play calling at the goal line. But that stretch, he looked completely out of his depth.

 

After that, I thought GC was fine. He's not deserving of any praise, that's for sure, and it looked like Jordan just had a little too much heat for him. I don't remember seeing Cherilus struggle that much with a pass rusher at any point last season. If he gets a series against the Bengals, I'll have my eye on him, but they don't have anyone like Jordan. 

 

Overall, I agree with you including him on your list of poor performances last night. I don't think it was as bad as you thought, but it wasn't good, all considered. GC gave up two games worth of QB pressures in one half of a preseason game. He has to play better, but based on his play last season, I think he will.

[dw49]

I thought Mewhort looked decent. I didn't notice any blown assignments, he stopped his man cold several times, and I don't think he gave up any pressure. He also looked better on the move than he did against the Jets, showing better feet when pulling and doing a better job making the block once he got around. Some of our runs to the left were wonky, and he didn't get great drive on those, but they had moving schemes. He had a good game, IMO.

 

Back to Cherilus, he didn't have a good game. He had six bad snaps in 35 plays, which isn't good. Early on, I thought he was fine. He got overpowered on a bull rush by Jordan, but they both went to the ground as Luck threw the ball, so no harm, no foul. Not a good rep, but nothing to get excited about. He got beat around the outside a couple more times in the next two series, but pushed his man back and out of the play, allowing the QB to step up, kind of salvaging the rep. (You mentioned the late hit on Luck earlier, but that wasn't poor blocking. Cherilus stopped his man, Luck wiggled out of a sack from the other side, and then Cherilus' man grabbed onto Luck and threw him down. I'd give Cherilus a positive grade on that play. Just FYI, not sure if you were suggesting that it was poor blocking.)

 

Then came the two-minute drive at the end of the half. Actually started with three minutes left. There was a series of three snaps where Cherilus first gave up a sack to Jordan on an outside speed rush, then a pressure where Luck bailed out quickly and ran (and there was a defensive holding penalty for a first down), then another pressure on a hard count where half the frontline players on both sides got a jerky start and offsides was called. Then GC kind of shook it off, had a few nice snaps, and the drive ended with a field goal after some weird play calling at the goal line. But that stretch, he looked completely out of his depth.

 

After that, I thought GC was fine. He's not deserving of any praise, that's for sure, and it looked like Jordan just had a little too much heat for him. I don't remember seeing Cherilus struggle that much with a pass rusher at any point last season. If he gets a series against the Bengals, I'll have my eye on him, but they don't have anyone like Jordan. 

 

Overall, I agree with you including him on your list of poor performances last night. I don't think it was as bad as you thought, but it wasn't good, all considered. GC gave up two games worth of QB pressures in one half of a preseason game. He has to play better, but based on his play last season, I think he will.

 

 

As I said I was watching Mewhort at the beginning of the game and thus I didn't have any praise for Cherlius in the opening plays where you say he played well. Glad to hear that. I think if you combine what we both think we saw , it's safe to say that Cherlius had a stretch in that game where he was pretty bad. I also agree that he was what I expected last year , a pretty good RT , good in pass protection . Not a great player but good effort and stayed on the field for every game. Never did he appear to be as bad as he looked for that stretch last night. I also expect him to be OK at RT for the regular season. 

 

Anyway , maybe it was a bad thread and taken the wrong way by some. I just thought it was a really bad performance and was actually trying to make light of it. IMO we had Kerr who played well vs the 2nd string and the rest played from OK to downright bad. So I thought we could award a game turd to the worst guy as Kerr won the game ball going away. I even said we should give A Luck a pass and take him out of the running. 

 

I would also like to add why I was more critical of Cherlius than I was of the other players. What I said was we payed a whole lot of money for Cherlius to protect Luck. I know he is a high effort guy that wants to earn his pay , but man .. you just can't let Jordan get so close to Luck on that many plays. What some , including someone who called me a fool , don't realize is that for Cherlius and the rest of the starting O Line , protecting Luck is the pre season is important. How about someone tweeting Sam Bradford or Trent Green and asking which train of thought is "foolish" mine or the ones that say "it's exhibition." 

[Superman]

As I said I was watching Mewhort at the beginning of the game and thus I didn't have any praise for Cherlius in the opening plays where you say he played well. Glad to hear that. I think if you combine what we both think we saw , it's safe to say that Cherlius had a stretch in that game where he was pretty bad. I also agree that he was what I expected last year , a pretty good RT , good in pass protection . Not a great player but good effort and stayed on the field for every game. Never did he appear to be as bad as he looked for that stretch last night. I also expect him to be OK at RT for the regular season. 

