Vanilla Play Calling

[gspdx]

3 minutes ago, threeflight said:

Luck is hurt.....again. 

 

He is 'processing'.....again.

 

Luck is letting an injury get into his head.....again.

 

We all know what that may mean.

 

Team has not really practiced full with him since last year.

 

Do you think he, and the team will be able to magically turn it on just like that?  Doesn't work that way. 

 

I like to look at things realistically instead of with blue colored glasses.

 

I was at the LA game 2 years ago.  The blowout.  I will be at the SD game this opener.  At this rate SD will blow them out unless Luck magically gets better in the next 10 days.

 

Luck hurting and not practicing doesn't have much impact on one preseason game.  Did you think if he was practicing he would have been out there for 2 quarters?  

 

Your concerns about Luck are valid but the fact that we didn't look great wouldn't have changed if Luck was practicing since he wouldn't have played anyway.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

5 minutes ago, threeflight said:

I like to look at things realistically instead of with blue colored glasses.

 

Yet you only post when things aren't going well and it's always pessimistic crap.

 

You disappear when things are going well.

 

I'd say you look at things with brown-colored glasses.

[threeflight]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

 

Just listen to the coach. He spelled it out. Look at who's playing and who's not, and it's obvious that the team isn't going to be at peak form. 

 

I get wanting to see the team you root for play well, and win. But complaining about play calling in the first preseason game, when your starting QB isn't playing and QB2 only plays 11 snaps? I can't say that I'm surprised, but the response is still head scratching.

Good points.  The issue I have with that approach is the other O players are already not getting everything out of practice that they should because Luck isn't practicing.  So they are going to be behind other teams in that regard as it is.  And even the D doesn't get to practice against an elite QB, which means they aren't getting the same out of practice either and may give them a sense of cockiness not deserved.

 

So I have to disagree with the just keep it basic approach when at some point, these players are going to be asked to do things and run plays that they haven't either run or run at a high level all preseason without Luck.  So for the regular season to start and then ask them to just turn it on?

 

Could be tough to do.

[csmopar]

5 minutes ago, threeflight said:

Processing......

They didn't say processing.... they said PROGRESSING.... you can't even get that right...

[threeflight]

3 minutes ago, gspdx said:

 

Luck hurting and not practicing doesn't have much impact on one preseason game.  Did you think if he was practicing he would have been out there for 2 quarters?  

 

Your concerns about Luck are valid but the fact that we didn't look great wouldn't have changed if Luck was practicing since he wouldn't have played anyway.

I understand that.  I am talking more about what happens in practice and the 2nd and 3rd pre season games.  And I don't think there is anyway Luck plays in those.  Be lucky if he practices full by the first game of the season.

[threeflight]

1 minute ago, csmopar said:

They didn't say processing.... they said PROGRESSING.... you can't even get that right...

Wrong.

 

Luck says 'trust the process' like he is a robot.  It is his go to mantra.

[Superman]

Just now, threeflight said:

Good points.  The issue I have with that approach is the other O players are already not getting everything out of practice that they should because Luck isn't practicing.  So they are going to be behind other teams in that regard as it is.  And even the D doesn't get to practice against an elite QB, which means they aren't getting the same out of practice either and may give them a sense of cockiness not deserved.

 

So I have to disagree with the just keep it basic approach when at some point, these players are going to be asked to do things and run plays that they haven't either run or run at a high level all preseason without Luck.  So for the regular season to start and then ask them to just turn it on?

 

Could be tough to do.

 

Are you saying it's not ideal that Luck is out? That's very insightful...

 

The team will continue to tune-up, there are three more preseason games, and some of the core guys will get on the field over the next couple of weeks.

 

But at no point will we see live play calling. We can disagree with the approach, but the coaching staff has spelled it out two years in a row now, and done exactly what they said they would do. So acting like it's a great mystery or any kind of indication of the way the team is going to perform when the season starts is a massive overreaction.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

4 minutes ago, threeflight said:

Good points.  The issue I have with that approach is the other O players are already not getting everything out of practice that they should because Luck isn't practicing.  So they are going to be behind other teams in that regard as it is.  And even the D doesn't get to practice against an elite QB, which means they aren't getting the same out of practice either and may give them a sense of cockiness not deserved.

 

So I have to disagree with the just keep it basic approach when at some point, these players are going to be asked to do things and run plays that they haven't either run or run at a high level all preseason without Luck.  So for the regular season to start and then ask them to just turn it on?

 

Could be tough to do.

