Colts vs Jags post game thread

[Solid84]

Just now, Indyfan4life said:

Even if he slid, Cisco was going for his head. But, yes, I hope he learns to slide on every run attempt when necessary and not try to fight for extra yards. 

If I was Steichen I'd have called out the Jags and Cisco during the end game presser. That guy needs to be suspended.

[smittywerb]

Good

- this team looked prepared.  Something we haven’t been used to.  This game was winnable.  Team looked fired up, energetic, and physical

 

- downs and Granson:  when they weren’t being focused on, they showed up.  Good to see them making an impact

 

- AR: for his first game, I’d say this was a good performance.  Had some off throws but also some good ones.  We knew this though.  I’m looking forward to seeing him grow

 

- the defense looks REAL good.  It’s only so much they can do however.  

 

Meh

- playcall/play design:  liked what I saw from Shane regarding the plays themselves.  I feel he called a good game (besides the 4th down calls) until the 4th when we became pass happy.  AR threw for 37 times today.  THATS WAY TOO MANY.  We need to keep AR in the 20-25 range.  I also want to see more rollouts and scrambles.  Use his legs, the man has the athleticism for it.  Instead, we turned him into a pocket passer.
 

- pass rush was bad in the first half but good in the second.  It needs to be more consistent to give us a chance this year.
 

 

Bad

- run game was HORRIBLE today and I attribute that to Deon.  When hull came in, it was good but then he got hurt. Deon needs to be cut and we need to go and grab fournette or hunt.  If the run game is still bad then irsay and jt need to make up

 

- punting:  what was that?!  Was he focused on trying to keep it away from Agnew because if he was then he was doing a bad job at it.  We gave the jags good field position pretty much all game.

 

- 4th down calls:  hopefully Shane will learn from this because this can’t be something he does.  We don’t have the offensive savvyness and talent to be that aggressive.  We’re not there yet.

 

- lack of explosiveness:  I’m looking right at MPJ and AP.  I’ll look at the stats but I’m curious as to how many downfield throws did AR throw today.  And I can tell that the plays were being called just by ARs reads, but the receivers weren’t open.  This team will not be able to do anything if we can’t stretch the field.  AR strength is his arm, AP and MPJ strength is 50/50 balls, and I don’t I saw either one show up today.

 

- ARs running, welcome to the nfl young man.  You might be 6’4” 250lbs but so are other players.  Learn to slide.  

 

all in all, I’m a happy colts fan.  This team competed and flashed.  We have some things to learn but we knew that coming into the year.  We played a good team tough, that’s all you can ask for from a team that’s building.  AR will be good, he just has to learn.  The sky is not falling, it’s just cloudy right now.

[coming on strong]

i honestly think the best thing for the team long term is to just focus on getting richardson better and not worry about winning .   we can go get marvin harrison jr  in the draft and rebuild the offensive line because smith is getting worse every game .  the line cant run block at all nelson fell apart too .

[GoColts8818]

Just now, IinD said:

That's what sucks about these guys like AR or Lamar. They're electric, but the electricity can be cut off real quick.. Lol

Yes Richardson has to learn to get down.  You saw Lawrence run today and what did he do?  Get what he could get and got down.  When you are a QB you don’t fight for extra yards like Richardson was doing.  Like Vilma said they aren’t designed for that.

[colts89]

It was what I expected. Neither side played pretty but the team with the non-rookie QB got the win, which is typical for the NFL.

 

AR looked decent in the first and pretty bad in the second half. I really hope he is fine health wise. I was happy to see how he played the short game today, but he always has a few wildly inaccurate throws in any game I've seen him. That more than anything is what I'm hoping he improves on throughout the season. His WRs besides Pittman did NOT help the rookie QB look better.

 

I'm starting to lose faith in Pierce, despite his inexperience. I'm just not a fan of a WR who can really only impact a game on long vertical throws unless he's VERY good at it. If he looks like this all year, then I would be fine seeing him get traded away while he still has value. I'd rather have Pittman as the future WR2 for the Colts then Pierce despite his age. We do need to get a true WR1 regardless of whom we keep, which I believe we all agree on.

 

Richardson really needs a good running game to help him out his rookie season. We probably get Moss back next week, but if his addition doesn't help then we really should give Taylor a 2 yr contract as long as the Colts know he's healthy. The only part I think is tricky here is his health which is probably why the Colts don't want to pay him yet.

