2022: Colts at Dallas Post Game Thoughts

[Nickster]

6 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

The d with a competent offense is good enough for a playoff run. 

 

I agree with this.  But the D is not at all good enough to carry this team. 

[Defjamz26]

Am I the only one who watches the games and can feel the screw ups about to happen? Like Everytime they get the lead or start to build some momentum, I get this voice inside my head that says “okay any minute know they’re going to have some horrible turnover that’s going to change the course of the game”. Every time it looks promising I say “just wait for it. It’s coming”. That’s how bad this team has become. It’s predictable. Start off playing decent and maybe get the lead, but eventually they’ll collapse. I wonder if they’ll really win the Texans game now.

[chad72]

5 minutes ago, DougDew said:

A matter of opinion.  I don't think the defense is good enough to win consistently against TEN, MIA, JETS, BAL that it would take to get into the playoffs this year.   Not enough of a pass rush.  Still suspect against offenses that have balanced attacks, like DAL.   Even PIT.

 

The offense has been held together with safety pins for years.  Last year we caught teams off guard with JT mid season...bracketed by horrible performances in the beginning and the end of the season.

 

Football is a complementary game and you will see how the Ds of the teams like the Bills, Chiefs, Bengals do when they don't have Allen, Mahomes, Burrow pulling the trigger. All of a sudden, the situational and opportunistic D they have to play can't be done anymore and they have to evolve to a play making D and you would be surprised that they aren't that leaps and bounds above the Colts' D. 

 

So, no, it is not a matter of opinion. It is a fact that this can be a playoff caliber D just not of the SB contending kind till the pass rush is consistent and the scheme evolves like Dan Quinn evolved the Cowboys' D to do blitzing even if he had the pass rush talent. The ceiling is limited to just a wild card playoff caliber till the pass rush talent and scheme evolution happens.

[DougDew]

1 minute ago, Defjamz26 said:

Am I the only one who watches the games and can feel the screw ups about to happen? Like Everytime they get the lead or start to build some momentum, I get this voice inside my head that says “okay any minute know they’re going to have some horrible turnover that’s going to change the course of the game”. Every time it looks promising I say “just wait for it. It’s coming”. That’s how bad this team has become. It’s predictable. Start off playing decent and maybe get the lead, but eventually they’ll collapse. I wonder if they’ll really win the Texans game now.

It seems to happen mostly when Ryan is in the shotgun for a stretch of plays.

 

Really, with Ryan, we should be a bout 65/35 Under Center.

[compuls1v3]

9 hours ago, EastStreet said:

 

Staring "mixed"....

 

• Mixed...
  • Good 1Q. Decent 1H. Weak 3Q. Comically bad 4Q.... 
  • Most expected a blow out... we got it... lol
  • Pierce - good on 9s / 50-50s. bad on other things.
  • Pass D was good sometimes, but sometimes bad. DBs were pretty good overall, but coverage by LBs seemed horrible. 
• Good
  • Scoring first two drives... 
  • JT was pretty decent
  • Parris was pretty good
• Bad
  • Matt horrible after the 1H
  • Run D... horrible... let Pollard go 7.6 per rush... 
  • Horrible blocking by Granson. Multiple whiffs, both on run blocking and pass pro. And the play call using him outside instead of others. 
  • The fumble from Mo... normally has strong hands and goes for YAC... 
  • OL. Ryan Kelly whiffed multiple times. General OL penalties, one from Q, and one from DKelly on a great drive. I'm surprised we didn't have more sacks. 

Refs wouldn’t call a holding penalty on Dallas all night long.  There were  a couple of missed sack opportunities.

[DougDew]

5 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

Football is a complementary game and you will see how the Ds of the teams like the Bills, Chiefs, Bengals do when they don't have Allen, Mahomes, Burrow pulling the trigger. All of a sudden, the situational and opportunistic D they have to play can't be done anymore and they have to evolve to a play making D and you would be surprised that they aren't that leaps and bounds above the Colts' D. 

 

So, no, it is not a matter of opinion. It is a fact that this can be a playoff caliber D just not of the SB contending kind till the pass rush is consistent and the scheme evolves like Dan Quinn evolved the Cowboys' D to do blitzing even if he had the pass rush talent.

Nah Its a matter of opinion, and you've got the wrong one.  Sure, take away the one player those teams are built around and those teams will fail.

 

OTOH, DAL is not built around Dak...who's that Red-headed guy they went with?  PIT isn't built around Pickett, but he's good.  Jets built around Zac Wilson?.  MIA around Tua?  (Maybe).  BAL wins with Huntley too.

