Colts @ Bills: Post-Game Thread

[Bird dog]

Three words for this pathetic effort... Stink, stank, stunk. Super Bowl? Ha!

Who's your pick for super bowl?

[Flash7]

Live in Seahawks country and had to work today. Turned on local sports radio on the way home and expected to hear about Seahawks/Rams and what did I hear? Twenty minute discussion about how the Super Bowl bound Indianapolis Colts imploded in Buffalo.

 

Now I will say most of the Seahawk fans are posers and they are probably trying to deflect their loss on someone else....but even they said:

 

- No oline

- Pep didn't adjust to the situation. Poor game planning.

- Why did they stop the run

- Penalties

 

Outside of penalties this can mostly be laid at the feet of coaches/staff.....probably penalties also if it a training issue.

 

Everyone can say it's first game jitters, wet field, etc. but our competition/peers (Denver, Green Bay, NE, even San Diego) don't seem to have these problems.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Their criticism seems about right though, unfortunately. Of course, this was a very tough test for the O-line and I do't think they fared too well. I don't think our "high-powered" offense ever got going. I think Pep could have game planned better and called a better game (and the players could've executed better to help pep out a bit).

 

As for the penalties, many of them were on the O-line. The O-line was frazzled by the crowd, the atmosphere, and the Bills D-lineman. They were getting beat and they had to hold to save Andrew's life. Offside and holding penalties are a sign of inferior play and lack of discipline.

[coltsfanatic24]

It doesn't matter who the head coach is. As long as Grigson continues to not draft well were going to be inconsistent. Grigson passing on Rhodes for Werner still baffles me.

[chad hugo]

we started 0-2 last year and look where we ended up...

 

ITS JUST THE FIRST GAME ! 

[SDakColts]

Smith was inactive anyway.

I know he was inactive as he was hurt. I am just saying it would have been nice seeing him out there.

[Malakai432]

I didn't get to watch the game, first time since 2011 I've missed a game. I only heard we lost, but knew nothing else. So far, this thread is all I know about the game...... and boy is it depressing what I'm hearing.

I said a few days ago that our defense is two injuries from absolute ruin, and it doesn't sound like I was far off. I take it Mathis didn't play?

Aside from all the doom and gloom, I expect our offense to pick it up quite a bit. It's just the first game, I'm sure that side of the ball will be fine, which will help put our highly suspect defense in better position.

Final note; Our coaching staff didn't seem to do a very good job getting this crew ready.

You didn't miss much and Mathis was out indeed. The Colts just played flat out sloppy, penalties, turnovers ect. The special teams with regards to the punt/kick returns were absolutely atrocious. Some of the new DL played well, Anderson and Langford. Luck was running around a lot as usual and they abandoned the run early.

The Bills played solid error free ball and boy their defensive backfield played spectacular. Bills O gashed the Colts D with some large chunk plays. I think Tyrod had a 30 yard run, 60 yard TD pass, just big chunk plays.

Oddly, the Colts did well against McCoy holding him to 2.4 ypc but Karlos Williams and Tyrod ran rampid.

[ruksak]

You didn't miss much and Mathis was out indeed. The Colts just played flat out sloppy, penalties, turnovers ect. The special teams with regards to the punt/kick returns were absolutely atrocious. Some of the new DL played well, Anderson and Langford. Luck was running around a lot as usual and they abandoned the run early.

The Bills played solid error free ball and boy their defensive backfield played spectacular. Bills O gashed the Colts D with some large chunk plays. I think Tyrod had a 30 yard run, 60 yard TD pass, just big chunk plays.

Oddly, the Colts did well against McCoy holding him to 2.4 ypc but Karlos Williams and Tyrod ran rampid.

On to the next game !!!

 

We gonna be alright. We started out last year 0-2, losing to Denver, a team we throttled in the playoffs in their house. Everybody smoke a bowl and chill the hell out. 

[IcEWoLF]

Colts don't have tight ends.

 

If you are going to be successful then you need your tight ends to make plays and get open..I saw today's game and Fleener was nowhere to be found.

 

Also turnovers are bad, maybe Colts coaches need to start benching players for their poor performances like the BB.

 

Running game....what running game? Frank Gore is not gonna last a half of a game let alone a full season.

[Gavin]

Are the snap counts for the Colts Buffalo game available yet? Im looking on Stampede Blue and don't see it yet

[krunk]

I'm worried Cole is washed too. He didn't do anything out there in the preseason or today.

