Colts Festivus: The Airing of Grievances

[Superman]

 

I haven't done grades in a while. Got busy, and now I'm just too irritated to really sit down and watch this team fail to execute over and over again. But here are some of my complaints. 

 

We have no quick twitch athletes, on either side of the ball. Hilton is close, but he really doesn't make defenders miss, and his change of direction is just above average. Absolutely no one qualifies on defense, no pass rushers, no linebackers, no explosive linemen.

 

The offensive line is substandard, and there's no depth at tackle, which was the case in March.

 

Our pass rushers are slow and old, or just slow.

 

They're starting Harrison at center.

 

They won't play Sio Moore, instead continuing to play McNary who has been bad.

 

The offensive playcalling has been underwhelming all year, including stretches that no NFL team should have to endure (Bills game, Panthers game, etc.)

 

Just some of my observations. Feel free to add your own.

[krunk]

46 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I haven't done grades in a while. Got busy, and now I'm just too irritated to really sit down and watch this team fail to execute over and over again. But here are some of my complaints. 

 

We have no quick twitch athletes, on either side of the ball. Hilton is close, but he really doesn't make defenders miss, and his change of direction is just above average. Absolutely no one qualifies on defense, no pass rushers, no linebackers, no explosive linemen.

 

The offensive line is substandard, and there's no depth at tackle, which was the case in March.

 

Our pass rushers are slow and old, or just slow.

 

They're starting Harrison at center.

 

They won't play Sio Moore, instead continuing to play McNary who has been bad.

 

The offensive playcalling has been underwhelming all year, including stretches that no NFL team should have to endure (Bills game, Panthers game, etc.)

 

Just some of my observations. Feel free to add your own.

 

Sio had a whopping 8 snaps according to Stampedeblue. I know Sio has got to be quietly simmering.

Djoun Smith had 1 snap

 

What is Manuskys deal with this stuff?  Mcnary and Brown both sucked.

 

He's obviously not that high on Smith it seems to allow a guy freshly called up from injury waivers to just come in and start over DJ.  I known Brown was here in the offseason, but come on you drafted this kid in the 3rd round and he's got talent. Let the kid get his feet wet.

[throwing BBZ]

51 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I haven't done grades in a while. Got busy, and now I'm just too irritated to really sit down and watch this team fail to execute over and over again. But here are some of my complaints. 

 

We have no quick twitch athletes, on either side of the ball. Hilton is close, but he really doesn't make defenders miss, and his change of direction is just above average. Absolutely no one qualifies on defense, no pass rushers, no linebackers, no explosive linemen.

 

The offensive line is substandard, and there's no depth at tackle, which was the case in March.

 

Our pass rushers are slow and old, or just slow.

 

They're starting Harrison at center.

 

They won't play Sio Moore, instead continuing to play McNary who has been bad.

 

The offensive playcalling has been underwhelming all year, including stretches that no NFL team should have to endure (Bills game, Panthers game, etc.)

 

Just some of my observations. Feel free to add your own.

 

 Does Grigs system overweigh for character and under weigh for athleticism?
 A fine line, but you look at our lack of pass rush and coverage at LB, and an O-Line with mighty slow feet,
 and well, there is a lot of ineffectiveness.
 

[LockeDown]

I will narrow my grievances down to 1 thing.  Irsay said he wanted to mimic the Patriots dynasty team, yet we couldn't be more opposite in the direction we are heading.  The Carolina Panthers look like that team instead of us.  We should be the ones with a dominant defense, running attack and QB who makes plays when he needs to.  If that's us, we go to multiple Super Bowls and maybe even win a couple.  

[DougDew]

When he fired Polian/Caldwell, irsay wanted to mold his team into the image of the Steelers and the Chargers.  Power running and a stout 34 defense.  Irsay has either never truly got the players to run those schemes...or...has realized those schemes that had success in the mid 2000's (The chargers and Steelers kept us from our SBs those years) have become outdated.  And even if the schemes weren't outdated, how we built towards them didn't fit.

 

If you want a power running team with play action pass, you don't hire Arians as your OC.

