Grades: Week 6 @ Texans

[Superman]

 

 

 

Box score

Callin 'em Out

Week 5 grades

 

Offense, B-: 82 plays, 456 yards, 27 first downs (18 passing, 6 rushing, 3 from penalty), 8/16 on third down, 3/5 in the red zone, 2 turnovers, 33 points (-7 for the defensive TD allowed); great first quarter, too many mistakes after that
 
QB: Ho hum, just another 370 yards and 3 TDs to add to his NFL best numbers on the season. Not a perfect game, but he made plays to virtually every area of the field, and was unstoppable to Hilton (which is becoming a ritual against the Texans). Faced a lot of pressure, but was very good against their blitzes. I'd like him to use his legs sooner. The pick was a batted pass, which isn't his fault, but he should have been picked on the ill-fated screen, so it balances out. He also needs to get on the same page with Harrison to clean up these snaps. Overall, they had no answer for him, and he's why we got out to an early lead and dominated the clock. We need more of the same this next month, with fewer mistakes. B+, 2 throwaways, 3 batted passes, 4 drops, still completed 25 passes
 
Backs / receivers / tight ends, B-: 
Running game: Some positives, but not a lot. Both backs had some good carries, but they also both missed some holes and were slow getting through some holes. And there weren't a hole of holes, by my eye, and both guys got met in the backfield too often. They both continue to run through first contact and finish well, but neither looked particularly fast this week. C, short week and line changes seemed to slow down the rushing attack
 
Passing game: Hilton is a monster, not really much else to say there. Got robbed of a TD, too, on a really stupid play by the DB. No one else caught more than 4 passes or had more than 49 yards, and they got plenty of targets. Reggie and Allen had some big third down plays, and a couple plays came back due to penalty, but this was The TY Hilton Show. Bradshaw also continues to feast on goal line play, and is on pace to shatter a record. B, TY deserves an A+, everyone else was just along for the ride
 
OL / blocking:  Not one of their better games. Of course, Watt is the best defensive player in the league, probably top five player overall, so I get it. But we let other guys make plays as well, tackles for loss on blown assignments, sacks and pressures from the second quarter on, etc. We doubled and even occasionally tripled Watt, but the other guys have to handle one-on-ones against "regular" defenders. (Makes me scared for the rematch when Clowney is back.) We didn't have enough lanes in the run game, and only a little push. Some good individual blocks at times, including the new center (had a pancake on Watt), and Joe Reitz looked worthy of a starting job, which many of us expected. Also, the snaps must be fixed. I know there's an adjustment period, but this problem can't linger any longer. Most people were calling out the line, and I don't think they answered the bell. C-,  17 QB pressures, 2.7 yards/rush attempt, and a botched snap

 

Defense, C+: 52 plays, 332 yards, 18 first downs (9 passing, 7 rushing, 2 from penalty), 1/8 on third down, 0/1 on fourth down, 3/3 in the red zone, 2 turnovers, 21 points; gave up too much on the ground and in the air, but great on money downs again

 
Defensive front: The pass rush is alive, and it's varied. Five sacks, and only one came from a blitz situation. We got pressure from the outside and up the middle, and did a better job of finishing than last week. And of course, the late game sack by Bjoern for the second week in a row, this one to end the game. Pressure could stand to be more consistent, though, as there were stretches when we didn't influence the QB for a few plays in a row. The run defense wasn't nearly as good, as the gap integrity was sloppy, we seemed slow in pursuit let some gains out on backside runs, didn't tackle very well, got pushed off the ball, didn't maintain gaps properly... all of which led to a big night by Foster and a couple nice runs by Blue. Redding and Kerr didn't look as good as they have (no surprise, Redding is older and this was a quick turnaround, on the road, and Kerr is a rookie and probably wasn't ready for the physical demand himself). The inside backers weren't very good against the run either. Chapman had limited snaps, but was better at nose; maybe that's the key for him, have to keep him under 25 snaps a game. RJF is playing fine, but Art Jones is starting to be missed. B-, pass rush is getting better by the week, run defense getting sloppy

 
Pass defense: The way to beat Vontae Davis is perfect throws to a big veteran receiver. And still, he only gave up a couple plays. Toler and Gordy both got beat a couple times also. The Texans mostly worked the middle and underneath, with only two passes going more than 20 yards downfield. The linebackers did a good job containing, even batting down some passes. I felt like the safeties were kind of a nonfactor, in that they weren't challenged. The key, though, was pass rush, as the QB was near perfect when we failed to pressure him. C+, still vulnerable up the middle, and no one really made any plays

 

Special teams: Pagano called McAfee "a weapon." He's right. I'm sure this pace won't continue, but 3/3 on onsides is amazing, and this was the most impressive one, as he did it by himself on a perfect dribbler that no one else had a shot at. The Texans special teams coach knew he messed up; if you can read lips even a little bit, you know what I mean. No returns of any kind were allowed. He pinned a punt at the 7, 9 and 11 yard lines. A perfect game, IMO. And AV was perfect, as well. We still don't have a return game of our own, but we have the #1 offense in terms of yards, first downs, points/game, plays/game (by a long shot), and #8 on third down conversions. We'll live without a return game. A

