Its just week one....Don't panic.

[DownHillRunner]

I'm not going to put too much into today's lost. Yes today was a brutal loss but the sky is not falling. The team you saw today won't be the team going forward. I love what I saw from the defensive line in the second half. They had multiple sacks, and stopped the run better in the second half. The secondary has to be better. If Hooker wants to get paid he is going to have to start playing like a top 15 pick. Rhodes looked lost today and Ya Sin has to be better. Moore and Willis I'm not concerned about them at I was suspicious about this secondary going into the season and my suspicions were correct. I hope they turn it around. 

 

 

As far as the offense goes Rivers is who he is. You're going to get good and bad from him but I thought he played pretty decent despite the picks. I would love to see Frank get Pittman more involved in the offense. Dial up some plays for him. JT should get 15-20 carries a game going forward especially if Mack is going to miss time. Ballard planned ahead, he knew Mack had injury issues. Credit to him for drafting Taylor. 

 

 

Two winnable home games coming up against the Vikings and Jets. They don't play another AFC South team until week 10. A lot of football to be played guys! This team started 0-1 last season and won 3 of 4 after. 

[PuntersArePeopleToo]

Have you not met this forum, they alwayssss overreact (most)

[deedub75]

The same is said every year. 

[Mr.Debonair]

Just now, deedub75 said:

The same is said every year. 

BINGO

[funktacious2]

Yeah, I think there is plenty to he upset about and I have made my contributions to the doom and gloom for sure. But you're right. My bigger takeaway was the underestimating of the Jags. They were 6-10 last year, not like 3-13 or something. They were 6-6 with Minshew. He looks better this year already and they have some legit offensive weapons. That doesn't fully justify the poor showing of our defence though. We invested in the D-line and got nothing from them, and our secondary was quite concerning.

 

Offensively I didn't feel too bothered. Yeah, we lost Mack, Rivers threw 2 INTs, and Hilton had some drops, but I saw plenty of evidence that we can be better than last season. I want to see Pittman actually contribute though. Let's hope Taylor is ready to explode next week.

 

We just left too much on the field. Missing that 4 and 1 in the red zone and missing the chipshot field goal was killer. We even had a chance to tie the game late, but we botched it. It was a disappointing loss, yes, but it wasn't devastating by any means. I think we'll do a good job of fixing some issues.

[ColtStrong2013]

[a06cc]

We still have no creative ways to come up big on 3rd downs on defenses. It’s been like that no matter who the defensive coordinator is. The secondary maybe Blackmon is the answer when healthy? The offensive and defensive lines got whipped today. Rivers I will blame for that force interception into double coverage. Felt good during camp with TY and forced that one. The second was going to happen. Can’t ask him to play catch up football. Matt starts the season off way to conservative. We have the depth to take more chances. Offensive line got Rivers touched way too much today. I’m as optimistic as the next person. We have to come out better next week. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

25 minutes ago, a06cc said:

We still have no creative ways to come up big on 3rd downs on defenses. It’s been like that no matter who the defensive coordinator is. The secondary maybe Blackmon is the answer when healthy? The offensive and defensive lines got whipped today. Rivers I will blame for that force interception into double coverage. Felt good during camp with TY and forced that one. The second was going to happen. Can’t ask him to play catch up football. Matt starts the season off way to conservative. We have the depth to take more chances. Offensive line got Rivers touched way too much today. I’m as optimistic as the next person. We have to come out better next week. 

Our defense is much more experienced. There is no reason to start conservative like that. I understand when you have a bunch of rookies but we don’t have that anymore. 

[a06cc]

2 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

Our defense is much more experienced. There is no reason to start conservative like that. I understand when you have a bunch of rookies but we don’t have that anymore. 

Did you also see Autry quit on a run play? He had a chase down, but stopped. 

[danlhart87]

33 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

STAY * CALM!!!

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

There was a couple good things. Taylor catches the ball just fine. Campbell looks so far like he will be the future TY replacement. He looks much more comfy and you can tell he is quicker in his routes. He looks very smooth. 

 

The big question will Reich ever grow as a coach and will Eberflus ever fix things. Those two things are holding us back.

[shasta519]

Why are you not worried about Willis? He is a big liability in pass coverage. 

[shasta519]

23 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

There was a couple good things. Taylor catches the ball just fine. Campbell looks so far like he will be the future TY replacement. He looks much more comfy and you can tell he is quicker in his routes. He looks very smooth. 

 

The big question will Reich ever grow as a coach and will Eberflus ever fix things. Those two things are holding us back.

Taylor looked great in the passing game. As he showed...Taylor has so much more upside as a pass catcher than Hines. Going forward...Taylor should be getting ~25 touches. 