 

Other teams seem to be able to find good RBs in the later rounds or in URFA.  We've had Tipton and Boom for three years now.

 

The switch from Chapman and Hughes to Parry and Anderson says they are scrapping the heavy 34, but they invested draft picks and FA money (RJF) earlier in the regime to get there.  A waste of picks and time from developing who could have been here instead.

 

The Colts have not had above average LBs since the days of Dwayne Bickett and Quentin Coryatt...and that goes way back.  You can't run a 34 with below average LBs.

 

[tvturner]

To be fair DQ has played really good this year.

David Parry is also a heck of a player

[SteelDragon]

I'm just stating the obvious here: Grigson doesn't know what he's doing. You guys have already hit on a number of complaints. If you come in here under the mantra of "run the ball/stop the run," and 4 years into the build process you haven't improved at all, what else needs to be said? There's nothing left to evaluate with this staff.

The whiffs on first round draft picks and the misspent money on free agents have taken its toll. This team is long in tooth at some critical positions and just plain bad at others.  It's not only time for a new regime,  this team is going to need a considerable overhaul.

[Superman]

Oh, add to the list that we can't run screen passes. I'm really baffled by that.

[CoachLite]

I'd clear out all the coaches. All of them. Esp. HC, OL, QB, Strength/Cond, OC, DC, DL (in that order) Whatever talent level we have, the coaches have them under-performing and ill prepared, some maybe even beyond repair. I even worry about the skill of our scouts at identifying talent and competition SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), but here I could be wrong.

 

As far as GM, Grigson seems a rookie, prone to make rookie mistakes - too many rookie mistakes and bargain-basement gambles. This is a professional league and we need proven professionals at GM and all the coaching positions. Hopefully, we can attract that kind of talent here, but with our track record this may be harder than you think.

 

Only then would I evaluate the talent of the players, which may be far higher than we imagine.

[bababooey]

Phenomenal thread, Superman 

[Superman]

56 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 Does Grigs system overweigh for character and under weigh for athleticism?
 A fine line, but you look at our lack of pass rush and coverage at LB, and an O-Line with mighty slow feet,
 and well, there is a lot of ineffectiveness.
 

 

They talk a lot about speed, and clearly value it, but we don't have anyone on the team with high level quickness (maybe Dorsett, but I watched him in college; he's fast and explosive, I don't think I'd call him quick). 

 

Henry Anderson has some explosiveness. Parry, also. Langford brings more punch than RJF did. 

 

I thought adding Moore would mean he'd get to play, and might increase the athleticism of the front seven. Either he's awful in practice and meetings, or the staff is missing something. I watched this guy in Oakland, including seeing him in person a couple times. He's easily the most athletic LB on the roster. And he played 8 snaps yesterday, while Yeldon and Robinson shook our LBs throughout the second half.

[Superman]

32 minutes ago, CoachLite said:

I'd clear out all the coaches. All of them. Esp. HC, OL, QB, Strength/Cond, OC, DC, DL (in that order) Whatever talent level we have, the coaches have them under-performing and ill prepared, some maybe even beyond repair. I even worry about the skill of our scouts at identifying talent and competition SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), but here I could be wrong.

 

As far as GM, Grigson seems a rookie, prone to make rookie mistakes - too many rookie mistakes and bargain-basement gambles. This is a professional league and we need proven professionals at GM and all the coaching positions. Hopefully, we can attract that kind of talent here, but with our track record this may be harder than you think.

 

Only then would I evaluate the talent of the players, which may be far higher than we imagine.

 

I'm torn on Grigson. He's obviously made mistakes and left a lot of meat on the bone, and now we are where we are. But if he's learned from his mistakes and is now doing a better job of building a roster, then do we need to get rid of him and go with a different GM? Would we be starting over for no reason?

 

As for the scouting question, there are some personnel decisions that I scratch my head over. Drafting Werner, trading Hughes (might have been a requested trade, but that's total speculation), keeping Louis, etc. Things that I didn't really like at the time, and haven't worked out. Werner has no explosiveness, and yet this staff was in love with him from jump.

[ponyboy]

Grigson's goatee.

