Luck on Sacks: "On a lot of them, Blame Me..."

[NewColtsFan]

 

Luck's weekly press conference....    he shows why his teammates love him...

 

At the 3:45 area, he's asked by ESPN's Mike Wells about having a clock in your head to get rid of the ball on pass plays....   Paraphrasing here:  Luck says yes,  and then says on a lot of the sacks he's taken to blame him for holding the ball to long, and notes that he doesn't think the sack totals the line has given up is a good indicator of just how well he thinks the line is playing.

 

At the 6:45 area, Wells with more of a follow-up about the clock in his head and how on Monday's when they look at tape Luck will note the plays were he didn't throw it away...

 

Here is the tape....   the whole 8 minutes is good stuff....   obviously a lot of questions about facing Houston, especially without JJ Watt. 

 

http://www.colts.com/videos/videos/Andrew-Luck-Full-Press-Conference-10-12-2016/e144fea4-30cd-44b2-bcb9-b372b8baa081

[Ratking]

A little off subject, but interesting part at the end where Luck says Ryan Kelly is excited to get a shot to play against Vince Wilfork . 

[2006Coltsbestever]

I think he would rather take a sack than force something as well. I have noticed he isn't forcing as much this season when pressured to avoid a bad INT which is good. What is bad is he is taking way too many hits.

[Malakai432]

26 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I think he would rather take a sack than force something as well. I have noticed he isn't forcing as much this season when pressured to avoid a bad INT which is good. What is bad is he is taking way too many hits.

Yeah I think he's getting better this year with regards to that also.  I still do agree though he does hold the ball too long in many instances.  I even noticed last game there was pressure on a play and he waited until the last second before he chucked it short for a bad throw/incompletion to a back.  He can definitely improve in this area, but when a 3-4 man pass rush can get to you constantly it makes things much more difficult. 

 

It's just a culmination of factors that they have to clean up because they will need to continue to put up around 30 ppg to be just competitive .  I feel if they think the other team is going to blitz, why try to dial up a play designed for TY 20-30 yards down field???!!  I feel the offense doesn't seem diverse or adaptive to their surroundings on a consistent basis and they still manage to score almost 30 ppg.  Good news is there's a lot of room for improvement.  I don't know much about the dynamics of what goes into coaching, schemes though but the O side of the ball does have talent there.  Hopefully Moncrief will come back soon also.

 

 

[Gavin]

I'm more annoyed by 11 False Starts by the offense. 5 of which came on 1st down

[NewColtsFan]

7 minutes ago, Gavin said:

I'm more annoyed by 11 False Starts by the offense. 5 of which came on 1st down

 

And I think a couple of those 1st down false starts also came out of a time out....   so the team had plenty of time to get everyone on the same page.....     and still popped their pants....

 

Grrrrr!

 

[zibby43]

Kelly needs to cool it on the false starts.  He had 2-3 against the Bears, at least.

[NewColtsFan]

47 minutes ago, zibby43 said:

Kelly needs to cool it on the false starts.  He had 2-3 against the Bears, at least.

 

 

If I heard correctly, (and I may not have)  I think at his weekly presser, Luck said some of those were his fault....

 

Just an FYI....

 

[zibby43]

6 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

 

If I heard correctly, (and I may not have)  I think at his weekly presser, Luck said some of those were his fault....

 

Just an FYI....

 

 

I enjoy watching those pressers.  I'll take a second look.  If I remember correctly, I think Luck said some of the sacks were his fault.  If the line knows the snap count, Luck shouldn't be able to get any of them to inadvertently jump (unless, with respect to Kelly, Luck was under center and doing something funky with his hands). 

 

Regardless, Kelly has impressed as a rookie center.

 

 

[Dustin]

13 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

 

If I heard correctly, (and I may not have)  I think at his weekly presser, Luck said some of those were his fault....

 

Just an FYI....

 

 

If a tornado hit Lucas Oil Stadium, Luck would say it was his fault.

[NewColtsFan]

27 minutes ago, Dustin said:

 

If a tornado hit Lucas Oil Stadium, Luck would say it was his fault.

 

 

True,  but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

His teammates know he'll stand up and take the heat for them and won't throw them under the bus.

 

Leadership is a good thing.....

 

[theanarchist]

4 hours ago, Gavin said:

I'm more annoyed by 11 False Starts by the offense. 5 of which came on 1st down

I havent checked any stats but I swear I heard the announcers on Sunday say 1) we have the most dropped passes in the league 2) the most penalized team in the league.

