Takeaway from Ravens game.

[Coffeedrinker]

regarding Luck (and these comments are based on his history in the NFL not the preseason game because I did not see the 1st half yesterday).

 

Luck has always had an issue of waiting for his receivers to get open rather than throwing in anticipation of them getting open.  You see he has this with Hilton.. Luck will often throw the ball before Hilton makes his move and that is why Hilton appears open so much, Luck knows that if Hilton is supposed to run 9.5 yards and then break at a 45° angle towards that sideline that TY will run 9.5 yards and break at a 45° angle to the sideline.  He does not have that trust and knowledge of the other receivers yet to do that consistently.  

 

That has been my biggest knock on Luck since he came into the league, he waits until a receiver is open to throw the ball and by the time the ball gets to the receiver... so had the defender.  You here the phrase a lot... about QBs throwing the receiver open, Luck needs to get better at that.  It's not a rust thing it's a reps thing.

[chad72]

4 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

regarding Luck (and these comments are based on his history in the NFL not the preseason game because I did not see the 1st half yesterday).

 

Luck has always had an issue of waiting for his receivers to get open rather than throwing in anticipation of them getting open.  You see he has this with Hilton.. Luck will often throw the ball before Hilton makes his move and that is why Hilton appears open so much, Luck knows that if Hilton is supposed to run 9.5 yards and then break at a 45° angle towards that sideline that TY will run 9.5 yards and break at a 45° angle to the sideline.  He does not have that trust and knowledge of the other receivers yet to do that consistently.  

 

That has been my biggest knock on Luck since he came into the league, he waits until a receiver is open to throw the ball and by the time the ball gets to the receiver... so had the defender.  You here the phrase a lot... about QBs throwing the receiver open, Luck needs to get better at that.  It's not a rust thing it's a reps thing.

 

Exactly!!! How many times have we seen an out or a comeback down the sideline with toe drag from Wayne or Harrison where the ball from Peyton is in the air automatically before they break thus giving the DBs most of the time no time to break? It is thrown a few yards in front and on the outside shoulder so that the WR, when he comes back for the ball is in perfect position. 

 

That is the kind of reps and trust that needs to be developed between Luck and the other WRs. 

[Four2itus]

3 hours ago, ProblChld32 said:

Our Defense played like complete Garbage

I disagree completely

[NewEra]

championships are not won in pre season....r-e-l-a-x

[Steamboat_Shaun]

19 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

This isn't even remotely encouraging. 19 points a game. And the first team offense hasn't threatened the end zone on a real offensive possession. 

 

I'm not worried about the offense, but this isn't making me feel any better. 

 

It's just 1 more useless preseason stat to add to the pile. I wouldn't read anything into it other than there's no indication of where our offense actually is compared to the other teams in our division. Houston & Tennessee are supposed to be "greatly improved" on the offensive side of the ball, & they've somehow scored even less than the Colts have.

[Freenyfan102]

To think the colts could have signed Dez Bryant

[Superman]

29 minutes ago, Btown_Colt said:

Luck said he was trying to hit Doyle but just made a bad throw.

 

Right. Not gonna blame a receiver that wasn't even targeted on the play. 

[pgt_rob]

I'm a bit worried about the offense clicking early on. Seems to be an on going pattern. It will eventually get better so I'm trying not to complain. Defense looked very fast last night. The edge rushers were quick and seemed to swarm. The run defense was a little eye opening. Gave up some larger runs. Other than that, I'll wait until the next game to see if anything has improved.

[Nesjan3]

-Defense played much better than last game

-Luck was jittery, but that is to be expected, made some nice throws, made some bad ones as well

-Lets face it, after TY we don't have any receivers standing out which is a reoccuring theme it seems.

-Its preseason week 2 nobody panic lol

[teganslaw]

Vinatieri still has it! Oh, my bad, not suppose to be positive.

