Belichecks coaching staff laughing once again.

[MCurtis32]

In all the losses to this team, and they are piling up, there has been a common mistake that the Colts fall into every time. Throw, throw and throw again. The Patriots have to work to beat any of its division teams. Not only the familiarity of their opponents but they all run the ball right down their throat. Everytime the Colts play the Patriots, They know the Colts will abandon the run and resort to throwing the ball 80-90 % of the time. This is when the Patriots rush 2 and drop 8 into coverage with 1 to spy on Luck. The only difference being Manning never ran, allowing them to drop 9 into coverage. The Patriots are notorious for holding the recievers at the line of scrimmage and beyond. Colts put 5 players out into patterns to be covered by 8 defenders. No threat of a run, no back to check down to. Your dead. defense gets tired, you have less possesion and the Patriots march up and down the field like they do. I remember Edgerin James saying he never had a chance to get going in any of those Patriot games.

The reason for the title of this topic is I sat right behind the Patriot bench Sunday nite. I heard the coaching staff say " these guys will never learn how to play our defense", the answer was," Lets hope they never do!"

[jvan1973]

In all the losses to this team, and they are piling up, there has been a common mistake that the Colts fall into every time. Throw, throw and throw again. The Patriots have to work to beat any of its division teams. Not only the familiarity of their opponents but they all run the ball right down their throat. Everytime the Colts play the Patriots, They know the Colts will abandon the run and resort to throwing the ball 80-90 % of the time. This is when the Patriots rush 2 and drop 8 into coverage with 1 to spy on Luck. The only difference being Manning never ran, allowing them to drop 9 into coverage. The Patriots are notorious for holding the recievers at the line of scrimmage and beyond. Colts put 5 players out into patterns to be covered by 8 defenders. No threat of a run, no back to check down to. Your dead. defense gets tired, you have less possesion and the Patriots march up and down the field like they do. I remember Edgerin James saying he never had a chance to get going in any of those Patriot games.

The reason for the title of this topic is I sat right behind the Patriot bench Sunday nite. I heard the coaching staff say " these guys will never learn how to play our defense", the answer was," Lets hope they never do!"

The seats aren't close enough to the players andc coaches to hear their conversations. Gimme a break

[DougDew]

Unbelievable.

Literally.

[Superman]

[pacolts56]

In all the losses to this team, and they are piling up, there has been a common mistake that the Colts fall into every time. Throw, throw and throw again. The Patriots have to work to beat any of its division teams. Not only the familiarity of their opponents but they all run the ball right down their throat. Everytime the Colts play the Patriots, They know the Colts will abandon the run and resort to throwing the ball 80-90 % of the time. This is when the Patriots rush 2 and drop 8 into coverage with 1 to spy on Luck. The only difference being Manning never ran, allowing them to drop 9 into coverage. The Patriots are notorious for holding the recievers at the line of scrimmage and beyond. Colts put 5 players out into patterns to be covered by 8 defenders. No threat of a run, no back to check down to. Your dead. defense gets tired, you have less possesion and the Patriots march up and down the field like they do. I remember Edgerin James saying he never had a chance to get going in any of those Patriot games.

The reason for the title of this topic is I sat right behind the Patriot bench Sunday nite. I heard the coaching staff say " these guys will never learn how to play our defense", the answer was," Lets hope they never do!"

You were doing okay until the behind the bench part. I mean, post up some cell pics or something.

 

But that aside, we have little if any ability to smash mouth the Pats defense with between the tackles runs.  With Andrew, it's us still trying to get this O-line and RB situation straightened out......but with Manning, it was more by design and choice, which used to drive me nuts as we were repeatedly vomited out of the playoffs by more physical teams.

 

It's an area that needs to once and for all be addressed and used liberally in our offensive game plan....and never mind the "this is a passing league" horse :cuss: .  We can and do pass the ball....and could for the last 16 years.

 

Super Bowl champions rarely reach that achievement without SOME ability and willingness to hammer the ground game, if necessary. We needn't look any further than Seattle v New England....and that's only this year's example.  

[TKnight24]

I'd laugh to if my team dropped 40+ points on a team 4 straight times each being on National TV

[ruksak]

I was hiding in Belichick's bathroom last night I what I heard was worse. The man clearly enjoys curry. 

