Takeaways from the Bills game

[John Hammonds]

Here are my observations from the Bills game, in no particular order

1. I love the velocity of AR5's throws. Pow!  Zoom!  No dying quails here.  I also loved that he ran the ball into the defender like he was a tight end.  The off-the-charts physicality is there.  He still needs to catch up on a lot of experience.  The INT wasn't good.  Nor were the accuracy on some of the throws.  But he could have been worse.  A lot worse.  Overall, I'm hopeful.
2. I absolutely LOVE Downs.  How shifty can you get?  How exciting can you get?  This guy is electric.
3. Rick Venturi broke the "BASICALLY" meter again.  I'm gonna have to get a new, super-duty one.  Because he can't stop saying it.
4. If you want to win the first game, then starting Minshew will give you a better chance.  He's not as flashy or exciting as AR5, but he's more steady.
5. It's still gonna be a bumpy ride with our young defensive backs.  Some bad coverage, some great plays.
6. Pinter and French are absolutely BAD.  I'd rather just put two traffic cones out there.  Seriously, I think UDFA Emil Ekiyor is already better than either of them.
7. Not all that happy that the only TD scored was by a rookie with a pick-6.  Nada from the starting offense.  Nada from the 2nd string.
8. Um...  I though we were supposed to take the next step with our kicking?  One missed FG; one missed XP.  That's 4 points.  Guess how much Buffalo won by?
9. We had a lot of missed coverages by our LB's.  Need to button that up if we intend to win.
10. Totally enjoyed the play of Grant Stuard.  Great special teams player.  Exciting playing defense as well.  Although he wasn't always that effective.  But he was fun to watch!
11. My boy, Blake Freeland, didn't play bad in the place of starter Brandon Smith.  He wasn't great.  But he was easily as good as any of our tackles we've started over the last two years!

 

Overall, I saw some things to be pleased about, and some things that still need a lot of work.  This is a team with a sushi-raw rookie QB, and a lot of rookies in prime positions, trying to figure out how to play this game at this level.  I think Josh Downs may wind up as Colts rookie of the year at the end of the season.

[DiogoSales]

Great summary 

 

Only worry that needs to be addresed yesterday is OL backups. Thats real bad

[CoachLite]

11 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

Here are my observations from the Bills game, in no particular order

1. I love the velocity of AR5's throws. Pow!  Zoom!  No dying quails here.  I also loved that he ran the ball into the defender like he was a tight end.  The off-the-charts physicality is there.  He still needs to catch up on a lot of experience.  The INT wasn't good.  Nor were the accuracy on some of the throws.  But he could have been worse.  A lot worse.  Overall, I'm hopeful.
2. I absolutely LOVE Downs.  How shifty can you get?  How exciting can you get?  This guy is electric.
3. Rick Venturi broke the "BASICALLY" meter again.  I'm gonna have to get a new, super-duty one.  Because he can't stop saying it.
4. If you want to win the first game, then starting Minshew will give you a better chance.  He's not as flashy or exciting as AR5, but he's more steady.
5. It's still gonna be a bumpy ride with our young defensive backs.  Some bad coverage, some great plays.
6. Pinter and French are absolutely BAD.  I'd rather just put two traffic cones out there.  Seriously, I think UDFA Emil Ekiyor is already better than either of them.
7. Not all that happy that the only TD scored was by a rookie with a pick-6.  Nada from the starting offense.  Nada from the 2nd string.
8. Um...  I though we were supposed to take the next step with our kicking?  One missed FG; one missed XP.  That's 4 points.  Guess how much Buffalo won by?
9. We had a lot of missed coverages by our LB's.  Need to button that up if we intend to win.
10. Totally enjoyed the play of Grant Stuard.  Great special teams player.  Exciting playing defense as well.  Although he wasn't always that effective.  But he was fun to watch!
11. My boy, Blake Freeland, didn't play bad in the place of starter Brandon Smith.  He wasn't great.  But he was easily as good as any of our tackles we've started over the last two years!

