Colts at Bears: The good, the bad, and the ugly (and bonus "the silly")

[King Colt]

It was said the Colts are last in the NFL on 3rd down conversions in the Red Zone. The Bears put on a good game of pressuring Rivers so I'm sure the Browns will at least duplicate that fact. Rivers looked like a 70 year old man when attempting to avoid tackles. I think Rivers is getting the job done but if they run in to a tough pass rush game put Brissett in strictly for reasons of mobility. 

[AZColt11]

9 minutes ago, csmopar said:

Two thoughts on this: 

 

First, I’m not gonna read much into it, Marvin Harrison used to do the same thing with Peyton.

 

Second: the Colts O for years has been force it to TY, let him make a play. Most on here glamoured for the ball to be spread around. I think that’s what you’re seeing, especially compared to JB from last year. Now how much of that is hurting the ego of TY and contributing to his play? Or is it his play or lack thereof that is contributing to spreading it around?

I just think it was more a matter of what is there to talk about?  TY was WIDE open, may have even scored, or at the very least gone for a bunch of yards, and Rivers just flat missed him.  Pretty easy to understand this one.

[csmopar]

18 minutes ago, King Colt said:

It was said the Colts are last in the NFL on 3rd down conversions in the Red Zone. The Bears put on a good game of pressuring Rivers so I'm sure the Browns will at least duplicate that fact. Rivers looked like a 70 year old man when attempting to avoid tackles. I think Rivers is getting the job done but if they run in to a tough pass rush game put Brissett in strictly for reasons of mobility. 

I would add that the bears were too 3 in red zone defense going in as well. 

9 minutes ago, AZColt11 said:

I just think it was more a matter of what is there to talk about?  TY was WIDE open, may have even scored, or at the very least gone for a bunch of yards, and Rivers just flat missed him.  Pretty easy to understand this one.

Most likely 

[Valpo2004]

46 minutes ago, AZColt11 said:

I just think it was more a matter of what is there to talk about?  TY was WIDE open, may have even scored, or at the very least gone for a bunch of yards, and Rivers just flat missed him.  Pretty easy to understand this one.

 

Agreed. . . Rivers knew he screwed up, you could see it in his face after the throw.  

[atapcl]

13 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

The good

the defense

special teams

rookie play, not only are Blackmon, Taylor and hot rod making plays but Glassgow helped out on special teams today.
pascal just keeps making plays.  Where would the Colts WRs be without him the last couple of years?

ball control offense.  They might have not scored a lot of points but they had several long time consuming drives that lead to points and they didn’t turn the ball over for the second straight game.  

Might Mo!  You can’t stop him only hope to contain him!  
 

bad

Rivers had a couple of ugly throws and continues to play like a game manger but with this Colts team that’s all they need him to be.

Leonard’s injury.  Groins tend to linger

Giving Wilkins and Hines 18 carries and Taylor only 17, Taylor was effective at 4.0 ypc while Hines was 2.7 ypc and Wilkins was 1.7.  Trust Taylor and feed him the ball and stop trying to force the ball into Hines hands and stop trying to make him a between the tackles runner.  

take the second and long shotgun draw to Hines out back and shoot it.

lack of the play action pass.  The couple of times the Colts ran it it was effective and those plays will back teams off the run game.

 

ugly

the second down and long draw to Hines.  Yes I know I already mentioned It but I hate that play so much I brought it up again.

Burton looked really sloppy his first game back.  That should change in time.  
The red zone offense both execution and play calling.  
goaline fades that never work and nearly ended in a costly pick today.

ya-sin’s no contact injury.  Hopefully it’s not serious.  

Colts were sloppy with penalties early but cleaned it up as the game went along.

Taylor seemed to get nicked up which might be why he got fewer plays. 

[GoColts8818]

6 hours ago, atapcl said:

Taylor seemed to get nicked up which might be why he got fewer plays. 

He got nicked up towards the end.  He was getting fewer carries well before then.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I seen where Taylor limped off toward the end of the game but apparently he is fine because I haven't heard anything.

