Mindset: Why it cost us

[Detectacon]

I will start by saying this is all opinion and I have no evidence to prove my claims. With that being said, I personally feel like our mindset, players and coaches, cost us. 

 

After the Texans game it bothered me the way the Colts celebrated, but I figured they deserved it so have fun. 

 

Then there is is the fact that a lot of talking heads felt like this would be the divisional round upset if ever there was one. 

 

I think it started with Coach though.  He started the game and was not very aggressive. On top of that, he stuck to the run despite it clearly not working. I believe (again....no evidence) he thought we were going to come in and run all over the terrible Chiefs defense. 

 

Now the defense. They were viewed as a unit that should not be as good as they are. I think this was good for the regular season because it put a chip on their shoulders. Well, the chip fell off and they became arrogant (again no evidence). 

 

The offense. The most upsetting of all. This line is, no question, the best. They know it too. Someone forgot to inform them what they have done the last 11 games and they just stunk it up today. The evidence is there on this one for once. Best on sacks and third downs all season. Today they barely convert and Andrew was in the dirt so much he could taste it. Not to mention the deflected passes. 

 

T.Y...... I know he is playing injured.....but come on man! You’re the ghost! It is usually because he ghosts defenders. Today it’s because he just didn’t show up. He dropped balls he should be catching, gave up on plays like he always does, and just played scared today. He did have the late TD so I will give him that. 

 

Andrew; the leader of the team. We have seen some heroics from him in the past. Not today. He played very bland in my opinion today. It was almost as if he wasn’t really trying.  I can’t explain it, but it was obvious to me. 

 

We were down by 17 with eight minutes and they had no pep in their step. They just took their time. This makes me think they had given up. 

 

Don’t even get get me started on Vinny. This was the most uncharacteristic performance by a player I think I have ever seen. He missed the extra point and a 23 yard FG. The shortest ever for him. Had he made both, we would have been down by 7 with five minutes to go. 

 

I think the weather lulled the team into thinking they were going to come into this game, score with the running game,  and coast the rest of the way (again....you guessed it....no evidence). 

 

The penalties cost us a lot! Several drives should have ended and didn’t because the defense couldn’t get their mind right and stop jumping offsides. In turn, this destroyed them mentally and they continued to do it. I assume...

 

In conclusion, the Colts forgot who they are. They forgot how they got here and they beat themselves by trying to be something they are not. 

 

Just my two cents based on no actual evidence. Feel free to disagree with me. 

 

Oh yea.... The Chiefs played well and the refs were terrible. 

[SLILLINGTON10]

Sad to say this but I agree with most of the post; we are a good team when we have a chip on our shoulder. we played fast and hungry and it racked up wins. we don't have the talent to coast out wins and play uninspired football. this game we showboated a bit and looked like going through the motions a lot of the time.

[Detectacon]

Wow....that very last play just proves my point. 

[coltfaninnewyork]

We were outplayed and outcoached ,but the learning experience will help down the line 

[a06cc]

We lost, but we’ll be back next season. Love you all and see you next season! You’ll be better and hungrier!

[DougDew]

Luck has been holding the ball too long.  Whether it receivers not getting open or him, but the decision making seems late.  

 

He was successful with Chud's offense, so there is no surprise he was successful over the past few weeks with an offense that looked like Chud's, and that's what it looked like.

 

A few slow moving RPOs that are just slow moving play action passes doesn't change that.

[Boiler_Colt]

The six or seven best players on the field tonight all played for the Chiefs. You can say it's the mindset, but the Colts just got physically whooped in all phases of the game.

[jvan1973]

Just a bad day all around.    The chiefs came to play.   They have been good all year.    Props to them,   they are a better team than we are.    Next year should be different

[Solon]

What was the gameplan? Run the ball? Short or intermediate passes? Deep ball or play action? What was we doing out there? I'm thoroughly confused. I'm inclined to believe Frank Reich thought we could do whatever we wanted on this defense and didn't come into this game prepared for a fight. 