 

Overall, I saw some things to be pleased about, and some things that still need a lot of work.  This is a team with a sushi-raw rookie QB, and a lot of rookies in prime positions, trying to figure out how to play this game at this level.  I think Josh Downs may wind up as Colts rookie of the year at the end of the season.

To be honest, there are a lot of things we need to button up. That said, I really like where we are.

[w87r]

Edit: didn't see this before I started one.

 

Thoughts:

1. I thought our 1st team OL pretty well against the Bills stout D, and that was without Smith out there.

It is good that Freeland is getting some important reps. He got worked a couple times, but it will help his growth.

Need to run left more.

Pinter experiment at Guard needs to be over, backup center or nothing.

Need to take a serious look at Risner or Norwell this week

2. I thought our RBs looked pretty good as well, none are Taylor, but with the group we have plus Moss they would be a pretty a solid committee.

3. Pittman and Pierce were meh, they need to step it up this year. Especially Pierce, he has to make those plays.

Downs looks solid

McKenzie is a valuable piece, even though he made a couple mistakes today.

Granson continues to look good. 

TE room is loaded as we already know.

4. I think Richardson had a good day. Clearly the INT wasn't good, no matter who's fault you want to put it on. They both share responsibility. 

Minshew started slow, but turned it around. Great piece for the team to have. I don't think there is to much he can control, as it will be how Richardson performs as to when Richardson takes the job. I think that time has come personally. Probably need another game to clinch it, but I see no reason to not start him next week.

5. Defense played decent, have to remember they were missing quite a few big pieces. Buckner, Blackmon, Flowers, Ebukam and Thomas.

Happy to see Leonard out there.

Dayo does Dayo things frequently.

DL is deep.

6. Young CBs played pretty good and Baker continued his solid play.

Rush is going to be a good player

Brents got worked a couple times, but I think he is going to be nice as well.

Jones too

7. Got to make our FGs for that kind of money. Got to anyway, but even more so.

 

 

Good start, looking forward to a week of camp and joint practices and another game.

[w87r]

31 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

Totally enjoyed the play of Grant Stuard.  Great special teams player.  Exciting playing defense as well.  Although he wasn't always that effective.  But he was fun to watch!

Only part I'll disagree with you on.

 

Stuard is a great SPT player, but he shouldn't be out there on the defensive side of the ball, imo. I get it in the preseason, but we better hope we don't need him to play meaningful LB snaps.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Something that stood out was the bad return team on kickoffs. Not sure why we didn’t fair catch some of those. Hopefully bubba won’t be missed much.

[w87r]

Just now, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Something that stood out was the bad return team on kickoffs. Not sure why we didn’t fair catch some of those. Hopefully bubba won’t be missed much.

Don't think it's anything to worry about.

 

Just guys looking to make a play in the 1st game action of the season.

[w87r]

Forgot the maybe most important takeaway from the game today.

 

Olubi was the only injury I have heard about, he probably has multiple injuries as it is reported he has a concussion and he had an ankle(I think ankle) injury earlier.

[TimetobringDfence!]

AR does throw a little high and needs some touch on shorter throws. But he looked poised and wasn't phased by INT. Oline needs depth bad. Denbow looked awful, missed tackles and lacked instinct to close plays. Downs and Baker are solid rookies. This team has some work to put in, but I feel like the energy is better. 

[w87r]

2 minutes ago, TimetobringDfence! said:

AR does throw a little high and needs some touch on shorter throws. But he looked poised and wasn't phased by INT. Oline needs depth bad. Denbow looked awful, missed tackles and lacked instinct to close plays. Downs and Baker are solid rookies. This team has some work to put in, but I feel like the energy is better. 

Good call Denbow didn't look good out there.

 

Baker is second year guy, but has been solid.

[Stephen]

3 minutes ago, TimetobringDfence! said:

AR does throw a little high and needs some touch on shorter throws. But he looked poised and wasn't phased by INT. Oline needs depth bad. Denbow looked awful, missed tackles and lacked instinct to close plays. Downs and Baker are solid rookies. This team has some work to put in, but I feel like the energy is better. 