[coltsfansince65]

We haven't built a monster, we've built a Gossamer.  Don't know if you young guys will get this but us

older folk know who Gossamer is.

[Track Guy]

The Colts were a completely different team in 2013. 2 stats that have gone topsy-turvy on us since then are: 

 

• 14 turnovers on offense. Fewest in the NFL by 4, and under the league average by 11.4. 
• 7.3% of opponents pass attempts resulted in sacks good for the 9th best efficiency in the NFL. League average 6.7%. 

 

This year (so far) we have 27 turnovers on offense which puts us right at... First in the entire NFL! We went from the best to the worst in 2 years. And our former top-10 pass rush from 2 years ago - now in the bottom 5 at 4.3% (league average 6.1%) good for 29th. 

 

Basically in 2013 we were very close to being a Super Bowl caliber team. We beat the Superbowl Champion Seahawks, the AFC Champion Broncos, and the NFC runner up 49ers in our match ups with those teams in the 2013 season. Offensively we had the formula down at that time, we just had a horrendous interior OL and an epic bust starting at running back. We had a QB who was could absolutely take over the game but didn't seem to feel the need to force as many dangerous passes as he does now. That was working for us. And defensively it didn't matter so much that we had some holes because our pass rush - mostly thanks to Rob Mathis - was good enough to put pressure on opposing QBs. Sure, we weren't the 2000 Ravens, but we at least had the ability to pressure the opposing quarterback with some measure of consistency. 

 

It's been moving in the wrong direction this year.

[CoachLite]

12 minutes ago, coltsfansince65 said:

We haven't built a monster, we've built a Gossamer.  Don't know if you young guys will get this but us

older folk know who Gossamer is.

Here's our monster

 

[NBColtsFanatic]

16 minutes ago, Track Guy said:

The Colts were a completely different team in 2013. 2 stats that have gone topsy-turvy on us since then are: 

 

• 14 turnovers on offense. Fewest in the NFL by 4, and under the league average by 11.4. 
• 7.3% of opponents pass attempts resulted in sacks good for the 9th best efficiency in the NFL. League average 6.7%. 

 

This year (so far) we have 27 turnovers on offense which puts us right at... First in the entire NFL! We went from the best to the worst in 2 years. And our former top-10 pass rush from 2 years ago - now in the bottom 5 at 4.3% (league average 6.1%) good for 29th. 

 

Basically in 2013 we were very close to being a Super Bowl caliber team. We beat the Superbowl Champion Seahawks, the AFC Champion Broncos, and the NFC runner up 49ers in our match ups with those teams in the 2013 season. Offensively we had the formula down at that time, we just had a horrendous interior OL and an epic bust starting at running back. We had a QB who was could absolutely take over the game but didn't seem to feel the need to force as many dangerous passes as he does now. That was working for us. And defensively it didn't matter so much that we had some holes because our pass rush - mostly thanks to Rob Mathis - was good enough to put pressure on opposing QBs. Sure, we weren't the 2000 Ravens, but we at least had the ability to pressure the opposing quarterback with some measure of consistency. 

 

It's been moving in the wrong direction this year.

What happened is my question 

[JColts72]

I just don't get the rational of this organization going back to Peyton Days with the ongoing need to have better D and this never occurring. Focus is always to have surrounded Peyton with O weapons and the same approach for Luck. Grigs is horrible as GM with not being able to build a solid line and him being a former lineman himself. His drafting is weak, trading a 1 for Trent and FA moves that have been poor. Is it too much to have an aggressive D instead of regressing to the Smurf?. The big load approach by going 3-4 is not the answer either. Getting right talent on both sides of the ball is and having better coaches too.

[DougDew]

19 minutes ago, Track Guy said:

The Colts were a completely different team in 2013. 2 stats that have gone topsy-turvy on us since then are: 

 

• 14 turnovers on offense. Fewest in the NFL by 4, and under the league average by 11.4. 
• 7.3% of opponents pass attempts resulted in sacks good for the 9th best efficiency in the NFL. League average 6.7%. 