 

Our D has always succeeded against one dimensional offenses, but also have issues with KC and BUF because of their QBs.  Its the teams with the balanced attacks that shred us when they have to.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

6 minutes ago, Nickster said:

 

I agree with this.  But the D is not at all good enough to carry this team. 

Most defenses in the nfl aren’t good enough to do that. This is a offensive league although scoring is down some this year.

[Nickster]

Just now, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Most defenses in the nfl aren’t good enough to do that. This is a offensive league although scoring is down some this year.

I think that this D was thought of by many to be that kind of unit. 

[twfish]

So thankful I turned it off after the Ryan pick six so I didnt have to watch the absolute train wreck I knew was coming. I can atleast remember the game a little differently because of it. My god is Ryan bad and he's the reason we are so bad, between terrible reads, terrible ball security, terrible arms strength and terrible interceptions this dude needs to pull a Vontae Davis and "Yo dawg, this is a young mans game. I'm out". Our o-line isn't as great as it was but it's not as bad as some would believe, with the defenses not having to respect the deep ball they can just blitz and bring all the pressure with out us making them pay for it, which is Ryans fault, as well as him not being able to make progressions and holding onto the ball far longer then any o-line would ever allow. 

 

Where I'm curious is how truthful the rumor is about the fact Ballard wanted to draft Justin Fields but got over ruled by Irsay for Wentz, then Irsay forced him to get rid of Wentz when we didn't have a 1st round pick. If that's true and this whole unraveling is because of Irsay then I hope he realizes that and quits meddling with the team and will let the GM do what he's here to do. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Just now, Nickster said:

I think that this D was thought of by many to be that kind of unit. 

I don’t think anyone has thought that. If it was that good we would win a few more games.

[chad72]

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Nah Its a matter of opinion, and you've got the wrong one.  Sure, take away the one player those teams are built around and those teams will fail.

 

OTOH, DAL is not built around Dak...who's that Red-headed guy they went with?  PIT isn't built around Pickett, but he's good.  Jets built around Zac Wilson?.  MIA around Tua?  (Maybe).  BAL wins with Huntley too.

 

Our D has always succeeded against one dimensional offenses.  Its the teams with the balanced attacks that shred us when they have to.

 

That was the Dungy D described more than this Gus Bradley D, built to stop the pass. I agree to disagree. 

 

I am not saying the talent addition is sufficient on the D. I am just saying it is good enough to be a wild card playoff team caliber D with a competent offense that puts up close to mid 20s in points consistently. Most here will agree with me than you.

[chad72]

6 minutes ago, Nickster said:

I think that this D was thought of by many to be that kind of unit. 

 

The truth is always in the middle. Unless you have an offense that puts up mid 20s to high 20s consistently, most Ds will be on the wrong side of the W-L column on game day in this league.

[DougDew]

12 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

That was the Dungy D described more than this Gus Bradley D, built to stop the pass. I agree to disagree. 

 

I am not saying the talent addition is sufficient on the D. I am just saying it is good enough to be a wild card playoff team caliber D with a competent offense that puts up close to mid 20s in points consistently. Most here will agree with me than you.

I think this defense needs to be mated with an offense that can score on a two-minute drive or convert a FD to end a game.  It needs our offense to be good enough to end the first half or the game with the ball. 

 

 It cannot be counted on to get any sort of critical stop against playoff caliber offenses.  That's why, IMO, it is not a playoff caliber defense.

 

If we score 24 pts against a playoff caliber team, that opponent will probably score 25 pts.

[chad72]

7 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I think this defense needs to be mated with an offense that can score on a two-minute drive or convert a FD to end a game.  It needs our offense to be good enough to end the game with the ball. 

 

 It cannot be counted on to get any sort of critical stop against playoff caliber offenses.  That's why, IMO, it is not a playoff caliber defense.

 

If it does get a stop against those playoff caliber offenses, it does need an O to cash in on it too, like I said complementary football which is lacking with our team. How many chances did the D give during the Chiefs and Eagles game for the O to put it away? We did put it away in the Chiefs game finally (with some help) and came up with an INT, but you give a very good playoff team too many chances, those teams aren't going to be sleeping all the time. 

 

Right now, it is a combination of morale of the team on the downside and playing playoff teams at the same time. When everyone is amping it up a notch because something is on the line, I see a dejected team with negative vibes due to little on the line.

[RollerColt]

22 minutes ago, DougDew said:

It seems to happen mostly when Ryan is in the shotgun for a stretch of plays.

 

Really, with Ryan, we should be a bout 65/35 Under Center.

