How much are you impressed with the Colts Season so far?

[horseshoecrabs]

What glaring needs do we need? is it all about our Defense or does our offense decides to show up?  Is it Rivers inability to be mobile out of the pocket? or the blocking for him? or drives that are short and wears down the defense ?  How as a team do we need to over come these problems Do we really have a chance to be competitive with the  elite or will we at best just be average. If so think about the future and address our future need. Obviously the QB situation in the future is the most glaring one. We need to address that  before we have to rebuild again for the next future Franchise QB  before it's to late  Any thoughts?

 

 

[danlhart87]

8 minutes ago, horseshoecrabs said:

What glaring needs do we need? is it all about our Defense or does our offense decides to show up?  Is it Rivers inability to be mobile out of the pocket? or the blocking for him? or drives that are short and wears down the defense ?  How as a team do we need to over come these problems Do we really have a chance to be competitive with the  elite or will we at best just be average. If so think about the future and address our future need. Obviously the QB situation in the future is the most glaring one. We need to address that  before we have to rebuild again for the next future Franchise QB  before it's to late  Any thoughts?

 

 

I'm very impressed with the D

[pacolts56]

Other than red zone execution.... I’m impressed especially considering the non-existent preseason.

 

And not dreading the defense coming onto the field doesn’t hurt.

[Bravo]

Weak: WR, RED ZONE OFFENSE

 

I would say WR has been a weak point. Mostly due to injuries. Not a lot of electricity from them and they (TY) have had some bad drops. Our red zone offense has been awful. We have to get TD’s over FG’s.
 

Average: RB,LB, QB

 

Our RB’s have been pretty average to this point, missing some big holes our offensive line has opened up.
 

Linebackers have been injured lately, I feel that they have struggled in coverage as well.

 

QB, Rivers has thrown some bad INTs but most of his throws are on point.

 

Good: D secondary, O-Line, D-Line, TE, ST.

 

No big complaints besides the Jags game. The defense has really stepped up and starting to make a name for themselves.. They need some help from the offense a bit.

 

TE Burton started slow last game but picked it up near the end when the Colts needed him, Cox has been great, Doyle hasn’t done as much as I expected but still a great run blocker.

 

Special Teams have been good. Blankenship has missed 2 I believe but he is a rookie kicker and has been solid. Rigo has been a great punter, his streak of no touchbacks was insane. We blocked a bears punt which is always a plus.

 

Mainly need to fix the Red Zone offense and get some more explosive plays. Otherwise team has been playing good football.

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

In the end all that matters is wins and losses - been saying it for years, some try and say it doesn't but we dominated the Jags statistically and nobody cares because we lost get my drift. 3-1 says impressive. Tough test coming up this week without Leonard.

[Yoshinator]

The only real negative has been injuries.That makes the team hard to watch at times, although they have been doing fantastic with their depth. Almost everyone has stepped up, and we have a nice future. This is just a year where the wrong players are getting hurt, and it's no fault of anyone. Just very unfortunate. Good thing we got off to a 3-1 start, because the injuries could really hurt us starting this week.

[Dogg63]

11 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Tough test coming up this week without Leonard.

I haven't seen anything to back that up. Source?

 

I know he missed practice today, along with Okereke and Castonzo. That doesn't mean they won't play on Sunday.

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, Dogg63 said:

I haven't seen anything to back that up. Source?

 

I know he missed practice today, along with Okereke and Castonzo. That doesn't mean they won't play on Sunday.

ESPN NFL Live crew said he was out. I was watching it around 4pm. I hope they are wrong but that is where I got my info from.

[w87r]

12 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

ESPN NFL Live crew said he was out. I was watching it around 4pm. I hope they are wrong but that is where I got my info from.

Pretty sure they were just referring to todays practice. Way to early in the week to rule him out for the game, unless injury is significant.

 

Lets hope that's not the case.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, w87r said:

Pretty sure they were just referring to todays practice. Way to early in the week to rule him out for the game, unless injury is significant.

 

Lets hope that's not the case.

I hope so but they went on to say without Leonard it would be tough on the D. 

[Dogg63]

36 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

ESPN NFL Live crew said he was out. I was watching it around 4pm. I hope they are wrong but that is where I got my info from.

 

Thanks! I just listened to today's episode. Here's what they said (starting at the 30:31/38:40 mark), "From ESPN reporter Mike Wells: the Colts are hurting at several key positions heading into Sunday's game at Cleveland, linebacker Darius Leonard out, Linebacker Bobby Okereke and Left Tackle Anthony Castonzo did not practice on Wednesday, so, certainly something to keep in mind with that great defense." Then they went on to discuss Seahawks Safety Jamal Adams being out, etc, etc.