 

This year (so far) we have 27 turnovers on offense which puts us right at... First in the entire NFL! We went from the best to the worst in 2 years. And our former top-10 pass rush from 2 years ago - now in the bottom 5 at 4.3% (league average 6.1%) good for 29th. 

 

Basically in 2013 we were very close to being a Super Bowl caliber team. We beat the Superbowl Champion Seahawks, the AFC Champion Broncos, and the NFC runner up 49ers in our match ups with those teams in the 2013 season. Offensively we had the formula down at that time, we just had a horrendous interior OL and an epic bust starting at running back. We had a QB who was could absolutely take over the game but didn't seem to feel the need to force as many dangerous passes as he does now. That was working for us. And defensively it didn't matter so much that we had some holes because our pass rush - mostly thanks to Rob Mathis - was good enough to put pressure on opposing QBs. Sure, we weren't the 2000 Ravens, but we at least had the ability to pressure the opposing quarterback with some measure of consistency. 

 

It's been moving in the wrong direction this year.

 

Just sayin' here folks.  We had Reggie on O and Mathis on D.  Those were left over from Polian and the only significant differences.  The other positions just churned mediocrity.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

1 hour ago, Superman said:

 

I haven't done grades in a while. Got busy, and now I'm just too irritated to really sit down and watch this team fail to execute over and over again. But here are some of my complaints. 

 

We have no quick twitch athletes, on either side of the ball. Hilton is close, but he really doesn't make defenders miss, and his change of direction is just above average. Absolutely no one qualifies on defense, no pass rushers, no linebackers, no explosive linemen.

 

The offensive line is substandard, and there's no depth at tackle, which was the case in March.

 

Our pass rushers are slow and old, or just slow.

 

They're starting Harrison at center.

 

They won't play Sio Moore, instead continuing to play McNary who has been bad.

 

The offensive playcalling has been underwhelming all year, including stretches that no NFL team should have to endure (Bills game, Panthers game, etc.)

 

Just some of my observations. Feel free to add your own.

 

My biggest gripe is the o-line.  As you point out, depth (and talent) on the OL were both major issues for this team coming out of last season.  I posted this a couple weeks back, but at one point our starting OL was Reitz (a former undrafted FA), Mewhort (a former 2nd rounder), Harrison (a former undrafted FA), Louis (a former 7th rounder), and Goode (a rookie 7th rounder).  I could be wrong, but I highly doubt any other team in the league has put out an offensive line with only 1 player on it being drafted higher than the 7th round.  To me, it is unacceptable.  I understand that our team was in bad shape before Grigson took over, and I get the fact that in year 1, he surrounded Luck with weapons (drafting Fleener, Allen, TY, Brazill, etc.) -- however, there is no excuse as to why a QB who was drafted to be the face of the franchise for a decade or more should be surrounded with such a lack of talent/depth on the OL going into his 4th year.  While Luck made some poor decisions before his injury (and on the hit that got his kidney), he also took a lot of shots due to a subpar OL.  Hasselbeck has been getting crushed the past couple of weeks, in large part due to a crappy OL.  It also drives me nuts because when Grigs/Pags took over, their mission was to build a team that could win in the trenches ("to be able to win in this league, you need to be able to run the ball and stop the run".....) -- we have not had a good running game in 4 years because we don't have an OL good enough to open holes (combined with the fact that we stuck with the T-Rich experiment too long).

 

My second biggest gripe is our defensive front 7.  To Grigs' credit, Anderson and Arthur Jones I believe are 2 talented players -- unfortunately they are hurt.  Parry has been good and Langford is definitely serviceable, but we still have a lot to be desired.  D'Qwell has done well (for the most part) and I totally understand that signing, as I think he was brought in to be a 2 year stop-gap.  Walden has been OK, and Mathis seems like he is getting a little better each week.  Other than that, our LB corps is simply not good -- Newsome looked much better last year, IMO, and his lack of development is worrisome to me.  Werner, IMO, gets cut from this team if he wasn't a first round draft pick, he is just not good.  Freeman is OK, but I don't think the team should have been comfortable going into the season with him as a front-runner to start.  Otherwise, Cole is over the hill, McNary does not look that good, we know very little about Adongo but he hasn't really done anything to make me believe that experiment hasn't failed........ Again, as others have said -- the motto when the new regime took over was 'run the ball, stop the run' -- we are failing at both of these assignments.

