2021 Colts at Houston Postgame Thoughts

[Happy2BeHere]

It was nice to see JT still carrying us into the 4th…because we kept the throttle on and not allowing them to crawl back into the game. That’s something we’ve seen happen a few times this year is allowing teams to crawl back.

[GoColts8818]

27 minutes ago, csmopar said:

No win is flawless, constructive criticism is important. Iron sharpens iron

Constructive criticism sure, even I said I would have liked to have seen a few more play action passes.  Maybe they just didn’t feel like they had to do it and they are saving it I don’t know.  
 

I share the concerns about Fisher and have for a while.  He’s good in the run game but he’s really struggling in the pass game and has been for a while.  
 

However, it seems like all some want to do is focus on the negative and discount anything positive.  When you win 31-0 there is a lot more positive than negative.  That doesn’t mean there is no negative as you pointed out but todays team did something they haven’t done since 1992.  A road shut out and yes I know it came over the Texans who are horrible but even when they were an expansion team the Colts didn’t shut them out on the road.  
 

Also for all the concerns about all the running the Colts kept going to that well because the Texans weren’t really stopping it.  Taylor averaged 4.5 ypc and the Colts as a whole averaged 5 ypc.  Not every game is going to have perfect balance and when you are able to run that well you aren’t going to throw it a lot when the only thing that can really let the Texans back into the game is a momentum shifting turnover and maybe even a pick six which is far more likely to happen than a fumble return.  Also Taylor carried it 32 times.  Wentz threw it 22.  That’s not that far off balance, especially when you consider the Colts had a three score lead a large portion of the second half and were working on the clock as much as anything else.  
 

I also think the other reason the Colts leaned on the run more today is the true lack of a second WR.  People here have talked about it and it was referenced on the broadcast.  The Colts need a consistent second option in the passing game.  
 

The last reason they kept running is that’s what Taylor does.  It’s body blows.  Teams get tired of tackling and in the fourth we saw it like the announcers said what were three yard gains earlier turned into five to 10 yard gains later.  That came from the Colts wearing them out with the run.  With that said I would like to see a little more creativity and not just banging it into the line like they were early.  It’s okay to run outside some with Taylor, that tends to be when he breaks his big ones. 
 

it’s fair to say hey it wasn’t perfect and they need to work on this.  No one is going to have an issue with that as long as people acknowledge the positive which, in fairness some here have done and I don’t think those are posters people are talking about when they said hey didn’t the Colts win today, what’s with all the negative talk?

[PeterBowman]

11 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

Yup. That was similar to my #10...

No Colts, and no ND... Some decent NFL action though I guess, but not the same.

 

Just happy our guys get some rest. Several really need it.

Be nice to have a stress free football weekend.

[cbear]

If this team was more balanced in a 31-0 blowout, that would have been reason for criticism. You should be up heavy run to run out the clock if nothing else. If you want to say spread the carries around, especially in at the end of the third and fourth, I think that's fair, but no way should this type of game be balanced. 

[jvan1973]

29 minutes ago, csmopar said:

No. It’s that you Grigson?

[jvan1973]

40 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

On the bolded... 

Really, a Patriot mod... WT XXXX lol...

And yup, there's positives and negatives on all boards. I follow a CFB and CBB board too (not as much as the Colts though these days), and I've seen far more criticism given to far better teams too. I can talk pros and cons of ever single player on our roster. Nothing wrong with being fair and balanced in with praise and criticism. 

That Pats mod was a good poster though.  @GoPats. Not obnoxious like most

[csmopar]

35 minutes ago, Colts1324 said:

I think we are the best team in the AFC - slightly ahead to KC. The only teams I think are better than us are the Cardinals & Packers.

If we play to our abilities both players and coaches, absolutely 

[EastStreet]

21 minutes ago, PeterBowman said:

Be nice to have a stress free football weekend.

 

I'll take football... even in a bad loss, I don't lose sleep lol. 

It's just football, and fun mostly.

[richard pallo]

4 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Constructive criticism sure, even I said I would have liked to have seen a few more play action passes.  Maybe they just didn’t feel like they had to do it and they are saving it I don’t know.  
 