 

Not sure what you were looking at.  Cole held the edge pretty well on run plays and he was in the backfield on more than one occasion against the pass.  When you have Tyrod back there he does have the ability to run away you know.

[krunk]

I think the DL did their jobs against the run overall.  Now our two ILBs need to be sat down as soon as possible for Sio Moore and Nate Irving.  Freeman was constantly out of the gap he should have been in and they both kept missing tackles. 

[krunk]

ILBs Freeman and Jackson both are terrible.

 

Oh My God!  You are correct

[krunk]

We should've continued to run the ball in the 1st half. It kept the Bills honest.

 

Those are the type of things that are going to get Pagano ran out of the door.  Just no commitment to the running game and it really bothered me that we chose to pass so much in an inclement weather venue.  To me it was almost the same plan that we took into New England last year.  We've got the runners we need and we were still checking out of runs and going with passes.

[krunk]

We should have been able to dink and dunk with all those blitzes ... horrible game plan

 

Game plan was awful. This I agree with

[krunk]

The defense didn't even have a chance today. Our offensive struggles kept them on the field a lot, and with the Bills constantly running our D got tired. Also, we were concerned with our D-Line before them game. I thought they played pretty good for the most part. It was our linebackers that really stunk in up today. I am now very concerned about DQ and more so Freeman.

 

I don't like either one of them, but Freeman was pretty sucky. The guy just stinks at anything being ran directly at him.

Constantly out of position and out of his gap.  The D line was playing well to me only to get let down by the linebackers. 

The OLBs did their jobs out there, but the ILBs were awful. 

[krunk]

Anderson really had a hell of a game.

Langford really started out great.

Containment on Taylor was comical.....Also 14-19?

We bottled up McCoy well outside 1 22 yard pass play

7 Targets combined between Allen and Fleener of 49 pass attempts....This could have been used more to slow down the Bills pass rush

 

 

It seemed from the start we had no intention of running the ball and thought to jump on them earlier only to find out...Hey that Bills defense is for real

 

Yeah I knew their D was for real, but it was a bit puzzling to me that we kept going after Gilmore.  Why not some of the other matchups?  I swear Gilmore robbed Superman at gun point and stole his cape!  That dude had a big S on his chest out there.  He was swatting down and picking off everything.

[SDakColts]

Those are the type of things that are going to get Pagano ran out of the door.  Just no commitment to the running game and it really bothered me that we chose to pass so much in an inclement weather venue.  To me it was almost the same plan that we took into New England last year.  We've got the runners we need and we were still checking out of runs and going with passes.

I love the way Pagano and Pep talk about having a power run offense yet we abandon it early on in the game for no reason. We became way to predicable for the Bills and they pinned their ears back and got after Luck. For one we have a shaky O-Line situation to start with, but when we become predictable and the Bills are able to just get after Luck it would be a tough task for any O-Line to hold up to the talent of the Bills front 7. Our O-Line today had some bad moments today don't get me wrong, but given the test of the Bills front 7 constantly blitzing Luck I thought they did well. Pep just wasn't balanced early on, and the Bills made us pay for it.

[SDakColts]

I don't like either one of them, but Freeman was pretty sucky. The guy just stinks at anything being ran directly at him.

Constantly out of position and out of his gap.  The D line was playing well to me only to get let down by the linebackers. 

The OLBs did their jobs out there, but the ILBs were awful. 

I completely agree for the most part the D-Line and OLBs was in pretty good position and kept the ILBs clean, but they either failed to fill the hole or completely overpursued the play. I for one really liked what I saw from Langford and Anderson today, and I am very excited to see our D-Line once McGill and Winn get up to speed as well. I guess IMO the D-Line was one of the few bright spots of the day today, and they were the "Achilles Heel" of this team going into the game.

[SDakColts]

Yeah I knew their D was for real, but it was a bit puzzling to me that we kept going after Gilmore.  Why not some of the other matchups?  I swear Gilmore robbed Superman at gun point and stole his cape!  That dude had a big S on his chest out there.  He was swatting down and picking off everything.

Other than a couple blown coverages I thought the Bills DBs completely shut down our WRs. Gillmore, Darby, and Robey were making good plays for them all day. 

[Flash7]

Other than a couple blown coverages I thought the Bills DBs completely shut down our WRs. Gillmore, Darby, and Robey were making good plays for them all day.

This is a major problem, and not because of personnel. We have very good receivers, but we make it soooo easy for defenders. We line up our receivers against man coverage and we do not use any stack formations, motions, rub plays. We simply ask them to run 5-yard slants, 10-yard comebacks or go deep. If you can defend that then you can defend against the Colts receivers, for the most part. The two point play to Moncrief was a good example of how to get a receiver open. Let's do more of that.

