We lack a killer instinct

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Tonights loss was not really a talent issue. What do we have to do to develop that killer instinct. Despite the injuries we should of blown them out the first half.

 

So what needs to change to develop that killer instinct to just put teams away? Does Reich need to approach game day different? I am dumbfounded by this. Despite no TY and no JB our offense still dominated. Steelers are a bad team.

[Calmack]

Sometimes I wonder what game you saw to make statements like these 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

9 minutes ago, Calmack said:

Sometimes I wonder what game you saw to make statements like these 

We dominated them on offense most of the game. Bad errors are the only thing that killed us. They could barely stop us. Defense only gave up really 7 pts.  13 pts were gifted to them. Despite all those injuries we should of had them burried after the first half. Steelers offense was bad and their defense was not good.  This loss was not a talent issue. We have to develop that killer instinct. 

[CanuckColtsFan]

Its not an instinct issue when you throw a pick 6 almost immediately after you QB goes down. Massive swing.

[HungarianColtsFan]

The execution is what we did lack yesterday.

[NannyMcafee]

Everything that could have gone wrong did. Injuries. Penalties. Mistakes.  and the steelers still almost lost this game... 

 

Sure showed how much one might miss JB. Who would have felt 10 times better with JB out there? 

[WoolMagnet]

Thru the WHOLE game i was just waiting for us to pull ahead at some point.  It felt similar  to last week.

  Even with all thethings that happened, we were right in the drivers seat to win. (With Hoyer and without Hilton no less).

  The gameplan that keeps games close, also "keeps games close."  Its a double edged sword.

  Last week, it worked, this week no.

  We are a better team than Pittsburgh.  

 

  And i dont know what i think abut the kicking situation..

[LockeDown]

I think we are built to play games like these but without turnovers and with made field goals. 

[Chrisaaron1023]

Yupp.. every game has been a heart attack. Not looking forward to "eeking out" a win or flat out losing to the dolphins next week... just no need for it

[jskinnz]

5 hours ago, Chloe6124 said:

Tonights loss was not really a talent issue. What do we have to do to develop that killer instinct. Despite the injuries we should of blown them out the first half.

 

So what needs to change to develop that killer instinct to just put teams away? Does Reich need to approach game day different? I am dumbfounded by this. Despite no TY and no JB our offense still dominated. Steelers are a bad team.

honest question - does every thought that floats through your head turn into a post?

 

Killer instinct is just something that those who don’t know float out there. 
 

they lost this game because they made too many mistakes. Was Leonard’s penalty st the half a lack of discipline or lack of a killer instinct?  Did Rogers fumble because of this lacking instinct?  Did the lack of a killer instinct lead Rigo to not getting the laces out or Vinny shanking the kick?

 

Your premise is not surprisingly flawed. 

[TheBlueAndWhite]

I agree! .. but hard to do when it's obvious the league wants the Texans in the playoffs over us. The penalties called against us in the broncos game and now the Pittsburg game were utterly rediculous, and the penalties not called on the opposing teams were also uninspired. But I get it, it's all a game within a game, boiled down to dollars. 

 

There is a reason the NFL is sports entertainment and not competitive sports. 

 

WWE my friends. Okay, maybe not that bad, but you get the picture.

[lollygagger8]

What I want to know is, why did it take Elberflus 3 ENTIRE QUARTERS to figure out that the RB pass was absolutely destroying the defense before he made any adjustment???

[Coltsman1788]

47 minutes ago, TheBlueAndWhite said:

I agree! .. but hard to do when it's obvious the league wants the Texans in the playoffs over us. The penalties called against us in the broncos game and now the Pittsburg game were utterly rediculous, and the penalties not called on the opposing teams were also uninspired. But I get it, it's all a game within a game, boiled down to dollars. 

 

There is a reason the NFL is sports entertainment and not competitive sports. 

 

WWE my friends. Okay, maybe not that bad, but you get the picture.

Heck even Irsay made a point to say they are in the business of sports entertainment in his latest rant regarding Cromartie and the whole kneeling/flag issue.  He didn’t say sports competing or winning games.  
 

I’ll take it a step further.  It was very suspect how our holder left the laces facing Vinny when he kicked it.  I was screaming at the TV before the snap to turn the laces straight.  It’s kick holding 101.  Lo and behold this doofus doesn’t turn the laces which is why Vinny missed the kick.  Looked like a sabotage job to me.  Just felt funny.  IMO, Colts weren’t supposed to win yesterday according to the “NFL scripting”.  