I still cannot believe we are playing this much in shotgun formation. It hurts my soul man… 

[DougDew]

5 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

I still cannot believe we are playing this much in shotgun formation. It hurts my soul man… 

Having more under center plays is the one and only thing I can see as being an improvement under Saturday.  It was a huge blind spot with Frank.  

 

UC formations just makes a power run so much easier, and makes outside runs easier for JT...the quick toss being one of the plays we ran against DAL and it seemed to work for about 7 yards.

 

All of our other outside runs had to be stuff like shotgun/jet sweeps, where we ran it against DAL with PC and got about 2 yards.   LOL.  No wonder they are never called that much.

[DougDew]

One person's opinion of our defense.  Sportsnaut.com.  He's ranked them 16th in the NFL.  Trending the wrong way.  And I don't see where our offensive ineptitude factors into a rushing ypc/avg.   MIN has a balanced offense.

 

We’ve returned to the version of the Indianapolis Colts defense when they are one of the worst run-stopping units in the NFL. Adding the 240-yard effort from the Dallas Cowboys to the equation, Indianapolis has now allowed 533 rushing yards, 5.2 yards per carry and seven rushing touchdowns in the last three games. For good measure, opponents have also averaged a 48.7% third-down conversion rate along with a 98.2 QB rating in that stretch. Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson will enjoy their matchup against the Colts, quite a lot.

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

4 hours ago, Rhodelesstraveled said:

You were wrong about everything for the last three years.  Own it.  

You are an internet bully own it. I have been right a lot over the last 3 years with my picks and other predictions. You are in here after every loss like a few others flexing after we lose. That is fine and dandy but leave me alone because I am tired of you attacking  me for no reason. I didn't even mentioned you, then out of the blue you jump in and post that garbage about me. The discussion was between @Restinpeacesweetchloeand I, mind your own business. Wentz wasn't the answer either = fact. I admitted I was wrong about Matt Ryan this year. Then guys like @coming on stronggive you a LIKE for saying I have been wrong about everything for the last 3 years, very disappointed in him. Then you post someone should lose their posting privileges that thinks Matt Ryan is a Hall of Famer. Nice shot against me again because you know that was toward me, I am not a dummy, I know. That is a joke. I read your other post, Matt Ryan is easily a Hall of Famer, look at his overall resume. When he gets in admit you are wrong but you won't.

 

Bottomline is this, I predicted Dallas would win last night 31-9, if you had any reading comprehension you would have seen that on the picks thread. Yes I said 31-9, was I wrong there?? Ok 54-19, almost same damn difference. Still a blowout. I have been in here for almost 8 years, where did you come from? I have never seen you in here until this year?

 

[Nevbot]

Can we now look at the possibility that having Q, Leonard, JT and Buckner on this team as tanking our chances at a proper rebuild?

JTs window will be closed by the time we are a contender again (if that even happens, since a LOT will have to go right)

Q is a talented cornerstone (albeit vastly overpaid) who I am sure would get some interest if shopped. 

Might not get much for Leonard at this point but we are likely only saddled with his contract for next year and then it gets cheaper to run!

Just trade Buckner for a 3rd to a contender and move on.

We need a serious house cleaning and reallocation of assets.

[coltsfeva]

10 hours ago, Mr.Debonair said:

That Saints beat down was by far the worst 

  I was there…we weren’t even in that game for 59 minutes.

  At least with the game last night, I felt good, going into the half.

 

[coltsfeva]

10 hours ago, FuedinHatfield said:

I thought he would be at least serviceable and I'm embarrassed about that. Let alone Manning like.

He is like another Manning…in Denver!

[2006Coltsbestever]

7 minutes ago, coltsfeva said:

  I was there…we weren’t even in that game for 59 minutes.

  At least with the game last night, I felt good, going into the half.

 

I was surprised we were only down 2 points going to the 4th Qtr. We just had a couple of blunders and the REFS didn't help matters either that blew it open. Now that Jimmy G is out, I can see Dallas winning the NFC. Their D is great.

[Myles]

12 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

You are an internet bully own it. I have been right a lot over the last 3 years with my picks and other predictions. You are in here after every loss like a few others flexing after we lose. That is fine and dandy but leave me alone because I am tired of you attacking  me for no reason. I didn't even mentioned you, then out of the blue you jump in and post that garbage about me. The discussion was between @Restinpeacesweetchloeand I, mind your own business. Wentz wasn't the answer either = fact. I admitted I was wrong about Matt Ryan this year. Then guys like @coming on stronggive you a LIKE for saying I have been wrong about everything for the last 3 years, very disappointed in him. Then you post someone should lose their posting privileges that thinks Matt Ryan is a Hall of Famer. Nice shot against me again because you know that was toward me, I am not a dummy, I know. That is a joke. I read your other post, Matt Ryan is easily a Hall of Famer, look at his overall resume. When he gets in admit you are wrong but you won't.