Yea luck missed high alot to

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

I don’t know if it’s because our rookie needs more playing time but I think Steichen is going to play our starters more in the preseason then previous years. At least I hope it unfolds thst way. It will have guys more ready by week 1.

 

It was also nice to see Richardson improve which each drive.  Something you want to see.

 

I hope Steichen plays everyone next week just like he did today. Then in the 3rd preseason game I don’t mind sitting almost everyone. I wouldn’t even mind a entire half next week. Then let them sit the last game.

[TimetobringDfence!]

4 minutes ago, w87r said:

Good call Denbow didn't look good out there.

 

Baker is second year guy, but has been solid.

Didn't realize he was here last year, but he is making it known now.

[TimetobringDfence!]

4 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Yea luck missed high alot to

AR kind of reminds me of how Luck played. With less of the pre snap awareness.

[csmopar]

46 minutes ago, w87r said:

Edit: didn't see this before I started one.

 

Thoughts:

1. I thought our 1st team OL pretty well against the Bills stout D, and that was without Smith out there.

It is good that Freeland is getting some important reps. He got worked a couple times, but it will help his growth.

Need to run left more.

Pinter experiment at Guard needs to be over, backup center or nothing.

Need to take a serious look at Risner or Norwell this week

2. I thought our RBs looked pretty good as well, none are Taylor, but with the group we have plus Moss they would be a pretty a solid committee.

3. Pittman and Pierce were meh, they need to step it up this year. Especially Pierce, he has to make those plays.

Downs looks solid

McKenzie is a valuable piece, even though he made a couple mistakes today.

Granson continues to look good. 

TE room is loaded as we already know.

4. I think Richardson had a good day. Clearly the INT wasn't good, no matter who's fault you want to put it on. They both share responsibility. 

Minshew started slow, but turned it around. Great piece for the team to have. I don't think there is to much he can control, as it will be how Richardson performs as to when Richardson takes the job. I think that time has come personally. Probably need another game to clinch it, but I see no reason to not start him next week.

5. Defense played decent, have to remember they were missing quite a few big pieces. Buckner, Blackmon, Flowers, Ebukam and Thomas.

Happy to see Leonard out there.

Dayo does Dayo things frequently.

DL is deep.

6. Young CBs played pretty good and Baker continued his solid play.

Rush is going to be a good player

Brents got worked a couple times, but I think he is going to be nice as well.

Jones too

7. Got to make our FGs for that kind of money. Got to anyway, but even more so.

 

 

Good start, looking forward to a week of camp and joint practices and another game.

All I know is this, Pittman has been quiet during camp. At least the practices I was there. Downs and Mackenzie seem to have ARs eye and downs is just always open . Pierce is the big deep threat. I’m not sure where Pittman will end up in this offense. 

[w87r]

1 minute ago, csmopar said:

All I know is this, Pittman has been quiet during camp. At least the practices I was there. Downs and Mackenzie seem to have ARs eye and downs is just always open . Pierce is the big deep threat. I’m not sure where Pittman will end up in this offense. 

Been wondering about his fit for a while now.

[csmopar]

Just now, w87r said:

Been wondering about his fit for a while now.

In practice, he’s only open when he’s the first read and schemed open. 

[TigerColt]

Didn’t get to watch live. Highlights only so far. Segun-Olibi got abused on quite a few passing plays.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Speaking of fits for this offense looks like Granson already has really good chemistry with Richardson. He seems to always be open. I think he might end up TE1 at least to start the season. Woods needs to get healthy.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

4 minutes ago, csmopar said:

In practice, he’s only open when he’s the first read and schemed open. 

I think once we get into game action these receivers and tight ends are going to be open a lot. If Taylor comes back it will be even more wide open.  

[csmopar]

Just now, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

I think once we get into game action these receivers and tight ends are going to be open a lot. If Taylor comes back it will be even more wide open.  

Maybe

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Just now, csmopar said:

Maybe

Defenses will have to pick their poison. Can’t stop Richardson running and Taylor. Richardson will need a spy. Noticed today how much more space there was to work with on the field.