[Myles]

1 hour ago, TheBlueAndWhite said:

I agree! .. but hard to do when it's obvious the league wants the Texans in the playoffs over us. The penalties called against us in the broncos game and now the Pittsburg game were utterly rediculous, and the penalties not called on the opposing teams were also uninspired. But I get it, it's all a game within a game, boiled down to dollars. 

 

There is a reason the NFL is sports entertainment and not competitive sports. 

 

WWE my friends. Okay, maybe not that bad, but you get the picture.

Why do you watch then?

 

 

[Detectacon]

I'm not going to jump on the OP like some have done, but I will say that I don't know if "killer instinct" is the appropriate term. I will agree there is a certain something this team is missing as a whole. I can't put it into words, but I think the OP is onto something. 

[Dingus McGirt]

18 minutes ago, Coltsman1788 said:

Heck even Irsay made a point to say they are in the business of sports entertainment in his latest rant regarding Cromartie and the whole kneeling/flag issue.  He didn’t say sports competing or winning games.  
 

I’ll take it a step further.  It was very suspect how our holder left the laces facing Vinny when he kicked it.  I was screaming at the TV before the snap to turn the laces straight.  It’s kick holding 101.  Lo and behold this doofus doesn’t turn the laces which is why Vinny missed the kick.  Looked like a sabotage job to me.  Just felt funny.  IMO, Colts weren’t supposed to win yesterday according to the “NFL scripting”.  

"They" do love "them" some Watson, don't "they?"

[coltsva]

This team has the physical talent to contend, but mentally they are inconsistent. That part has to get better, and it should. But it needs to be soon if they want to make the playoffs and make a run.

 

 

[aaron11]

1 hour ago, Coltsman1788 said:

Heck even Irsay made a point to say they are in the business of sports entertainment in his latest rant regarding Cromartie and the whole kneeling/flag issue.  He didn’t say sports competing or winning games.  
 

I’ll take it a step further.  It was very suspect how our holder left the laces facing Vinny when he kicked it.  I was screaming at the TV before the snap to turn the laces straight.  It’s kick holding 101.  Lo and behold this doofus doesn’t turn the laces which is why Vinny missed the kick.  Looked like a sabotage job to me.  Just felt funny.  IMO, Colts weren’t supposed to win yesterday according to the “NFL scripting”.  

Adams foot hit the ground on that kick, it was really strange.  he would have missed if the laces were out hitting it like that

 

you could argue the hold is why he did that, but he is supposed to be a clutch kicker and didnt even give this one a chance

[LuckyHorseShoe§]

21 minutes ago, Dingus McGirt said:

"They" do love "them" some Watson, don't "they?"

Now that their Mahomie is out, they need someone to get comfy with, if you know what I'm saying 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

27 minutes ago, coltsva said:

This team has the physical talent to contend, but mentally they are inconsistent. That part has to get better, and it should. But it needs to be soon if they want to make the playoffs and make a run.

 

 

This is what I meant. It seems we always do something to shoot ourselves in the foot. Offense and defense played fine. Why cant we put everything together.  It’s mental not anything to do with talent.

[The Old Crow]

From an outsiders perspective , this is a young and talented roster . If Luck were here I think you would be 7-1.  JB is a good QB , but not at Luck’s ability level. That being said, he’s steady, and you can win a SB with a QB like that. 
You’ve had a ton on injuries , and this causes chemistry disruptions , and games to be closer than they normally may be. You have plenty of draft picks , and I think Ballard is a great GM, and Reich a top coach. He would have been my choice if the Ravens axed Harbaugh. 
If you get JB back, I think the Colts are better than the Texans. You always beat them when it counts. Then it is survive and advance in the playoffs, and we all know the road begins and ends with Hoodie. 

[Coffeedrinker]

4 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

This is what I meant. It seems we always do something to shoot ourselves in the foot. Offense and defense played fine. Why cant we put everything together.  It’s mental not anything to do with talent.

The flaw in your logic is a major aspect of talent is the ability to do something at a high level consistently.

[Coffeedrinker]

2 minutes ago, The Old Crow said:

From an outsiders perspective , this is a young and talented roster . If Luck were here I think you would be 7-1.  JB is a good QB , but not at Luck’s ability level. That being said, he’s steady, and you can win a SB with a QB like that. 
You’ve had a ton on injuries , and this causes chemistry disruptions , and games to be closer than they normally may be. You have plenty of draft picks , and I think Ballard is a great GM, and Reich a top coach. He would have been my choice if the Ravens axed Harbaugh. 
If you get JB back, I think the Colts are better than the Texans. You always beat them when it counts. Then it is survive and advance in the playoffs, and we all know the road begins and ends with Hoodie. 