I share the concerns about Fisher and have for a while.  He’s good in the run game but he’s really struggling in the pass game and has been for a while.  
 

However, it seems like all some want to do is focus on the negative and discount anything positive.  When you win 31-0 there is a lot more positive than negative.  That doesn’t mean there is no negative as you pointed out but todays team did something they haven’t done since 1992.  A road shut out and yes I know it came over the Texans who are horrible but even when they were an expansion team the Colts didn’t shut them out on the road.  
 

Also for all the concerns about all the running the Colts kept going to that well because the Texans weren’t really stopping it.  Taylor averaged 4.5 ypc and the Colts as a whole averaged 5 ypc.  Not every game is going to have perfect balance and when you are able to run that well you aren’t going to throw it a lot when the only thing that can really let the Texans back into the game is a momentum shifting turnover and maybe even a pick six which is far more likely to happen than a fumble return.  Also Taylor carried it 32 times.  Wentz threw it 22.  That’s not that far off balance, especially when you consider the Colts had a three score lead a large portion of the second half and were working on the clock as much as anything else.  
 

I also think the other reason the Colts leaned on the run more today is the true lack of a second WR.  People here have talked about it and it was referenced on the broadcast.  The Colts need a consistent second option in the passing game.  
 

The last reason they kept running is that’s what Taylor does.  It’s body blows.  Teams get tired of tackling and in the fourth we saw it like the announcers said what were three yard gains earlier turned into five to 10 yard gains later.  That came from the Colts wearing them out with the run.  With that said I would like to see a little more creativity and not just banging it into the line like they were early.  It’s okay to run outside some with Taylor, that tends to be when he breaks his big ones. 
 

it’s fair to say hey it wasn’t perfect and they need to work on this.  No one is going to have an issue with that as long as people acknowledge the positive which, in fairness some here have done and I don’t think those are posters people are talking about when they said hey didn’t the Colts win today, what’s with all the negative talk?

As Fisher continues to play himself back to being his pre injury self the major issue he struggles with are bull rushes.  His run blocking has been great where he is the aggressor.  But setting up and absorbing attacking pass rushers is going to take longer.   He is slowly getting there but I think it would be a good idea if he was given a little help on the obvious passing downs.  He is still not 100%.  So it might make sense as we make our run.  JMO.

[EastStreet]

10 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

That Pats mod was a good poster though.  @GoPats. Not obnoxious like most

I actually have some buds from Boston. They're cool as can be. Watched a game or two with them. They were a lot like us (when we had Manning), when they had Brady. Spoiled lol. 

 

Still, a Pats guy as a Colts mod. Just not right lol. 

[Les Poulains]

2 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

Oh please after listening to people whine and moan all last week that the Colts didn’t run Taylor enough the Colts do exactly what the fans say they should have done last week and now the fans are whining he did it too much.  Some here just like to whine and it shows.

Are you aware that different games offer up different scenarios? 

 

There's not a world where you should give your best player so many touches in a game that was over halfway through the 3rd quarter. Especially a running back.

 

By the way, I wasn't one of the people that criticized Reich last week. 

[John Hammonds]

So.... Um....  Do we sit Carson Wentz the rest of the season in a desperate attempt to preserve our 1st round draft choice?

Asking for a friend. ;-)

 

(This is an alert of the Message Boards Joke System.  What you saw posted was a joke.  If this had been a serious comment, you would not have seen a winking emoji at the end of the message.  This was only a joke.  Beeeeeeeeep!)

[cdgacoltsfan]

Well, I might as well complain about something I've noticed all season. Why do we not snap the ball until the final second of the play clock every single play? We allow the defense to make their adjustments and time their rush/ blitzes. We never keep the D off balance.

 

[Jason_]

3 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Fans bashing Frank, so Frank is like to Taylor = can you carry it 35 times to save me a week of nonsense criticism from silly fans.