[Colt Overseas]

There were few postives from today. For me, I taught AR5 looked poised after the interception. Downs on offense and Stuart on defense were the standouts for me. Downs just looks like he is going to be a really good player for us. Also taught Dayo, Granson Minshew, Jackson, Rush did well. The CBs for the 1s and 2 did well overall, Baker and Flowers were good, Brents was a little soft on his coverage, but understandable given he is only back a few days. Great to see Leonard back out there.

 

Negatives were the back up oline and suprisingly Matt Gay. Hopefully Gay gets that out of his system, were paying him alot of money to be good this season.

[Moosejawcolt]

12 minutes ago, csmopar said:

All I know is this, Pittman has been quiet during camp. At least the practices I was there. Downs and Mackenzie seem to have ARs eye and downs is just always open . Pierce is the big deep threat. I’m not sure where Pittman will end up in this offense. 

I think Pittman may regret not signing an extension . I just have a feeling he maybe the forgotten man in this O. I expect Pierce, Downs and Granson to have good years as well as the backs.

[Moosejawcolt]

8 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Speaking of fits for this offense looks like Granson already has really good chemistry with Richardson. He seems to always be open. I think he might end up TE1 at least to start the season. Woods needs to get healthy.

Granson struggled but  tight ends will hit their strides in their 3rd year. A couple of NFL front office personnel have stated it is one of the hardest positions behind qb to master. They have so much responsibilities when it comes to the run and pass game. That is why u rarely see rookie tight ends ball out even their highly drafted ones.

[IndyEric07]

Just fast forwarded through much of it, but I saw the Colts D give alot of space against the Bills wrs, starters and backups! Gus needs to shore that up, unless it was on purpose! I dont want to have anymore nightmares of Colts D of old giving up 3rd and longs consistently!

[Zoltan]

Takeaways were pretty much what I expected, some amazing throws (and sad drop by Pierce), some bad reads, and some miscommunications from building the new offense. One surprise was how well Deon Jackson played.

[IinD]

Happy to see a young team with new blood at QB.

 

It's the first game, can't read much into it.

 

They'll have moments of real good and real bad this year.

 

I'm not stressing, just want to see our QB get better week to week.

[1959Colts]

10 minutes ago, IndyEric07 said:

Just fast forwarded through much of it, but I saw the Colts D give alot of space against the Bills wrs, starters and backups! Gus needs to shore that up, unless it was on purpose! I dont want to have anymore nightmares of Colts D of old giving up 3rd and longs consistently!

Agree. Our 3rd down defense was indeed atrocious once again

[NewColtsFan]

22 minutes ago, Moosejawcolt said:

I think Pittman may regret not signing an extension . I just have a feeling he maybe the forgotten man in this O. I expect Pierce, Downs and Granson to have good years as well as the backs.

I think you’re assuming facts that are not known.   Has Pittman even been offered a contract to turn down?    I haven’t read that he’s been offered yet.   

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

It’s fun not complaining about coaching after this game. Yes everyone still complained in the preseason about Reich. 
 

Panther fans are repeating some of the exact same thing colt fans have said for years. Taking the preseason to casual and panthers not being ready. Also complaining about the Oline and they could not handle twists and stunts. Just have to laugh. For the record Reich have a assistant coach play calling duties today.

[1959Colts]

Watching a replay of the AR interception...

it was a poor decision to throw the ball where he did, but the O-line had an assignment breakdown on that play (very reminiscent of last year).

The Bills defender ran a stunt right around our RG, came unblocked, straight up the middle, into Richardson's face.

So along with the blame our rookie QB takes, the o-line should face equal criticism.

[DougDew]

1 hour ago, w87r said:

Good call Denbow didn't look good out there.

 

Baker is second year guy, but has been solid.

I've been away from the Colts for a few months.  Who are Baker and Denbow?

[DougDew]

20 minutes ago, 1959Colts said:

Watching a replay of the AR interception...

it was a poor decision to throw the ball where he did, but the O-line had an assignment breakdown on that play (very reminiscent of last year).