[EastStreet]

15 hours ago, Nickster said:

iDK man.  I think so too but Hines is in a lot and runs a lot of patterns.  Maybe he’s not open?

Hines is in about 33% of the time, which is about right. The problem is his not being open, the problem is how they are using him in that 33%.

15 hours ago, Nickster said:

we have limited weapons.  Ty is definitely Playing old.  Campbell’s speed was going to be utilized.  I think Mack skeptics should be able to,see how bland the running game looks without him.  He’s a versatile runner.  Very creative.

We have plenty of weapons still. Sure we miss Mack, but it's not as simple as that. 

15 hours ago, Nickster said:

Everything right now.  The first seven weeks are cake as far as scheduling goes.  After that the schedule is Bahrootull.  We will know where we stand as a team by week 10 or so.

Nov-8, we will know how good we are.

[EastStreet]

18 hours ago, shasta519 said:

Hines isn’t like those guys though...he doesn’t really make guys miss often or get yards after contact. I know people will disagree with me...but he has never been an efficient player...just look at his yards/touch (today and for his career). He’s a gadget player who can give you a handful of plays each game...and you hope you hit big on one of those plays...but over time his production likely won’t hold up over volume.

 

I think their approach with Hines is partly driven by this. His best attribute is speed...so they run him up the gut because the OL (in theory) is good enough to open a big enough hole to allow him to sprint through and pick up yards before getting hit. Hopefully...one of these times...he will have a straight lane to run it to the house. 

Hines actually has very good YAC/R for a RB. He's also #8 in yards per route run. 

Overall, his yards per touch is #25, which isn't bad given all the silly up the guy runs he's had.

He's also #8 in production premium, which speaks to efficiency.

 

In short, we saw how to use him 2 years ago. We're not using him like that.

 

Sorry, running him up the gut a bunch is pure silliness. You don't do that with an APB. Sure it will work every once in a while, but the odds are not with you.

[Nickster]

9 hours ago, EastStreet said:

Hines is in about 33% of the time, which is about right. The problem is his not being open, the problem is how they are using him in that 33%.

We have plenty of weapons still. Sure we miss Mack, but it's not as simple as that. 

Nov-8, we will know how good we are.

Just gonna have to disagree about the quality of weapons available at the moment.
 

I actually think it’s very simple.
 

 There is a lot of creative stuff you can do with the skill sets Campbell and Mack that you can’t do with who we got Right now.  The Colts are much less of a threat in many areas  in the field because they no longer have the personnel to exploit those areas.

Pretty simple math really.

 

 

[Smonroe]

Bordering between good and ugly - the Bears TD drive.  
 

You evaluate that drive on how much time you force them to take.  The TD wasn’t the issue.  You’re goal is to make every play run clock, make them use three downs to get a first, and most importantly, don’t give up chunks.  I’d give it a C+.  
 

The Good - if your team has to improve on defending garbage time drives, you’re doing a lot of things right.  

[Nickster]

2 hours ago, Smonroe said:

Bordering between good and ugly - the Bears TD drive.  
 

You evaluate that drive on how much time you force them to take.  The TD wasn’t the issue.  You’re goal is to make every play run clock, make them use three downs to get a first, and most importantly, don’t give up chunks.  I’d give it a C+.  
 

The Good - if your team has to improve on defending garbage time drives, you’re doing a lot of things right.  

 

IThat's true man isn't it?

 

I think it was a fine GT defense.  It took a while.  The only threat was going to be  recoverying an onside, scoring a TD and 2XP with less than 2 to go.  That is unlikely and anything other than a fairly soft, keep it in front of you zone seems kind a silly when the front four are dominating.  

 

Defensively, we were great and the coaching was great.  

[horseshoecrabs]

You can micro breakdown every faucet of the games but the end result amounts to: 

The defense is carrying the offense, scoring points like in the JETS game

The mobility of Rivers is a big disadvantage in this league, meaning the pass blocking has to be there.

Rivers ends up with decent stats, but they are usually spread out through the course of the game.

He is not consistent  with sustained drives, except for maybe one. 

