Evan Mathis A Bronco

[GwinnettColt]

I snapped a picture of him at training camp.  

 

Looked pretty fresh!  

 

.  Nice.

[BOTT]

No they don't, and no they didn't. And Donald Thomas was 27, not 33.

Well, not exclusively as I thought they did, but they run both principles as a lot of teams do. I did think they leaned more toward s ZBS under Dante, but seems I was wrong.

I have no idea what 27 vs 33 has to do with anything.

[BOTT]

Which I think is exactly why we struggle with them. Their scheme vs ours and they have the better talent and they win out. NE does a lot of different things but its pretty clear they run a power man attack when you see how they get up field and on our lbs.

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[amfootball]

You know, there are these players that come along every year, and the consensus is always 'that's what we need to make a serious run at a Super Bowl, pay him what he wants!' There's very little consideration given to what happens after this season in which we so desperately need said player in order to contend, whether it's the impact on the cap, the development of the players presently on the roster, etc. More often than not, a year or two after teams splurge on these no-brainer free agents, they're left with a mess on their hands.

 

How would signing Mathis to a one year $4 mil deal left the Colts with a mess on their hands?  I only ask because there are situations every off-season where a player of Mathis caliber comes along that can be had on a short deal and help a team over the hump especially when Oline is a real issue.

[dgambill]

How would signing Mathis to a one year $4 mil deal left the Colts with a mess on their hands?  I only ask because there are situations every off-season where a player of Mathis caliber comes along that can be had on a short deal and help a team over the hump especially when Oline is a real issue.

On the Mathis thing I think Grigson has enough knowledge from his time in Philly and connections that Mathis isn't what we needed here. Could be a combination of attitude and his skill set but he had to have a good reason. I mean NE has been trading for guards all offseason and they didn't bring him in either to my knowledge so clearly there are some red flags out there. Overall though these one year deals can be very hit or miss. Worked well with Revis but we've seen guys come in and really mess up a locker room too.

[dgambill]

Well, not exclusively as I thought they did, but they run both principles as a lot of teams do. I did think they leaned more toward s ZBS under Dante, but seems I was wrong.

I have no idea what 27 vs 33 has to do with anything.

I think Supes is implying that Donald is 6 years younger and was entering the prime of his career as opposed to a guy that only just in the last couple years saw success in unique system like Philly and is 33 and coming off an injury.

[Superman]

Well, not exclusively as I thought they did, but they run both principles as a lot of teams do. I did think they leaned more toward s ZBS under Dante, but seems I was wrong.

I have no idea what 27 vs 33 has to do with anything.

 

My point was that if I'm asking a free agent to come to a slightly different scheme, I'd rather have the young guy, all things being equal. Mathis in 2014 was a better player than Thomas in 2012, so all things aren't equal. But I continue to believe that the issues with Mathis as far as the Colts are concerned are a combination of scheme fit, age and cost. Not one by itself, but all those things combine to create a situation that has less certainty than people here and in the media believe.

[Superman]

How would signing Mathis to a one year $4 mil deal left the Colts with a mess on their hands? 

 

I didn't say it would.

[BOTT]

I think Supes is implying that Donald is 6 years younger and was entering the prime of his career as opposed to a guy that only just in the last couple years saw success in unique system like Philly and is 33 and coming off an injury.

Fair enough, but I never meant to imply that the colts should have signed Mathis, as I have never made a post in favor of such....I'm rather indifferent to him.

[Dark Superman]

If Donald Thomas doesn't pull off a 360 with his career.. Us, not signing Mathis, is going to sting me for a while.

[Superman]

Indeed. Why I feel we get outcoached every time we play them. All the way back to the Dungy years included. The only time I felt like we made adjustments and out coached them was the afc title game we won where we came out in the second half and did some things different. NE changes up to the matchups like you say. They find weakness and attack it. They will put in a whole new portion of a playbook to take advantage or change up their defensive schemes to match up. I feel frustrated at why we go in with a game plan and we can't find answers no matter who we upgrade our team with. Last year they were the most talented team in football when you consider both sides of the ball so its hard to get too mad...but every year...just hard to imagine we can make some adjustments to even out the playing field.