The Bills defender ran a stunt right around our RG, came unblocked, straight up the middle, into Richardson's face.

So along with the blame our rookie QB takes, the o-line should face equal criticism.

Yep. it looked to me like a classic case of the Qb trying to make a play instead of taking a sack while falling backwards.  Should have held the ball and took the sack.  Line up for the next play or punt.

 

Doesn't excuse the oline, but all NFL QBs are faced with that situation.  First game, no biggie.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Yep. it looked to me like a classic case of the Qb trying to make a play instead of taking a sack while falling backwards.  Should have held the ball and took the sack.  Line up for the next play or punt.

 

Doesn't excuse the oline, but all NFL QBs are faced with that situation.  First game, no biggie.

What’s great is he talked about not playing hero ball in his presser. The fact he recognized what he could of done different was nice to see.

[1959Colts]

7 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Yep. it looked to me like a classic case of the Qb trying to make a play instead of taking a sack while falling backwards.  Should have held the ball and took the sack.  Line up for the next play or punt.

 

Doesn't excuse the oline, but all NFL QBs are faced with that situation.  First game, no biggie.

Right, I agree, but,.. will the Colts ever learn to pick up a blitz or a stunt?

[DougDew]

1 minute ago, 1959Colts said:

Right, I agree, but,.. Will the colts ever learn to pick up a blitz or a stunt?

Well, its a new coaching staff, but the same players.  We'll see how it goes.

 

I also think its becoming more of a problem throughout the league too.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

8 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Well, its a new coaching staff, but the same players.  We'll see how it goes.

 

I also think its becoming more of a problem throughout the league too.

Panther fans are complaining like crazy after their preseason game about this too.

[Scott Pennock]

I'm at work and will come back and read the full post, however, as I watch the replay (at around the 6 minute mark of the 3rd Quarter) I can tell you that DB #27 (Keven Tolliver III) will be cut..............off the dome he has given up A LOT of receptions so far! 

[GoColts8818]

1.  AR didn’t look over his head and looked like a rookie QB and given how green he is that’s not a bad thing.  I am not worried about the INT, that was a miscommunication which happens to all new QBs.  He will learn from it.  What he did that was really impressive for a rookie QB playing his first game was lead two long drives vs a pretty good defense in the Bills.

2.  The offense was pretty basic but that is to be expected for a pre-season game.  It lets you evaluate players and why give away anything in a game that doesn’t count.

3.  Right side of the line was an issue without Smith.  Fries still needs to develop.  Freeland didn’t get much push which is to be expected for a rookie.  The left side of the line looked better though.

4.  The ground wasn’t awful without JT but no home run threat for sure.

5.  Pierce has me considered.  He’s not a rookie anymore he has to make that catch.  I know last year isn’t the best to judge any WR on but all they can judge you on is what you have done.  Clearly he’s not going to be released or anything but he needs to start producing.  
6.  Minshew looked good as he should as guy with his starting experience playing against other teams twos.

7.  McKenzie looked like an early security blanket for AR.

8.  Leonard played and that was good to see.  
9.  It was against second teamers but Dayo showed a step we haven’t seen from a Colts d-lineman for a while.  
10.  The secondary outside of Baker did not impress me much at all.  With that said I am sure that was watered down too in terms of game planning.  
11.  The Colts did not spend all that money on Gay to have him missing 28 yard field goals, pre-season and windy or not.

12.  Good to see Rigo back.

13.  Zero depth on the back up oline.  
14.  I was fairly sure I saw Mo out there in the second half which is very interesting.

15.  Muhammad played pretty well in his first game back.  He will never be a super star but he’s a solid player.  
16.  Colts have an interesting decision to make on Sam.  Do they keep three QBs to develop him as the backup of the future which I think he could be or do you use that roster spot on someone else and hope you can keep Sam on the PS?

17.  Strachan by all accounts has had a great camp and played well today.  Do the Colts have the roster spot to see if he can do it in a real game now?

 

bonus nonColts point, great to see Hamlin back out there today for the Bills.