[krunk]

I love the way Pagano and Pep talk about having a power run offense yet we abandon it early on in the game for no reason. We became way to predicable for the Bills and they pinned their ears back and got after Luck. For one we have a shaky O-Line situation to start with, but when we become predictable and the Bills are able to just get after Luck it would be a tough task for any O-Line to hold up to the talent of the Bills front 7. Our O-Line today had some bad moments today don't get me wrong, but given the test of the Bills front 7 constantly blitzing Luck I thought they did well. Pep just wasn't balanced early on, and the Bills made us pay for it.

 

I don't really think we did too bad running the football.  We were getting at least 3 to 4 yards with every carry just about and we started off the game with Gore running for 7 yards.  For some reason this coaching staff doesn't like to get more than 2 or 3 positive run plays before they say "Ok that's enough of that" and start going bombs away with the passing game.  There really was no need to be content with going for the jugular through the air in the rain.  We could have kept stressing the running game, short passes time of possesion type of ball.  The Bills were capitalizing off of all our stupid mistakes made through the air and on special teams.  The penalties didn't help either. I just don't get how we continuously fail to adjust to the circumstances.  If you're going to pass a lot during bad weather games those passes need to be short YAC/RAC yards type throws. The type of stuff New England throws at you all day long.

[GoColts8818]

This is a major problem, and not because of personnel. We have very good receivers, but we make it soooo easy for defenders. We line up our receivers against man coverage and we do not use any stack formations, motions, rub plays. We simply ask them to run 5-yard slants, 10-yard comebacks or go deep. If you can defend that then you can defend against the Colts receivers, for the most part. The two point play to Moncrief was a good example of how to get a receiver open. Let's do more of that.

that play was a pick play and should have been flagged. That's why they don't do it more often.

[SDakColts]

This is a major problem, and not because of personnel. We have very good receivers, but we make it soooo easy for defenders. We line up our receivers against man coverage and we do not use any stack formations, motions, rub plays. We simply ask them to run 5-yard slants, 10-yard comebacks or go deep. If you can defend that then you can defend against the Colts receivers, for the most part. The two point play to Moncrief was a good example of how to get a receiver open. Let's do more of that.

I completely agree. The touchdowns to both Moncrief and Allen are good examples of plays that work perfectly to get TEs and WRs open. We have way too much talent at our skill positions to let it go to waste, by not putting them in positions to succeed. I also have no idea why we didn't get both Hilton and Dorsett out there at the same time to stretch the field and really open up the middle of the field. Today was just a terrible day for Pep and the playcalling IMO I really hope he gets things figured out.

[krunk]

Other than a couple blown coverages I thought the Bills DBs completely shut down our WRs. Gillmore, Darby, and Robey were making good plays for them all day. 

 

Easy to do that when everybody in the stadium knows you're going to be passing.  Plus T.Y. was out of the game, and when he was in the game for some reason we didn't have any packages with him and Dorsett on the field at the same time.  Moncrief made some plays here or there, but that guy needs to advance his game more.  

[SDakColts]

I don't really think we did too bad running the football.  We were getting at least 3 to 4 yards with every carry just about and we started off the game with Gore running for 7 yards.  For some reason this coaching staff doesn't like to get more than 2 or 3 positive run plays before they say "Ok that's enough of that" and start going bombs away with the passing game.  There really was no need to be content with going for the jugular through the air in the rain.  We could have kept stressing the running game, short passes time of possesion type of ball.  The Bills were capitalizing off of all our stupid mistakes made through the air and on special teams.  The penalties didn't help either. I just don't get how we continuously fail to adjust to the circumstances.  If you're going to pass a lot during bad weather games those passes need to be short YAC/RAC yards type throws. The type of stuff New England throws at you all day long.

Exactly and that is what is frustrating. They preach the run game, and when we do have success we completely abandon it. That is absolutely stupid.

[Gavin]

Run contain was fine outside a 26 yard run with under a minute in the 2nd Quarter by Karlos Williams, We bottled up McCoy except when he was pass catching.  Turnovers killed us.......For those few that will complain about not being able to stop the run consider this:

 

27 runs for 101 yards..... 3.7 ypc combined if you don't include Taylors scrambles and thats going to cause many teams problems

 

1 turnover led to a TD

 

Luck did get some pressure but on 49 attempts it was not really that much, 5-6 pressures

 

Key penalties really hurt us(Lance Louis, Khaled Holmes back to back penalties for a combined 15 yards).....Putting us in a 3rd an 23 situation....No plays in the playbook for that

[Flash7]

that play was a pick play and should have been flagged. That's why they don't do it more often.

