To Those Who Say the Defense Redeemed Itself in the 2nd Half...

[BlueShoe]

Unnecessary credit? Why shouldn't they get credit for the plays they made? The coverage was tighter, the tackling was better (for the most part). 

 

You're 100% correct. 

 

The article is severely flawed. We started to get pressure on Peyton in the second half, and that forced him to get rid of the ball quicker. In contrast, Peyton had a comfortable pocket in the first half. 

 

The defense played great in the second half. 

[Mameluc]

im not happy with the defense because this is at least the second year (maybe third) that the team blows for a half and then starts stopping offenses in the second....

 

 

how long or when are they gonna correct this?

[1yrdandacloudofdust]

Good article minus the fleener part. The guy still has a foot on the ground. He wasn't fully extended imo. He doesn't use his size well and has poor timing. Tjrow wasnt perfect, but he could've jumped for it

[IndyTrav]

I thought they played better in the 2nd half. But I also dont think thats saying much because they played so poorly in the 1st half.

 

But I've seen that game what feels like a million times. A Peyton led offense jumps out to a massive lead, only to take the foot off the gas, and make the game closer than it actually was/could have been.

 

 

Its a tale of 2 teams tho. We Colts fans are saying we could have/should have won because of missed ints, bad bounces, and some questionable play calling....Where as the fans in Denver are probably saying we could have/should have blown them out had it not been for our timid play calling, drops, and Manning missing his deep balls..... 

[Superman]

Because there's 4 quarters of football not 2. The defense doesn't get that much credit for doing what they should've been doing in the first place. By the time they decided to get a stop, it was too late because the offense had to work from behind. We couldn't even run the ball because we needed to pass to catch up and conserve clock.

 

The bad out-weighs the good in this case. And only 1 out of the 5/6 stops were legitimate. The others were the Broncos stopping themselves.

 

That is a ridiculous angle.

 

The argument is that the defense played better in the second half. And they did. Not that the defense is great, and there's nothing wrong, and everything is perfect.... It's very simple, the defense got five stops on six possessions in the second half, and that is a difference-making improvement over the first half. And reason for encouragement.

[wesd2890]

The defense didnt redeem anything. They let up 31 points. End of discussion

[Steamboat_Shaun]

No need playing into this really, but for argument's sake, if you can come out of halftime after Denver put up 24 in the first half, and hold them to one TD and 6 punts, something was better.

 

As far as the Fleener play goes, all the receivers (aside from Wayne maybe) could've stepped up in a lot of ways in that game, not just Fleener. They just looked confused in general. How about that stupid drop that TY had? Much more catchable than the ball Fleener missed, and TY was wide open, as opposed to being blanketed by 2 defenders like Fleener was on the interception.

 

I expect a different game altogether from the offense on Monday. I feel like there were a lot of jitters Sunday night in Denver, and in Indy in front of the home crowd, I think the offense clicks on all cylinders.

[Smash Mouth]

Every game has flukey things that happen, Denver should have given up way more points to us and got lucky. We gave up 7 points, period.

Agreed.  Lots or articles out there saying how the Broncos defense has a new identity and looks pretty good.  They were solid but nothing special, Luck didn't execute his mechanics on the interceptions and we were awful in the Red Zone.  Same thing.

[Sports Central1]

TY Hilton's stats vs Denver = http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14924/ty-hilton

 

Hakeem Nicks' stats vs Denver = http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12586/hakeem-nicks

 

Reggie Wayne's stats vs Denver = http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/2578/reggie-wayne

 

No td's among any of them.  Wayne had the best game of the three.

 

I personally thought these three guys would be dominant and this game would a high scoring shootout like the Falcons/Saints' game.