 

The D played pretty well as a whole, but our CBs are bad one on one. The Colts media kept going on and on about how Baker and Flowers looked so good in training camp, but make no mistake about it: We are starting two former UDFA with 1 yr of experience. Ridley and most decent WR1s are gonna eat them alive.

 

Steichen did an awful job calling plays in the second half. Pretty poor start with him as a play caller. Those calls up the middle with Jackson gave me bad flashbacks...

 

The OL wasn't that good either, but definitely not as bad as last year. Seems like we were all right in being worried about Fries. Smith always has a habit of starting a season off poorly too.

 

 

 

Overall, I think that this is probably what we will see throughout 2023 for the Colts. My only hope is that AR becomes more and more consistent throughout the weeks.

 

 

 

 

[coltsfan_canada]

AR looks good before going down. 

 

Steichen please dont follow Reich as going 4th down every time. 

 

Deon Jackson please if you are not cut by tomorrow retire urself from NFL. I am surprised how was our RB coach or Ballard assessing this RB and thought he was worthy over all the RB in free agency. 

 

Pierce where were you my man? 

 

Defense was amazing except the DB (but expected as all of them are rookies)

 

ST was not good with one run back from 5 years to 60+ yards gain

[OLD FAN MAN]

19 minutes ago, Bravo said:

Zero run game. Lacking offensive weapons.

 

Defense played well.

 

Richardson played well.

 

 

same ole ballard, no elite receivers

[Solid84]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

A lot of that was beyond Ballard’s control.  Their starter is “hurt”/holding in for a contract. Then they had two injuries.  They were essentially down to their third and fifth string running back.  Any team would be in trouble there.

Jackson is trash, but the Oline not run blocking is entirely on Ballard at this point. I know the Jags stacked the box, but we were 16 for 25 yards on the ground not counting AR...

[Believe blue1306]

10 minutes ago, 1959Colts said:

Steichen needs to think it through before always going for on 4th down. 

The first time Steichen went for.it on 4th down, it looked like Jackson had gotten the necessary yardage, but the official marked it short. Shane should have taken his time, and possibly challenged the spot, rather than hurry up and try the qb sneak, which failed miserably

I agree, I wanted a challenge. I believe we had that first down on 3rd. 

[stitches]

AR showed the promise, but he also showed that there is a long path for him to go. Good thing is that he seems to have what it takes to do the work. 

 

Love that the team seemed to have new found juice and desire to compete. 

 

The defense played well for most of the game(the DL especially was very solid). The problem is - whenever we can't create pressure the DBs struggle massively. And in this league you cannot rely on the DL to consistently create pressure down after down... 

 

I really don't think our weapons are up to par. This is a bottom 5 pass-catching unit in the league IMO. I hope Ballard(if he's still here) fixes some of this next season. 

 

[GoColts8818]

Just now, Solid84 said:

Jackson is trash, but the Oline not run blocking is entirely on Ballard at this point. I know the Jags stacked the box, but we were 16 for 25 yards on the ground not counting AR...

I’ll agree with the line.  I was referring to the running backs which is what the poster I was quoting was talking about.  They weren’t talking about the line or the run game as a whole.  They were specifically talking about the running backs and namely Funk playing the fourth quarter.  That’s going over the top because it wasn’t the plan it was a hold in and injuries that lead to that.  

[Solon]

Might as well kept Frank if we're going to continue to run his offense. I'm sick of watching safeties comfortably play 8 yards of the LOS against us. Just take a few deep shots a game. Is it too much to ask for?

[OLD FAN MAN]

4 minutes ago, smittywerb said:

Good

- this team looked prepared.  Something we haven’t been used to.  This game was winnable.  Team looked fired up, energetic, and physical

 

- downs and Granson:  when they weren’t being focused on, they showed up.  Good to see them making an impact

 

- AR: for his first game, I’d say this was a good performance.  Had some off throws but also some good ones.  We knew this though.  I’m looking forward to seeing him grow

 

- the defense looks REAL good.  It’s only so much they can do however.  

 

Meh

- playcall/play design:  liked what I saw from Shane regarding the plays themselves.  I feel he called a good game (besides the 4th down calls) until the 4th when we became pass happy.  AR threw for 37 times today.  THATS WAY TOO MANY.  We need to keep AR in the 20-25 range.  I also want to see more rollouts and scrambles.  Use his legs, the man has the athleticism for it.  Instead, we turned him into a pocket passer.
 