 

I'm also a bit confused about the use of TE's.  Fleener and Allen both showed to be promising in their first few years -- I know Allen's dealt with some injury issues, but (at least IMO), this year has been the worst year for both of them (or I guess in Allen's case, he seemed like he was either a better player or being better utilized when healthy earlier in his career).  I don't know if this is on the coaching staff, if the players themselves have regressed a little, or what is going on -- I would think with a back-up QB that the TE's would see a more prominent role as security blankets, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Superman said:

Oh, add to the list that we can't run screen passes. I'm really baffled by that.

 

Yes, this would have been my last point.  It seems like with 2 (3 if Dorsett is healthy) WR's on the roster than run sub 4.4 forties (TY, Moncrief) and 2 big-bodied WRs (AJ, Moncrief) that we should be able to have the ability to run these successfully with speed and blocking ability.  The Pats seem to run screen passes very well with Edelman and Amendola and they both run over 4.5 forties.  Other teams have run them very well, too -- for some reason, we are pretty awful at them.  It sure seems like we have the personnel to thrive at running screens, but we just fail at it.  Could be like you said, we don't have any real 'quick' players or, more likely than not IMO, this is a problem with coaching.

 

[JColts72]

26 minutes ago, coltsfansince65 said:

We haven't built a monster, we've built a Gossamer.  Don't know if you young guys will get this but us

older folk know who Gossamer is.

From Bugs Looney Tunes. He looks tougher then our D.

[Rally5]

How about we are constantly out game planned and then when we finally nail a good GP we miss on half time adjustments.  Just trying to mix in something none player related.

[Track Guy]

6 minutes ago, NBColtsFanatic said:

What happened is my question 

On offense we got one dimensional because our running game was no good. We started throwing a lot more which subjected our QB to many hits. Very little creativity in play calling, not enough play action or bootlegs imo. We also lead the league in WR drops in 2014. Lost our pro bowl, chain-moving possession WR.

 

On defense we lost Rob Mathis for 2014. We never were able to get enough other players who could pass rush effectively. This exposed even more of our weakness in the secondary and middle linebacking group. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, Superman said:

Oh, add to the list that we can't run screen passes. I'm really baffled by that.

I am baffled by this as well. Hopefully Dorsett will be the guy to add the necessary speed we need with the short passing game.

[Superman]

3 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I am baffled by this as well. Hopefully Dorsett will be the guy to add the necessary speed we need with the short passing game.

 

Can we get the ball to him in a screen pass situation? I'm not confident.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, Superman said:

 

Can we get the ball to him in a screen pass situation? I'm not confident.

I am not sure either. I am not sure why our short passing game isn't one of the best on the league actually with TY and Moncrief but that is what most of us are trying to figure out.

[Superman]

6 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I am not sure either. I am not sure why our short passing game isn't one of the best on the league actually with TY and Moncrief but that is what most of us are trying to figure out.

 

Teams are sitting on the short stuff because they know we can't hit anything deep without Luck. But we have to lead the league in batted screen passes. It's not rocket science: cut block on the play side, that way you have a clear passing lane. I've been saying this for two years now.

[jimmy g]

3 hours ago, krunk said:

 

Djoun Smith had 1 snap

 

What is Manuskys deal with this stuff?  Mcnary and Brown both sucked.

 

He's obviously not that high on Smith it seems to allow a guy freshly called up from injury waivers to just come in and start over DJ.  I known Brown was here in the offseason, but come on you drafted this kid in the 3rd round and he's got talent. Let the kid get his feet wet.

We gave up 51 points. I doubt he'd have been much worse.

[SteelDragon]

1 hour ago, ponyboy said:

Grigson's goatee.

 

Chuck's goatee.

Irsay ' s goatee.

[throwing BBZ]

1 hour ago, Superman said:

 

They talk a lot about speed, and clearly value it, but we don't have anyone on the team with high level quickness (maybe Dorsett, but I watched him in college; he's fast and explosive, I don't think I'd call him quick). 