 

Anyway , maybe it was a bad thread and taken the wrong way by some. I just thought it was a really bad performance and was actually trying to make light of it. IMO we had Kerr who played well vs the 2nd string and the rest played from OK to downright bad. So I thought we could award a game turd to the worst guy as Kerr won the game ball going away. I even said we should give A Luck a pass and take him out of the running. 

 

I would also like to add why I was more critical of Cherlius than I was of the other players. What I said was we payed a whole lot of money for Cherlius to protect Luck. I know he is a high effort guy that wants to earn his pay , but man .. you just can't let Jordan get so close to Luck on that many plays. What some , including someone who called me a fool , don't realize is that for Cherlius and the rest of the starting O Line , protecting Luck is the pre season is important. How about someone tweeting Sam Bradford or Trent Green and asking which train of thought is "foolish" mine or the ones that say "it's exhibition." 

 

To your last paragraph, I understand what you're saying. It's a good point. We expect Cherilus to be dependable on the right side, and that expectation is partly based on the contract he got. He should play better than he played yesterday. No question about it. Too many pressures, for sure.

 

But your QB is going to get hit. Doesn't matter how good your offensive line is, how much they're paid, what round you draft them in... Even in the preseason, the QB is going to get hit. I feel for Bradford, especially since his LT did a poor job on that particular play. Same with Trent Green, whose career changed drastically after he got hurt. And there are many other examples. But the only way to completely protect your QB in the preseason is to keep him on the bench.

 

That doesn't mean your pass protection isn't important or doesn't matter because it's preseason. It matters very much. Still, Luck didn't get hurt, despite Cherilus' poor play, so worrying about what might have been isn't really the point. The point is we want Cherilus to play better. Bringing up worst case scenarios can seem sensational, even though it's a valid concern.

[GoColts8818]

Those who constantly complain about some fans' negative post game posts and so called "sky is falling" type comments are becoming just as annoying as the fans who are over reacting to a bad preseason game in my opinion.

Just because everyone isn't in "don't worry be happy mode" doesn't mean that they are ready to kick their team to the curve.

and as I have said many times I have no issues with legit concerns.  My issue is with the people way over react to concerns.  I've explained this once in this thread already so I'll leave it here.

[dw49]

To your last paragraph, I understand what you're saying. It's a good point. We expect Cherilus to be dependable on the right side, and that expectation is partly based on the contract he got. He should play better than he played yesterday. No question about it. Too many pressures, for sure.

 

But your QB is going to get hit. Doesn't matter how good your offensive line is, how much they're paid, what round you draft them in... Even in the preseason, the QB is going to get hit. I feel for Bradford, especially since his LT did a poor job on that particular play. Same with Trent Green, whose career changed drastically after he got hurt. And there are many other examples. But the only way to completely protect your QB in the preseason is to keep him on the bench.

 

That doesn't mean your pass protection isn't important or doesn't matter because it's preseason. It matters very much. Still, Luck didn't get hurt, despite Cherilus' poor play, so worrying about what might have been isn't really the point. The point is we want Cherilus to play better. Bringing up worst case scenarios can seem sensational, even though it's a valid concern.

 

To your last paragraph, I understand what you're saying. It's a good point. We expect Cherilus to be dependable on the right side, and that expectation is partly based on the contract he got. He should play better than he played yesterday. No question about it. Too many pressures, for sure.

 

But your QB is going to get hit. Doesn't matter how good your offensive line is, how much they're paid, what round you draft them in... Even in the preseason, the QB is going to get hit. I feel for Bradford, especially since his LT did a poor job on that particular play. Same with Trent Green, whose career changed drastically after he got hurt. And there are many other examples. But the only way to completely protect your QB in the preseason is to keep him on the bench.

 

That doesn't mean your pass protection isn't important or doesn't matter because it's preseason. It matters very much. Still, Luck didn't get hurt, despite Cherilus' poor play, so worrying about what might have been isn't really the point. The point is we want Cherilus to play better. Bringing up worst case scenarios can seem sensational, even though it's a valid concern.

 

 

I don't have any issue whats so ever with any of that. You are correct saying your QB is going to get hit and I think a big part of him staying healthy is pocket awareness and all the other things a QB can do to stay out of harms way. I think if they do an autopsy on Manning when he passes away , they will find a 3rd eye in the back of his head.  As far as the "worrying ", that is more of a response to the brilliant guy that called me a "fool "for thinking Cherlius needs to protect Luck in exhibition games. 

[lollygagger8]

They slapped him around pretty hard and dirty there for a while. I think it got his attention. It was meant to do just that.

 

You mean Hicks body slammed Luck onto his shoulder. 

 

That was ridiculous.