[chrisfarley]

_{Denver is dang lucky they got those goal line stops and 3rd and 1 and so on.  Denver is also lucky that maybe the colts didn't make the best play calls on some of those nail-biter type plays.  Colts will improve.  game was closer than a lot of people expected.  This doesn't speak to the article as much as it does to pointing out that there is reason for confidence that the Colts will build on this, correct things, & next time we'll convert some of these close plays.}

[BlueShoe]

_{Denver is dang lucky they got those goal line stops and 3rd and 1 and so on.  Denver is also lucky that maybe the colts didn't make the best play calls on some of those nail-biter type plays.  Colts will improve.  game was closer than a lot of people expected.  This doesn't speak to the article as much as it does to pointing out that there is reason for confidence that the Colts will build on this, correct things, & next time we'll convert some of these close plays.}

 

I would not say Denver was lucky, but you are correct with your point, and that is they were fortunate. Now to Denver's credit, they did earn some of that good fortune by stopping us in key situations. 

 

The 2 plays you brought up were huge though.

 

Hindsight is always 20/20, but we should have just kicked field goals, because then we are driving down the field for a winning field goal at the end of the game. 

[HtownColt]

TY Hilton's stats vs Denver = http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14924/ty-hilton

Hakeem Nicks' stats vs Denver = http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12586/hakeem-nicks

Reggie Wayne's stats vs Denver = http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/2578/reggie-wayne

No td's among any of them. Wayne had the best game of the three.

I personally thought these three guys would be dominant and this game would a high scoring shootout like the Falcons/Saints' game.

Pretty sure Hakeem Nicks scored Sunday

[BOTT]

I opened the link prepared to read it, then I saw Nate Dunlevy's name........

[Larry Horseman]

I opened the link prepared to read it, then I saw Nate Dunlevy's name........

 

You really don't like Nate's work? He's fazed himself out over the years but he did a very good job of being on the front end of using advanced stats and also keeping some qualitative perspective in there. I have generally found his work to be tight, concise, and non-agenda driven (aside from stats). That said, by and large, I thought this article was lazy, and dare I say it, biased by Manning-love. 

[BOTT]

You really don't like Nate's work? He's fazed himself out over the years but he did a very good job of being on the front end of using advanced stats and also keeping some qualitative perspective in there. I have generally found his work to be tight, concise, and non-agenda driven (aside from stats). That said, by and large, I thought this article was lazy, and dare I say it, biased by Manning-love.

I don't find him useful at all. It's difficult to take a guy seriously after he claims that Tom Brady is merely a system QB. And why would I listen to a glorified fan when there are so many better options available?

[Warhorse]

Show me a player who says...they didn't stop us, we stopped ourselves......and I'll show you a sore loser. 

 

On every play....every stinking one....you can say side A executed well.....or you can argue side B executed poorly. The only difference is your desire to minimize or elevate either sides credibility.

[ruksak]

This is ridiculous: 

 

 

Fleener was fully extended; the ball was thrown hard; it glanced off his fingertips. There was no reason to throw this ball high. Luck threw an uncatchable pass. 

 

 

Not a great throw? Agreed. But uncatchable?? Not for a 6'6" TE with a 37" vertical. Fleener is "jumping" maybe 3" off the ground. 

 

Fleener also didn't time his jump in the end zone on a perfectly placed ball by Luck. Chris Collinsworth is not a good commentator, and I don't care for him, but he was right. Fleener jumped waaaaay too soon on the TD drop. 

 

Again, Fleener needs to quit playing scared to get hit and help his QB out. JUMP DUDE!! 

It's not like Luck doesn't know exactly what Fleener is capable of. 

The ball went between his hands. That WAS a catchable ball, certainly. 

 

If the ball goes between your hands and you don't catch it, I don't care if you're upside down at the time, you dropped the ball. 

 

Collinsworth has been the victim of some kind of mob mentality. We are such an image obsessed society, I honestly feel many people don't like him because he's a weasely, goofy lookin' dude. 

 

IMO, he's one of the very best in the business. He points out the minutia of the game and explains it plainly, so that even the casual fan "gets it". 

 

Yet, more popular commentators like Gruden go WAY over the average fans head, as if he's trying to boast about his knowledge, often dipping into a lexicon that sounds similar to Mandarin Chinese. "That there was the 'ol 2-Y Spider Banana X-ray Slash Bravo Upside Down Squirrel Face Taco Screen". 

 

....and people prefer this because of his image. 