[jameszeigler834]

4 hours ago, ColtsLegacy said:

When will they start working someone else at return? Hines has taken every return, as far as I can remember, and he's looked terrible on every one.

 

Start working other guys back there please.

 

And then cut Hines.

What worries me more than play calling is that we still even with the improvement made to the line cant run the ball worth a crap.

[Btown_Colt]

49 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Right. Not gonna blame a receiver that wasn't even targeted on the play. 

Agreed. It was a bad decision and he tried to force something that wasn’t there. I’ve watched the play a couple times now and it looks like Doyle was out of bounds anyway. He should of threw it away and took a FG.  Oh well it’s preseason and I’d rather it happen now as opposed to a regular season game.

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

regarding Luck (and these comments are based on his history in the NFL not the preseason game because I did not see the 1st half yesterday).

 

Luck has always had an issue of waiting for his receivers to get open rather than throwing in anticipation of them getting open.  You see he has this with Hilton.. Luck will often throw the ball before Hilton makes his move and that is why Hilton appears open so much, Luck knows that if Hilton is supposed to run 9.5 yards and then break at a 45° angle towards that sideline that TY will run 9.5 yards and break at a 45° angle to the sideline.  He does not have that trust and knowledge of the other receivers yet to do that consistently.  

 

That has been my biggest knock on Luck since he came into the league, he waits until a receiver is open to throw the ball and by the time the ball gets to the receiver... so had the defender.  You here the phrase a lot... about QBs throwing the receiver open, Luck needs to get better at that.  It's not a rust thing it's a reps thing.

 

Huh?

 

”It’s not a rust thing it’s a reps thing.”

 

WTH?!?

 

Where do you think rust comes from?   It comes from NO REPS!

 

No reps equals lots of rust.

 

I don’t know why you think it’s one but not the other?    They’re connected.

 

[onebad150]

13 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

Takeaways:

 

Colts having nothing at WR without Hilton.  Guys weren’t getting open which resulted in Luck trying to force it or hold the ball too long.

 

Both tackle spots are a major issue.  ACs return should help this.

 

The starting defense was better but still a concern

 

They have to find a new return man.  

 

Brissett is good

 

Wilkins has been good but hated to see him fumble even on the TD.  

 

Adam still has one heck of a leg

 

Pascal impressed me at WR but it was late in the game.  I wonder if we will see him earlier in the games based on this.

 

something to watch Simon was still playing in the fourth quarter not normally a good sign if you are a vet but he’s had a great camp so might have just been a lack of bodies issue or something.

 

RBs are dropping like flys,  Ferguson got hurt tonight.

 

look for some zone read in the Colts offense this year.

 

I liked to see the Colts ripping the ball out all over the place tonight.  

 

Farley played well and continues to be an underrated player.

 

ridgeway and Leonard continue to impress.

 

i miss bob lamey

Why is Ferguson on the roster, He is hurt all the time, and when he isn't he is completely ineffective.  It has been the same scenario for 2-3yrs.

[Coffeedrinker]

26 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Huh?

 

”It’s not a rust thing it’s a reps thing.”

 

WTH?!?

 

Where do you think rust comes from?   It comes from NO REPS!

 

No reps equals lots of rust.

 

I don’t know why you think it’s one but not the other?    They’re connected.

 

Rust implies he had it and trying to get it back.  Reps implies it's a work in progress.  For Luck it's a work in progress not something he is trying to get back to form.

[NewColtsFan]

2 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Rust implies he had it and trying to get it back.  Reps implies it's a work in progress.  For Luck it's a work in progress not something he is trying to get back to form.

 

Luck did have it.    He last had it in 2016.   And since then he’s had almost no reps.    His reps started around Aug 1st of this year.   That’s it.

 

Luck IS a work in progress.   Because he’s had precious few reps for nearly 600 days.    Which led to rust.    Lots and lots of rust.

 

Rust and reps are as connected as they can be.