 

Pretty amazing with the defense that we have that we have even won 2 games.

[lollygagger8]

Man, if that doesn't make them block better for Luck, I don't know what will. 

[TKnight24]

1 hour ago, Dustin said:

 

If a tornado hit Lucas Oil Stadium, Luck would say it was his fault.

 

58 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

 

True,  but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

His teammates know he'll stand up and take the heat for them and won't throw them under the bus.

 

Leadership is a good thing.....

 

Now the HC for Norte Dame, that's someone who will throw you under the bus and be the one driving it lol 

[TKnight24]

12 minutes ago, lollygagger8 said:

Man, if that doesn't make them block better for Luck, I don't know what will. 

 

I heard we hired some offensive line guru named Philbin that's supposed to teach blocking 

[pgt_rob]

That call on Luck for bobbing his head was bad. Very picky since many QBs do this all the time without being called.

[PeterBowman]

11 minutes ago, pgt_rob said:

That call on Luck for bobbing his head was bad. Very picky since many QBs do this all the time without being called.

there were a lot of picky calls that game....on both sides

[MB-ColtsFan]

13 minutes ago, pgt_rob said:

That call on Luck for bobbing his head was bad. Very picky since many QBs do this all the time without being called.

Was it his head or his hands?  I thought it was for hands, but i definitely could be wrong.   Either way, it seemed a bit petty, but...

[PeterBowman]

I will say that yes there were too many sacks, but there were quite a few positives on the o line this last game. There were A LOT of plays where Luck had all day to throw, similar to the Detroit game, it was mostly one person who did most if not all the damage against the O line(Hyder for Detroit and Willie Young for the Bears). It's not like there were constant jail breaks on every other snap. When you have 2 rookies and a first year guard all playing next to each other, these things will happen from time to time. I think we should give this unit a little time to develop that continuity. Now if a few weeks from now, the same lineup is still  having the same issues over and over then something should be done. But also Luck getting the ball out quicker, not always focusing on the big play. Being better at executing screens would be nice too. Hopefully this young line will grow and improve and there is a bit to be optimistic about too. We'll just have to see.

 

[Restored]

Something I've thought about:

 

It often takes a few years for an offense to completely master a playbook. And with the offensive coordinators changing so frequently, I don't think Luck nor the other players have had the ample time to master the timing and the other nuances of every play.

 

However, there are still plenty of plays where Luck does hold the ball too long but that can be corrected. He just has to do it. 

[braveheartcolt]

I will say it again....how many scoring drives are due to AL holding the ball (too long), and eventuàlly converting on key downs? Swings and roundabouts.....

[CR91]

luck will never throw someone under the bus. but im sure he holds them responsible behind closed doors

[Tsarquise]

I don't think this is him just being diplomatic; he really does hold on to the ball too long. Peyton, he is not in that regard. 

[shakedownstreet]

It's true. Just look at what happened when Matt Hasselbeck came in for Luck last season

[PeterBowman]

17 minutes ago, Tsarquise said:

I don't think this is him just being diplomatic; he really does hold on to the ball too long. Peyton, he is not in that regard. 

Yep, he's more Roethlisberger and Favre than Manning for sure. That's just how he's wired.  

[coach kline]

7 hours ago, Gavin said:

I'm more annoyed by 11 False Starts by the offense. 5 of which came on 1st down

Playing at home having false starts is ridiculous

[Steamboat_Shaun]

The sacks are pretty concerning, but I do think that the line is improved. I see a lot more plays with clean pockets this season, whereas in previous years, there'd be 4 defenders immediately in the backfield on pretty much every play. The young guys are still struggling with stunts, but I think they're developing better than what they're getting credit for.

[Coffeedrinker]

32 minutes ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

The sacks are pretty concerning, but I do think that the line is improved. I see a lot more plays with clean pockets this season, whereas in previous years, there'd be 4 defenders immediately in the backfield on pretty much every play. The young guys are still struggling with stunts, but I think they're developing better than what they're getting credit for.

Yeah, many times this year the line has been feast or famine.  75-80% of the time they are all doing their jobs and opening holes in the running game or keeping a clean pocket and then in that 20-25% there seem to be multiple breakdowns.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

2 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Yeah, many times this year the line has been feast or famine.  75-80% of the time they are all doing their jobs and opening holes in the running game or keeping a clean pocket and then in that 20-25% there seem to be multiple breakdowns.