 

In rewatching the Bears game, one thing all the ILBs were doing or trying to do on run plays is stay unblocked by offensive linemen. The Bears do a lot of the same stuff that the Patriots do in their run schemes, shooting OL up to the second level to take the ILBs out of the play. Both Jackson and Freeman did a good job of making those OL miss their blocks in various ways. Jackson was really good against the run, both in the middle and on the edge. They were able to fill on inside run plays.

[Superman]

In other news, the Titans are probably getting ready to release their $46.8m free agent prize from a couple seasons ago, Andy Levitre. Anyone remember him? Played in a ZBS in Buffalo, looked pretty good, got a huge contract from Tennessee, but they run a mostly MBS. He hasn't been awful, but he clearly hasn't been what they thought they were paying for, neither in run blocking nor pass protection. He didn't start their second and third preseason games, and he's due $6.5m in 2015 (would be their second highest player). Something's gotta give.

[akcolt]

In other news, the Titans are probably getting ready to release their $46.8m free agent prize from a couple seasons ago, Andy Levitre. Anyone remember him? Played in a ZBS in Buffalo, looked pretty good, got a huge contract from Tennessee, but they run a mostly MBS. He hasn't been awful, but he clearly hasn't been what they thought they were paying for, neither in run blocking nor pass protection. He didn't start their second and third preseason games, and he's due $6.5m in 2015 (would be their second highest player). Something's gotta give.

I'd say he's going to get cut. I'd like to take a look. I have been watching Arkin. He seems to have a mean streak needs to clean some things up. That holding penalty vs the Bears was unnessary he pulled made the block no need to body slam him.

I'm not sure where are at G. Thorton is hurt again. Heenan is gone. Thomas is a huge question mark. I think we want to make sure Reitz is there at T. Arkin could be the primary back up at G right now.

[dgambill]

In other news, the Titans are probably getting ready to release their $46.8m free agent prize from a couple seasons ago, Andy Levitre. Anyone remember him? Played in a ZBS in Buffalo, looked pretty good, got a huge contract from Tennessee, but they run a mostly MBS. He hasn't been awful, but he clearly hasn't been what they thought they were paying for, neither in run blocking nor pass protection. He didn't start their second and third preseason games, and he's due $6.5m in 2015 (would be their second highest player). Something's gotta give.

id imagine Seattle gives him a good once over. They may end up regretting that trade for graham.

[Gavin]

My point was that if I'm asking a free agent to come to a slightly different scheme, I'd rather have the young guy, all things being equal. Mathis in 2014 was a better player than Thomas in 2012, so all things aren't equal. But I continue to believe that the issues with Mathis as far as the Colts are concerned are a combination of scheme fit, age and cost. Not one by itself, but all those things combine to create a situation that has less certainty than people here and in the media believe.

Highly doubt scheme fit has anything to do with it. If that was the case Todd Herremans would not be on the roster right now as he was on that team, Let alone starting. Besides that if our coaching staff cant draw up plays and schemes to exploit a players strengths then that's a problem. The best coaches know how to use a players strengths they have to the teams advantage.

 

Ultimately I think it was just a case of our coaching staff believing we have the right pieces in place and wanting them to grow together

[jvan1973]

If Donald Thomas doesn't pull off a 360 with his career.. Us, not signing Mathis, is going to sting me for a while.

Pretty sure you mean a 180. A 360 would put him right back exactly to where he is now

[aaron11]

Which I think is exactly why we struggle with them. Their scheme vs ours and they have the better talent and they win out. NE does a lot of different things but its pretty clear they run a power man attack when you see how they get up field and on our lbs.

 

the patriots are good at game planning for specific teams.  while we are playing them that seems to be a weakness of ours

 

i lost the link, but i read that their play calling was much more run favored when they played against us than when they played anyone else.  they saw that our front seven was weak and they could attack it with extra blockers.  in the secondary they simply doubled ty, and had revis shut down moncrief.  reggie was no threat.