 

I'm glad nobody has declared him out this Sunday. At least not yet. 

 

Audio located here: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/ESP6450064381.mp3

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, Dogg63 said:

 

Thanks! I just listened to today's episode. Here's what they said (starting at the 30:31/38:40 mark), "From ESPN reporter Mike Wells: the Colts are hurting at several key positions heading into Sunday's game at Cleveland, linebacker Darius Leonard out, Linebacker Bobby Okereke and Left Tackle Anthony Castonzo did not practice on Wednesday, so, certainly something to keep in mind with that great defense." Then they went on to discuss Seahawks Safety Jamal Adams being out, etc, etc.

 

I'm glad nobody has declared him out this Sunday. At least not yet. 

 

Audio located here: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/ESP6450064381.mp3

Thanks, Yeah when they said Leonard was out and the others did not practice, I was thinking they meant Leonard was out for Sunday.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

2 hours ago, horseshoecrabs said:

What glaring needs do we need? is it all about our Defense or does our offense decides to show up?  Is it Rivers inability to be mobile out of the pocket? or the blocking for him? or drives that are short and wears down the defense ?  How as a team do we need to over come these problems Do we really have a chance to be competitive with the  elite or will we at best just be average. If so think about the future and address our future need. Obviously the QB situation in the future is the most glaring one. We need to address that  before we have to rebuild again for the next future Franchise QB  before it's to late  Any thoughts?

 

 

 

A lot will be said about this team after the Brownies game. Though they are not considered elite, the Brownies should be a good measuring stick of where we are AND where we may or may not be going. 

 

If we win, we're 4-1 and strong division title contenders and near the top of AFC seeding.

If we lose, we're 3-2 and are just another mid pack conference team. And a team that lost to the browns. 

 

You are 100% correct,  we need to get our future QB situation right.

 

Our glaring needs this season is once again WR. I'd  like to trade for the very best one we can get.

[csmopar]

2 hours ago, horseshoecrabs said:

What glaring needs do we need? is it all about our Defense or does our offense decides to show up?  Is it Rivers inability to be mobile out of the pocket? or the blocking for him? or drives that are short and wears down the defense ?  How as a team do we need to over come these problems Do we really have a chance to be competitive with the  elite or will we at best just be average. If so think about the future and address our future need. Obviously the QB situation in the future is the most glaring one. We need to address that  before we have to rebuild again for the next future Franchise QB  before it's to late  Any thoughts?

 

 

We still need an upgrade at WR. I know they’ve tried but it ain’t working. The rest of the roster looks good, really good

[Dogg63]

7 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Thanks, Yeah when they said Leonard was out and the others did not practice, I was thinking they meant Leonard was out for Sunday.

Makes sense, the way she phrased it could be easily misunderstood - btw here's the tweet from Mike Wells that she was referring to:

 

 

He definitely did not say Leonard is out. Just that he did not practice today. 

[Four2itus]

Very.

[Malakai432]

Ultra impressed with their defense, offense not so much but they've suffered some serious injuries.  I think their O would be much better by now if they had a healthy unit.  

 

Overall definitely happy but I still predicted they win anywhere from 9-12 games.  It's still going to be a battle with Tennessee for the division.  Even though the Bears are a quality opponent, it will be nice to see how they handle the Browns this week who have been just lighting up the boards.  Also, how they handle top teams like the Packers, Steelers, and Ravens. 

[holeymoley99]

D playing great vs weak offenses so far while Offense struggling vs pretty good D's this week we get a team with a good O and very bad defense (Especially vs the pass) so we may see the O score td's and Rivers passing for yards while the D gives up yardage and points.....

[Patagonia Chris]

The defense has played very well and DeForest Buckner has been the game changer I thought he would be. Xavier Rhodes looks to be a great acquisition. On the flip side, the Colts are last in the league in Yards Per Rushing Attempt, 26th in Passing TD’s and if Costanzo misses extended time I can’t see either of those numbers improving.

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, Grigson's Gaffes said:

The defense has played very well and DeForest Buckner has been the game changer I thought he would be. Xavier Rhodes looks to be a great acquisition. On the flip side, the Colts are last in the league in Yards Per Rushing Attempt, 26th in Passing TD’s and if Costanzo misses extended time I can’t see either of those numbers improving.