 

[Coffeedrinker]

6 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Luck did have it.    He last had it in 2016.   And since then he’s had almost no reps.    His reps started around Aug 1st of this year.   That’s it.

 

Luck IS a work in progress.   Because he’s had precious few reps for nearly 600 days.    Which led to rust.    Lots and lots of rust.

 

Rust and reps are as connected as they can be.

 

I disagree with just about everything in this post.

 

Luck has had it with Hilton and all indications are he still has it with Hilton.  Luck has not had it with receivers other than Hilton, some of that would not have changed even if he played last year because the WR corps has changed. 

 

This as been an issue with Luck the entire time he has been in the NFL.  Not just now because he missed a year of football.

 

Rust and reps are NOT as connected as they can be.  Going back and looking at the link of all of Lucks passes, he does not look rusty at all, he really looks like he has picked up right where he left off.  It looks like he just doesn't know his receivers well enough yet.

 

I know it's popular to just talk about how everything will be ok once Luck knocks off the rust but I've put a bit more thought into it than that and it's not the way I see it.  Even if he played last year he would not have timing down with Grant.  even if he played last year he would not have timing down with Rogers because Rogers missed a good portion last year with his own injury.  Even if he played last year he would not have it with Ebron.  Luck doesn't have timing with all of them, and he probably won't this year.  Throw all of that together with a new OC, new QB coach, new offensive system and new terminology, he has a lot to work on before he starts fixing his weaknesses.

 

There is a reason why, even after the Colts won a SB, Manning had a couple of MVPs in his pocket and Harrison was already considered one of the best WRs of all time, before every game they were out there doing the route tree.  Timing like that takes a long time and constant vigilance.

[Superman]

9 hours ago, stitches said:

I'm still waiting to see when they are going to decide to give him a run with the first unit. He's consistently been the only one who creates any pressure and penetration into the backfield of the opponent. 

 

I really liked Ridgeway last year, too, he again was the player who was creating most havoc even in the Pagano system. His per snap production has always been impressive. He had 3 sacks last year and only played 16% of the snaps. He continues to do that and I am out of explanations about why he's not getting first team reps. I might be missing something but it's mind boggling to me why in a team that lacks any sort of pass-rush we continue to artificially limit the only player we have who is a pass-rush threat.  

 

IMO he should be starting at 3tech and playing at least 60-70% of the snaps. I don't care who sits, whoever you sit from that first team D-line is not going to be much of a loss. You cannot convince me we have anyone more worthy on our interior. Autry is not bad, but Ridgeway is outplaying him pretty clearly IMO. 

 

Wasn't there an injury and conditioning issue with Ridgeway last year? 

 

I agree, he seems like a prototypical 3 tech, and he seems to be thriving right now. 

[Superman]

8 hours ago, Fisticuffs111 said:

Yeah, I get that it's preseason, but I still didn't like the decisions to run twice in a row after the fumble recovery. Like, you have Luck in the red zone and it may not happen again in the game, let him chuck it a couple times. Especially since it seemed like the run game wasn't really going anywhere.

 

I just rewatched that series. If we give Reich the benefit of the doubt, it looks like he wanted to see if they could run the ball against a nickel defense out of 11 personnel. The holes didn't really open up, but Michael could have definitely bounced those to the outside if he had any ability to improvise.

 

It was not a good series for anyone on offense, but I'm assuming this is not indicative of how Reich intends to call plays in the regular season. I also assume Michael won't be the RB in that situation. 

[stitches]

57 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Wasn't there an injury and conditioning issue with Ridgeway last year? 

 

I agree, he seems like a prototypical 3 tech, and he seems to be thriving right now. 

I don't remember those issues. His games log says he played in 13 games (he missed games 11, 12 and 13).

[GoColts8818]

2 hours ago, onebad150 said:

Why is Ferguson on the roster, He is hurt all the time, and when he isn't he is completely ineffective.  It has been the same scenario for 2-3yrs.