[ukcolt12]

Better team won. But a few things really hurt us

1. Indiscipline

2. Poor play calling 

3. AV 

4 Luck playing shellshocked

Still we have overchieved, been a great ride. But not gonna lie I feel like crap right now !

[jvan1973]

Ridiculous off sides penalties on the defense was a factor as well

[Detectacon]

2 minutes ago, Boiler_Colt said:

The six or seven best players on the field tonight all played for the Chiefs. You can say it's the mindset, but the Colts just got physically whooped in all phases of the game.

I definitely agree with you. The thing is it should t have been that way. I friend summed it up for me. It’s not that they lost. It’s that they were pathetic. 

1 minute ago, Solon said:

What was the gameplan? Run the ball? Short or intermediate passes? Deep ball or play action? What was we doing out there? I'm thoroughly confused. I'm inclined to believe Frank Reich thought we could do whatever we wanted on this defense and didn't come into this game prepared for a fight. 

Exactly my point. 

[jvan1973]

1 minute ago, ukcolt12 said:

Better team won. But a few things really hurt us

1. Indiscipline

2. Poor play calling 

3. AV 

4 Luck playing shellshocked

Still we have overchieved, been a great ride. But not gonna lie I feel like crap right now !

I didn't see luck being shell shocked.   I agree with the rest

[OffensivelyPC]

2 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Luck has been holding the ball too long.  Whether it receivers not getting open or him, but the decision making seems late.  

 

He was successful with Chud's offense, so there is no surprise he was successful over the past few weeks with an offense that looked like Chud's, and that's what it looked like.

 

A few slow moving RPOs that are just slow moving play action passes doesn't change that.

Luck has been fine, just this game was out  of sorts. Everyone was. Im not sure why, but we had no answer. We've still had good progress. This has been a successful season, no matter what anyone says. We knew we had weaknesses; they were exposed today. Let's  learn and take a step forward next year.

[coltfaninnewyork]

Very disappointed by Andrew today still love him but a bit concerned 

[DougDew]

Just now, OffensivelyPC said:

Luck has been fine, just this game was out  of sorts. Everyone was. Im not sure why, but we had no answer. We've still had good progress. This has been a successful season, no matter what anyone says. We knew we had weaknesses; they were exposed today. Let's  learn and take a step forward next year.

IMO, the offense has looked more like Chud's offense as the season wore on, not just this game.  I want to see the dump offs and the short crossing routes.

 

He's been successful.  Its been working to the point where it didn't matter.  But tonight illustrated there was nothing quick about the plays or how quickly he threw it.

[IndySouthsider]

18 minutes ago, Detectacon said:

I will start by saying this is all opinion and I have no evidence to prove my claims. With that being said, I personally feel like our mindset, players and coaches, cost us. 

 

After the Texans game it bothered me the way the Colts celebrated, but I figured they deserved it so have fun. 

 

Then there is is the fact that a lot of talking heads felt like this would be the divisional round upset if ever there was one. 

 

I think it started with Coach though.  He started the game and was not very aggressive. On top of that, he stuck to the run despite it clearly not working. I believe (again....no evidence) he thought we were going to come in and run all over the terrible Chiefs defense. 

 

Now the defense. They were viewed as a unit that should not be as good as they are. I think this was good for the regular season because it put a chip on their shoulders. Well, the chip fell off and they became arrogant (again no evidence). 

 

The offense. The most upsetting of all. This line is, no question, the best. They know it too. Someone forgot to inform them what they have done the last 11 games and they just stunk it up today. The evidence is there on this one for once. Best on sacks and third downs all season. Today they barely convert and Andrew was in the dirt so much he could taste it. Not to mention the deflected passes. 

 

T.Y...... I know he is playing injured.....but come on man! You’re the ghost! It is usually because he ghosts defenders. Today it’s because he just didn’t show up. He dropped balls he should be catching, gave up on plays like he always does, and just played scared today. He did have the late TD so I will give him that. 

 

Andrew; the leader of the team. We have seen some heroics from him in the past. Not today. He played very bland in my opinion today. It was almost as if he wasn’t really trying.  I can’t explain it, but it was obvious to me. 