[buccolts]

I was hiding in Belichick's bathroom last night I what I heard was worse. The man clearly enjoys curry. 

 

Yeah, and you think YOU stink.

oy'

[bertjones#1]

How can we possibly run the ball against a 2 man line. Pats coaches are laughing at us.

[andyvaj]

In all the losses to this team, and they are piling up, there has been a common mistake that the Colts fall into every time. Throw, throw and throw again. The Patriots have to work to beat any of its division teams. Not only the familiarity of their opponents but they all run the ball right down their throat. Everytime the Colts play the Patriots, They know the Colts will abandon the run and resort to throwing the ball 80-90 % of the time. This is when the Patriots rush 2 and drop 8 into coverage with 1 to spy on Luck. The only difference being Manning never ran, allowing them to drop 9 into coverage. The Patriots are notorious for holding the recievers at the line of scrimmage and beyond. Colts put 5 players out into patterns to be covered by 8 defenders. No threat of a run, no back to check down to. Your dead. defense gets tired, you have less possesion and the Patriots march up and down the field like they do. I remember Edgerin James saying he never had a chance to get going in any of those Patriot games.

The reason for the title of this topic is I sat right behind the Patriot bench Sunday nite. I heard the coaching staff say " these guys will never learn how to play our defense", the answer was," Lets hope they never do!"

You lose to the Pats year after year because you have no defense. The Pats turned into the Colts and stopped winning championships but the learned from their mistake.

[lollygagger8]

Besides getting crushed in the running game, the pats ate us up with short passes. 

 

What I want to know is what happened to us pressing the WR's at the line?? We didn't even attempt to throw them off rhythm. Instead we gave them a 10 yard cushion and basically dared them to throw short passes, which they did. 

[NagelHausForge]

I'll take "Things that never happened for $100", Alex.... Post pictures or it never happened, bro.

[dw49]

 

 

 

Looking forward to talking about free agency and then the draft . How about Cris Carter's kid ?

[Larry Horseman]

I'd laugh to if my team dropped 40+ points on a team 4 straight times each being on National TV

 

Glad to see you are back in every thread now that the Colts lost again. 

[Superman]

Looking forward to talking about free agency and then the draft . How about Cris Carter's kid ?

 

I'm fine with signing him. Then I'm fine with forgetting about him until training camp. I wouldn't even put one of my eggs in that basket, much less all of them. He can take the Da'Rick Rogers spot on the roster, as the guy who might be a playmaker if he can fly straight, but you're not really counting on him.

[Superman]

Besides getting crushed in the running game, the pats ate us up with short passes. 

 

What I want to know is what happened to us pressing the WR's at the line?? We didn't even attempt to throw them off rhythm. Instead we gave them a 10 yard cushion and basically dared them to throw short passes, which they did. 

 

I don't think we gave a cushion. I think they ran a lot of rubs and we had to back off at the snap, or else get beat deep. They ran inside guys all the way across the formation. The motions prevented press coverage at times. 

 

Really, it was the old Moore/Manning Indy stuff. That stuff works really well. We weren't good enough across the middle, and we didn't get immediate disruption up front, so there's not too much we could do to stop it. It was an excellent game plan.

[-JJ-]

The seats aren't close enough to the players andc coaches to hear their conversations. Gimme a break

I can't vouch for the bench but the closest I've been was 7th row near the end in 04 Colts div game and could hear the the pats D players talking in warmups.

[dw49]

I don't think we gave a cushion. I think they ran a lot of rubs and we had to back off at the snap, or else get beat deep. They ran inside guys all the way across the formation. The motions prevented press coverage at times. 

 

Really, it was the old Moore/Manning Indy stuff. That stuff works really well. We weren't good enough across the middle, and we didn't get immediate disruption up front, so there's not too much we could do to stop it. It was an excellent game plan.

 

 

It was a little bit of the Pitt game IMO. The Pats lined receivers up in some bunch formations and it resulted in some wide open stuff. 

[dw49]

I'm fine with signing him. Then I'm fine with forgetting about him until training camp. I wouldn't even put one of my eggs in that basket, much less all of them. He can take the Da'Rick Rogers spot on the roster, as the guy who might be a playmaker if he can fly straight, but you're not really counting on him.

