Some need to see the truth of the Colts trenches.

[#12.]

People aren't factoring in the times they were beat, they held, and the penalties killed drives.

As for the D-line, there were instances where a defender shot a gap and blew up a play, but I'm not sure how anyone watched the game in its entirety and felt the D-line or defense played well. By Colt standards? Maybe. Championship defense? Hardly.

[aaron11]

the o line was bad.  too many penalties, and luck was under a lot of pressure. 

[Colts_Fan12]

I've got a bad feeling that the exact opposite is coming. I firmly believe that Girgson and Pagano have agreed to mutually part ways at season's end, and right now I'd bet a strong stack of chips that Pep is in for a promotion.

we can all only hope this don't happen we would be screwed

[spartancolt]

The fact we knew what Ryan brings, had all off season to prepare and then act like this was a game played on a Thursday night with 4 days of preparation is disgusting. I was optimistic and positive about the coaching staff, no longer.

[deedub75]

It's hard to judge the o line.  Yes, they only allowed 1 sack but Luck didn't have a clean pocket all day.  Luck seemed a bit flustered working in a tight pocket and seemed to be anticipating getting hit.  Honestly, he looked like a rookie QB yesterday.  I didn't expect a blowout of the Bills and I thought it would be a close game with the Colts coming out on top by a FG but I really didn't expect to get dominated either.  Grigson just frustrates me in the way he has built this team.  We have a franchise QB in Luck who I think he can make decent receivers look good.  I understand that you put offensive weapons around your QB but shouldn't you invest more in protecting your franchise QB?  How dangerous would Luck be if he had more time to throw?

 

I think the defense would look better if they would stay in their lanes and not over pursue.  They were crashing so hard trying to get to Taylor that they were running themselves outside of the play!

[Patagonia Chris]

There have been no reports of real heat on him. 

 

He's still doing the exact same stupid stuff that he was doing in his first season, so it's plausible to assume that no one has gotten on his rear end and told him to stop doing dumb things that hurt the offense. 

 

Despite his shortcomings here, he's drawn a great deal of interest for HC jobs at the college level, and even at the NFL level. Everyone seems inclined to agree that it's not a matter of "if", but a matter of "when" he becomes a head coach, be it in the NCAA, or NFL. 

 

 

If you're not sure of one, how can you know the other for a fact?

 

I believe that Pep Hamilton is Ryan Grigson's offensive coordinator and that if Pagano had his way, then Chud would be his offensive coordinator. If reports come out of a mutiny between different coaches on the staff as the year goes along, I wouldn't be surprised. Pagano had never worked with Hamilton in any capacity before the Indianapolis Colts, so out of all the possibilities he decides to choose a guy he had never worked with and had only been an OC at the college level for two seasons? I'm not buying it. My theory is that Grigson is calling the shots on the offensive side of the ball, while Pagano is in charge of the defense. I believe the rift started to form last year when Pagano wanted Chud to be more involved with play calling and other aspects of the offense, but that was denied by management. A majority of Grigson's big moves have been on the offensive side of the ball. I do think Pep Hamilton will be a HC somewhere, I just don't believe it will be here.

[John Waylon]

I believe that Pep Hamilton is Ryan Grigson's offensive coordinator and that if Pagano had his way, then Chud would be his offensive coordinator. If reports come out of a mutiny between different coaches on the staff as the year goes along, I wouldn't be surprised. Pagano had never worked with Hamilton in any capacity before the Indianapolis Colts, so out of all the possibilities he decides to choose a guy he had never worked with and had only been an OC at the college level for two seasons? I'm not buying it. My theory is that Grigson is calling the shots on the offensive side of the ball, while Pagano is in charge of the defense. I believe the rift started to form last year when Pagano wanted Chud to be more involved with play calling and other aspects of the offense, but that was denied by management. A majority of Grigson's big moves have been on the offensive side of the ball. I do think Pep Hamilton will be a HC somewhere, I just don't believe it will be here.

