Grades: Week 5 @ Texans

[Superman]

 

Week 4 grades

 

Offense, B+: 59 plays, 323 yards, 22 first downs (10 passing, 6 rushing, 6 from penalty), 3/11 on third down, 1/1 on fourth down, 3/4 in the red zone, 0 turnovers, 27 points; even, balanced production, my only gripe is we were bad on third down

 

QB: For a guy who was as sick as reported (Pagano said he was "literally on his death bed," lol), Hasselbeck was very sharp. Throws were accurate, he was more effective going downfield, he spread the ball around, and most importantly, he was decisive and confident. He took a couple of hits that weren't logged, but really didn't face much pressure, and never had to throw the ball away. He roasted the blitz (10/16, 153 yards, 1 TD), and overall was able to get rid of the ball so quickly that the Texans rushers were nullified. Receivers dropped five passes, by the way. He made the right reads, put the ball where it needed to be, and made more than enough plays, including the fourth down to AJ and the game-ending throw to Hilton. On the road, four days rest, fresh out of the hospital with IVs sticking out of his arms all week, and played an excellent game. A, you at least want to be able to go .500 with a backup QB, and we're 2-0 with ours so far

 

Backs / receivers / tight ends: B-
Running game: Gore got it going again, and was ::thisclose:: to his first 100 yard game as a Colt. There were some runs that didn't gain a lot of yardage, but they were still productive as they kept the defense honest and set up play action. He found lanes to run, mostly because he wasn't shy about going outside or cutting back, and like always, he proved difficult to bring down, with 59 yards after contact. Tipton had a nice carry for a near first down, but Robinson couldn't do anything in three carries. I think 22 carries is a bit much for Gore, but he knew what to do with them. B, solid production, churned out a lot of tough yards

 

Passing game: Andre Johnson does have a pulse. He didn't outrun anyone, but he capitalized on smart play calls and good ball placement and made four really big plays. Houston was obviously pre-occupied with Hilton, and tried to keep him from destroying them like he usually does, so he had a mostly quiet night, but still put the game away at the end. Moncrief teased us in the first month, and then had a bad game, including a drop and a missed opportunity to make a big play. The TEs didn't do much, but Allen had a big gain and Fleener held on to some contested balls. Five drops overall, but the entire group made plays and kept the pressure on the defense, which is impressive considering they didn't practice with their QB all week. B-, dinged for the drops and some dry spells, but not a bad game at all

OL / blocking: Protection comes out smelling like a rose, and that's due in large part to a smart gameplan and decisive QBing (2.12 seconds before attempt, on average, and only 6 dropbacks that took more than 2.5 seconds). However, they were active and aggressive against the Texans, didn't let Watt anywhere near the QB, knocked him off track and even off his feet multiple times, and blocked well on the move plays also, which can be tricky. Four official pressures in 29 dropbacks, no sacks, is good. The run blocking was good as well, there were some misses and a couple penalties, but the pulling action was good, there was push, the outside was sealed effectively (maybe not consistently), and the interior guys got to the second level and did damage. Combo blocks were good, aside from a chop block penalty, and we weren't awful on screen passes. They controlled the game well up front, and still have room to get better. B+, hopefully this group can get in a rhythm

 

Offensive coaching: Built well on the previous week's gameplan, taking it even a step further. How much was dictated by the QB and how much was by design is impossible to tell, but no question that keeping the QB clean has been a point of emphasis. The increased rollouts and play action (8/9 and a passer rating of 146.3 on play action) are obviously influenced by coaching, and the percentage of play action is the highest of the season by far. Good balance between run and pass. It's egregious that we didn't start the season with this kind of offensive play calling, which is easy to build off of, and the first TD to AJ shows the benefit of having a respectable run game and using a little play action. Please stick with this. B+

 

Defense, C: 70 plays, 444 yards, 24 first downs (17 passing, 5 rushing, 2 from penalty), 8/16 on third down, 1/1 on fourth down, 2 turnovers, 20 points allowed; sloppy in the secondary, tackling wasn't good, and the pass rush was ineffective

 