 

We were down by 17 with eight minutes and they had no pep in their step. They just took their time. This makes me think they had given up. 

 

Don’t even get get me started on Vinny. This was the most uncharacteristic performance by a player I think I have ever seen. He missed the extra point and a 23 yard FG. The shortest ever for him. Had he made both, we would have been down by 7 with five minutes to go. 

 

I think the weather lulled the team into thinking they were going to come into this game, score with the running game,  and coast the rest of the way (again....you guessed it....no evidence). 

 

The penalties cost us a lot! Several drives should have ended and didn’t because the defense couldn’t get their mind right and stop jumping offsides. In turn, this destroyed them mentally and they continued to do it. I assume...

 

In conclusion, the Colts forgot who they are. They forgot how they got here and they beat themselves by trying to be something they are not. 

 

Just my two cents based on no actual evidence. Feel free to disagree with me. 

 

Oh yea.... The Chiefs played well and the refs were terrible. 

You put a lot of words in this tripe. And it’s all nonesense.

 

Chiefs are easily the better team. We got punched in the mouth and their superior talent took over. 

 

Colts are throwing to guys who were not on a roster or in TY’s case not healthy.

 

Missing your two most important players in Tampa 2. Hooker and Mitchell.

 

Cant explain Lucks poor play today but it wasn’t his best. Of course Chiefs D had something to do with it.

 

HOF kicker even missed a chip shot.

 

Colts didn’t miraculously become a super talented team. They were a team with little depth and low margin for error and it caught up with them today.

 

[Mr.Debonair]

Playoff Andrew has to get better! Chris has to go out and get more talent at WR and find a pass rusher ASAP. 

 

Im hoping Luck’s arm will get stronger this offseason since he can actually work it more now.

 

Defense played okay but def needs more

talent there also.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

First thing that comes to mind is we stopped trying to run the ball after they stuffed us on the first  play. Then Ebron dropped the ball.

 

What this game showed is we played a lot of weak teams during this win streak. All the young rookies and no name players caught up with us.

 

i think the oline was a major reason Luck was bad. They got manhandled. It really showed they are rookies. Then when we forgot about the run it was impossible for Luck because all they did was rush us.

 

we have a lot of holes to fill and upgrade this season.

[yankeeclipper]

Let's give the Chiefs a lot of credit. they were prepared and played well. They put pressure on Luck all night and  they also ran the ball very well. Mahomes is a special talent. We wanted to take the deep ball away - which we did but in the process they chewed us up with runs and throws underneath.  

 

Colts looked unprepared. Luck had a lot of balls tipped and made some bad throws. He was definitely off tonight.  AV missed FG that could have been a momentum builder for us. If he made that + made the XP that he missed would have brought us to within 7 with 5 minutes to go. three times we were in red zone and came up empty (missed FG, strip sack, and last play of game). 

 

On offense we got a decent game out of Inman. Hilton was not a factor. Ebron dropped several balls.  when given ball Mack ran well but when you are behind the defense will let you burn up time with runs. Overall offensive line pass protection was not good but Colts were in hole and Chiefs could tee off and rush passer.

 

AV had worse game of his career. On Defense Kenny Moore played well. He was our star performer. Leonard played better in 2nd half. In first half he was overwhelmed.

[chad72]

I disagree with the fact that we stuck with the running game despite it not working. They were playing coverage with 6 or 7 defenders in coverage daring Luck to run and we should have continued to run the ball. 

 

Its like getting carried away by highlight reels. Just because they had 2 or 3 plays for negative runs did not mean we should have stopped running it. Steelers kept running the ball last year and kicked 6 field goals. 

 

No tempo gets established without a running game on the road. Reich got pass happy prematurely like the Jaguars game, IMO

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

The win streak gave everyone  false sense of reality. We are still a season or two away from competing with the big boys.

[NorthernBlue]

Got punched in the mouth from the very first play. Chiefs came out firing, we were on our heels. When that happens, it'll feel like nothing can go right. The defense finally recovered in the second half, but the Chiefs still were making plays and our Offense just wasn't. Drops. Poor pass blocking. Poor QB play. The fumble by Luck sealed the game. Rough night. 