I don’t disagree I just know he’s another hurt running back

[Devildog]

3 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

regarding Luck (and these comments are based on his history in the NFL not the preseason game because I did not see the 1st half yesterday).

 

Luck has always had an issue of waiting for his receivers to get open rather than throwing in anticipation of them getting open.  You see he has this with Hilton.. Luck will often throw the ball before Hilton makes his move and that is why Hilton appears open so much, Luck knows that if Hilton is supposed to run 9.5 yards and then break at a 45° angle towards that sideline that TY will run 9.5 yards and break at a 45° angle to the sideline.  He does not have that trust and knowledge of the other receivers yet to do that consistently.  

 

That has been my biggest knock on Luck since he came into the league, he waits until a receiver is open to throw the ball and by the time the ball gets to the receiver... so had the defender.  You here the phrase a lot... about QBs throwing the receiver open, Luck needs to get better at that.  It's not a rust thing it's a reps thing.

 

2 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Huh?

 

”It’s not a rust thing it’s a reps thing.”

 

WTH?!?

 

Where do you think rust comes from?   It comes from NO REPS!

 

No reps equals lots of rust.

 

I don’t know why you think it’s one but not the other?    They’re connected.

 

 

There must be something in his coffee.  

 

[Coffeedrinker]

5 minutes ago, Devildog said:

 

 

There must be something in his coffee.  

 

Wow, that's original.  Did you think of that all by yourself or did you need help?

[chad72]

2 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I disagree with just about everything in this post.

 

Luck has had it with Hilton and all indications are he still has it with Hilton.  Luck has not had it with receivers other than Hilton, some of that would not have changed even if he played last year because the WR corps has changed. 

 

This as been an issue with Luck the entire time he has been in the NFL.  Not just now because he missed a year of football.

 

Rust and reps are NOT as connected as they can be.  Going back and looking at the link of all of Lucks passes, he does not look rusty at all, he really looks like he has picked up right where he left off.  It looks like he just doesn't know his receivers well enough yet.

 

I know it's popular to just talk about how everything will be ok once Luck knocks off the rust but I've put a bit more thought into it than that and it's not the way I see it.  Even if he played last year he would not have timing down with Grant.  even if he played last year he would not have timing down with Rogers because Rogers missed a good portion last year with his own injury.  Even if he played last year he would not have it with Ebron.  Luck doesn't have timing with all of them, and he probably won't this year.  Throw all of that together with a new OC, new QB coach, new offensive system and new terminology, he has a lot to work on before he starts fixing his weaknesses.

 

There is a reason why, even after the Colts won a SB, Manning had a couple of MVPs in his pocket and Harrison was already considered one of the best WRs of all time, before every game they were out there doing the route tree.  Timing like that takes a long time and constant vigilance.

 

Given the timing of it, being pre-season, I can see why people can be dismissive of the criticism. I do see a lot of truth in what you said and agree to an extent, even if it is not the popular thing to do at this time.

 

Luck's more accurate throws "leading" his wide outs have more often come vertically than to the sidelines. Since he does not trust his other wide outs (outside T.Y. currently) and release before they break, and thus INTs have happened where the DB gets a chance to break on it. His passes, when they sail, they sail high more often than low and that is a problem too against zone defense where there is someone behind the pass catcher typically waiting for the ball that sailed high. Can they be fixed? Of course they can. However, we are sink or swim with Luck, and that can bias our judgement of his play as fans.

 

Ultimately, you (and I) have to reconcile a few things with Luck. He is not going to be a timing passer in a rhythm offense like Peyton, let us get that expectation out of the window. Big Ben, not until later in his career, did he develop better timing with his wide outs, I expect the same to happen with Luck. He will still be rolling out, scrambling and making passes but we need to provide some stability with our offensive weapons and system for Luck.