[Coltsman1788]

I put this loss mostly on our coaching staff.  Reich has got to make better decisions and have this team prepared to play.  He needs to play to the Colts strengths and stop trying to be too cute with his play calling and player utilization.  Eberflus and the defense need to get it together and stop playing so much soft zone coverage or this will be a long season. 

[GoColts8818]

2 hours ago, shasta519 said:

Why are you not worried about Willis? He is a big liability in pass coverage. 

So is everyone in the secondary not named Moore.  Honestly the whole secondary looked awful today again aside from Moore.  

[Irfan]

At least this early. Give it another week or two. If a player struggles after 3 weeks, a la 2015 Eddie Lacy, then feel free to start panicking, looking for trade pieces, ...

[Freenyfan102]

Riech is starting to look like pagano and Matt is starting to look like Ron Meeks 2.0. Out of the gate looks unprepared again. So glad we traded a 1st for Buckener man he really helped out. He is already started to look like a trent richardson trade all over again.

[GoColts8818]

11 minutes ago, Coltsman1788 said:

I put this loss mostly on our coaching staff.  Reich has got to make better decisions and have this team prepared to play.  He needs to play to the Colts strengths and stop trying to be too cute with his play calling and player utilization.  Eberflus and the defense need to get it together and stop playing so much soft zone coverage or this will be a long season. 

Yeah they didn’t look prepared and after the fourth down stop by the Jags they seemed to stop attacking on offense.  That play really swung things for Jax.  That goes right to your point about Frank being too cute.  I didn’t like the call to go for it there to start with, you take the points and the two position lead on the road.  I liked the play call even less with an inside handoff to your worst running back suited for it on the roster.  If you want to do that bring in Wilkins or Taylor.  
 

I think Frank got a little too caught up in playing with his new toys today and got away from what the offense should be built on, pounding the ball.  That or he didn’t do a good job adjusting to Mack’s injury.  Maybe some of it goes on Rivers because they were going quick a lot and he was calling stuff at the line but if that’s the case Frank should have told him hey let’s run a little.  
 

I do think all the time missed by the oline in camp showed.  Three of them are dealing with injuries even if the are miner right now plus Smith was hurt for a lot of camp.  Really only Glow had all of camp and frankly I thought he had the best day on the line today.  I think that goes hand and hand.
 

Too much trying to run with Hines which isn’t his strength and not enough running with Taylor.  Then the telegraphed play with Jacoby.  All and all not Frank’s best day as a play caller.

 

The defense was just stuck in mud.  They looked like a pre-season game in the first half where they just played their base defense and did nothing else.  The second half they had a little more energy but they secondary has me worried.  This was a problem last year and it’s mostly the same guys back there.  Ya-sin doesn’t look better.  Rhodes, the new guy struggled.  Frankly based on today I would have rather had Desir.  Willis is good against the run but adds little to the pass defense.  Hooker continues to read plays wrong and lets guys get wide open and is playing himself out of Indianapolis.  It’s only week one but based on past experience with the secondary I think it’s fair to have concerns.  
 

I will say they had no off-season program really and no pre-season so I can get the defense being out of sync some but they have a lot of work to do.  Add in a new OC in Jacksonville and a new offense without even pre-season tape that’s hard to prepare for.  
 

Still the defense was just slow and out of place all day.  Even Leonard didn’t look to be flying around like he normally does.  Then Bobby didn’t even really play much for a guy they love so much that’s odd.  Buckner was a disappointment but it’s only one game.  The Jags oline just owned the Colts DTs all day.  They had five yards on handoff pretty much anytime they wanted it.  Hopefully watching the tape lights a fire under them and they play like we all expected them too vs the Vikings.   

[Sumo63]

It's not really about panic, for me it's about wanting what is probably my last season to be a successful one.  I had to fight tooth and nail to get here and after today, my logical mind agrees with you, no big deal, but the outcome is a huge disappointment.....My personal reality very likely doesnt contain a '21 season, much less an "Eason era".

 

I bought the preseason hype cuz I wanted to, maybe even needed to, and we dropped the opener to the jags.....lol, smh.  Could  still be a great year, and football is a luxury not a necessity, but dang...........

 

I'll keep going,  as I have the last 2 years,   just would love to watch us make a run one more time!  Not the flacid drip of a performance we witnessed today, and frankly all of last year.  I know It's a me problem, probably one of priortization, but I love my colts.  what can I say?

 

I have faith in this staff and this team.  One game dropped is not a season ended.  Just hoped for more, especially opening against the glitter kitties.  Me-owch!  0-1

 

[GoColts8818]

6 minutes ago, Sumo63 said:

It's not really about panic, for me it's about wanting what is probably my last season to be a successful one.  I had to fight tooth and nail to get here and after today, my logical mind agrees with you, no big deal, but the outcome is a huge disappointment.....My personal reality very likely doesnt contain a '21 season, much less an "Eason era".