 Yeah.. me too.

 

I was mostly saying I can't wait until we move off the way the season ended and start with some stuff that's a little more "fun."

[SteelDragon]

I always get the feeling that there is a sense of panic with this organization when playing New England. I'm not just talking about the players. "If the generals aren't nervous, the troops won't be. "

[FanFromtheWasteland]

Really doesn't matter. Nothing lasts forever and life always seem to have a knack for poetic justice.

On a side note. Sometimes I think some of us take this fandom Way to seriously

jmo. :-)

[crazycolt1]

Really doesn't matter. Nothing lasts forever and life always seem to have a knack for poetic justice.

On a side note. Sometimes I think some of us take this fandom Way to seriously

jmo. :-)

Well "fan" is short for fanatic and we sure have a lot of those around. All kidding aside- I am a Colt fan but like everything, it has to be put into perspective. Reality takes hold and none of us can do anything about it. Getting bent out of shape does no one any good.

[chrisfarley]

So you must be a good lip reader or were they signing?

[Superman]

It was a little bit of the Pitt game IMO. The Pats lined receivers up in some bunch formations and it resulted in some wide open stuff. 

 

In the Pitt game, we misplayed them, and got no pressure, and then got beat deep. They chose to back off and go behind the crosses, which gave up short completions. The only real fix would have been to switch on the rubs, but they didn't want to switch because, presumably, that would have resulted in cross matches and even bigger gains, because our LBs and safeties can't cover for more than a couple seconds.

 

So the fix is to get better coverage safeties and LBs, and improve the pass rush. There is no magical scheme adjustment that could have fixed that problem. Maybe one of our guys could have made a big play, maybe Brady might have made a mistake, maybe they might have dropped a pass. But it's like the saying goes, it ain't X's and O's, it's Jimmys and Joes. 

[dw49]

In the Pitt game, we misplayed them, and got no pressure, and then got beat deep. They chose to back off and go behind the crosses, which gave up short completions. The only real fix would have been to switch on the rubs, but they didn't want to switch because, presumably, that would have resulted in cross matches and even bigger gains, because our LBs and safeties can't cover for more than a couple seconds.

 

So the fix is to get better coverage safeties and LBs, and improve the pass rush. There is no magical scheme adjustment that could have fixed that problem. Maybe one of our guys could have made a big play, maybe Brady might have made a mistake, maybe they might have dropped a pass. But it's like the saying goes, it ain't X's and O's, it's Jimmys and Joes. 

 

 

Makes good sense. I guess they just did a really nice job of exploiting our weaknesses. On another not , do you find it perplexing that the Ravens scored 31 pouts and we score just one penalty aided TD ? I'm thinking it's probably that NE had to respect Balt's run game more than ours ? Stat wise the yards per carry looked OK vs NE but when we ran the ball in run situations , we were stuffed ? Thoughts ?

[Superman]

Makes good sense. I guess they just did a really nice job of exploiting our weaknesses. On another not , do you find it perplexing that the Ravens scored 31 pouts and we score just one penalty aided TD ? I'm thinking it's probably that NE had to respect Balt's run game more than ours ? Stat wise the yards per carry looked OK vs NE but when we ran the ball in run situations , we were stuffed ? Thoughts ?

 

Did it rain the week before? I don't think it did.

 

And the run game is a factor. Forsett had a good game. But they dropped more guys into coverage against us, rather than blitzing, like they did against Flacco. He was 8/13 with 2 TDs against the blitz. They only blitzed Luck twice. They dropped 8 and sometimes 9 guys against us so they could swarm the underneath stuff and still play over the top of Hilton and Moncrief. If we could run a screen or a draw, we might have had a chance to sustain some drives.

[dw49]

Did it rain the week before? I don't think it did.

 

And the run game is a factor. Forsett had a good game. But they dropped more guys into coverage against us, rather than blitzing, like they did against Flacco. He was 8/13 with 2 TDs against the blitz. They only blitzed Luck twice. They dropped 8 and sometimes 9 guys against us so they could swarm the underneath stuff and still play over the top of Hilton and Moncrief. If we could run a screen or a draw, we might have had a chance to sustain some drives.