 

Peyton benefited a lot from offensive stability, and Luck has been at the receiving end with projects like Avery, DHB, Nicks, AJ etc. opposite T.Y.  and different offensive schemes. Luck has done enough, despite his deficiencies, to earn our trust and patience. All I can say is he deserves for us to give him some of that now. For his sake and the Colts' sake, I hope this coaching staff on the offensive side sticks around for several years. I don't want us to turn him into Alex Smith with constant change on the offensive front.

[1959Colts]

 

[Surge89]

2 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Luck did have it.    He last had it in 2016.   And since then he’s had almost no reps.    His reps started around Aug 1st of this year.   That’s it.

 

Luck IS a work in progress.   Because he’s had precious few reps for nearly 600 days.    Which led to rust.    Lots and lots of rust.

 

Rust and reps are as connected as they can be.

 

 

....

 

Luck has had issues before the injury.  While he is great and all there are definitely flaws to his game that he just doesn't fix.  One of the most obvious ones is that he rarely leads his receivers.  He throws the ball when they are already open which in turn has to do with how many hits he takes.  He sits and waits until he is sure its a completion instead of anticipating and saving himself.  This isn't a new thing for Luck.  He also has a tendency to throw high and force.  These have been issues since he has been in the league and do not seem to have any trajectory of changing.  Rust has nothing to do with it. 

 

Where you see the rust is his indecisiveness and his mechanics 1 out of every 10 or so throws.  He also seems either designed or afraid to throw a deep ball.  Not sure which but he has been shying away from it lately.  One of the things I worry about is this insistence to get the ball out quicker may mean we will be seeing a lot of interceptions until Luck starts to understand what "getting the ball out quicker" actually means.  It's one thing to throw after 2 steps into a guy who's running a drag or super shallow cross.  But its another to throw the ball on an out or dig 8 to 12 yards down the field but anticipate. Both get the ball out of your hands quick but one is much more efficient. 

[Surge89]

6 hours ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I didn't get to see the first half (had my own football practice)  But here are some of my observations from the 2nd half.

 

Grover Stewart looked really good in there.  He is very quick off the ball for a big man and has very good field awareness.

 

Mathew Adams played a good game.  Excellent quickness and a sure tackler.

 

Steve Ismael (sp?) has a veteran presence out there and excellent hands.  I just don't know if he has enough speed and quickness to make in the NFL.

 

Wilkins.  I have to admit I was wrong about him, he is a better runner than I thought after he was drafted.  He runs tough but he is not a tough runner (if that makes sense).  What I mean is he does a good job of lowering his shoulder and falling forward but he goes down on first contact a lot.  That being said he does a great job of finding the hole and getting through it and getting those hard 3-4 yards.  He needs to get a bit more under control so when he gets to the 2nd level he can make that move and bust a long one.

 

Hines:  Looked pretty good as a running back ( I was more impressed with Wilkins than Hines) but Hines showed some good toughness running between the tackles, did a good job of getting skinny in the hole and picking up some 1st downs on 3rd and 4th down.  As a returner though he's scary.... and not scary good.

 

Brissett is good but he still can't handle situational pressure very well.  I don't mean pressure from a rush but he is not the guy who is going to will his team to a TD when it's needed most.

 

I thought it was interesting, late in the game the Ravens get the ball on a punt and with the penalty have the ball at the 10.  Colts send in Ridgway and first play he gets a tackle for a 4 yard loss.  The guy is going to be a load this year.  Hopefully with a rotation he can stay strong throughout the game.

 

I agree on Stewart he seems like a great situational 3rd down player and a good 1st/2nd down player. 

 

Ismael my goodness.  Get him reps with Luck please.  There is 0 reason why he shouldn't be getting Grant's reps. 

 

Wilkins.  Man I love this guy I'm sad that you were down on him but I was a big advocate of him in the draft process and it just makes me elated to know he is looking great out there. 