This.  If we start out slow I will look back to see how we handled the pre season.  It is a tough call because guys like Ebron and Hilton are all ready in mid season form and you don’t want them injured. But at the same time I want the offense to be sharp to start the season. I don’t really worry about the defense. It’s a little different then the offense.

[Superman]

Just now, Chloe6124 said:

 If we start out slow I will look back to see how we handled the pre season.

 

And yet, one will likely have nothing to do with the other.

[threeflight]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

 

Are you saying it's not ideal that Luck is out? That's very insightful...

 

The team will continue to tune-up, there are three more preseason games, and some of the core guys will get on the field over the next couple of weeks.

 

But at no point will we see live play calling. We can disagree with the approach, but the coaching staff has spelled it out two years in a row now, and done exactly what they said they would do. So acting like it's a great mystery or any kind of indication of the way the team is going to perform when the season starts is a massive overreaction.

Again...did the Colts run some magical offense against the Chiefs last year?  No.  They ran the same basic plays.  They just didn't run them very well.  I really don't think the Colts have all these extraordinary plays in the playbook that are just waiting to be unleashed.  We never saw that last year a'lthough I did think they ran more slants and quick hitters early in the year compared to late.

 

But the point is they aren't some new wiz gadget team.  Certainly nothing like the Chiefs or Pats when it comes to coming up with trickery.  So to just still be so vanilla, especially with Luck out?  I don't think it does the players any great benefit.

 

We shall see though...hope Luck gets healthy soon.  That would help a ton obviously.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

5 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

And yet, one will likely have nothing to do with the other.

Probably not but if we do it will be something to think about. Not concerned after one pre season game. I just would of liked to see a few more plays from the offense. Especially when you see how sharp the browns and patriots have looked.

[ProblChld32]

11 hours ago, Scott Pennock said:

Bugs the crap out of me. You have your first stringers out there, execute non-vanilla plays for crying out loud.

 

I'm not advocating breaking out year two wrinkles but what's wrong with plays that we ran last year that are already on tape.

 

How can they possibly evaluate game day tape with 76 3 and outs......?

 

Because in game situations require players to make reads even on offense. Some of those guys don’t have the ability to process that mentally because they don’t have the playbook completely down. It’s also the preseason for crying out loud lol, you’re trying to get a look at how guys perform their focus is not on how to win the game. If it were they would have gam planned.

[Superman]

Just now, threeflight said:

Again...did the Colts run some magical offense against the Chiefs last year?  No.  They ran the same basic plays.  They just didn't run them very well.  I really don't think the Colts have all these extraordinary plays in the playbook that are just waiting to be unleashed.

 

What correlation exists between the plays run in the KC game and the plays run in preseason?

 

There is none.

 

Also, I agree that the play calling and approach in the KC game left something to be desired, but that approach was radically different from the way the offense was handled for most of the season last year. Maybe you don't recognize that because you stopped watching the team in October. It seems like you only see and remember the bad games.

[WarGhost21]

1) That wasn’t the first team offense, only 4 starters will be starting come week 1. 

 

2) It’s preseason, if we ran non vanilla plays, we would be giving opposing defenses extra film to watch on what we would do come regular season. 

 

3) I wasn’t expecting to win that game, I was just fine seeing some rookies and new guys see action.

[csmopar]

2 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

What correlation exists between the plays run in the KC game and the plays run in preseason?

 

There is none.

 

Also, I agree that the play calling and approach in the KC game left something to be desired, but that approach was radically different from the way the offense was handled for most of the season last year. Maybe you don't recognize that because you stopped watching the team in October. It seems like you only see and remember the bad games.

we need an anti-troll rule....

[Superman]

1 minute ago, Chloe6124 said:

Probably not but if we do it will be something to think about. Not concerned after one ore season game. I just would of liked to see a few more plays from the offense. Especially when you see how sharp the browns and patriots have looked.

 

There is no correlation between playing well in preseason and playing well in the regular season. Preseason is about evaluation and preparation.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

We will see how the remaining three pre season games go. I just hope with the ultra conservative approach it doesn’t hamper the offense to start the season. 

[RockThatBlue]

I'm outraged we didn't look like a SB contender in the 1st preseason game. Fire and trade everybody before its too late.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

2 minutes ago, Superman said:

It seems like you only see and remember the bad games.

 

Thank you.

On the rare occasion threeflight mentions the defense or a player not named Luck, it's just a sidenote to his main pessimistic point about Luck.  And he's completely silent when the entire team plays well and gets a dominant win.

 

 

What's the pessimistic equivalent of a bandwagon fan?  A septic tank fan?  Only pops up with an overflow of crap when things aren't running smoothly...

[threeflight]

5 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

What correlation exists between the plays run in the KC game and the plays run in preseason?