Play calling is a little suspect, not putting it all on Rivers.

Against the Browns their pass rush is a big concern for Rivers to function efficiently.

We can't go to many 3 and outs on our offense and put the defense on the field, against the weapons and running game the Browns have with a mobile QB like Mayfield. 

It will be a big test for us, no question about it. 

[EastStreet]

15 hours ago, Nickster said:

Just gonna have to disagree about the quality of weapons available at the moment.
 

I actually think it’s very simple.
 

 There is a lot of creative stuff you can do with the skill sets Campbell and Mack that you can’t do with who we got Right now.  The Colts are much less of a threat in many areas  in the field because they no longer have the personnel to exploit those areas.

Pretty simple math really.

The math is indeed simple.

 

Rivers is top 5 in completion % (#1 in accuracy rating, #10 in yards/attempt), and his pass catcher group is top 10 in both separation and YAC/target.

 

Any way you look at it, that means when allowed to throw, he's very accurate, his targets are open, and they are dong well with the ball after the catch.

 

As far as the RB group, JT is a rook, and needs some time. His AVG the last two games (4.25) is perfectly OK given we played two good run Ds, and they sold out a lot vs the run. 

[danlhart87]

Next week

 

Colts at Browns

The Good The Bad The Ugly The Silly and The Outrageous 

[2006Coltsbestever]

10 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

The math is indeed simple.

 

Rivers is top 5 in completion % (#1 in accuracy rating, #10 in yards/attempt), and his pass catcher group is top 10 in both separation and YAC/target.

 

Any way you look at it, that means when allowed to throw, he's very accurate, his targets are open, and they are dong well with the ball after the catch.

 

As far as the RB group, JT is a rook, and needs some time. His AVG the last two games (4.25) is perfectly OK given we played two good run Ds, and they sold out a lot vs the run. 

1 huge statistic nobody has brought up is through 4 games and 65 carries, Taylor has no fumbles. Many were concerned with that before the season started. Taylor currently has 250 yards through 4 games so he is on pace to gain 1000 yards which for a rookie is good.

[EastStreet]

13 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

1 huge statistic nobody has brought up is through 4 games and 65 carries, Taylor has no fumbles. Many were concerned with that before the season started. Taylor currently has 250 yards through 4 games so he is on pace to gain 1000 yards which for a rookie is good.

A few talking heads pointed out that he's become timid when he's had fumble issues in the past, and thinks too much. I think it's highly likely he's thinking a lot right now given he's on a new team, with a new playbook, on a new level. Glad he's not fumbling and all, but I'm gonna bet he looks different later in the year when he's not thinking nearly as much. And yes, he's on a pretty good trajectory for being a rook, given the heavy rotation of other guys.

[bleevit]

The good: The defense is playing very well and the injuries at LB will test the front 7 depth. I still like the D vs the Browns.

Rivers is doing a good job with the ball (two of his picks bounced off our receivers). If the Browns are forced to win with the passing game, I like the Colts' chances. 

 

The bad: I just have to get on the "please stop jamming Hines up the middle" bandwagon. It has been a pitiful play thus far. 

 

The ugly: Coach's play calling thus far. The Colts offense appears to have been outcoached several times this year. They win with talent. 

[EastStreet]

4 hours ago, bleevit said:

The good: The defense is playing very well and the injuries at LB will test the front 7 depth. I still like the D vs the Browns.

Rivers is doing a good job with the ball (two of his picks bounced off our receivers). If the Browns are forced to win with the passing game, I like the Colts' chances. 

 

The bad: I just have to get on the "please stop jamming Hines up the middle" bandwagon. It has been a pitiful play thus far. 

Seats are almost full, but we'll take you.

4 hours ago, bleevit said:

 

The ugly: Coach's play calling thus far. The Colts offense appears to have been outcoached several times this year. They win with talent. 

I have to believe we'll see more balance this week given the Browns high ranking Rush D, and low ranking Pass D. I thought we'd see the opposite though in G1 with the Jags having a poor rush D, so who knows.