 

I bought the preseason hype cuz I wanted to, maybe even needed to, and we dropped the opener to the jags.....lol, smh.  Could  still be a great year, and football is a luxury not a necessity, but dang...........

 

I'll keep going,  as I have the last 2 years,   just would love to watch us make a run one more time!  Not the flacid drip of a performance we witnessed today, and frankly all of last year.  I know It's a me problem, probably one of priortization, but I love my colts.  what can I say?

 

I have faith in this staff and this team.  One game dropped is not a season ended.  Just hoped for more, especially opening against the glitter kitties.  Me-owch!  0-1

 

Very sorry to hear you think his will be your last season.  A reminder things are much bigger than football.  

[shasta519]

7 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

So is everyone in the secondary not named Moore.  Honestly the whole secondary looked awful today again aside from Moore.  

 

Oh I agree. They looked like they did down the stretch last year...but Moore was out then. I really hope Blackmon is as good as they say...and can get healthy soon.

[chad72]

Eberflus' D comes out underwhelming year after year. We started 1-5, then Luck went on a run in 2018. Even against Jets and Sam Darnold, no blitzing or anything creative, Darnold seeing wide open bowling lanes instead of ghosts like vs Patriots.

 

Then, last year, shoddy tackling and let the Chargers and Ekeler go up and down the field consistently in game 1. Then, our run game settled in and our OL settled in, actually helping his D for a brief good start to go up 5-2 last year. It definitely was not due to our D. 

 

Then, here we are again. Different personnel, more talent added, but same results out of the gate. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. 

 

If our goal is to first win the division, we cannot do so with such slow starts. Our division is much better from a few years ago. 

[Nadine]

It was disappointing but I'm not panicked.  Honestly, the return of football is a welcome relief from everything.  Even the venting threads look good to me.......kind of like a sign 'all is right with the world'

 

Looking forward to this season with you guys, whatever it may bring

[Restored]

19 minutes ago, chad72 said:

Eberflus' D comes out underwhelming year after year. We started 1-5, then Luck went on a run in 2018. Even against Jets and Sam Darnold, no blitzing or anything creative, Darnold seeing wide open bowling lanes instead of ghosts like vs Patriots.

 

Then, last year, shoddy tackling and let the Chargers and Ekeler go up and down the field consistently in game 1. Then, our run game settled in and our OL settled in, actually helping his D for a brief good start to go up 5-2 last year. It definitely was not due to our D. 

 

Then, here we are again. Different personnel, more talent added, but same results out of the gate. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

 

I think this is the real issue here. The team has talent defensively but the lack of creativity (or even playing man coverage for that matter) really hurts the defense. Now, if you are able to generate consistent pressure, the scheme can work for you but most teams simply negate the pass rush by throwing quick passes.

 

To further this point, just look at some of the personnel the Colts have in the secondary. Hooker thrived in an Ed Reed-type of role where he was able to roam in the secondary and make plays. Instead, he's relegated to mostly playing deep safety in a Cover 2 or having to help in run support. Ya-Sin and Rhodes (who looked awful btw) are better man coverage players yet are utilized almost exclusively in zone coverage.

 

Overall, the defense needs to improve but I'm not so sure how much it can improve without atleast some schematic changes.

[Flash7]

For me, it's not a panic because we lost. It HOW we lost.

 

Minshew - Just A Guy, was 19 of 20 with 3 TDS. It's the same old SOFT defense that we as Colts fans are all too familiar with and sick of. 

 

WHY can't the Colts have a dominating defense? WHY? It's always gotta be a Star Wars offense and tissue paper defense.

[Myles]

I'm not panicking, but if we lose to the Vikings, which is possible, 0-2 may be close to panic time.   

I'm more panicked by Reich's decisions. 

I know there are more, but a few of the decisions were not understandable:

Going for it on 4th instead of kicking the FG for a 10-0 lead.

Running Hines up the gut on that 4th down play. 

The Brissett play.   WTH was that?  

Abandoning the running game.

 

 

[Horsey]

24 minutes ago, Flash7 said:

For me, it's not a panic because we lost. It HOW we lost.

 

Minshew - Just A Guy, was 19 of 20 with 3 TDS. It's the same old SOFT defense that we as Colts fans are all too familiar with and sick of. 

 

WHY can't the Colts have a dominating defense? WHY? It's always gotta be a Star Wars offense and tissue paper defense.

It's a domino effect from poor drafting on the defensive side of the ball. Besides Leonard, all of the high defensive draft picks have been disappointing. If it's not the players, then it's the scheme, and Eberflus should be held accountable. 

[chad72]

25 minutes ago, Flash7 said:

For me, it's not a panic because we lost. It HOW we lost.

 

Minshew - Just A Guy, was 19 of 20 with 3 TDS. It's the same old SOFT defense that we as Colts fans are all too familiar with and sick of. 