 

Collinsworth > Gruden. 

[ruksak]

_{Denver is dang lucky they got those goal line stops and 3rd and 1 and so on.}  

Lucky? Not sure about that. I could see that QB sneak coming a mile away, was yelling out loud "NOOO" because you could see that beast "Pot Roast" ready to knock the legs out of Luck.

 

That was a BAD decision by Luck, who recalled his success with this maneuver last year. It was a bad call by Luck, not good luck by Denver. 

 

Now those Broncos fumbles recovered by Denver, that was luck. 

[lollygagger8]

The ball went between his hands. That WAS a catchable ball, certainly. 

 

If the ball goes between your hands and you don't catch it, I don't care if you're upside down at the time, you dropped the ball. 

 

Collinsworth has been the victim of some kind of mob mentality. We are such an image obsessed society, I honestly feel many people don't like him because he's a weasely, goofy lookin' dude. 

 

IMO, he's one of the very best in the business. He points out the minutia of the game and explains it plainly, so that even the casual fan "gets it". 

 

Yet, more popular commentators like Gruden go WAY over the average fans head, as if he's trying to boast about his knowledge, often dipping into a lexicon that sounds similar to Mandarin Chinese. "That there was the 'ol 2-Y Spider Banana X-ray Slash Bravo Upside Down Squirrel Face Taco Screen". 

 

....and people prefer this because of his image. 

 

Collinsworth > Gruden. 

 

I don't care about the commentator's looks, I care about Fleener catching the ball. Chris Berman isn't some super model, but he is a great commentator. 

[throwing BBZ]

"Fans were killing Coby Fleener in part because Cris Collinsworth branded the second Luck pick “a catchable ball”. It wasn’t."

 

I stopped reading right here. The ball was catchable.

 Catchable  not really but still 4 feet off target. it is still a BIG Andrew problem. Holds onto the ball too long, throws high, and into coverage because he doesn`t look around like a top QB must.

 Gotta get better. And he was so GREAT in the Red Zone against college kids. Stinko as a pro.

[throwing BBZ]

The ball went between his hands. That WAS a catchable ball, certainly. 

 

If the ball goes between your hands and you don't catch it, I don't care if you're upside down at the time, you dropped the ball. 

 

Collinsworth has been the victim of some kind of mob mentality. We are such an image obsessed society, I honestly feel many people don't like him because he's a weasely, goofy lookin' dude. 

 

IMO, he's one of the very best in the business. He points out the minutia of the game and explains it plainly, so that even the casual fan "gets it". 

 

Yet, more popular commentators like Gruden go WAY over the average fans head, as if he's trying to boast about his knowledge, often dipping into a lexicon that sounds similar to Mandarin Chinese. "That there was the 'ol 2-Y Spider Banana X-ray Slash Bravo Upside Down Squirrel Face Taco Screen". 

 

....and people prefer this because of his image. 

 

Collinsworth > Gruden. 

 

 If you can`t see the ball didn`t go between his hands . TYPICAL Andrew. High and late to the target... All Career long, lets hope not.

Fleener doesn`t create enough space for Andrew to get the ball to him late and poorly placed, allowing the defender to close and go after the ball.

 Time and again. Fleener isn`t the right guy to have on the field with Andrew.

[BOTT]

I don't care about the commentator's looks, I care about Fleener catching the ball. Chris Berman isn't some super model, but he is a great commentator.

Chris Berman is horrible. I would rather have my teeth cut out with a spork than have to listen to that man.

[throwing BBZ]

If that's the case then couldn't you say the Colts were stopping themselves? It's not like the Colts defense was playing a high school team. The Bronco's happen to be pretty good in case you haven't noticed. The Colts went in at half time and made the adjustments that were needed.

 

 IMO we have the Interior D-Lineman that will kick tail against most of our opponents.

 And what i saw was an excellent Denver O-Line play very very well the 1st half. And our Quality depth wore them down for the 2nd half. As a D-Line gains control, up goes the LB play

  Next i saw Freeman play poorly the 1st half. Just not getting to the right spot at all. Some of that was Rust, and some was that Denver O-Line kicking tail. He was pretty darn good in the 2nd till hurt.