Thanks for the perspective and thanks for showing the Patriots what happens when they play a good team.

[The Old Crow]

4 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Thanks for the perspective and thanks for showing the Patriots what happens when they play a good team.

NP. I was impressed the way the Colts battered KC. The foundation is there. I enjoyed last night , but all Colt and Ravens fan know we will see the Patriots again. The key for you is getting JB back as quick as possible , and getting healthy for a playoff run. Honestly, I thought Hoyer played well yesterday considering all the rust . He had that bad pick 6 , but put the Colts in a position to win. Tough luck for Adam V. Besides the laces turned, that field at Pittsburgh stinks , and the swirling winds  are notorious. He’s a great HOF kicker, but there have been just too many misses this year, besides that one. Like Unitas in San Diego, there is a time when it must end. With only retreads out there , probably keep him until the end of the year.  

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

16 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

The flaw in your logic is a major aspect of talent is the ability to do something at a high level consistently.

Having mental mistakes like yesterday did not have to do with talent.   Rudolph had a 26 QBR. Steelers in no way should of had this game close. There is something missing. Reich is a great coach but is he missing something in getting these guys ready for games. Especially teams that we are better then? That’s what I am asking.  Like the above post said it’s hard to put your finger on. We were moving the ball at will yesterday so it clearly was mental and not talent. We find ways to make mistakes to let inferior teams stay in the game. I feel bad for the defense yesterday. 

[GRUMPY OLD MAN]

2 hours ago, TheBlueAndWhite said:

I agree! .. but hard to do when it's obvious the league wants the Texans in the playoffs over us. The penalties called against us in the broncos game and now the Pittsburg game were utterly rediculous, and the penalties not called on the opposing teams were also uninspired. But I get it, it's all a game within a game, boiled down to dollars. 

 

There is a reason the NFL is sports entertainment and not competitive sports. 

 

WWE my friends. Okay, maybe not that bad, but you get the picture.

I sometimes wonder about it when refs decide a game which they do alot

[Four2itus]

Horse crap.

 

This team actually has depth and winning instincts better than many teams in the past. 

[Lucky1]

You guys do realize before yesterday's injury plagued game, (FFS Brian Hoyer was our QB and Paris Campbell was our best WR) we were 5-2 in one score games and if it wasn't for missed kicks we would be even better. To put the game away with the score that close is the definition of killer instinct. What this team needs is to get healthy. Period.

[compuls1v3]

7 hours ago, CanuckColtsFan said:

Its not an instinct issue when you throw a pick 6 almost immediately after you QB goes down. Massive swing.

We scored a TD after Brissett went down.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

20 minutes ago, Lucky1 said:

You guys do realize before yesterday's injury plagued game, (FFS Brian Hoyer was our QB and Paris Campbell was our best WR) we were 5-2 in one score games and if it wasn't for missed kicks we would be even better. To put the game away with the score that close is the definition of killer instinct. What this team needs is to get healthy. Period.

The point is even with those injuries this should of been a blowout after the first half. Why are we having mental mistakes against bad teams. I give them a pass for Denver. We didn’t really make a mental mistakes. Denver just had a great defense. I don’t understand why we are having dumb mental mistakes against bad teams.

[Stephen]

3 hours ago, jskinnz said:

honest question - does every thought that floats through your head turn into a post?

 

Killer instinct is just something that those who don’t know float out there. 
 

they lost this game because they made too many mistakes. Was Leonard’s penalty st the half a lack of discipline or lack of a killer instinct?  Did Rogers fumble because of this lacking instinct?  Did the lack of a killer instinct lead Rigo to not getting the laces out or Vinny shanking the kick?

 

Your premise is not surprisingly flawed. 

You miss the point entirely.  The fact is we have not blown out Nobody  this year, but we should have blown out the steelers, falcons,and texans. This team keeps making mistakes  that keep other teams in the game like untimely  penalties  and uncharacteristic  turnovers  yesterday.  The missed kick is another situation  

[Moosejawcolt]

8 hours ago, Chloe6124 said:

Tonights loss was not really a talent issue. What do we have to do to develop that killer instinct. Despite the injuries we should of blown them out the first half.

 

So what needs to change to develop that killer instinct to just put teams away? Does Reich need to approach game day different? I am dumbfounded by this. Despite no TY and no JB our offense still dominated. Steelers are a bad team.