 

 

I know this wasn't directed towards me and I am not commenting on the major substance of the post.  

I might argue against Ryan being in the Hall of Fame because I would have less people n the Hall of Fame.  you would have to be considered a top 3 player at your position for several years.  I feel the same about Rivers.  

Ryan only made the pro bowl 4 times.  I don't really take the pro bowl selections as a serious factor in a players career, so I would throw that out.  Would a team trade the following for Ryan?

Drew Brees

Aaron Rodgers

Tom Brady

Peyton Manning

Several others could be on there depending on the year.  

[OLD FAN MAN]

9 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

I think those two are 1 and 2 on the list of things Ballard got wrong.  And because they’re both on the OL, and one is on the outside and the other is in the inside, the combination has been an utter disaster.   And I think whatever is 3 (Ryan?) is far below 1 and 2. 

glow is opening holes for barkley

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, Myles said:

I know this wasn't directed towards me and I am not commenting on the major substance of the post.  

I might argue against Ryan being in the Hall of Fame because I would have less people n the Hall of Fame.  you would have to be considered a top 3 player at your position for several years.  I feel the same about Rivers.  

Ryan only made the pro bowl 4 times.  I don't really take the pro bowl selections as a serious factor in a players career, so I would throw that out.  Would a team trade the following for Ryan?

Drew Brees

Aaron Rodgers

Tom Brady

Peyton Manning

Several others could be on there depending on the year.  

I know how you feel about the Hall. It is a respectable opinion but you have a real high standard on who gets in. You don't think Rivers should get in either but he will and I think he deserves it. Rivers like Ryan just have the longevity and stats. What seals it for Ryan is, he won an MVP unlike Rivers, Ben, or Eli.  

[Moosejawcolt]

1 hour ago, DougDew said:

Nah Its a matter of opinion, and you've got the wrong one.  Sure, take away the one player those teams are built around and those teams will fail.

 

OTOH, DAL is not built around Dak...who's that Red-headed guy they went with?  PIT isn't built around Pickett, but he's good.  Jets built around Zac Wilson?.  MIA around Tua?  (Maybe).  BAL wins with Huntley too.

 

Our D has always succeeded against one dimensional offenses, but also have issues with KC and BUF because of their QBs.  Its the teams with the balanced attacks that shred us when they have to.

Being saying it for years. This zone style D is so antiquated. Whether it b the Tampa  3 or Zone 3

[DougDew]

Just now, Moosejawcolt said:

Being saying it for years. This zone style D is so antiquated. Whether it b the Tampa  3 or Zone 3

The talent isn't good enough.  Almost there, but there is still not one player that makes an offense think twice about.  A bunch of good players who do their jobs pretty well.

[OLD FAN MAN]

8 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I was surprised we were only down 2 points going to the 4th Qtr. We just had a couple of blunders and the REFS didn't help matters either that blew it open. Now that Jimmy G is out, I can see Dallas winning the NFC. Their D is great.

it is hard to see how good their defense really is playing against the colt offense, we make all defenses look good

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

it is hard to see how good their defense really is playing against the colt offense, we make all defenses look good

Good point. I want to see Philly at Dallas. Then we will know, having said that, Dallas held Minnesota to 3 points and they have Cousins, Cook, and Jefferson. 

[chad72]

2 minutes ago, Moosejawcolt said:

Being saying it for years. This zone style D is so antiquated. Whether it b the Tampa  3 or Zone 3

 

It is the Johnnys and Joes. The Bengals run it very well. The Ravens run it well, for the most part. Yes, you need to man up someone at some point, which we do as well with Rodgers or Gilmore, as necessary. You need good safeties to run excellent zone coverage, the Bengals and Bills have it, the Chiefs and Ravens don't.

[Defjamz26]

1 hour ago, twfish said:

Where I'm curious is how truthful the rumor is about the fact Ballard wanted to draft Justin Fields but got over ruled by Irsay for Wentz, then Irsay forced him to get rid of Wentz when we didn't have a 1st round pick. If that's true and this whole unraveling is because of Irsay then I hope he realizes that and quits meddling with the team and will let the GM do what he's here to do. 

Not sure how accurate the source is but that’s not the first I’ve heard of it. Regardless though, Ballard has failed this team. Even if you take the QB drama out of it, he’s put out enough rope to hang himself.