 

Sure they had never worked together. 

 

But he and Luck had. 

 

Ever since we drafted Luck, we've been all about putting him around his college familiars. Drafting Fleener, keeping Whalen around, Pep... Several moves have been made to make us the Far East Stanford Cardinals. I don't see Grigson severing those ties by moving Hamilton out of the franchise. I just don't. And we're in agreement that Pep is going to get a HC job, and Grigson knows that. Even if he said to Pep "I won't hire a new head coach unless he 100% agrees to let you be OC" that it's still only a matter of time before Pep is gone. Pep is not Tom Moore. He's not gonna forsake a HC job to stay at OC. So if Grigson doesn't pull the trigger and promote Pep to HC if they move on from Pagano, he's going to lose him.

 

And like I said, that isn't a Stanford tie he's willing to sever IMO. 

[Defjamz26]

Agree 100% on the d line. It's hard to evaluate the o line IMO because Luck was under a lot of pressure but Buffalo blitzed on virtually every play. The fact that we didn't go to quick hitting passes and more runs is on the coaches, not the line.

No excuses though. It's Rex Ryan. He's known for his blitzes. They should have been prepared. That is all on coaching. I think the ILBs and coaching lost this game.

[Jonathan24]

Does anyone know how many snaps nate irving and sio moore got... i think freeman should be moved back to backup ILB

[ThaCaliColt]

I agree with much of the original post. The defensive and offensive lines appear to be improving. They aren't great but they are improving. I'm not satisfied whatsoever with the linebacker play. This is a 3-4 defense and our linebackers are the weakest link. The Freeman/Jackson experiment has run it's course. I think I was mostly disatisfied with the way the team was just flat and seemingly unable to match the emotional level of the Bills and their desire and motivation. I mean, look at the effort they put forth on defense batting the balls down for 60 minutes. That's just straight up hustle.

[CoachLite]

My general impression was: Much of the team was dazed and confused. They were very unprepared and got caught trying to think their way through the game. The game moves too fast to think as the plays unfold.

 

Luck was playing in panic mode - with the panic either real or imagined - causing his poor performance. This comes from a long history of weak O-lines, but is compounded by historic lack of preparation and poor coaching (it's not how much film you watch, it's much more systemic than that - an awareness of evolving interactions). Luck is an intelligent guy, but he hasn't been taught to "see" the important patterns about to emerge from his OL and the opponents D enough to call his own plays - yet. Even very smart guys can't think that fast. BTW, this play calling responsibility happened too early with Peyton at the Colts, too. The reason - the coaching staff can't "see" those patterns either, or know what to do when they unfold during the play. They think in Xs and Os, not patterns of play dynamics, and indication of very weak coaching. Wish Bill Walsh was still around to teach coaching to those smart enough to understand what he would be saying.

 

Until that awareness finally happens, let's continue the blame game. It's fun, energetic and helps us vent our frustrations, although to no effect.

[achcolts]

how much of the blame on the lack of running the ball is on Pep and how much could be on Andrew for checking out of run plays into pass plays?

This I think is the biggest question to have..not to critique luck at all I think hell be one of the best qbs ever but the way we keep losing looks like the same thing on the colts end we just look lost for 3 quarters and try to make up for it in the 4th

With that being said I still think the biggest problem is simply coaching

[jeremy2020]

The O line was bad. Real bad. Don't let the lack of "hurries" or "sacks" fool you. The Bills were collapsing the middle of the line and prevented Luck from being able to step up on a lot of throws.