I beg to differ and I don't think the talent level on this team is as high as u think.  I feel we r a good team with holes. 

[BigQungus]

Well we should've blown them out, but it's hard to overcome your QB getting injured, a pick 6 at the 4, delusional reffing, and 4 points left on the board

[ColtsLegacy]

44 minutes ago, Lucky1 said:

You guys do realize before yesterday's injury plagued game, (FFS Brian Hoyer was our QB and Paris Campbell was our best WR) we were 5-2 in one score games and if it wasn't for missed kicks we would be even better. To put the game away with the score that close is the definition of killer instinct. What this team needs is to get healthy. Period.

 

Zach Pascal was the best WR and it's not close.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

5 minutes ago, BigQungus said:

Well we should've blown them out, but it's hard to overcome your QB getting injured, a pick 6 at the 4, delusional reffing, and 4 points left on the board

The point is we did over come those things. Giving them 3 pts at the half you could say even cost us the game. Chester Rogers fumbling the punt return gave the Steelers three points. My point was the offense actually was driving the field. Defense only gave up one actual TD. 

[Chrisaaron1023]

We also lack health gotta get healthy to make the playoffs.. 

[Jdubu]

2 hours ago, Detectacon said:

I'm not going to jump on the OP like some have done, but I will say that I don't know if "killer instinct" is the appropriate term. I will agree there is a certain something this team is missing as a whole. I can't put it into words, but I think the OP is onto something. 

I’ll inject into the conversation that I think what the team is missing is aggression, productive aggression, not Leonard stupid 4th person into the pile hitting aggression. We employ a soft, vanilla bend but don’t break type defense. Wasn’t there an article not to many weeks ago that quoted another teams coaching staff or GM that said the Colts defense was one of the more simple to game plan against or play against because they are so vanilla? On offense, I don’t even know what we are. We have all these fast little twitchy players like TY, PC and Hines and outside of TY, how many quick hitting slants or quick hitters do we throw? It’s either our QB’s aren’t trusted to throw those type of passes or the OC isn’t bright enough to incorporate them into game plans or Reich is calling them off, idk but this offense lacks true electricity. I don’t see DF coming in and all of the sudden being that big spark to put it all together once him and TY are on the field. Where are the seam passes to Doyle? Crossers to these underneath guys, jet sweeps with PC, screens to Mack or Hines? 
 

I’ll tell you what I think, I think it’s the soft practice routine we’ve employed here to make sure guys are “rested” up. I think we lack that tougher grit style play that teams such as NE , Steelers and other power style teams have shown over the years, regardless of the level of players they have. Outside of Quentin, who plays with malice? 
 

one last shot at Vinny here but keeping him on this team because of his years of service in the organization, that to me shows the level of complacency that has crept in to say it’s ok to fail at the job your given providing we really like you as a person, your play isn’t the primary function. Whereas Belichick would sit Tom Brady if he went out and threw stupid picks 3-4/game that cost him wins. Maybe it’s Irsay telling the coach/GM this guy is safe regardless of what he does because we’ve seen this type of complacency over the years with multiple coaches on multiple players. Idk but if they allow this garbage play from a kicker to fester, and they lose game because of him (2 now) that locker room will start to show fractures, Mark my words. 

[Detectacon]

6 minutes ago, Jdubu said:

I’ll inject into the conversation that I think what the team is missing is aggression, productive aggression, not Leonard stupid 4th person into the pile hitting aggression. We employ a soft, vanilla bend but don’t break type defense. Wasn’t there an article not to many weeks ago that quoted another teams coaching staff or GM that said the Colts defense was one of the more simple to game plan against or play against because they are so vanilla? On offense, I don’t even know what we are. We have all these fast little twitchy players like TY, PC and Hines and outside of TY, how many quick hitting slants or quick hitters do we throw? It’s either our QB’s aren’t trusted to throw those type of passes or the OC isn’t bright enough to incorporate them into game plans or Reich is calling them off, idk but this offense lacks true electricity. I don’t see DF coming in and all of the sudden being that big spark to put it all together once him and TY are on the field. Where are the seam passes to Doyle? Crossers to these underneath guys, jet sweeps with PC, screens to Mack or Hines? 
 