Defensive front: Decent against the run, only allowing 82 rushing yards, and 14 were on a QB scramble. But Arian Foster is still not 100%, and we still let him get too many gains of 4+ yards, due to some substandard gap work and tackling. Net result is definitely acceptable, but the performance wasn't as good as it should have been. Some impressive run stops by D'Qwell again, who at times looks like he's on a high speed track directly to the ball carrier, and is doing a good job staying off of blocks. Anderson continued to defeat blockers and make run stops also. The pass rush was a sore spot, only 12 throws under pressure, and the "sack" was just a stopped scramble. There was some pressure, and we did move the QB at times and even push up the middle to shrink the pocket, but just couldn't get home. With the conservative coverage, there was a need for some immediate pressure, and it just didn't happen. The Texans QB mostly got rid of the ball decisively, but there were some plays where we had a chance to get to them. No, we're not at 100% up front, but I don't see the pass rush suddenly improving even when we get healthy. The blitzes came close, but there just weren't enough of them. C+, poor pass rush and questionable gap play is a recipe for disaster against a good team

 

Pass defense: Simply put, the worst part of the team right now. Toler got burned all game, and while I didn't think his coverage was awful, he just couldn't prevent his man from getting the ball, which is ultimately what a corner is graded on. First game back and all, but not a good showing. Davis wasn't healthy and gave up some plays. Really, Hopkins just feasted on everyone, and it's mostly because we played off and zoned up more than we ideally would, and that led to the second TD by Strong. Nothing needs to be said about the failed Hail Mary coverage. Butler had a good game, which is encouraging because we were able to get him back inside where he plays best, and he held up well. The ILBs gave up 104 yards alone, most of it on cross-matches with WRs (somehow we let D'Qwell get lined up against Hopkins, our worst cover man against their best receiver) and dumpoffs to the flats. Again, a product of a conservative gameplan, and hopefully we can scrap that soon. A bad pass rush and a passive coverage scheme combine for nearly 400 yards receiving, and that's with JAG QBs and only one true receiving threat. D, no resistance and the Hail Mary, and the only saving grace is the two gift INTs

 

Defensive coaching: Good run blitzes after the Texans started out with some good gains, and from then on we mostly won in the box. But the gameplan is overly conservative, especially in coverage, even acknowledging the injuries. The long week off comes at a good time, but we have to get back to some press coverage and let the guys run around and play more aggressively. Most teams will take the underneath stuff if you give it to them, and we're getting ready to play a team that makes its living almost entirely off of maximizing the underneath stuff. The blitzes don't get home, either, so that's not really an answer (Texans were 6/9 against the blitz). I'm cutting some slack still because of the injuries, but Manusky and Pagano have to simplify things without neutralizing what the team does best. Maybe that's easier said than done. C

 

Special teams: Only three punts, and all were pretty good, as was the coverage; they got one big return but only because they held Geathers and kept him from getting downfield. No kick returns for them. Griff was able to rumble for 50 yards on a return, which is a big bonus and set up a TD drive. AV is hopefully past his early season woes, and was perfect on kicks. B+

 

Game management: A demerit for the Hail Mary coverage, specifically because Pagano is a defensive backs coach. Otherwise, game management was pretty simple. Never trailed, always had an answer, especially opening up the second half with a TD to keep the momentum from swinging all the way over to the Texans side, and to whatever extent the head coach is influencing the offensive game plans, I hope he keeps stressing the importance of decisive QBing and using play action. B-

 

Game ball: Andre Johnson, fitting time for him to have a good game, in the stadium where he set the pace for his former team for over a decade. If he couldn't get up for this game, it probably never would have happened, but the truth is that good coaching and QBing were more critical than anything he did. Still, he was productive, had a big play up his sleeve whenever we needed it, and this might be the best game he has all year. Hopefully he can give us more of this.

 

Next up: The Patriots. I confused myself last week into thinking we had a bye this week, which we could really use right now. Oh well. Guess we'll have to settle for curb-stomping the presently undefeated defending champs, who are probably nervous about playing under our AFC Finalist banner... J/K I hope it's a good game, I hope Luck plays, I hope the line holds up, I hope we stop the run, I hope we tackle well, and I hope we send them home feeling ... deflated. Let's see...

 

GO COLTS!!!

[jseg18]

On the offensive gameplan section, I was about to ask you how we should attack the rest of the season on offense. You answered it right after I that. We have to stick to that game plan!

[NorthernBlue]

As always great analysis. Completely agree with what you say about the defense. Run stopping has been our strong suit. Hopefully the secondary can get back to form or else Brady is going to rip them apart. I'd give the running game an A instead of a B. Other than the three carries by Rob, they were top notch. Running game will once again be key to the pats game. Try to keep sustained drives, burn some clock, open up the play action pass. And most importantly keep the defense rested. I have no doubt in my mind that the pats will score points on us. Just make sure we keep pace with them. Hopefully the defense will be able to get a few stops, allowing the offense to try and take a lead. The pats D doesn't scare me much. With Andrew hopefully back, we should be able to keep pace with them. Just need the D to get a few stops.