- pass rush was bad in the first half but good in the second.  It needs to be more consistent to give us a chance this year.
 

 

Bad

- run game was HORRIBLE today and I attribute that to Deon.  When hull came in, it was good but then he got hurt. Deon needs to be cut and we need to go and grab fournette or hunt.  If the run game is still bad then irsay and jt need to make up

 

- punting:  what was that?!  Was he focused on trying to keep it away from Agnew because if he was then he was doing a bad job at it.  We gave the jags good field position pretty much all game.

 

- 4th down calls:  hopefully Shane will learn from this because this can’t be something he does.  We don’t have the offensive savvy east and talent to be that aggressive.  We’re not there yet.

 

- lack of explosiveness:  I’m looking right at MPJ and AP.  I’ll look at the stats but I’m curious as to how many downfield throws did AR throw today.  And I can tell that the plays were being called just by ARs reads, but the receivers weren’t open.  This team will not be able to do anything if we can’t stretch the field.  AR strength is his arm, AP and MPJ strength is 50/50 balls, and I don’t I saw either one show up today.

 

- ARs running, welcome to the nfl young man.  You might be 6’4” 250lbs but so are other players.  Learn to slide.  

 

all in all, I’m a happy colts fan.  This team competed and flashed.  We have some things to learn but we knew that coming into the year.  We played a good team tough, that’s all you can ask for from a team that’s building.  AR will be good, he just has to learn.  The sky is not falling, it’s just cloudy right now.

you nailed it

[GoColts8818]

Just now, Solon said:

Might as well kept Frank if we're going to continue to run his offense. I'm sick of watching safeties comfortably play 8 yards of the LOS against us. Just take a few deep shots a game. Is it too much to ask for?

It will come in time with AR.  He’s a rookie they are trying to build confidence and they did a masterful job of it in the first half.  The second half was too conservative I agree.  I will say Pierce just isn’t good enough and he’s the guy they are counting on to beat teams deep.  This team badly needs a WR like Harrison Jr badly.  

[JediXMan]

RB room looks awful now. Zack Moss should be back next week. Even then they should be looking to improve it more.

[bluebombers87]

I’m not sanguine with the defense. We were 28 last year in points allowed. I know having an offense helps but there were other teams who had low producing offenses that gave up less per game last year (see Denver, Rams, Steelers for example).

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 minute ago, JediXMan said:

RB room looks awful now. Zack Moss should be back next week. Even then they should be looking to improve it more.

It’s bad but when you don’t pass downfield it makes it even worse.

[GoColts8818]

Just now, JediXMan said:

RB room looks awful now. Zack Moss should be back next week. Even then they should be looking to improve it more.

There were some reports this morning that makes it sound like Taylor might very well suit up and play starting week five.  That’s the best the Colts can probably hope for right now.  Yeah you can probably replace Jackson for a marginal upgrade (although at this point not fumbling would be a step up) but I don’t think it’s going to be a game changer.

[ShuteAt168]

9 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

A lot of that was beyond Ballard’s control.  Their starter is “hurt”/holding in for a contract. Then they had two injuries.  They were essentially down to their third and fifth string running back.  Any team would be in trouble there.

We’ve known for a long time that JT’s status was uncertain. Prepare for his absence. Sign a vet. 

[JediXMan]

Also what's up with Sanchez today that was rough? Also that play where they let the PR go from the 5 yd line to the 50 was embarrassing .

[GoColts8818]

Just now, ShuteAt168 said:

We’ve known for a long time that JT’s status was uncertain. Prepare for his absence. Sign a vet. 

Okay who do you want that’s out there that’s going to be significant upgrade?  The Colts signed two vets in the pre-season and they couldn’t beat Jackson or Funk out for roster spots and most Colts fans here agreed.

[chad72]

1 minute ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

It’s bad but when you don’t pass downfield it makes it even worse.

I’m fine if they run a death by a thousand paper cuts offense too involving the TEs and WRs and RBs in the passing offense. 
 

AR did really good for a 1st rookie game 

[colts89]

Just now, JediXMan said:

Also what's up with Sanchez today that was rough? Also that play where they let the PR go from the 5 yd line to the 50 was embarrassing .

Losing Bubba Ventrone is going to hurt the ST this year. He might have been the best ST coach in the league.

[GoColts8818]

Just now, JediXMan said:

Also what's up with Sanchez today that was rough? Also that play where they let the PR go from the 5 yd line to the 50 was embarrassing .