 

There is none.

 

Also, I agree that the play calling and approach in the KC game left something to be desired, but that approach was radically different from the way the offense was handled for most of the season last year. Maybe you don't recognize that because you stopped watching the team in October. It seems like you only see and remember the bad games.

Oh no.  I watched every game last year and was cheering them on as usual. 

 

The correlation I am making as far as the KC game and the preseason is it isn't like they ran some sorcery in the playoff game, or the season for that matter.  They run pretty basic plays.  And as I said I think the play calling actually got worse as the season wore on.  I thought the first few games with Luck coming back they ran lots more slants and super quick hitters.  I was impressed.  Looked like the Pats.  The issue was they just were not that good yet, were not executing all that well, and neither the D or the OL were as good as later in the year.  So they lost.

 

Then I thought later in the season, when the OL and D got better, they kind of got away from that quick hitting offense and went back to more of a downfield and running game.  And they executed the basic plays better, so they won more.

 

So my point is it isn't as if the Chargers don't know what plays will be coming opening game.  They will.  The Colts just need to execute them.  But I can't see how they can execute them 100% when they won't have practiced them all year in the preseason games, or practiced them with 100% efficiency with 3 sub par QBs running things in practice. 

 

Who knows....maybe they will open up a bit more later in the preseason. 
 

 

 

[IndyScribe]

The offense was missing a bunch of starters. Hines isn't exactly a feature back as well.

[threeflight]

11 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

There is no correlation between playing well in preseason and playing well in the regular season. Preseason is about evaluation and preparation.

I don't entirely agree with that.  I don't think there is a correlation between winning games in the preseason and the regular season because so many scrubs play the last 2 quarters, but I do think having the first and some of the second stringers play well does translate to the regular season on a execution and confidence level.  Especially when you are missing your starting QB with no real idea when he will be back.  Having the other players do well and play well without the starting QB gives them confidence they can without him.  IF they all suck without Luck?

 

They are defeated before they even played the game.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

6 minutes ago, RockThatBlue said:

I'm outraged we didn't look like a SB contender in the 1st preseason game. Fire and trade everybody before its too late.

I don’t think anyone is saying that lol. We are asking how are we going to mentally sharp and ready day one if we stay this conservative. Plus it makes it even worse with Luck out of practice. Hopefully we will see it ramped up the next three games.

[jskinnz]

45 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

This.  If we start out slow I will look back to see how we handled the pre season.  It is a tough call because guys like Ebron and Hilton are all ready in mid season form and you don’t want them injured. But at the same time I want the offense to be sharp to start the season. I don’t really worry about the defense. It’s a little different then the offense.

 

Chloe - if you agree with Threeflight it 100% means you've backed the wrong horse.

[csmopar]

23 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

I don’t think anyone is saying that lol. We are asking how are we going to mentally sharp and ready day one if we stay this conservative. Plus it makes it even worse with Luck out of practice. Hopefully we will see it ramped up the next three games.

you realize that nearly 1/3 of the team didn't even play, mostly starters right?  Where as the Bills played their starting QB, their starting OL, their veteran, HoF RB in Gore, most of their starting WRs and almost their entire starting D... for multiple series.  Against the Colt's mostly bubble roster guys. 

 

I think you guys are chalking this up way way too much.  Are there concerns, sure. But no where near the level you and others are making them out to be.  After week 3 of the preseason, if we don't look good that game, then I'd be much more concerned.

[Scott Pennock]

46 minutes ago, ProblChld32 said:

 

Because in game situations require players to make reads even on offense. Some of those guys don’t have the ability to process that mentally because they don’t have the playbook completely down. It’s also the preseason for crying out loud lol, you’re trying to get a look at how guys perform their focus is not on how to win the game. If it were they would have gam planned.

So you're saying that none of those guys that lined up with the first team were incapable of processing the playbook? You may need to rethink that thought process.....

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

8 minutes ago, csmopar said:

you realize that nearly 1/3 of the team didn't even play, mostly starters right?  Where as the Bills played their starting QB, their starting OL, their veteran, HoF RB in Gore, most of their starting WRs and almost their entire starting D... for multiple series.  Against the Colt's mostly bubble roster guys. 

 

I think you guys are chalking this up way way too much.  Are there concerns, sure. But no where near the level you and others are making them out to be.  After week 3 of the preseason, if we don't look good that game, then I'd be much more concerned.

Yes I realize that. That is why I said we will see how it goes the final three per season games.  We just want this team to be mentally sharp going into the chargers game.

 

I really hope Campbell practices tomorrow and gets to play against the browns. He needs pre season reps. 