 

Hines...  I didn't like him in the draft process and I like him even less now.  I completely disagree with you here. He gets lost in bodies way too often and he shows almost no ability to make someone miss.  He was given the ball 9 yards  from scrimmage with 4 yards cushion I expect the kid with his ability to make someone miss and not just get bulldozed by a guy 40 pounds heavier than him.  If it were me he would be getting 4th quarter reps for the rest of pre-season and cutting him at the end. 

 

Brissett I agree.  I do think though that he has ability to start in this league.  Will he be a top 15 QB? no I think not but I'm sure he could be in the next 15 somewhere. 

 

I'm thinking the issue with Ridgeway has to be conditioning.  He is so disruptive regardless of who is out there.  He is certainly making the horns proud. 

[crazycolt1]

The Colts didn't look like a well oiled machine in the 2nd pre-season game. 

[compuls1v3]

I only watched the first quarter and a half yet, but I didn't see much running behind Nelson.  I saw that Luck had time to throw, but there didn't see many people open.  He made a few bad decisions, but I'd rather him make them now than during a real game.  I feel like the defense against the run wasn't good up to this point. 

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

My Take,

 

QB,

 Luck as stated a little rusty, but there was some good. The IN, in the red zone was a fact of trying to hard and make something out of nothing. he saw the RB Michael make a move back inside but not continue the move. Still Lucks fault. Would like to see him throw deeper. I think coaching staff won't let him do it in pre season, and save it for the season.

Brissett, looked good, had arm strength, confident. Top 20 QB, hum noooo but but 25 to 32 maybe.

Walker threw an IN but I thought looked better than last year. Practice squad again?

 

RB,

Michael looked OK, not really a fan but OK, Hines needs to hold onto the ball but ran the ball with some power inside, he is fast but it gets diminished because he has to overthink ball control. Wilkins looks good, he reminds me of Forte we might have a good one with him.

 

WR, 

Grant lol looks terrible. would like to see more Pascal, and Ishmael who you here nothing about from camp. Rodgers OK. the rest ahhhhh

 

TE,

Mr Doyle is the same, Travis looked good, Ebran will be fine if they use him right. Swoope and others OK

 

Tackles 

I might be in the minority here but IMO Clark wasn't horribly other than his one missed assignment. I thought Smith for a rookie was OK. Thought Weeb was ok. Was unimpressed with Howard does he make the team? Haeg IMO is better than all of them but playing center? 

 

Guards

Nelson was mostly good there were a few plays not so much but he will get better. Slauson was ok, better as the game went along. I will have to watch again for the rest of the guys.

 

Center 

IMO Kelly played outstanding, him and Nelson could be a real force. Haeg was Ok .

 

DL

Autry, Ridgeway, Hunt, Stewart, Woods, Simon

The rest ahhhhh

 

LB

Leonard has a chance to be really good, Moore, Adams, Franklin, looked alright

 

S

Farley, Geathers, Good. Green OK, Odom flashed a little

 

CB

I thought the best was Wilson, IMO the Starters should be Wilson & Desir who played ok to. Hairston and Moore should be the next 2.  I know Wilson doesn't practice well but when the light turn on so does he. Hard on a coaching staff though. 

 

Kicking is fine punting fine except his one bad kick.

 

Coaching play calling is VERY Vanilla for Luck my hope is by design. play calling was much more aggressive for Brissett, Walker 

 

[throwing BBZ]

18 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I will be curious to see how he looks against Cincy on opening day after a full pre-season and more practices. I am holding out judgement until then. If he looks rusty then, you may be right. It might take him 4 or 5 games before we see old Luck.

 

The old Luck held onto the ball till his receivers broke open and his running the ball was a big part of making lots of important first downs. And he was NOT ever good at making quick, highly accurate, short to intermediate, catch and run throws.
 Lucky made bad decisions and threw high balls like days of old. 
 Lots of Luck with Lucky being Near Elite any time soon in this O.
But i would not say he can't get there. In 4-5 years. 
 

