5 blown leads

[Superman]

13 minutes ago, Smoke317 said:

Sheard butchered setting the edge for nearly the entire 4th quarter.  Zero contain.

 

To be honest, he gave up the edge throughout the game. It's just that he had success beating his man and stopping the RB earlier on, then the Titans countered and used his aggressiveness against him. And no one on the coaching staff corrected it.

[Superman]

The longer the game goes on, the more likely it is that the better team will prevail. The Colts aren't finishing these games primarily because they aren't good enough, top to bottom.

 

It starts and ends with the coaching staff, IMO -- back to back ridiculous third down play calls late in the game, punting on that last 4th down when the defense had already shown serious signs of weakness, a complete inability to counter the blitz for two games in a row now, etc.

 

But in the mix there are a lot of on field mistakes that equate to big body shots, and you can only get pounded in the midsection for so long before you hit the mat. Blown protections, overthrows, holding penalties on both sides, missed tackles, missed receivers... body shot, body shot, body shot... then you turn the ball over inside your own five, and now you're on the mat. From that point forward, we crumbled. 

[ColtsGermany]

I'm like "hey, we're doin good today. Might win this one." and my girlfriend is always sayin "wait for the 2nd half..."

Seems like she knows more about this team than me. Crazy world.... 

[dgambill]

6 hours ago, WoolMagnet said:

Too bad Polian isnt still here. He could petition the rules committee.

 

6 hours ago, WoolMagnet said:

Too bad Polian isnt still here. He could petition the rules committee.

The NFL does want to speed up the game lol.

[WoolMagnet]

53 minutes ago, dgambill said:

 

The NFL does want to speed up the game lol.

Great idea.  Arguably less injuries , so safer for the players too.

are you gonna call Roger, or should I ?

[WoolMagnet]

1 hour ago, ColtsGermany said:

I'm like "hey, we're doin good today. Might win this one." and my girlfriend is always sayin "wait for the 2nd half..."

Seems like she knows more about this team than me. Crazy world.... 

Time for a new girlfriend maybe?

i dumped a girl for giving pizza to my dog behind my back when she knew he didnt get "people food" so......... i'd say...... its time for a change.

 

 

[OregonapolisColtsFan]

6 hours ago, Smonroe said:

 

Lately the coaches have done well (I’ll duck now).  You don’t adjust at the half when what you did was working.  You do have to react to adjustments, and that’s an issue when you don’t have the talent.

 

It’s not news to anyone that the game is matchups, right?  I give the coaches credit in the last few games for hanging with more talented teams that long.  

 

What i need to look at on this game is what happened to holding the edge.  They did so well until the 4th.  IMHO, this game wasn’t on the coaches.  

I agree if something is working you don't go away from it, but you do have to be creative in finding ways to do the same thing. It seems like we have no more than about 5 different running plays that we use and if we have the lead, teams know were going to run it (right up the gut)  every first down, for example. But instead you could use some misdirection to make the other team think your going to do something else and make it a little easier to sustain the style you want to play. Like maybe send Hilton across like your going fly sweep with him then hand it off up the gut, or have multiple actions going on behind the line of scrimmage to create a mesh. This idea was working perfect in KC on their 6 win streak. Not sure what happened to them since then, but that's another thread. Eagles are another team that excels at being unpredictable. Same with the Rams. But, my point is if you have a predictable game plan, at least have an unpredictable set of plays to run. 

 

PS nothing against your opinion Smonroe, and this game definitely is not a game where coaching was the biggest issue, since the coaches didn't fumble on the goal line, couldn't block, and couldn't hold the edge for the better part of a quarter. But your response was a good platform for mine.

[ColtsGermany]

1 hour ago, WoolMagnet said:

Time for a new girlfriend maybe?

i dumped a girl for giving pizza to my dog behind my back when she knew he didnt get "people food" so......... i'd say...... its time for a change.

 

 

No way. She's the best i have. 

[WoolMagnet]

8 minutes ago, ColtsGermany said:

No way. She's the best i have. 

just messin with ya

good ones are hard to find

[WoolMagnet]

37 minutes ago, WoolMagnet said:

just messin with ya

good ones are hard to find

If you visit Dusseldorf and run into Sandra Gal, say hello for me.

i like her "style."

 

[lollygagger8]

Nothing will change if Pagano remains. 

[Myles]

9 hours ago, Superman said:

The longer the game goes on, the more likely it is that the better team will prevail. The Colts aren't finishing these games primarily because they aren't good enough, top to bottom.