[Nesjan3]

isn't Vanilla in preseason game 1 kind par with the course?

[adubb84]

The colts “may” have not been in mid-season form (obviously), but the overreactions and pessimism SURE is! I get some of the concern, but it’s the FIRST pre-season game of the year. Franks reaction about the run game and overall play should tell you all you need to know that adjustments will be made...... I mean that’s what pre-season is for 

[TDewar1987]

For what its worth the Lions won all 4 of their preseason games the same year they went 0-16. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 minute ago, Nesjan3 said:

isn't Vanilla in preseason game 1 kind par with the course?

I think when you see the patriots have 350 yards with two back up qb that doesn’t sound vanilla and we just want to get the guys mentally sharp. The browns looked good also. 

[adubb84]

9 minutes ago, csmopar said:

After week 3 of the preseason, if we don't look good that game, then I'd be much more concerned.

Nailed it! And that’s the point that some folks aren’t getting. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I mainly didn’t get the point of the play calling when Brissett was in there. I don’t know what Reich thought he would get out of it.  

[csmopar]

5 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

I think when you see the patriots have 350 yards with two back up qb that doesn’t sound vanilla and we just want to get the guys mentally sharp. The browns looked good also. 

A: they are the patriots and were against the Lions, my son's PAL football team could get 350 yards on the Lions

 

B: They have the Hoodied One.  I'm sure they had the footage of the Lion's practices, playbooks and probably even hacked their headsets.

[hoosierhawk]

1 hour ago, threeflight said:

Wrong.

 

Luck says 'trust the process' like he is a robot.  It is his go to mantra.

just go away!!

[Steamboat_Shaun]

12 hours ago, Scott Pennock said:

Bugs the crap out of me. You have your first stringers out there, execute non-vanilla plays for crying out loud.

 

I'm not advocating breaking out year two wrinkles but what's wrong with plays that we ran last year that are already on tape.

 

How can they possibly evaluate game day tape with 76 3 and outs......?

 

Either get used to it, or don't watch. It's gonna be that way for 3 more games.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

2 hours ago, Chloe6124 said:

I don’t understand how this approach gets us ready for the regular season. I know pre season doesn’t matter but this approach just seems weird.

 

It's not meant to get us ready for the regular season, how can it be when the starters that actually suit up only play a series or 2? Preseason's all about getting the roster from 90 to 53, at least that seems to be the coaching staff's approach.

[throwing BBZ]

 How about we talk about how well Q and Smith looked. They got beat repeatedly didn't they? Glow was just ok doing his job. When these guys failed it killed us.
 This is a big reason why we looked bad.
 Buffalo has good defensive talent and they BEAT our best guys. Yes, it is going to take ALL our Horses to compete against the best.

[Superman]

41 minutes ago, threeflight said:

The correlation I am making as far as the KC game and the preseason is it isn't like they ran some sorcery in the playoff game, or the season for that matter.  They run pretty basic plays.

 

There is no correlation between the play calling in the KC game and the play calling in preseason. If it turns out that Reich isn't a good play caller -- and I think that's an unfounded criticism, even including the KC game -- it won't have anything to do with the plays called in preseason.

 

Quote

 

So my point is it isn't as if the Chargers don't know what plays will be coming opening game.  They will.  The Colts just need to execute them.  But I can't see how they can execute them 100% when they won't have practiced them all year in the preseason games, or practiced them with 100% efficiency with 3 sub par QBs running things in practice. 

 

 

So again, you're pointing out that Luck not being on the field isn't ideal. Thanks, I'm glad you're sharing that high level analysis.

 

Quote

Who knows....maybe they will open up a bit more later in the preseason. 

Not likely. Listen to Reich. You don't have to agree with it, but he's said how he'll approach preseason. They've also already dropped the hint that Luck won't play in preseason; we'll see how that goes, but don't be surprised if he doesn't play before Week 1.

 

Quote

Oh no.  I watched every game last year and was cheering them on as usual. 

 

Listen, you can express your fandom however you want, but when you stand on a soapbox and talk about how the staff doesn't know what they're doing and you're unimpressed, then the team goes on 10-2 stretch and no one hears from you, and then you're back to complain about the play calling in a preseason game, you're going to come across as less than genuine.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

7 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 How about we talk about how well Q and Smith looked. They got beat repeatedly didn't they? Glow was just ok doing his job. When these guys failed it killed us.
 This is a big reason why we looked bad.
 Buffalo has good defensive talent and they BEAT our best guys. Yes, it is going to take ALL our Horses to compete against the best.

I don’t think Q Looked that good.