 

Henry Anderson has some explosiveness. Parry, also. Langford brings more punch than RJF did. 

 

I thought adding Moore would mean he'd get to play, and might increase the athleticism of the front seven. Either he's awful in practice and meetings, or the staff is missing something. I watched this guy in Oakland, including seeing him in person a couple times. He's easily the most athletic LB on the roster. And he played 8 snaps yesterday, while Yeldon and Robinson shook our LBs throughout the second half.

 

  I look closely at our D-Line play and have enjoyed watching how Langford and Parry are hammering, battling, crashing down on their opponents. Henry was right in their also.
 It shows up when DQ plays well against the run. Not just getting tackles.
 Unfortunately those guys don`t scare the opposing QB`s.
 Manusky has a fairly Lousy front seven to dial up the D with.
 And no Specialists to attack with.

[Superman]

1 minute ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

  I look closely at our D-Line play and have enjoyed watching how Langford and Parry are hammering, battling, crashing down on their opponents. Henry was right in their also.
 It shows up when DQ plays well against the run. Not just getting tackles.
 Unfortunately those guys don`t scare the opposing QB`s.
 Manusky has a fairly Lousy front seven to dial up the D with.
 And no Specialists to attack with.

 

Would be a different story if 2013 Mathis were around. Even 2013 Cole would be nice.

[BOTT]

Chuck's use of "ya know".  You are 50 Chuck, not 16.

[2006Coltsbestever]

19 minutes ago, SteelDragon said:

 

Chuck's goatee.

Irsay ' s goatee.

If Luck goes to the goatee then we have a problem LOL.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

I guess I ought to add 2 more things:

 

1) Special teams.  Obviously we have 2 of the best legs in the league in Adam and Pat.  Otherwise, we have not had a strong return game since this regime has taken over -- Bray looks like he has some dynamite, and I was hoping Dorsett would, but he made some bad mental mistakes when given the shot at PR duty.  This is concerning to me -- special teams is a big asset of the game, and we have not done a very good job in the return game in 4 years.  Additionally, we've given up punt returns for touchdowns in each of the past 2 weeks, these can be huge in the momentum and overall outcome of the game.  So far this season, we've given up 3 return TDs and have not scored one.  Overall under this regime, we have allowed 5 return TDs and have only scored 2 (the last we scored on one was 2012).  To me, this is something that would be nice to address.

 

2) On Grigson -- he seems like he is constantly experimenting.  This isn't always a bad thing, and I respect the fact that he has searched for talent in some odd places and that he has done OK with a few of these.  However, there are many questionable moves -- Grigson used to aim to not sign anyone over 30, then with the success of Mike Adams, he decided to go out and sign multiple players over 30 because "he kinda got worn down by some of the youth".  This obviously hasn't worked out -- Herreman's is usually a healthy scratch because he is old and not good, and AJ and T. Cole have not panned out very well at all (I'm happy with Gore, but think he could do much better if he had a decent OL). I also find it frustrating that so many of the players Grigson signs are those who he had some affiliation to prior to coming to Indy (I get why we got multiple guys from Baltimore's D in year one, because we were terrible on D and having guys fit the scheme was logical, but I do find it frustrating that 3 years later we are signing washed up old guys that Grigson knew from his time in Philly).  -- http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000480431/article/ryan-grigson-has-indianapolis-colts-targeting-super-bowl-50 (article where I got his quote from)

[Superman]

19 minutes ago, BOTT said:

Chuck's use of "ya know".  You are 50 Chuck, not 16.

 

"Ya know" isn't something a 16 year old says. They say "like." And that's infinitely more annoying than "ya know." 

[superrep1967]

2 hours ago, SteelDragon said:

I'm just stating the obvious here: Grigson doesn't know what he's doing. You guys have already hit on a number of complaints. If you come in here under the mantra of "run the ball/stop the run," and 4 years into the build process you haven't improved at all, what else needs to be said? There's nothing left to evaluate with this staff.