 

The most concerning thing is that if that’s true, Irsay is going to be a problem in trying to hire a new GM.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I had the 49ers winning the NFC as a prediction but am I wrong now because Jimmy G got injured, I guess so. I picked the Bills to win the SB before the season in here, lets see how wrong I am there - assuming the Bills stay healthy, only KC has a chance to beat them. Von Miller said he would back in a couple of weeks. Allen is great, I feel good about that pick. Cincy is nice but we will see come playoff time. They had a good run last year but doing it 2 years in a row is a different story. I have a feeling Cincy will have to go to Arrowhead or Buffalo then it will be game over.

[Myles]

13 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I know how you feel about the Hall. It is a respectable opinion but you have a real high standard on who gets in. You don't think Rivers should get in either but he will and I think he deserves it. Rivers like Ryan just have the longevity and stats. What seals it for Ryan is, he won an MVP unlike Rivers, Ben, or Eli.  

It is just hard for me to let go of what I think the standards should be.  It's like that with other Hall of Fames's too.

Rivers, Ryan and Eli Manning wouldn't be in my HOF.  Not a chance.  However, I will concede that in the current Hall of Good, they will all be in it shortly after they retire.  

[Blueblood23]

2 hours ago, DougDew said:

Yes, Wentz was the problem last year.  He is the reason we did not make the playoffs.  It was good coaching that got us close and finished with a winning record.

 

Yes, Ryan is worse than Wentz.  Good coaching got us to .500 with Ryan, but we will not finish the season even close to .500 now.

The team missed the playoffs last year because of coaching. The staff was unable to motivate the players to play hard for the last two games. Because of this, Irsay deemed Wentz was the cancer holding the team back. It’s pretty obvious what the real issues are with this team. 

[Defjamz26]

Also I think we’re at the point where it’s fair to question if Pittman is really all that good. I think he may be more of a number 2 than a number 1. He was invisible in that game.

 

Also why are we back to guys having breakout games and then not being used? Where the heck was Jelani Woods?

[buccolts]

7 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

Not sure how accurate the source is but that’s not the first I’ve heard of it. Regardless though, Ballard has failed this team. Even if you take the QB drama out of it, he’s put out enough rope to hang himself.

 

The most concerning thing is that if that’s true, Irsay is going to be a problem in trying to hire a new GM.

Whew! Dodged a bullet there.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Myles said:

It is just hard for me to let go of what I think the standards should be.  It's like that with other Hall of Fames's too.

Rivers, Ryan and Eli Manning wouldn't be in my HOF.  Not a chance.  However, I will concede that in the current Hall of Good, they will all be in it shortly after they retire.  

Thing about Ryan is, he was actually arguably a top 3 QB in the league at 1 time = 2016. The others never were because there was always Peyton, Brady, then Brees, etc.. but by the eye test I think Rivers was actually a hair better than Ryan. Not just because of his play here but he battled Peyton and Brady a lot and did well. He beat us in the playoffs when we had Peyton. I think Eli belongs simply because he beat the Pats twice in the biggest game. That 2007 SB changed history, If Joe Namath is in, then Eli belongs.

[Moosejawcolt]

12 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

Not sure how accurate the source is but that’s not the first I’ve heard of it. Regardless though, Ballard has failed this team. Even if you take the QB drama out of it, he’s put out enough rope to hang himself.

 

The most concerning thing is that if that’s true, Irsay is going to be a problem in trying to hire a new GM.

More reason to fire him .Justin is cute and all but he is basically a running back. He will ooo and ahh you with his athletic abilities but will never be a true qb  or even close to one

[Moosejawcolt]

24 minutes ago, DougDew said:

The talent isn't good enough.  Almost there, but there is still not one player that makes an offense think twice about.  A bunch of good players who do their jobs pretty well.

I am kind of out on Taylor. I just think it goes to show that if you have a good Oline you can simply plug and play rb's. Plus, he is horrible in pass protection. I dont think he is worth a 2nd contract. I would let Pittman walk as well

[DougDew]

18 minutes ago, Blueblood23 said:

The team missed the playoffs last year because of coaching. The staff was unable to motivate the players to play hard for the last two games. Because of this, Irsay deemed Wentz was the cancer holding the team back. It’s pretty obvious what the real issues are with this team. 

Not following.  A team is heading into a playoff run and the coaching staff is responsible for motivating it...as if its natural for players to not be motivated heading into the playoffs and its the coaches around the NFL who motivate the players at that point?  That's a weird circle of logic to justify thinking we had poor coaching.

 

People act like the team has great talent being held back by coaching, when in fact its the opposite.  I assume people are seeing that now, with Ryan being incrementally worse than Wentz of course.

 

Irsay certainly did not help matters any with his meddling.  With either adding talent or creating a calm atmosphere.