[crazycolt1]

18 minutes ago, Horse Shoe Heaven said:

My Take,

 

QB,

 Luck as stated a little rusty, but there was some good. The IN, in the red zone was a fact of trying to hard and make something out of nothing. he saw the RB Michael make a move back inside but not continue the move. Still Lucks fault. Would like to see him throw deeper. I think coaching staff won't let him do it in pre season, and save it for the season.

Brissett, looked good, had arm strength, confident. Top 20 QB, hum noooo but but 25 to 32 maybe.

Walker threw an IN but I thought looked better than last year. Practice squad again?

 

RB,

Michael looked OK, not really a fan but OK, Hines needs to hold onto the ball but ran the ball with some power inside, he is fast but it gets diminished because he has to overthink ball control. Wilkins looks good, he reminds me of Forte we might have a good one with him.

 

WR, 

Grant lol looks terrible. would like to see more Pascal, and Ishmael who you here nothing about from camp. Rodgers OK. the rest ahhhhh

 

TE,

Mr Doyle is the same, Travis looked good, Ebran will be fine if they use him right. Swoope and others OK

 

Tackles 

I might be in the minority here but IMO Clark wasn't horribly other than his one missed assignment. I thought Smith for a rookie was OK. Thought Weeb was ok. Was unimpressed with Howard does he make the team? Haeg IMO is better than all of them but playing center? 

 

Guards

Nelson was mostly good there were a few plays not so much but he will get better. Slauson was ok, better as the game went along. I will have to watch again for the rest of the guys.

 

Center 

IMO Kelly played outstanding, him and Nelson could be a real force. Haeg was Ok .

 

DL

Autry, Ridgeway, Hunt, Stewart, Woods, Simon

The rest ahhhhh

 

LB

Leonard has a chance to be really good, Moore, Adams, Franklin, looked alright

 

S

Farley, Geathers, Good. Green OK, Odom flashed a little

 

CB

I thought the best was Wilson, IMO the Starters should be Wilson & Desir who played ok to. Hairston and Moore should be the next 2.  I know Wilson doesn't practice well but when the light turn on so does he. Hard on a coaching staff though. 

 

Kicking is fine punting fine except his one bad kick.

 

Coaching play calling is VERY Vanilla for Luck my hope is by design. play calling was much more aggressive for Brissett, Walker 

 

Pretty good assessment.  There was a lot of player exchange with coaches looking at players so things look hectic at times. That is to be expected in 2nd game of pre-season. The cut date is getting close.

[Fisticuffs111]

6 hours ago, Superman said:

 

I just rewatched that series. If we give Reich the benefit of the doubt, it looks like he wanted to see if they could run the ball against a nickel defense out of 11 personnel. The holes didn't really open up, but Michael could have definitely bounced those to the outside if he had any ability to improvise.

 

It was not a good series for anyone on offense, but I'm assuming this is not indicative of how Reich intends to call plays in the regular season. I also assume Michael won't be the RB in that situation. 

Yeah, that's fair. Part of my frustration for that series is probably just my lack of love for Michael, although I can only assume he's getting these snaps because his pass pro is well beyond either of Wilkins/Hines and that's key in helping keep Luck safe in preseason.

Definitely agree with that second part too. I feel like if there's one piece of evidence of Reich's preseason playcalling differentiating between his regular season playcalling, it was that series. Or at least I'd like to think he'd try and use Luck to capitalize on that situation.

[Superman]

8 hours ago, stitches said:

I don't remember those issues. His games log says he played in 13 games (he missed games 11, 12 and 13).

 

All I could find is that he had shoulder surgery in the offseason, and wasn't available for OTAs. I think maybe I assumed he was still working his way back from that, and it affected his spot in the rotation. 

 

I assume he'll get some better reps on Saturday. And while Autry has played reasonably well, he has also committed some bad penalties. At least two offsides, and the helmet hit Monday. Can't have brain farts... 

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

11 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Pretty good assessment.  There was a lot of player exchange with coaches looking at players so things look hectic at times. That is to be expected in 2nd game of pre-season. The cut date is getting close.