 

On to the offseason. 

[yankeeclipper]

I thought refs missed several pass interference calls against Chiefs. the running into the kicker call was marginal at best. 

[NorthernBlue]

1 minute ago, chad72 said:

I disagree with the fact that we stuck with the running game despite it not working. They were playing coverage with 6 or 7 defenders in coverage daring Luck to run and we should have continued to run the ball. 

  

Its like getting carried away by highlight reels. Just because they had 2 or 3 plays for negative runs did not mean we should have stopped running it. Steelers kept running the ball last year and kicked 6 FGs

Drop by Ebron on the first drive hurt. He catches that, we get a first down, and maybe can get a rhythm going. Instead, the Chiefs get the ball, score right away and we're already behind the 8 ball.

 

Against a team like KC, you can't make stupid mistakes. We made a ton. 

Just now, yankeeclipper said:

I thought refs missed several pass interference calls against Chiefs. the running into the kicker call was marginal at best. 

Marginal at best? How about just non-existent.

 

Kickers and Punters are football players too. They shouldn't be exempt from getting hit (as long as it's not a dirty hit of course).

[coltsfanatic24]

There shouldn’t be any excuses. Luck and the offense were awful today. How many more years are we going to keep saying that we’re rebuilding? 

 

Luck and Hilton are vets that continue to not show up against elite teams in the playoffs. Against bad to mediocre teams we play like the best team in the league, but against elite Qbs it’s the complete opposite. 

 

First it was Luck was too young when we played against Brady, Big Ben, Rivers. Now, he was outplayed by a young QB in Mahommes. The problem seems to start and end with Luck. Great regular season Qb against mediocre teams, but just doesn’t seem to have what it takes in the playoffs.

 

Luck doesn’t have the fire or leadership qualities that Peyton Manning had. I like the kid, but he’s not Peyton and never will be. 

[PeterBowman]

1 minute ago, yankeeclipper said:

I thought refs missed several pass interference calls against Chiefs. the running into the kicker call was marginal at best. 

The holding call on Braden Smith was even worse

[threeflight]

I thought the coaching staff called a poor game.

 

I saw none of the innovation and gadgetry that Reich is supposed to famous for.  Hines was a non factor.  I didn't see any trick plays or plays that caught the Chiefs off guard.

 

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I defintly think it looksd like Reich had no game plan. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do on offense. A short week should be no excuse. You’re playing the regular season the same. He forgot what got us hear. To much celebrating winning that first playoff game maybe.

[yankeeclipper]

Colts were undisciplined tonight. Several encroachment calls on defense and that stupid  unsportsmanlike penalty that was a 15 yard penalty., the smith holding call on the nice run by Mack also hurt. This was clearly one of the worse games we played since the 1-5 start.  I would agree that talent wide we are not deep and that showed in this game.   I also thought that we got away from short passes to our backs.  I thought we had a more creative offensive strategy with reverses in Texan game. No creativity on offense in this game.

 

[Detectacon]

18 minutes ago, IndySouthsider said:

You put a lot of words in this tripe. And it’s all nonesense.

 

Chiefs are easily the better team. We got punched in the mouth and their superior talent took over. 

 

Colts are throwing to guys who were not on a roster or in TY’s case not healthy.

 

Missing your two most important players in Tampa 2. Hooker and Mitchell.

 

Cant explain Lucks poor play today but it wasn’t his best. Of course Chiefs D had something to do with it.

 

HOF kicker even missed a chip shot.

 

Colts didn’t miraculously become a super talented team. They were a team with little depth and low margin for error and it caught up with them today.

 

Thanks for summarizing my entire post while at the same time calling it nonsense. Sarcastic slow clap. 

 

Did you even read the part about it being opinion with no factual basis? 

 

I never claimed the Colts anything more than what they truly are. The entire point was that they lost what they are.  Miraculously super-talented or not, they could have won this game if they stuck to what they know. 