[achcolts]

Sorry for gong off topic..The DL has upgraded big time im very excited for it this year. And like what's said considering bills front 7 is really good actually the reason their d is good the online played alot better than I thought. The coaches should have known that. Both lines will be great this year barring injuries

[Gavin]

When you drop back 49 times to throw your going to get pressure, That's just a fact, Especially when your playing against the Bills front 7 and a Rex Ryan led aggressive defensive approach

 

The 1st sack was just a good late Safety blitz, I think what should have happened on that play was Louis should have picked up Preston Brown (#52) and Gore should have been responsible for picking up Aaron Williams who came on the late Safety blitz

 

The 2nd sack will go on Dwayne Allen but I cant put that on him personally, Varga missed the blitzing Kyle Williams who forced Luck to take off.....Ya also cant ask Varga to pick up a blitzing 300+lb D Lineman...Cant do it

[JustAColtsFan]

Excellent post!  I completely agree.  My disappoint is with the coaching strategy.  For some reason, offensively, Pep wasn't throwing more screens, swing passes, or quick hitters to the TE.  It was Luck dropping back and trying to force balls to the outside.  Defensively, Manusky kept blitzing even though Taylor would just check the ball short.  That is my biggest complaint about the Colts is the strategy for the games.  I would bet anything that when the Patriots play the Bills, Brady will be hitting swing passes to some unknown RBs who are wide open.  It is frustrating.  But I really liked what D-Line was doing.  The inside linebackers are just terrible against the run.  Two often they were out of position or just got blown away.  I hope Moore plays more to see what he can do.

I agree about TE play. Until Fleener caught the two point conversion it was like we had no TE's - he was non existent.

[Superman]

No excuses though. It's Rex Ryan. He's known for his blitzes. They should have been prepared. That is all on coaching. I think the ILBs and coaching lost this game.

Six pressures on 53 pass plays. The protection was fine, and that's probably an understatement. The problem was the terrible play calling.

The run blocking was also pretty good.

[VaAllDay757]

This man knows what he's talking about.....the ones who panic immediately are usually the spoiled ones

[Two_pound]

Dwayne Allen had a nice 25 yard pick up on the first drive it wasn't his fault it didn't count. Did anyone see the exact same similarities between this opener and the one from last year. I'm only asking because I notice a lot of the similarities on this forum today as from after week one from last season. By the way, has any other team in the league opened 12 of the last 16 years on the road?

[SouthernCal]

When Indy WAS running the ball..they were better...period. they just stopped running. Nearly every run indy made was 4-5 ypc. At that time,..Bills biggest run was a 5 yard carry...and had 4 stops for losses, and many more for no gain. If we had kept running, We could have stayed on the field...probably atleast kept our average, and the bills would have had to pass more.

Just because they had so many more yards in the end, does not mean they ran it better... they just ran it more.

Then why did they stop running? It didn't work? Gore got hurt? Or the latter?

[Lawrence Owen]

Then why did they stop running? It didn't work? Gore got hurt? Or the latter?

Pagano said in the press conference, "They kept putting 8 men in the box so we took what they gave and opted out of running plays"

 

But I think this is a mistake.  Sometimes you run into 8 man boxes for 2 reasons:

 

1:  Show them you're not afraid of them.  If you run against 8 man boxes, you show them you're willing to take the challenge and they have to continue to honor the run threat.

 

2: sometimes those 8 man boxes are disguises. Running into it when they are disguising their play will have the RB hitting the hole while lb's are still back peddling into their coverage area.

[Valpo2004]

Frankly..There is WAY too many complaining that the o-line and d-line are 'horrible'.

 

If you think so..you DID NOT watch the game.

 

The o-line did fine.  They allowed 1 sack, and 5-6 pressures on Luck the entire game. 

Plus the running game was BETTER than the Bills.

Against one of the best front 7's in the NFL..I think this is amazing.

The problem was not how good/bad it was..the problem was we ran it so little. That is coaching.

 

The D-line -and Vonte- Was THE bright spot of the D.  They got penetration early and often.  Anderson and Langford had multiple tackles behind the line and created QB pressure.  Parry held hid spot..hardly moving the entire game, except when he was penetrating the line also.  