The whiffs on first round draft picks and the misspent money on free agents have taken its toll. This team is long in tooth at some critical positions and just plain bad at others.  It's not only time for a new regime,  this team is going to need a considerable overhaul.

I totally agree. 

[Superman]

12 minutes ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

I guess I ought to add 2 more things:

 

1) Special teams.  Obviously we have 2 of the best legs in the league in Adam and Pat.  Otherwise, we have not had a strong return game since this regime has taken over -- Bray looks like he has some dynamite, and I was hoping Dorsett would, but he made some bad mental mistakes when given the shot at PR duty.  This is concerning to me -- special teams is a big asset of the game, and we have not done a very good job in the return game in 4 years.  Additionally, we've given up punt returns for touchdowns in each of the past 2 weeks, these can be huge in the momentum and overall outcome of the game.  So far this season, we've given up 3 return TDs and have not scored one.  Overall under this regime, we have allowed 5 return TDs and have only scored 2 (the last we scored on one was 2012).  To me, this is something that would be nice to address.

 

2) On Grigson -- he seems like he is constantly experimenting.  This isn't always a bad thing, and I respect the fact that he has searched for talent in some odd places and that he has done OK with a few of these.  However, there are many questionable moves -- Grigson used to aim to not sign anyone over 30, then with the success of Mike Adams, he decided to go out and sign multiple players over 30 because "he kinda got worn down by some of the youth".  This obviously hasn't worked out -- Herreman's is usually a healthy scratch because he is old and not good, and AJ and T. Cole have not panned out very well at all (I'm happy with Gore, but think he could do much better if he had a decent OL). I also find it frustrating that so many of the players Grigson signs are those who he had some affiliation to prior to coming to Indy (I get why we got multiple guys from Baltimore's D in year one, because we were terrible on D and having guys fit the scheme was logical, but I do find it frustrating that 3 years later we are signing washed up old guys that Grigson knew from his time in Philly).  -- http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000480431/article/ryan-grigson-has-indianapolis-colts-targeting-super-bowl-50 (article where I got his quote from)

 

Man, all of a sudden we can't cover punts. I feel like we went three seasons without giving up a punt return for a TD, and now we've given up three in five games. Although, a lot of that is injury. On the return yesterday, guys were stacked up on top of each other, clearly not in their lanes. Terrible execution. Easily fixed, I think.

 

I don't know why we can't ever return punts. It's been a long time.

 

I don't mind the older vets this year. We're pretty much 60% this season, which is probably better than a typical signing period. Gore, Langford and Lowery are doing well (some might be mixed on Lowery). AJ and Herremans aren't good. You said this hasn't worked out; I don't think I agree with that. Maybe we could have done better... Michael Crabtree would have been better than AJ, but I don't think he wanted to leave the Bay area. 

 

And I get why Grigson was burnt out on some young players. Between guys getting in trouble (there's a considerable list, nothing too troubling) to guys just not knowing how to be pros (Richardson and his issues, Holmes not being able to get out of the training room, Thornton getting benched in NY last year, etc.), there's some aggravation that comes with a young locker room. Having some hungry vets take the place of the outgoing hungry vets (Reggie, Redding, Bethea, etc.) isn't a bad idea.

[Defjamz26]

Here are my grievances:

 

-This team is soft. People called the Mike Smith Falcons soft, but the Colts are a marshmallow team

 

-It's been almost a decade since the Colts had a legitimate run game. Unacceptable.

 

-The coach is soft. He actually said he wasn't embarrassed by the loss, while Hilton said he's embarrassed by the last two matches. How can you not be embarrassed?

 

-The cupboard is bare on defense. The best player on D isn't even playing good.

 

-O-Line

 

-I'm tired of hearing Pagano repeat the same rhetoric after a loss. "We'll get that fixed" "Gotta go back and look at the tape". Been saying that for 4 years and hasn't fixed a damn thing. This team may have gone a step further each year, but in terms of fixing flaws, it hasn't changed a bit

 

-Luck can't play consistently. Cam Newton looks better than Luck. I'm not sold on him ever becoming the best QB in the NFL some day. Turns the ball over too much.

 

-Offense isn't creative at all.