 

 

[Jason_]

2 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

Oh please after listening to people whine and moan all last week that the Colts didn’t run Taylor enough the Colts do exactly what the fans say they should have done last week and now the fans are whining he did it too much.  Some here just like to whine and it shows.

 

Having legitimate complaints and concerns does not equal whining. Frankly I'd have expected better than this from you. 

[EastStreet]

29 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

As Fisher continues to play himself back to being his pre injury self the major issue he struggles with are bull rushes.  His run blocking has been great where he is the aggressor.  But setting up and absorbing attacking pass rushers is going to take longer.   He is slowly getting there but I think it would be a good idea if he was given a little help on the obvious passing downs.  He is still not 100%.  So it might make sense as we make our run.  JMO.

He's struggled big time with outside speed rushes as well. Gets boat raced. 

Agree though he's been good run blocking. IIRC, our best success rate on the OL. 

It's another reason I don't understand why we had only one 1 run combined over Fisher and Nelson last week.

...... zero over Fisher. So confusing

 

[Tsarquise]

4 hours ago, John Waylon said:

Shellacking the Texans in Houston:

 

A tradition spanning a generation. 

Wow, it's been THAT long? Time flies!

[GoColts8818]

16 minutes ago, J@son said:

 

Having legitimate complaints and concerns does not equal whining. Frankly I'd have expected better than this from you. 

Yeah that wasn’t a legit concern.  The Colts won 31-0 nothing.  Taylor had 32 runs.  Wentz had 22 passes.  That’s not that far off balance when you consider the fact the Colts played most of the second half with a 21-0 lead and the Colts were more interested in working on the clock and avoiding a game changing INT than anything else.  For more perspective it was 20 run plays to 15 pass plays at half and the first drive of the second half was 5 runs to 4 passes which is not far off balance at all.  After that it came about running out the clock and not giving the Texans a cheap score.  Taylor also averaged 4.5 ypc and 5.0 ypc as a team for the game meaning the Texans weren’t really stopping it.  Coming after a week where a large number of people complained about the lack of runs it is complaining to complain because hating on Frank  is the in vogue thing.  There is no reason to complain about the number of runs today.  
 

Was today perfect, no.  As I pointed out in other posts I had my concerns but the Colts did exactly what they should have vs a very bad Texans game.  They dominated it from start to finish and frankly I would have expected better of you than to not understand it.

[GoColts8818]

4 hours ago, John Waylon said:

Shellacking the Texans in Houston:

 

A tradition spanning a generation. 

Careful the last time I posted the top picture it was removed and I was told it was racist…

[Jason_]

9 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Yeah that wasn’t a legit concern.  The Colts won 31-0 nothing.  Taylor had 32 runs.  Wentz had 22 passes.  That’s not that far off balance when you consider the fact the Colts played most of the second half with a 21-0 lead and the Colts were more interested in working on the clock and avoiding a game changing INT than anything else.  For more perspective it was 20 run plays to 15 pass plays at half which is not far off balance at all.  Taylor also averaged 4.5 ypc and 5.0 ypc as a team for the game meaning the Texans weren’t really stopping it.  Coming after a week where a large number of people complained about the lack of runs it is complaining to complain because hating on Frank  is the in vogue thing.  There is no reason to complain about the number of runs today.  
 

Was today perfect, no.  As I pointed out in other posts I had my concerns but the Colts did exactly what they should have vs a very bad Texans game.  They dominated it from start to finish and frankly I would have expected better of you than to not understand it.

 

Reading comprehension is key. Most of the posts have questioned whether Taylor should have been in the game as long as he was considering the lopsided score. I thought he should have been pulled a drive sooner than he was. No need risking injury to our best player. And yes that is most definitely a legitimate concern. Maybe try understanding what people are saying before calling them "whiners". 

 

 

I've only seen one post that might be construed as 'they lacked balance and ran it too much in general' . 

[GoColts8818]

6 minutes ago, J@son said:

 

Reading comprehension is key. Most of the posts have questioned whether Taylor should have been in the game as long as he was considering the lopsided score. I thought he should have been pulled a drive sooner than he was. No need risking injury to our best player. And yes that is most definitely a legitimate concern. Maybe try understanding what people are saying before calling them "whiners". 