 

 

I think even without the rain , they pretty much shut us down. I guess just one team with a great game plan that was perfectly executed. We on the other hand were just bad. Crazy to think that if the Pats lost one of those 3 balls that hit the ground vs Balt , we could have been playing Balt at home. 

[Superman]

I think even without the rain , they pretty much shut us down. I guess just one team with a great game plan that was perfectly executed. We on the other hand were just bad. Crazy to think that if the Pats lost one of those 3 balls that hit the ground vs Balt , we could have been playing Balt at home. 

 

Yup, or if Flacco doesn't throw the ball to Torrey Smith's inside shoulder on 2nd and 5. All he had to do was set his feet and make a strong throw.

[cmgww]

draws and screens don't work when they're dropping guys into coverage. Those are blitz beaters. And the Pats for the most part, we're not blitzing. We abandoned the run too early, IMO. But we were also behind 14-0 before I took my first pee break. We were getting decent yards on the ground. But I do think the staff panicked and went into "Luck has to throw" mode too early. 14-0 in the 1st quarter is not that big a hole. Ask Seattle. Or ask us in 2006 vs the Pats. They were spying Luck the whole game. They were hitting our receivers off the line and rerouting them. We didn't have an answer. But I still think that if Cribbs doesn't fumble that punt, the game plays out differently. Had we gotten the ball at that point, I think we continue running/passing and get to the endzone or at least FG. That play changed the entire flow of the game. Football is a "game of inches" as they say, and that play...for me anyway, put the Colts into a "here we go again" mentality. And it affected the rest of the gameplan

[dw49]

Yup, or if Flacco doesn't throw the ball to Torrey Smith's inside shoulder on 2nd and 5. All he had to do was set his feet and make a strong throw.

 

Yeah... that was really a late .. horrible throw.

[Superman]

draws and screens don't work when they're dropping guys into coverage. Those are blitz beaters. And the Pats for the most part, we're not blitzing. We abandoned the run too early, IMO. But we were also behind 14-0 before I took my first pee break. We were getting decent yards on the ground. But I do think the staff panicked and went into "Luck has to throw" mode too early. 14-0 in the 1st quarter is not that big a hole. Ask Seattle. Or ask us in 2006 vs the Pats. They were spying Luck the whole game. They were hitting our receivers off the line and rerouting them. We didn't have an answer. But I still think that if Cribbs doesn't fumble that punt, the game plays out differently. Had we gotten the ball at that point, I think we continue running/passing and get to the endzone or at least FG. That play changed the entire flow of the game. Football is a "game of inches" as they say, and that play...for me anyway, put the Colts into a "here we go again" mentality. And it affected the rest of the gameplan

 

Draws and screens can pick up yards against soft coverage, and keep us out of long yardage situations. And screens to the outside could have opened up the middle of the field.

[cmgww]

I think even without the rain , they pretty much shut us down. I guess just one team with a great game plan that was perfectly executed. We on the other hand were just bad. Crazy to think that if the Pats lost one of those 3 balls that hit the ground vs Balt , we could have been playing Balt at home.

This is the most maddening of all. For all the talk of "to be the man you have to beat the man" crap...I will go to my grave with the belief that had Baltimore finished off the Pats, we would be talking about the Super Bowl right now. Gillette is just hexed for visiting teams. We just don't match up well against NE, Pittsburgh, and a few others. But if we had the Ravens at home? Come on. They were a much better matchup...plus it would have been at home, and the Ravens are 4-10 all time against the Colts and only have one win against us in the playoffs (during their SB season in 2012, which was our first year under the new regime)

[dw49]

This is the most maddening of all. For all the talk of "to be the man you have to beat the man" crap...I will go to my grave with the belief that had Baltimore finished off the Pats, we would be talking about the Super Bowl right now. Gillette is just hexed for visiting teams. We just don't match up well against NE, Pittsburgh, and a few others. But if we had the Ravens at home? Come on. They were a much better matchup...plus it would have been at home, and the Ravens are 4-10 all time against the Colts and only have one win against us in the playoffs (during their SB season in 2012, which was our first year under the new regime)

 

 

Yes , we matched up much better vs Balt as their secondary is pretty weak. Crazy that both those fumbles bounced to the only NE player within 5 yards of the ball. Then on the last one , the knee hits a split second before the ball comes out and it's reversed . Is what it is....