Agree we may have some unexpected cuts and be letting some decent players go at certain positions! Will be interesting at, rb, lb, ol, wr etc will be fun to watch!

[w87r]

On 8/21/2018 at 12:37 PM, Freenyfan102 said:

To think the colts could have signed Dez Bryant

Not to late.

 

I think he is the perfect complement to TY.

 

Definitely worth a one year prove it deal.

[NewEra]

On 8/21/2018 at 4:13 PM, Coffeedrinker said:

Wow, that's original.  Did you think of that all by yourself or did you need help?

I do t want to call you two out like this...but we know here in Indiana the rust is from all that stupid salt ;)

[Douzer]

Colts vs Ravens

First, the Ravens ran an aggressive rush package against the Colts. It included various twists, a multitude of blitz packages, and a fairly constant 6 man front. Using their defensive strength, in style, scheme and aggressiveness, was actually a great thing for this developing O-line. It provides a plethora of teaching / learning opportunities vs a vanilla attack that would have left the team (and Fans) with possibly a false sense of bravado.

To that: Nelson, Kelly and Slauson all got beat on the inside a few times. That inside pressure played a role in the way the game played out for AL. While Clark and Smith held the edges much, much better than many here have claimed (It sometimes seems like people see what they want to see and not what really happened). The 2nd unit was pretty much overrun, as was the third, as the Ravens did not stop their aggressive defensive calls and fronts. Howard, Burwell, Callendar, Glowinski, Haeg, Vujnovich & Webb was an orchestrated calamity.

IMHO, Wilkins has consistently shown the best vision and decision making skills of this current group. He would have seen the lanes the O-line made early in the game and the game story would be much different. Michael however got those carries and didn’t exploit the seams and lanes that the line did produce. Hines actually made decent decisions running behind much poorer blocking late in the game. I wasn't on the Hines for Pro-bowl wagon early on, and I'm not on the Hines to the scrap heap wagon either. He's a rookie who needs more time and reps.

Early, the Colts ran a lot of plays that taxed the blocking skills of the TE's. They won't like their grades.

Ishmael, Yes please!

AL was hitting most of his targets, but not in stride. When guys had a step or two is was lost to the ball placement resulting in a quick tackle and zilch for yak. JB did a nice job managing the high pressure and poor blocking. He was more accurate and quicker with his decisions than AL Monday.

D-Line has talent and depth on the inside with Woods, Stewart, Ridgeway & Autry.

The edge so far is best manned by Sheard and Simon, they just don't give up their edge. Delaire and McCain both have speed off the edge and will tax OT's. Hunt is listed as a DT but they have him on the edge. Why? If Turay and Lewis give us anything on the edge we'll be OK up front.

Leonard looks like high level player in the making. Moore needs more run support skill to make the front row. In the Najee Goode, Antonio Morrison, Matthew Adams battle for SAM, I like what I’m seeing from Antonio and Matthew more than what I’m seeing with Najee. Also, it's time to see more of Tyrell Adams & Zaire Franklin IMO, those two stand out clearly to me when they take the field.

Geathers !!!!

Desir, Wilson & Hairston continue to look like the 1’s to me. Milton next, and the rest is clear as mud?

[Goatface Killah]

Mack can play any LB spot or DE. He has already made ALL PRO as an off ball LB. He was all pro at both LB and DE in the same season.

 

And as far as Brisset, teams have to give a 1 for a starting QB, thats the price. Plain and simple.

[crazycolt1]

11 hours ago, GoatBeard said:

Mack can play any LB spot or DE. He has already made ALL PRO as an off ball LB. He was all pro at both LB and DE in the same season.

 

And as far as Brisset, teams have to give a 1 for a starting QB, thats the price. Plain and simple.

Plain and simple?  The Patriots got a #2 for Jimmy Garoppolo so I don't think the Colts would get a #1.