 

 

I think this is the biggest factor. 

[dgambill]

9 hours ago, WoolMagnet said:

Great idea.  Arguably less injuries , so safer for the players too.

are you gonna call Roger, or should I ?

Its funny how with Andrew we just wanted the game to have a couple more minutes because he was so good at coming back...and now we just can't hold a lead. I do think this team has more talent on it then years past. It just lacks leadership...at QB and I'm afraid to say it but on the sideline too. I don't know what the answer is to improve the leadership on the sideline. There aren't that many quality head coaches available out there that I could say is honestly an upgrade over Chuck...but the answer to the qb problem should be ready by next year I hope. I know we all are disgusted by the coaching for the past couple years but I think Chuck and staff are actually bringing some players along...I see improvement....I just don't see enough improvement in THEIR coaching on game days though. Its easy to say lets get rid of him but its hard to say who to replace him with....and I mean legitiment replacements...not wish list guys like Harbaugh and Gruden.

[dgambill]

7 hours ago, ColtsGermany said:

No way. She's the best i have. 

If she is willing to even sit and watch the game with you that is a big plus! My wife made me get up at the end of the first quarter and rake and mulch leaves because she said if she let me wait til after the game and she left to visit her friend then I wouldn't do it right so she wanted to make sure it got done correctly. lol  Honestly I love my wife...and she normally watches with me...so that's why I know its a plus...she was just mad I bought a tv for black Friday lol....so I deserved it.....now unfortunately though she will probably pay me back by making me watch 90 day fiancé and housewives of orange county in 4k....ewww.

[Jaric]

Is our fault really.  Remember when we used to complain about the slow starts?  "Why do we wait till halfway through the third quarter to start playing!?" we'd scream.  

 

Well those chickens have come home to roost.  

 

Apparently we're only gonna get about a half of decent football out of this organization and we demanded they spend it in the first half.  Be careful what you wish for.

[Chrisaaron1023]

51 minutes ago, Jaric said:

Is our fault really.  Remember when we used to complain about the slow starts?  "Why do we wait till halfway through the third quarter to start playing!?" we'd scream.  

 

Well those chickens have come home to roost.  

 

Apparently we're only gonna get about a half of decent football out of this organization and we demanded they spend it in the first half.  Be careful what you wish for.

Exactly.. so next yeat Brissett should start and Luck can come off the bench in the 2nd half.

[chad72]

1 hour ago, Jaric said:

Is our fault really.  Remember when we used to complain about the slow starts?  "Why do we wait till halfway through the third quarter to start playing!?" we'd scream.  

 

Well those chickens have come home to roost.  

 

Apparently we're only gonna get about a half of decent football out of this organization and we demanded they spend it in the first half.  Be careful what you wish for.

 

When you have a whole bunch of young players still learning to close games, you either need veteran leaders on the team OR the coaches have to have the players ready to play smarter and scheme better to put drives together that result in points for our offense. Our players are not playing smart enough and the coaches aren't protecting the players with good game plans that have to evolve with the game flow late in games. Mack's fumble was totally uncalled for and changed everything in the Titans game. However, the coaches' abilities to put together good game plans that result in points late in games has fallen short considerably.

[dgambill]

7 hours ago, OregonapolisColtsFan said:

I agree if something is working you don't go away from it, but you do have to be creative in finding ways to do the same thing. It seems like we have no more than about 5 different running plays that we use and if we have the lead, teams know were going to run it (right up the gut)  every first down, for example. But instead you could use some misdirection to make the other team think your going to do something else and make it a little easier to sustain the style you want to play. Like maybe send Hilton across like your going fly sweep with him then hand it off up the gut, or have multiple actions going on behind the line of scrimmage to create a mesh. This idea was working perfect in KC on their 6 win streak. Not sure what happened to them since then, but that's another thread. Eagles are another team that excels at being unpredictable. Same with the Rams. But, my point is if you have a predictable game plan, at least have an unpredictable set of plays to run. 

 

PS nothing against your opinion Smonroe, and this game definitely is not a game where coaching was the biggest issue, since the coaches didn't fumble on the goal line, couldn't block, and couldn't hold the edge for the better part of a quarter. But your response was a good platform for mine.