 

WHY can't the Colts have a dominating defense? WHY? It's always gotta be a Star Wars offense and tissue paper defense.

 

You need good man coverage CBs and stellar safety play, both for a dominating D (OR) you need a stellar front 7 to go with a good scheme. 

 

We have neither. The current NFL, you need some veterans who can teach the young guys to keep them in check.

 

The AFC champs lately - Broncos, when they had Rahim Moore, they give up that Hail Mary and they were relying on Star Wars offense. They got T J Ward, a strong safety enforcer and Darian Stewart from the Ravens for their free safety spot, and added Talib to go with C J Harris, and all of a sudden, with their pass rush and DL talent, they had a "dominating" D. That was also the first year of Wade Philips. 

 

Patriots - they have continually invested in their secondary while keeping vets like McCourty, Chung etc. in there and mix and match their front 7 pieces with Brady and their O giving them a high floor.

 

Chiefs - It was not until they brought in Tyrann Mathieu for safety and a guy like Spagnuolos that schemed differently to maximize what they had and minimize their weaknesses (their LBs were still trash in pass D vs RBs and TEs, so Patriots were a bad matchup for them) and come out ahead with Patrick Mahomes and the O having a high floor. The previous year, Bob Sutton let the Patriots go up and down playing zone coverage and wasted a golden chance in Mahomes' first year of starting in the AFCCG.

 

You need good safety play and vets in the secondary and a good scheme to go with it to win in the current NFL. However, we are not sure if our offense is Star Wars in the first place. I want to see our offense show us a good floor for scoring points in the mid-20s first week in and week out to call it a Top 10 unit. Everything can then feed off it. 2 INTs plus a 3rd one overturned by penalty, hopefully we cut down on mistakes big time as we move forward.

 

Youth movement is fine and dandy but you need vets on all sides to teach and keep the young guys sticking to their assignments constantly, IMO. 

[MPStack]

Build the Monster!

[CoachLite]

Was the game plan to bore Jax to death? It didn't work. The game could be characterized as 'old, boring and slow'. What a concept! 

[AZColt11]

No choice but to look to next week.  Time to get a streak going.

[Myles]

4 minutes ago, CoachLite said:

Was the game plan to bore Jax to death? It didn't work. The game could be characterized as 'old, boring and slow'. What a concept! 

The Colts are confident they will win the division.    They let the Jags win in order to hinder their Trever Lawrence drafting effort.   The Colts don't want him in the division for the next 15 years.  

[Rally5]

11 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

Yeah they didn’t look prepared and after the fourth down stop by the Jags they seemed to stop attacking on offense.  That play really swung things for Jax.  That goes right to your point about Frank being too cute.  I didn’t like the call to go for it there to start with, you take the points and the two position lead on the road.  I liked the play call even less with an inside handoff to your worst running back suited for it on the roster.  If you want to do that bring in Wilkins or Taylor.  
 

I think Frank got a little too caught up in playing with his new toys today and got away from what the offense should be built on, pounding the ball.  That or he didn’t do a good job adjusting to Mack’s injury.  Maybe some of it goes on Rivers because they were going quick a lot and he was calling stuff at the line but if that’s the case Frank should have told him hey let’s run a little.  
 

I do think all the time missed by the oline in camp showed.  Three of them are dealing with injuries even if the are miner right now plus Smith was hurt for a lot of camp.  Really only Glow had all of camp and frankly I thought he had the best day on the line today.  I think that goes hand and hand.
 

Too much trying to run with Hines which isn’t his strength and not enough running with Taylor.  Then the telegraphed play with Jacoby.  All and all not Frank’s best day as a play caller.

 

The defense was just stuck in mud.  They looked like a pre-season game in the first half where they just played their base defense and did nothing else.  The second half they had a little more energy but they secondary has me worried.  This was a problem last year and it’s mostly the same guys back there.  Ya-sin doesn’t look better.  Rhodes, the new guy struggled.  Frankly based on today I would have rather had Desir.  Willis is good against the run but adds little to the pass defense.  Hooker continues to read plays wrong and lets guys get wide open and is playing himself out of Indianapolis.  It’s only week one but based on past experience with the secondary I think it’s fair to have concerns.  
 

I will say they had no off-season program really and no pre-season so I can get the defense being out of sync some but they have a lot of work to do.  Add in a new OC in Jacksonville and a new offense without even pre-season tape that’s hard to prepare for.  
 

Still the defense was just slow and out of place all day.  Even Leonard didn’t look to be flying around like he normally does.  Then Bobby didn’t even really play much for a guy they love so much that’s odd.  Buckner was a disappointment but it’s only one game.  The Jags oline just owned the Colts DTs all day.  They had five yards on handoff pretty much anytime they wanted it.  Hopefully watching the tape lights a fire under them and they play like we all expected them too vs the Vikings.   

Yep.