 

 

I've only seen one post that might be construed as 'they lacked balance and ran it too much in general' . 

That’s not what the poster I quoted said that’s what you said.    That post I quoted complained that Taylor got too many hand offs not that he should have come out sooner to avoid injury.  That’s a different argument.  If people want argue that okay I am not going to overly object to that idea but one drive more isn’t that big of a difference.  
 

Also stop with the valid insults you are better than that.  There is nothing wrong with my reading comprehension and I understood what they said just fine.  No point to try to make it personal and petty.

[jvan1973]

1 hour ago, EastStreet said:

I actually have some buds from Boston. They're cool as can be. Watched a game or two with them. They were a lot like us (when we had Manning), when they had Brady. Spoiled lol. 

 

Still, a Pats guy as a Colts mod. Just not right lol. 

@GoPats still posts here.   Just not a mod anymore.   I'm not sure how the MOD process works.  Maybe @Nadine could way in

[Les Poulains]

11 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

That’s not what the poster I quoted said that’s what you said.    That post I quoted complained that Taylor got too many hand offs not that he should have come out sooner to avoid injury.  That’s a different argument.  If people want argue that okay I am not going to overly object to that idea but one drive more isn’t that big of a difference.  
 

Also stop with the valid insults you are better than that.  There is nothing wrong with my reading comprehension and I understood what they said just fine.  No point to try to make it personal and petty.

Semantics much. 

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, Les Poulains said:

Semantics much. 

Bull it’s not semantics you complained he got too many carries not that he should have come out sooner.  You made zero references to him playing too long.  Coming a week after fans complained he didn’t get enough carries and he gets more, which is what fans wanted, and it works it comes across as complaining to complain at least too me.  Had you said hey I wish they had taken Taylor out a series sooner to avoid injury like Jason said I wouldn’t have objected to that idea.

[Les Poulains]

6 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Bull it’s not semantics you complained he got too many carries not that he should have come out sooner.  You made zero references to him playing too long.  Coming a week after fans complained he didn’t get enough carries and he gets more, which is what fans wanted, and it works it comes across as complaining to complain at least too me.  Had you said hey I wish they had taken Taylor out a series sooner to avoid injury like Jason said I wouldn’t have objected to that idea.

Buddy, what people were saying last week is irrelevant. Different game, different level of opponent, different gameplan, different game situation. It doesn't get more different than a game against the Super Bowl champions and the Texans. 

 

Also, yes, it's semantics. It's the idea of overuse. Carries, still being in the game in a blowout, whatever.  

[EastStreet]

11 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

@GoPats still posts here.   Just not a mod anymore.   I'm not sure how the MOD process works.  Maybe @Nadine could way in

 

It would be cool if he popped in to give us some intel and his thoughts. 

[GoColts8818]

2 minutes ago, Les Poulains said:

Buddy, what people were saying last week is irrelevant. Different game, different opponent different gameplan, different game situations. It doesn't get more different than a game against the Super Bowl champions and the Texans. 

 

Also, yes, it's semantics. It's the idea of overuse. Carries, still being in the game in a blowout, whatever.  

It’s not irrelevant when peoples complainant is they didn’t run Taylor enough and the very next week they run him more and people then complain what are they doing they are running Taylor too much!  People can’t have it both ways.

 

Also you just proved it’s not semantics.  Pulling a player earlier to avoid injury in a blow out is different from saying they used him too much when he was in there.

[Les Poulains]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

It’s not irrelevant when peoples complainant is they didn’t run Taylor enough and the very next week they run him more and people then complain what are they doing they are running Taylor too much!  People can’t have it both ways.

Yes! They can!

[#12.]

Between Taylor and Mills, that was some of the worst QB play I've seen in a long time.  If the D could play Houston every week, we would be in business.

 

Dion Jackson had a damn good run.  He looked more physical in that run than he did in any of his college highlights.

[GoColts8818]

Just now, Les Poulains said:

Yes! They can!