The ILB's were BY FAR the worst stain on the field. Bad positioning,..over playing runs..and if they did get in position,..they wiffed tackles.

 

Grigson/Pagano deserve credit for how much improvement they brought to the trenches..not spit-sayings.

 

 On that note however,...Hamilton needs to redirect his game plans. If the run is working..stay with it.

 

And Grigson/Pagano also need to continue with their trend of replacing LB's who are not performing with new young faces if they do indeed perform better in the near future.

 

Are we taking into account all the drive stalling holding penalties committed by the O-line?  

 

If the O-line's sacks/hurries/hits stats look good it's only because they committed a holding penalty nearly every time they got beat.  

[Gavin]

Are we taking into account all the drive stalling holding penalties committed by the O-line?  

 

If the O-line's sacks/hurries/hits stats look good it's only because they committed a holding penalty nearly every time they got beat.  

5 pressures and 2 sacks out of a ridiculous 49 pass attempts not bad at all. 85.7% pass blocking grade as a unit that is, With 1 of those sacks on Varga, The other on Holmes...Though Luck stepped up into it

[GoColts8818]

Does anyone know how many snaps nate irving and sio moore got... i think freeman should be moved back to backup ILB

QB plays has to go in there too. Luck played very poorly and not all of that was from pressure. As for the 18 straight passes Pagano said in his pressed yesterday some of those were changes at the line by Luck when he checked out of a running play. Luck had a rough day at the office Sunday and that really hurt the Colts. It is what it is and I fully expect him to play much better Monday.

Sorry, not meant for you, my iPad jumped when I hit the quote button!

[Lawrence Owen]

Are we taking into account all the drive stalling holding penalties committed by the O-line?  

 

If the O-line's sacks/hurries/hits stats look good it's only because they committed a holding penalty nearly every time they got beat.  

Frankly...the o-line was called on 3 penalties, We had 5 total penalties.  Just 2 of those penalties we back to back and killed a promising drive so they stuck out more.

 

The bills had 6 o-line penalties and 11 penalties total, But no-one mentions that.

[Coltsman1788]

When Indy WAS running the ball..they were better...period. they just stopped running. Nearly every run indy made was 4-5 ypc. At that time,..Bills biggest run was a 5 yard carry...and had 4 stops for losses, and many more for no gain. If we had kept running, We could have stayed on the field...probably atleast kept our average, and the bills would have had to pass more.

Just because they had so many more yards in the end, does not mean they ran it better... they just ran it more.

The only Colt who looked running the ball was Gore before he got hurt. Robinson and Varga did not do much of anything. The colts averaged 3.8 yards per carry vs the Bills 4.1. Buffalo ran the ball better. They were able to use their run game and defense to control the game. That's the main point! The Colts abandoned the run where the Bills committed to it. I agree that the Colts should have run more. Bills had almost twice as many carries. After Gore got dinged up...all balance on offense flew out the window.

[bababooey]

Penalties were a killer, when we turned a long Allen grab and landed on the 21 yard line only to be brought back to the opposite 35 that was basically the game right there. Abandoned the run, never got any yards, punted, defense held on until the levee broke but everytime they forced a punt we were stuck inside our 10.

[bababooey]

Frankly...the o-line was called on 3 penalties, We had 5 total penalties.  Just 2 of those penalties we back to back and killed a promising drive so they stuck out more.

 

The bills had 6 o-line penalties and 11 penalties total, But no-one mentions that.

Penalties can be forgiven if you win the game....handily, like the Bills did

[rock8591]

Penalties are the most overrated stats, even more so than assisted tackles, it's not even funny.

 

Personal Fouls / Roughing the Kicker / anything that results in a 1st down or loss/gain of down is one thing.

 

5-10 yards with no change in down means little in the long wrong; think an employer would care if you had a couple more C+ grades instead of B- grade, or if your GPA is 3.4 instead of 3.6?