 DQ J is a half step faster than Angerer maybe, and still a step slow ya think. He got abused of course. Hopefully most teams can`t execute like Manning and his TE did. lol

 I hope McNary proves the better 3rd down choice sometime this season. Maybe even Muamba.

 OK, i admit, Bethea would likely have made several more helping tackles than what we got. Landry twiddles his mind at home when the COLTS are working hard Together as a Team. Sadly, he is and will be a problem.

  AQ had 2 mental lapses that killed us the 1st half. That was fixed for the 2nd half and he was solid/ok in the 2nd half. Proud of Mewhort, who was very solid, Shipley ok, Thornton did struggle with his pass blocking. He had a couple VN pulls.

  AC and Mewhort did execute a couple STOUT double teams. There is something Cookin' on that side. I`m gonna Root for Thornton to stay healthy and get better. Need both sides dishing it.

  Andrew threw from a very weird pocket, with AC & Cherilus being pushed right up to him time after time. An awful lot of pressure to throw under.

  There is just No making TR look like a good runner. Subpar instincts and slow. If he drops 15 lbs... ???

[Larry Horseman]

I don't find him useful at all. It's difficult to take a guy seriously after he claims that Tom Brady is merely a system QB. And why would I listen to a glorified fan when there are so many better options available?

 

The "glorified fan" thing is interesting...are all bloggers glorified fans?

[crazycolt1]

 IMO we have the Interior D-Lineman that will kick tail against most of our opponents.

 And what i saw was an excellent Denver O-Line play very very well the 1st half. And our Quality depth wore them down for the 2nd half. As a D-Line gains control, up goes the LB play

  Next i saw Freeman play poorly the 1st half. Just not getting to the right spot at all. Some of that was Rust, and some was that Denver O-Line kicking tail. He was pretty darn good in the 2nd till hurt.

 DQ J is a half step faster than Angerer maybe, and still a step slow ya think. He got abused of course. Hopefully most teams can`t execute like Manning and his TE did. lol

 I hope McNary proves the better 3rd down choice sometime this season. Maybe even Muamba.

 OK, i admit, Bethea would likely have made several more helping tackles than what we got. Landry twiddles his mind at home when the COLTS are working hard Together as a Team. Sadly, he is and will be a problem.

  AQ had 2 mental lapses that killed us the 1st half. That was fixed for the 2nd half and he was solid/ok in the 2nd half. Proud of Mewhort, who was very solid, Shipley ok, Thornton did struggle with his pass blocking. He had a couple VN pulls.

  AC and Mewhort did execute a couple STOUT double teams. There is something Cookin' on that side. I`m gonna Root for Thornton to stay healthy and get better. Need both sides dishing it.

  Andrew threw from a very weird pocket, with AC & Cherilus being pushed right up to him time after time. An awful lot of pressure to throw under.

  There is just No making TR look like a good runner. Subpar instincts and slow. If he drops 15 lbs... ???

You could be right about TRich. Finally a comment made about what really happened. Denver at home. The crowd. First game of season. Manning working well to start. These are the things the Colts faced. Well I am proud of how the team never gave up and tried their best to tie the game and then get a win after being down 24-0. Way too many people pointing fingers at this or that. Could it be the Bronco's were the better team on this day at home?

[throwing BBZ]

Chris Berman is horrible. I would rather have my teeth cut out with a spork than have to listen to that man.

 

 Well he made me love Espn so he will always get a break from me.  But TYVM, i did which is always welcome. lol

[BOTT]

The "glorified fan" thing is interesting...are all bloggers glorified fans?

Pretty much, yeah

[hawkeyes]

Sadly, I think the 2nd half was less about what the Colts did and more about what the Broncos didn't do ...

[BOTT]

Sadly, I think the 2nd half was less about what the Colts did and more about what the Broncos didn't do ...

So you don't think the Colts had anything to do with that? I don't recall Manning as a player who took the foot off the pedal with a 17 point lead.