[jvan1973]

12 minutes ago, coltsfanatic24 said:

There shouldn’t be any excuses. Luck and the offense were awful today. How many more years are we going to keep saying that we’re rebuilding? 

 

Luck and Hilton are vets that continue to not show up against elite teams in the playoffs. Against bad to mediocre teams we play like the best team in the league, but against elite Qbs it’s the complete opposite. 

 

First it was Luck was too young when we played against Brady, Big Ben, Rivers. Now, he was outplayed by a young QB in Mahommes. The problem seems to start and end with Luck. Great regular season Qb against mediocre teams, but just doesn’t seem to have what it takes in the playoffs.

 

Luck doesn’t have the fire or leadership qualities that Peyton Manning had. I like the kid, but he’s not Peyton and never will be. 

You understand that Andrew has been better than Peyton in the playoffs at this point in his career?

[throwing BBZ]

21 minutes ago, DougDew said:

IMO, the offense has looked more like Chud's offense as the season wore on, not just this game.  I want to see the dump offs and the short crossing routes.

 

He's been successful.  Its been working to the point where it didn't matter.  But tonight illustrated there was nothing quick about the plays or how quickly he threw it.

 

They kinda did just bat his quick ___ back in his face. He was off target "not elite" as has been his biggest problem from day #1. He knows it and will endeavor to persevere to improve. He looked like a rookie in the pre-season for most of the game. 

[jvan1973]

10 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

I defintly think it looksd like Reich had no game plan. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do on offense. A short week should be no excuse. You’re playing the regular season the same. He forgot what got us hear. To much celebrating winning that first playoff game maybe.

 They were also playing one of the best teams in the nfl.  Sometimes teams are just more talented.    No one expected the colts to get this far before the season started. 

[yankeeclipper]

I do not know why we stopped using Hines as a weapon. He is a good receiver and we did not try and get him into the game early on. 

 

for offseason we need to get another WR who can complement Hilton and Inman. we can also use a solid TE who can block and be a receiving threat. Kelce really hurt us tonight. On defense we need a solid pass rusher from the outside. We can use another LB  to complement Leonard and Walker; and We need a playmaker in  secondary either safety/CB or both. 

 

It may also be time to bring in AV's replacement. Not sure we can count on him at 47 to continue to be a top flight kicker.

[Coltsman1788]

We wet the bed today and got beat by the better team with the better quarterback.  We had a great season overall though.  Still much work for Ballard this off-season if we ever hope to hoist the Lombardi during the Luck era. Other AFC teams are getting better and that dude Mahomes is and will be a problem going forward. This game confirmed that we dont have the future best QB in the AFC.  That guy wears an arrow on his helmet. 

[jvan1973]

Just now, throwing BBZ said:

 

They kinda did just bat his quick ___ back in his face. He was off target "not elite" as has been his biggest problem from day #1. He knows it and will endeavor to persevere to improve. He looked like a rookie in the pre-season for most of the game. 

 Nonsense.  

[PeterBowman]

It was just one of those games where next to nothing went right.....slow start, drops, bad tackling at first, Luck being off, Vinny missing chip shots, officiating being horrid, Chiefs D playing out of their mind etc.

Who knows, maybe the Chiefs D had a coming out party like the 2006 Colts D did against KC.

 

Also this is still a young team and young coaching staff....this will be a big learning experience and could be even better next year... especially with what should be a more talented roster.

[coltsfanatic24]

8 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

You understand that Andrew has been better than Peyton in the playoffs at this point in his career?

Completely different opponents and Andrew has had it much easier than Peyton has ever had. Easier division and a much more pass happy league. Sometimes you just have to go by the eye test and Peyton was a significantly better player and leader than Luck. 

 

I really miss Peyton and what he meant to this franchise. Again, I like Luck and think he’s a very good Qb. We’re never going to have a QB that was as great as Peyton Manning. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Everyone forgets all the stupid interceptions Peyton had in playoffs The only reason you forget is that he brought the team back from mistakes he made. Not to mention the SB year where he played terrible and got bailed out by the defense.