See it how goes Sunday. I still say TY is due for a breakout game and Taylor is due for long TD run. The offense is capable of being explosive IMO as Rivers is pretty accurate, they just have to show it. If AC is out that is a huge blow though, can't sugarcoat that.

[CurBeatElite]

We beat ourselves against the Jags.  We should be 4-0, but we're 3-1 and still have a lot of ability to control our own destiny.

 

Overall, I've been impressed by Rivers (2 bad picks in game 1, had a pass bounce off MAC's chest for a pick in game 2, 0 INTs in games 3 or 4, though he lucked out twice against CHI with K. Mack dropping a tipped ball and landing out of bounds in the end zone).  

 

Our run game, I believe, will get going.  I think it would already be going if we didn't lose Mack to injury.  Taylor's vision seems to get better each game.  Our offensive playcalling (especially runs) have been pretty predictable, so hopefully that'll change.

 

Our WRs are a concern right now, mainly due to injury and mostly subpar play from our normal WR1, TY.  I think we'll be fine, especially when Pittman (and potentially Campbell) return here... especially because we have a good TE group and have been able to find success throwing to the RBs.

 

The STs have (other than Hot Rod's 2 misses) been very solid and are improving every week.

 

The D has been (outside week 1) very solid.  The major concern is if we'll be missing Leonard and/or Okereke for any extended period of time with the groin and thumb injuries, respectively.  The past 3 games our secondary has played very well and should only improve as Blackmon gets more experience and they have more time to gel.  We've been OK with sacks and good at getting QB hits and pressures just using our front 4.  It'd be nice to get a few more sacks, but we seem to be just a step or 2 away from turning QB hits into sacks.  Hopefull we get Turay back and give Houston a complimentary edge rusher.  

 

How impressed am I so far?  I'll punt here and say 'it's too early to tell.'  Why? Because we really haven't played any very dangerous teams.  The Jags stink and we beat ourselves against them.  The Jets stink.  The Vikings, I think, are OK, but Cousins clearly had a bad day against us.  The Bears, I think are also pretty good, but that was Foles' first start of the year and even though our D played very well and our O mostly moved the ball OK, we were settling for field goals too much.  I'm not very worried about this team being able to make it to the playoffs, but I think we need to stay healthy (start getting guys back and preventing others from going to the injured list) and clean up a bunch of small things across the board if we're going to make any sort of run in the playoffs.

[Hark]

Given all the injuries to starters this team has dealt with, I am very impressed. Particularly with the quality depth on this roster.

[teganslaw]

Very impressed with the defense. Rhodes is nice acquisition; Buckner is a stud; Blackmon is promising. 

 

The team could use some improvement in the red zone, but that hopefully will change. 

 

I like Rivers. He hasn't been elite, but is a leader and quietly gets the job done. 

[PrideOfAthens17]

The belief of a lot of us that this team has a TON of young talent has almost entirely proven to be true. Which is a great thing, because the rash of missed snaps to injury across the roster has required it to be true. So on that front, so far so good.

 

I can't stress enough, though, just how HUGE a game this weekend's has become. There are a lot of teams in this league that unfortunately really do believe that each game matters just as much as every other game. Almost none of those teams ever win anything of meaning, though. It's the teams that understand the heightened importance of not only playing well, but winning certain games that usually win the meaningful things, like championships. It's those teams that get laser focused for these benchmark games, and rarely let them slip away, only to spout the "16 game season" and "every game means the same" nonsense after losing them.

 

This is one of those such benchmark games for this Colts team. We'll see what their "philosophy" about it is soon. And that will be telling.

[chad72]

We don't have offensive playmakers that can go off on a given day that would have to be game planned against consistently. That is what is holding this team back against elite teams, IMO. It is still early in the season and our games in November and December will show us how far this team can truly go when we play some heavyweights and our division foes.

 

 

[DougDew]

I think the defense is responsible for the W-L record.  When it struggled, we lost, when it played well, we won.  The offense hasn't been a whole lot different than last year, but the QB position is more competent.  Hasn't yet translated to many more points though.

 

Like back in the day when we acquired Booger and had Bob Sanders, we now have a talented DT and a S who may not be Sanders, but can at least contribute.  Those are two big additions to the D from last year.

[Myles]

I'm impressed with the team in whole.  

Without a preseason and bringing in a new QB is not easy.   

Rivers completing over 70% of his passes for a rating close to 100 is better than I expected.   

The loss of Mack has hurt our running game, but I think they are pulling through.

The defense has been great but will face a test this week that should show us more of where they are at.  

Blankenship has been good.

The only issue I have is with Reich and his confusing play calling.