I think the most important part is that you have to EXPECT that the opposition will make changes. You still attempt to execute your game plan but good coaching will try to take something away or exploit something that is working. So I think you discuss and gameplan what you think will continue to work well but also if they take something away what might that open up so you can counter. How many times do you see a good team like NE after say running the ball all first half come out in a 2 minute offense in the 3rd quarter or start throwing the ball on first down etc...or bring their backers or change up and start dropping them. Basically changing it up even if something was working well. Granted they can basically execute anything because of their qb but I would like to think we have some contingency plans for our team coming out of the locker room. Some teams if they just execute because of their talent they are going to win....we don't have that so we have to make up for the lack of talent by staying a step ahead...something I'm afraid this staff isn't great at (adjustments).

[OregonapolisColtsFan]

3 minutes ago, dgambill said:

I think the most important part is that you have to EXPECT that the opposition will make changes. You still attempt to execute your game plan but good coaching will try to take something away or exploit something that is working. So I think you discuss and gameplan what you think will continue to work well but also if they take something away what might that open up so you can counter. How many times do you see a good team like NE after say running the ball all first half come out in a 2 minute offense in the 3rd quarter or start throwing the ball on first down etc...or bring their backers or change up and start dropping them. Basically changing it up even if something was working well. Granted they can basically execute anything because of their qb but I would like to think we have some contingency plans for our team coming out of the locker room. Some teams if they just execute because of their talent they are going to win....we don't have that so we have to make up for the lack of talent by staying a step ahead...something I'm afraid this staff isn't great at (adjustments).

Very good point, I agree. And that's why a team like the rams who were awful last year with a very similar cast can go on to be one of the better teams in the league this year, going from an old school coach like Jeff Fisher who just wants to pound it down your throat all game even if the personnel doesn't allow for that kind of domination, to a brilliant young mind like mcvay who plays to his personnel's strength and can scheme guys open even if they aren't world beating talents. Wish we could interview that guy and then go find someone who would bring a nearly identical coaching style to the coltrs next year. That would be the best thing for this team

[ColtsGermany]

8 hours ago, WoolMagnet said:

If you visit Dusseldorf and run into Sandra Gal, say hello for me.

i like her "style."

 

Sry i don't know who this is?!

Back to the topic. 

I think it's not only a coaching problem. 

I could imagine it's something psychological. 

 

Maybe the first two  or three blown leads were bad coaching and bad luck. 

And from thereon it's starting to be a problem in the players heads as well. 

 

"we got a lead.... But what if we blow that one again? I can't make a mistake now. WE can't make a mistake now. "

 

Then they start thinking about what happend the games before.... Gettin nervous and do a mistake, gettin penalized..... Keep on thinking more about what happend and that it might happen again....loosing confidence.... Making more mistakes.... And so on, and so on....

 

Think the reason for those blown leads is somwhere between our coaching staff and in the heads of our players. 

[IinD]

I remember not to long ago when we never lost back to back games with Chuck...

Sucks to be us nowadays.

[NannyMcafee]

21 hours ago, RockThatBlue said:

Just heard Lamey say it on the postgame show the Colts have had leads at the end of the 3rd in 8 games.

 

Colts have only won THREE of them.

 

Lol, the colts have only won 3 games total. 

[Myles]

This will be the biggest offseason in recent history for the Colts.   They will most likely have a top 5 pick in the draft.   They need to do their research and find a "sure thing" in whoever they choose.   Same with the high second round pick they will have.   They also have to seriously consider a new coaching staff.  Depending who is available, it is not a certainty that firing Chuck will be the best decision at the time.  Then there are the Colts free agents to consider:

 

Melvin

Vinatieri

Desir

Mingo

Mewhort

Moncrief

Aiken - Although we should be able to resign him for cheap

Swoop

Bostic

 

[dgambill]

33 minutes ago, Myles said:

This will be the biggest offseason in recent history for the Colts.   They will most likely have a top 5 pick in the draft.   They need to do their research and find a "sure thing" in whoever they choose.   Same with the high second round pick they will have.   They also have to seriously consider a new coaching staff.  Depending who is available, it is not a certainty that firing Chuck will be the best decision at the time.  Then there are the Colts free agents to consider:

 

Melvin

Vinatieri

Desir

Mingo

Mewhort

Moncrief

Aiken - Although we should be able to resign him for cheap

Swoop

Bostic

 

I don't think that is an issue with keeping any of the guys we want. We should have (give or take) around 68 million in cap space. We should be able to sign our own and make a pretty big splash in FA if we choose to do so. I think we probably do like last year...maybe one or two big signings and then again try to get young talent to bring in.