No they can’t, at least not without being labeled as someone who is complaining just to complain because they are going to complain no matter what Frank does.

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, #12. said:

Between Taylor and Mills, that was some of the worst QB play I've seen in a long time.  If the D could play Houston every week, we would be in business.

 

Dion Jackson had a damn good run.  He looked more physical in that run than he did in any of his college highlights.

I like Jackson in terms of what I’ve seen in limited action.  I am fully comfortable with him being the number three next year.  
 

As to point one, I don’t know dude I watched Curtis Painter play or well attempt to play.  It was pretty bad though.

[Les Poulains]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

No they can’t, at least not without being labeled as someone who is complaining just to complain because they are going to complain no matter what Frank does.

What part of different gameplans for different games is hard to understand? In football, does it make sense to use a player more or less in a given game, depending on opponents weaknesses and the way a game is going, yes or no?

[GoColts8818]

5 minutes ago, Les Poulains said:

What part of different gameplans for different games is hard to understand? In football, does it make sense to use a player more or less in a given game, depending on opponents weaknesses and the way a game is going, yes or no?

What part of you can’t say one way they need to run more and the next week they do and people go what are they doing running the ball so much being hypocritical do you not understand?  As for the game plan they won 31-0.  Taylor averaged 4.5 ypc and they averaged 5.0 running the ball in general.  What about the game plan didn’t work?  Seems like the game plan was just fine.

[Les Poulains]

5 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

What part of you can’t say one way they need to run more and the next week they do and people go what are they doing running the ball so much being hypocritical do you not understand?  As for the game plan they won 31-0.  Taylor averaged 4.5 ypc and they averaged 5.0 running the ball in general.  What about the game plan didn’t work?  Seems like the game plan was just fine.

You're not understanding. You're also not acknowledging that I told you I didn't complain about Reich's usage of Taylor last week. So we're done here. You're talking nonsense and repeating the same thing over and over. 

 

I think in the NFL where running backs are very fragile and you've dominated a terrible and dead team like Houston, you don't need to keep giving the ball to Taylor to the extent he has 30 carries or keep him in the game. I don't think that's crazy to say, sue me. 

[GoColts8818]

Delete

[Myles]

Not much not to like in that game.  

If I was challenged to come up with a "complaint", it would be that it would have been nice to see Mack in the 4th.  

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

One of the funniest moments from the game today was after the moore INT and the colts were dancing around the ref. I was like what the heck.

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, Les Poulains said:

You're not understanding. You're also not acknowledging that I told you I didn't complain about Reich's usage of Taylor last week. So we're done here. You're talking nonsense and repeating the same thing over and over. 

 

I think in the NFL where running backs are very fragile and you've dominated a terrible and dead team like Houston, you don't need to keep giving the ball to Taylor to the extent he has 30 carries or keep him in the game. I don't think that's crazy to say, sue me. 

That’s fine if you didn’t.  Several other people did and yours was the first post I saw that had someone going they ran Taylor too much and after all the comments people made last week about not running him enough I was like really people are complaining he ran too much now?  That probably wasn’t not 100 fair to you and for that I apologize.  I like you also didn’t complain about it last week so on that point we agree.

 

id agree with your concern if it was regular thing for Taylor.  Today was more of an exception because of the score and the running they were doing with the big lead in the second half.  So I am not overly concerned about it.  Most of the time Taylor is around 20 handoffs a game which I think we both would agree is fine.  I don’t think it will be an issue in three of the next four games, don’t get me wrong I hope the Colts are in position for it to be an issue because it probably means the games went like today regarding the score.  

10 minutes ago, Myles said:

Not much not to like in that game.  

If I was challenged to come up with a "complaint", it would be that it would have been nice to see Mack in the 4th.  

I have a feeling had the Colts really had an offer for Mack for a 4th a trade would have been made.  

[indyagent17]

That was a strange game to watch today. Houston was absolutely inapt. And it looked like we didn’t play our best game either. But somehow we scored 31 points. We made a lot of mistakes today that we never had to pay for.

[pgt_rob]

It had that preseason vibe in my opinion. Glad for the W, though.