Coaching / playcalling / game management, B+:
Manusky continues to all a good game, IMO, and without four defensive starters this week. I've been annoyed with Werner dropping into coverage too much, but he only dropped once this game. Just a simple gameplan, but it's working well. B+, tackling and poor trench play isn't a coaching issue, especially on a short week
 
Perfect start on offense, helped by the onside kick. The offensive line didn't hold up, and we didn't do much to help them with blocking schemes and adjustments. Some of the screen plays looked disastrous, and we're not cut blocking on short throws, which leads to tipped passes. The passing schemes, especially on the goal line, are looking better. Play action was up to about 28% this week, which is good. B-, need to do more to slow down Watt

 
Weird timeout at the end of the first quarter, but it seemed like Luck was having a tough time getting the plays from the sideline; I saw him looking over several times. The onside kick seems to be a pre-determined go-or-no kind of call, so I don't know how much of that goes to the game day coaching, but that's a good install that Pagano says they worked on through camp. B, good to hang on, but it would be nice to finish this game off early
 
Game ball:
 

TY Hilton. Just go back up and watch those gifs. After having TDs called back twice(?) this year, and then one in the first quarter, he finally got in the end zone, and it held up, and it was the deciding score in the game. He ran by double-high coverage, he beat guys to the ball in the air, and was reliable, catching all 9 of his targets. An absolute star performance, on national TV. Congrats, TY.
 
Next, vs the Bengals. We get a break with AJ Green doubtful, but Gio Bernard is a problem, and they have a good defense. I hope we handle the long week better than we did last year.
 
GO COLTS!!!

 

[ColtsLegacy]

Always a great read. Thanks, Supe.

[Coffeedrinker]

Again, thanks Superman.

 

I will say that first gif (and I think his first catch of the game) was very Lynn Swan-esque.  To keep running and bend backwards like he did is something truly amazing.

[Superman]

Again, thanks Superman.

 

I will say that first gif (and I think his first catch of the game) was very Lynn Swan-esque.  To keep running and bend backwards like he did is something truly amazing.

 

Yup. He probably could have just turned to the outside to make the catch, but I don't think he knew where the sideline was, and he didn't want to take his eyes off the ball. I'll take it, either way.

[NewColtsFan]

Thanks again, Super,  these are always great.....

 

My concern for this week is the run defense.    As you noted,  it's hard to know how much of our poor play against the run was due to the short week, and how much is due to the quality run game of Houston?

 

Either way,  they gashed us pretty good.  At times it looked like Foster has his choice of big holes to run through.   Must be nice!

 

Cincinnati has a running game of its own and, as is my nature,  I worry about it.    So, it'll be interesting to see which defense shows up.     The one that has looked good recently,  or the one that showed up at Houston?

 

As always,  Major Props to you for doing this every week!     

[braveheartcolt]

Apart from the Ravens game, I'd say Griff has been 'solid', and if I'm honest, I can't remember us being any better than solid in the past 10 years. Happy to be corrected though.

Thanks again Superman. Definitely the best weekly topic by far.

[zippyd]

 

 

Weird timeout at the end of the first quarter, but it seemed like Luck was having a tough time getting the plays from the sideline; I saw him looking over several times. The onside kick seems to be a pre-determined go-or-no kind of call, so I don't know how much of that goes to the game day coaching, but that's a good install that Pagano says they worked on through camp. B, good to hang on, but it would be nice to finish this game off early

 

 

 

I think the timeout was because they were unclear of the rules. The play clock and the game clock were so close they weren't sure if they would get a delay of game penalty or not. At least that's what the game announcers said. Sounds like a reasonable argument to me.  :yes:

[ProblChld32]

Good write up, spot on 

[Superman]

I think the timeout was because they were unclear of the rules. The play clock and the game clock were so close they weren't sure if they would get a delay of game penalty or not. At least that's what the game announcers said. Sounds like a reasonable argument to me.  :yes:

 

You're right about the timeout. I think we could have been more on top of that, as the timeout was unnecessary. Not a big deal, and we finished with a TD, so it didn't hurt us. Also, I'm never concerned about timeouts in the first half. It just bothers me to see the team looking disjointed over a somewhat simple issue. And that's after Luck seemed to be having trouble getting the calls in.

 

Minor nitpick, overall.

[lollygagger8]

Great write up! 

 

I don't understand why we doubled JJ Watt for the first half (except for some instances where Reitz handled him beautifully by himself) and then in the 2nd half, we let Watt take over. One point we put Allen on Watt.......huh????? 

The batted balls are happening more and more. Luck should roll out or step up and/or pump fake or something to combat this. 

 

We cannot let Bernard run on us like we let Foster if we expect to win the Bengals game. Hopefully the long week gives the team needed rest.