 

This team is way worse than its record indicates. Jags kicker choked the game away and we barely survived the Titans. This is really a 4-9 team masquerading as a playoff team. It's a miracle this team isn't picking in the top 10.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

8 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Man, all of a sudden we can't cover punts. I feel like we went three seasons without giving up a punt return for a TD, and now we've given up three in five games. Although, a lot of that is injury. On the return yesterday, guys were stacked up on top of each other, clearly not in their lanes. Terrible execution. Easily fixed, I think.

 

I don't know why we can't ever return punts. It's been a long time.

 

I don't mind the older vets this year. We're pretty much 60% this season, which is probably better than a typical signing period. Gore, Langford and Lowery are doing well (some might be mixed on Lowery). AJ and Herremans aren't good. You said this hasn't worked out; I don't think I agree with that. Maybe we could have done better... Michael Crabtree would have been better than AJ, but I don't think he wanted to leave the Bay area. 

 

And I get why Grigson was burnt out on some young players. Between guys getting in trouble (there's a considerable list, nothing too troubling) to guys just not knowing how to be pros (Richardson and his issues, Holmes not being able to get out of the training room, Thornton getting benched in NY last year, etc.), there's some aggravation that comes with a young locker room. Having some hungry vets take the place of the outgoing hungry vets (Reggie, Redding, Bethea, etc.) isn't a bad idea.

 

I can see the logic to it, but in that article Grigson says he went from not wanting anyone under 28 to thinking it'd be good to sign only players over 33 (I'm sure he exaggerated on that some), but to totally change your philosophy during your 4th year into a job because the Mike Adams signing worked out is a little worrisome to me. 

 

I get why he could be burnt out on some young players (to add to the list of those you menitoned, we've had Da'Rick Rogers, Loucheiz Purifoy, Joe LeFeged, etc.), but that IMO shouldn't be reason to focus going after older players.  Cole, AJ, and Herremans were all pretty clearly on the decline elsewhere before we brought them in here.

 

If you add Cole to your list, I'd say we're closer to 50% -- with Gore and Langford being successes, Lowery being neutral, and Cole, AJ, and Herremans being failures.  Nate Irving also showed some positive, but I'd say he'd be classified as neutral.

 

Given Grigson's overall failing grade in previous free agencies (successes include D'Qwell, Overton, Redding, Adams, Butler, Walden, maybe Donnie Avery, and Jerrell Freeman are the only I can think of, with a fair number of neutrals and failures including Samson Satele, Tom Zbikowski, Brandon McKinney, RJF, Landry, D. Thomas, Sidbury, Cherilus, Aubrayu Franklin, Heyward-Bey, Costa, Nicks, etc.), I could also see why he wanted to change his strategy.  However, it is obvious that this strategy is not going to help sustain this team over Luck's career (I doubt Herremans, AJ, or Cole is in a Colts uniform next year and doubt we'll get more than 1 more year out of Gore). 

 

What is most alarming to me is that it leaked after the player's only meeting in early Nov that Grigson controls who Pagano puts on the field.  I have no idea how the talent evaluation process and scouting go on behind the scenes in Indy, but if Pagano doesn't have the power to manage how the players on his roster are managed, I can't imagine he has a lot of control in terms of the players who get to be put on the roster thru free agency and the draft.  So, while I agree with you that Grigson had some logic behind his moves, I just don't see a good track record for him in free agency and he hasn't really shown to be improving in his 4th season -- I get where he is coming from with 'when you have 12, you have to aim to win now' comments, but I'm really not sure that addressing the offensive line (I think every fan on here was in agreement that the OL was a major area of concern going into this season) by signing a washed-up 33 year old guard, drafting a tackle in the 7th round, and signing a guy from the CFL is really putting this team in position to protect our QB and win football games.

[SilentHill]

The YAC from every pass catcher on this team has to be worst in the league. This season, TY consistently falls down with the ball after the catch, and Fleener looks like a toppling bowling pin every time he catches it. Even if we don't have elusive receivers, players like Allen, Fleener, and Andre Johnson need to catch the ball in open field and truck the DB's.