Its just an example of what we can do to make it more difficult for the defenders against our receivers. Also, it's a play that every team runs and it hardly gets called. We should use it and other similar plays more often.

We have too much talent to be so vanilla.

[BlueShoe]

We suck...the end.

Let it go. It is just week 1.

We are on to the Jets.

[DoubleE Colt]

I'm torn on the result of the game. On the one hand I expected that this might be a loss on the road when the schedule was released, it's a tough place to go for any team and had the extra bite of being RR first game in charge of the Bills. On the other hand there were some frustrating elements to our game that plauged us last year still happening. We start out slow get behind, abandon the run game and stick it all on Lucks back throwing bombs down field (in that weather too!). We have some good talent at RB now yet it seemed the coaches panicked and forgot them. Mistakes and turnovers at key times continue also. I think we're in danger of becoming too predictable when chasing a game. The killers for this game was giving up the TD just before half time which changed the game and the 2 Dorsett fumbles costing us field position and a FG. I thought the D line was solid and I'm optimistic with Parry, Anderson and Langford. As said the ilb position worries me. The o line wasn't as bad as some are suggesting imo against the bills D. This game was also a good reminder of what we'd look like with a QB that's not as good as Luck. He had a bad game from his usual standards and the results were there to see which is a worry. We need a far more balanced team that are able to carry a QB if needed. Having expected the loss from this one I anticipated the next 4 as wins and I think there can be few excuses for a serious SB contender if that's not the case against those teams. I'm keeping the faith and hoping Paganos hot seat doesn't get hotter!

[Dustin]

Colts don't have tight ends.

If you are going to be successful then you need your tight ends to make plays and get open..I saw today's game and Fleener was nowhere to be found.

Also turnovers are bad, maybe Colts coaches need to start benching players for their poor performances like the BB.

Running game....what running game? Frank Gore is not gonna last a half of a game let alone a full season.

Stick to memes.

[Lawrence Owen]

Their criticism seems about right though, unfortunately. Of course, this was a very tough test for the O-line and I do't think they fared too well. I don't think our "high-powered" offense ever got going. I think Pep could have game planned better and called a better game (and the players could've executed better to help pep out a bit).

 

As for the penalties, many of them were on the O-line. The O-line was frazzled by the crowd, the atmosphere, and the Bills D-lineman. They were getting beat and they had to hold to save Andrew's life. Offside and holding penalties are a sign of inferior play and lack of discipline.

There was ALOT more holding penalties on Buffalo's o-line holding our d-linemen...but no-one wants to see that.

[Narcosys]

I'm not so panicked after this game. I picked the bills to win. They are a good team with all the weapons both offense and defense. They just needed a decent qb. They have it in Taylor now. That defense is too tough and we stink against stout defenses.

[aaron11]

I don't think the Colts have ever had that game plan with Luck, in any game that I recall.  It started with Arians, and the game plan always seems to be a deep drop back with medium to long verticle passes.  Pretty predictable.

 

I'd like to see Luck in more of a west coast system, rather than whatever system we have under Pep.

yeah they need to take a nice long look at this.  we cant protect well enough to throw it deep, and our WRs probably arn't as good as we thought

[bababooey]

we started 0-2 last year and look where we ended up...

 

ITS JUST THE FIRST GAME ! 

Yea...

 

Got our butts kicked in New England in January.

 

The whole point is to not have to go there, as evidenced by the fact we can't even compete with them at least being at home could help us a little bit.

Edited September 14, 2015 by 21isSuperman

[NYCfan]

Its looking ugly for the Jets, Dolphins, And Pats game smh.

I don't know about the Jets and Dolphins, but Gary Myers of the NY Daily News (hardly a friend of the Patriots) wrote last week that "the record for points scored by one team in an NFL game is 72 (Redskins, 1966 v. the NYG).  That record will be in jeopardy on October 18th."

[GoColts8818]

Its just an example of what we can do to make it more difficult for the defenders against our receivers. Also, it's a play that every team runs and it hardly gets called. We should use it and other similar plays more often.

We have too much talent to be so vanilla.

i agree with the idea they should be doing more in the passing game than they were but if they are going to run that pick play Johnsom has to do a better job not being obvious that he's picking. We ran that play a lot with Reggie and he was a master of picking but making it look like it's not a pick. Johnson's was obvious and was lucky not to be flagged.