 

Yeah, it's either been a clean pocket with 3+ seconds to throw, or a sack, literally feast or famine.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

I don't mind him taking the blame himself publicly on sacks/false starts. But hopefully he's calling out the players atleast privately for continually messing up. Before he goes on I.R. 

Both him and pagano need to cut down on the pat on the back for inferior play.

[braveheartcolt]

2 hours ago, CR91 said:

luck will never throw someone under the bus. but im sure he holds them responsible behind closed doors

I remember Matt Schaub tried to throw his o-line under the bus once, but he missed by 5 yards....

[Malakai432]

Yeah Luck isn't going to ever blame anyone but himself.  However, I would hope that he would get into the faces of players who miss their assignment though.  

[JohnnyUnitas19]

Chuck Pagano Concerned About Number Of Sacks On Andrew Luck and rightly so . He is risking major season ending injury with all the long drop backs . We should incorporate more quick out short routes that gets rid of the ball faster plus RUN THE FOOTBALL MORE !

[Larry Horseman]

With a rookie OL, Luck is for sure holding the ball on average too long. This subject is all over Colts Twitter right now and Wells just put out this article: http://www.espn.com/blog/indianapolis-colts/post/_/id/18419/is-andrew-luck-holding-the-ball-longer-no-the-line-isnt-protecting-him. The article is absolutely terrible (it is Wells after all) because his conclusion is that Luck isn't holding the ball a consequential amount longer, which is just wrong.

 

Some quicker drop and shorter WR routes would help take pressure off both Luck and the OL (@NewColtsFan this ties into the discussion we were having in another thread). I think Luck will never be a quick release guy like PM, Brady, Rodgers, and he absolutely excels at the intermediate and long passing game, but working in some three step and throw to WR would be a plus. 

[throwing BBZ]

10 hours ago, Gavin said:

I'm more annoyed by 11 False Starts by the offense. 5 of which came on 1st down

 

 No doubt. And it is something that should get better. lol
 As far as holding the ball to long, he does. He is dying to make a play for sure.
 I am pleased with the route packages that Chud is building his Monster with. Lots to figure out with what he has to work with, Naturally.
  Being good at executing Hot Reads is no doubt on the weekly agenda.
 Practice.... and game experience! Yee haa!
 And I have felt in a couple games so far the workings of the Real Deal, on Offense.
  And Houston will offer some good D to challenge us. Go

[a06cc]

I think he can get rid of the ball quicker. He just isn't taking the underneath routes. Also he almost resorted to old Luck. One of those sacks Sunday as he was falling to the ground he almost throw the ball. Thank God he tucked the ball back in. 1.9 seconds for him to get rid of the ball is possible. 3 of the 5 sack were due to hold onto the ball too long.

[BOTT]

8 hours ago, Tsarquise said:

I don't think this is him just being diplomatic; he really does hold on to the ball too long. Peyton, he is not in that regard. 

It's also different philosophies.

[cbear]

He is holding on to the ball too long in many instances.

 

But that is not necessarily his fault.  The WRs may not be getting open soon enough.  The plays may take too long to develop, etc.  I do think that he needs to go through his reads quicker, or possibly cut down on the number of options he looks at before just throwing the ball away.  But as Chud pointed out today, he (and the line) are still getting used to the new offense.

[Archer]

• Y'know, blaming people is an American tradition (which sport fans have embraced).  Personally, I think the Colts' sack total is a pretty meaningless stat, as is the number of hits Luck has taken.  The commentators are using it to say the OL stinks, and now many are saying they are Luck's "fault".  I just think they are a bi-product of Luck trying to make a play.  Most of them are like five-yard sacks, and if they enable him to occasionally hits shots down field...then they're worth it.  Just watching the line play and not paying attention to the stupid stats, I'd say our line and our QB are doing well...

[Steamboat_Shaun]

3 hours ago, Archer said:

• Y'know, blaming people is an American tradition (which sport fans have embraced).  Personally, I think the Colts' sack total is a pretty meaningless stat, as is the number of hits Luck has taken.  The commentators are using it to say the OL stinks, and now many are saying they are Luck's "fault".  I just think they are a bi-product of Luck trying to make a play.  Most of them are like five-yard sacks, and if they enable him to occasionally hits shots down field...then they're worth it.  Just watching the line play and not paying attention to the stupid stats, I'd say our line and our QB are doing well...

 

I agree with the majority of what you're saying. At the same time, the fact that Luck has taken more 7-step drops than any QB in the league (per PFF), and that he's been sacked more than any QB in the league (common knowledge at this point), is not a coincidence.