I’ll tell you what I think, I think it’s the soft practice routine we’ve employed here to make sure guys are “rested” up. I think we lack that tougher grit style play that teams such as NE , Steelers and other power style teams have shown over the years, regardless of the level of players they have. Outside of Quentin, who plays with malice? 
 

one last shot at Vinny here but keeping him on this team because of his years of service in the organization, that to me shows the level of complacency that has crept in to say it’s ok to fail at the job your given providing we really like you as a person, your play isn’t the primary function. Whereas Belichick would sit Tom Brady if he went out and threw stupid picks 3-4/game that cost him wins. Maybe it’s Irsay telling the coach/GM this guy is safe regardless of what he does because we’ve seen this type of complacency over the years with multiple coaches on multiple players. Idk but if they allow this garbage play from a kicker to fester, and they lose game because of him (2 now) that locker room will start to show fractures, Mark my words. 

I like a lot of what you said here. Especially the part about the practice style. Don't get me wrong, I like our coach and I think he is doing a good job. I am just curious if he is trying to hard to be soft (if that makes sense). What I mean is that coaching is similar to parenting in many ways. It is not my goal as a parent to be my kids friend.

 

I think a lot of the team respects the H E double hockey stick out of Coach Reich and would do anything he asks. He just doesn't ask it of them. Compare that style of coaching to say Belichick. Bill may not have the love of his players (Idk....it just seems that way to me) but they respect him enough to run through the brick wall for him because he demands it. I feel like there is a balance somewhere between their two styles that could take a team like ours to new heights. 

[Jdubu]

1 hour ago, Lucky1 said:

You guys do realize before yesterday's injury plagued game, (FFS Brian Hoyer was our QB and Paris Campbell was our best WR) we were 5-2 in one score games and if it wasn't for missed kicks we would be even better. To put the game away with the score that close is the definition of killer instinct. What this team needs is to get healthy. Period.

I’m going to just say, that steeler team was way less healthy than we are and they won. Injuries stated at this stage are a crutch for people who want to make an excuse and rationalize why “their” team lost. CB has layered this team in talent with all his “love them picks” draft kids and we shouldn’t worry as much as we’ve had to during the end of Polian and Grigson years, but too many of these guys aren’t stepping up. We should not have lost this game because we didn’t have TY as a weapon and as others said, aside from the pick 6, Homer did enough to win the game and I felt our play calling lacked ingenuity and adaptation to the in game adjustments from the steeler defensive adjustments. 

[Jdubu]

3 minutes ago, Detectacon said:

I like a lot of what you said here. Especially the part about the practice style. Don't get me wrong, I like our coach and I think he is doing a good job. I am just curious if he is trying to hard to be soft (if that makes sense). What I mean is that coaching is similar to parenting in many ways. It is not my goal as a parent to be my kids friend.

 

I think a lot of the team respects the H E double hockey stick out of Coach Reich and would do anything he asks. He just doesn't ask it of them. Compare that style of coaching to say Belichick. Bill may not have the love of his players (Idk....it just seems that way to me) but they respect him enough to run through the brick wall for him because he demands it. I feel like there is a balance somewhere between their two styles that could take a team like ours to new heights. 

I fully agree. Maybe it is just going to take Reich a few seasons to find that right balance between being a super hard nosed guy but just soft enough not to be despised by his players yet still maintaining the run through the wall for you stuff. I also agree he is going to have to demand a bit more from them as well. They all lack something that Reich needs to figure out how to push that out of them. 
 

my Tuesday as the coach would start out about accountability to self, to team and to the overall success of this team. I would also be announcing that we have cut both Vinny and Rogers and that each man in here today needs to step their game up, practice like it’s their last game of their careers, dive deeper and harder into practice and study of the playbooks and then apply this effort on game day. Set a little bit of a stronger tone and urgency when running practice drills. Employ the if you can’t practice you won’t play method. I think we have guys who are starting to dig it just a little bit and each time guys see one man say coach my quad feels a little stiff or my shoulder is a little tender or I’ve got a headache,  they are put on a well then sit out today and go study some film and see the rehab trainers. That’s my feeling. Like kids, they will always try to take a little more rope when it’s offered. Guys like Manning, Q, Reggie etc... would practice regardless of their issues. They have drives bigger than their teammates, especially people like Manning, he was rare for sure. If we had the coach push somewhere near the 3/4 level that Manning pushed himself, we would be tough as nails mentally and the ones who don’t have that level of drive will weed themselves out. Push up the level and I’d start with those two cuts and speech to allow players to understand my words have meaning behind them with these actions. Words that are spoken and show no actions eventually fall on deaf ears, regardless of competitiveness of the players. Over time, that leads to locker room issues and overall sloppy players. Take the reigns over now before they get so loose you can’t control them anymore.