[-JJ-]

draws and screens don't work when they're dropping guys into coverage. Those are blitz beaters. And the Pats for the most part, we're not blitzing. We abandoned the run too early, IMO. But we were also behind 14-0 before I took my first pee break. We were getting decent yards on the ground. But I do think the staff panicked and went into "Luck has to throw" mode too early. 14-0 in the 1st quarter is not that big a hole. Ask Seattle. Or ask us in 2006 vs the Pats. They were spying Luck the whole game. They were hitting our receivers off the line and rerouting them. We didn't have an answer. But I still think that if Cribbs doesn't fumble that punt, the game plays out differently. Had we gotten the ball at that point, I think we continue running/passing and get to the endzone or at least FG. That play changed the entire flow of the game. Football is a "game of inches" as they say, and that play...for me anyway, put the Colts into a "here we go again" mentality. And it affected the rest of the gameplan

I don't think you would ever get a run game going. I was watching early closely. You get a run to the outside for like 9 yards. Ok NE will shore that up. The NE D was just too talented and would adjust without the need to bring anyone else up the box..

 

A decent run games is like 4 yards on 1st and maybe 3-4 yards 2nd and then you got 3rd and short with more options. In other words it has to be somewhat consistent.

 

There was a boston radio host playing devils advocate saying the colts should come out passing and attack- like the Ravens did.

Its also how you played The Bengals and Broncs. You didn't pretend to have a run game but rather went full bore on a passing attack.

[-JJ-]

Yes , we matched up much better vs Balt as their secondary is pretty weak. Crazy that both those fumbles bounced to the only NE player within 5 yards of the ball. Then on the last one , the knee hits a split second before the ball comes out and it's reversed . Is what it is....

why I always stay away from predictions- that ball bounces funny.

[-JJ-]

This is the most maddening of all. For all the talk of "to be the man you have to beat the man" crap...I will go to my grave with the belief that had Baltimore finished off the Pats, we would be talking about the Super Bowl right now. Gillette is just hexed for visiting teams. We just don't match up well against NE, Pittsburgh, and a few others. But if we had the Ravens at home? Come on. They were a much better matchup...plus it would have been at home, and the Ravens are 4-10 all time against the Colts and only have one win against us in the playoffs (during their SB season in 2012, which was our first year under the new regime)

There does seem to be some hex. Couple players (not colts) mentioned on radio that at night you come up this 2 lane road out in nowhere and all of a sudden this big stadium with all its lights come into view- and a team that has won consistently there since that stadium was built.

 

Small tidbit

[dw49]

why I always stay away from predictions- that ball bounces funny.

 

 

Well no question the Pats deserve to be in that game more than the Colts. Just was saying how crazy it was that if that if not for at least 2 lucky bounces , you guys more than likely don't beat Baltimore. They were each worth 7 points.

[lollygagger8]

I don't think we gave a cushion. I think they ran a lot of rubs and we had to back off at the snap, or else get beat deep. They ran inside guys all the way across the formation. The motions prevented press coverage at times. 

 

Really, it was the old Moore/Manning Indy stuff. That stuff works really well. We weren't good enough across the middle, and we didn't get immediate disruption up front, so there's not too much we could do to stop it. It was an excellent game plan.

 

I remember seeing the 10 yard cushion quite a bit on Toler's side. Maybe less on Vontae's(?).

 

If I ever get the gumption to rewatch that game, I'll pay closer attention to how we lined up on them. 

[lennymoore24]

Well, you are 100% right.  The way to beat the Patriots is running the football a balanced amount of time.  If they go into nickel or dime, run.  ANY team that lines up and throws the ball at them all day is going to lose.  When they lose, like against KC, Miami, and Denver last year, it is because the other team effectively rushed the ball and pressured Brady. I think we gave up on the run way too fast. Herron was doing like 5 yards a carry.  We should have pounded it on them.

[chrisfarley]

Brady laughed in that radio interview to make us all think it's SOOOOOO ridiculous that the question shouldn't even be asked.  Did you hear that interview and his laugh. He is so arrogant!!!!  Listen to that laugh, OMG, how ridiculous he is.