I think that was trying to get hang time and directional punting to keep it away from their returner.  The long return wasn’t on Sanchez.  That was great hang time and the Colts had a guy there and he got turned around for some reason.  That was on him and the Colts cover guys not having lane control.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Nothing today showed me that the Jags were superior. They made some key plays in the 4th Qtr to beat us, that is called experience as in a coach and QB being there before. We were in it until the end. If we play like we did today we will beat Houston next week,

[luv_pony_express]

21 minutes ago, tweezy32 said:

Idk why everyone is impressed. AR was inaccurate(as expected) but all his passes were dump offs. Idk why that’s all his throws were. When he threw more then 10 yards all his balls are way to high. He had a dump off in the beginning of the game that was even super high luckily the te caught it. Decision making was good but I was expecting them to have him actually trying to throw down field more. Didn’t expect a win but that game was so winnable it hurlers even more knowing that. Does the line suck or is it just our rbs?

It was his 14th competitive start since high school…against a pretty good NFL defense.

 

Richardson was just fine today.  Yeah, he made some mistakes.  And, yeah, they didn’t go downfield much.

 

All in all, I was pleased with him.

 

But Pierce…man.  He needs to get open.  Or we need to find a different WR2.

[GoColts8818]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Nothing today showed me that the Jags were superior. They made some key plays in the 4th Qtr to beat us, that is called experience as in a coach and QB being there before. We were in it until the end. If we play like we did today we will beat Houston next week,

Yep, the Colts out played them for three quarters but in the fourth the Colts showed exactly what they are, a young team learning to win.  The best thing about today was Richardson wasn’t hurt seriously.  The Colts need to take that as a warning sign though and start teaching him to get down and when to give up on plays and maybe rethink some play call calling in certain situations to help protect Richardson from himself.

[Blueblood23]

12 minutes ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

same ole ballard, no elite receivers

And to think that he was a receiver and puts little value in the position. That’s almost the whole game today. 

[richard pallo]

The Ravens J. k. Dobbins tore his Achilles today.  They are going to be looking for a running back I would assume. Taylor?  The market for JT might heat up again.  

[krunk]

Overall I was good with AR but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit concerned about the odds of the accuracy improving

after watching a full game.  I'll keep watching and do my best to stay positive. 

[chad72]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Nothing today showed me that the Jags were superior. They made some key plays in the 4th Qtr to beat us, that is called experience as in a coach and QB being there before. We were in it until the end. If we play like we did today we will beat Houston next week,

That’s the NFL every week. Can’t play 3 good quarters in both sides and expect to win. Good teams find a way to win despite being punched, that’s what the Jags did.

 

Despite AR int, Bradley’s unit could have given AR some margin for error by not giving up a TD, I’d have been fine with just a FG conceded.

[SR711]

My thoughts

 

1.  It’s nice and all that Ballard, Irsay and whoever else (possibly Steichen) stick to their guns, leverage and perhaps thinks the offense can get along just fine without JT, but this franchise management’s refusal to even try to do something contractually to “extend an olive branch” in the off-season or, most importantly, during training camp to get him back into the fold cost us a winnable game today and probably will cost us other games in the future.  
 

We had 65 rushing yards today and 40 of those were from Richardson.  I find very hard to believe that Taylor would not have gotten at the very least 50 yards with the 13 carries Deon Jackson had.

 

Thats the number one point blank reason we lost in my opinion: no running game to take any sort of pressure off our rookie QB basically left him as the option to generate any offense which is way too much to ask of him at this point. 
 

2.  Steichen needs to be more creative on 4th down calls than what he showed today.  I wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw.  Also did not like how there were no deep shots.  

 

3. The AR designed runs/QB is the running game elements are great if the objective is to make SportCenter top 10 clips, but if the team wants to have a top level QB under center for the next 10+ years, they need cut that stuff out ASAP.  I don’t care what your size, speed, strength numbers are.  There are grown men on the other side who inflict a lot of damage with some of these hits.  I don’t want his career to be like Cam Newton where he is only elite level for a very short period because the hits add up due to the qb playing Superman.

 

4. As far as positives, I thought Zaire Franklin was outstanding.  He single handedly blew up (by my count) two Jax 4th down attempts and at least one 3rd and short attempt.  Very heads up play to play through the whistle (which many players would not have made) on the forced fumble leading to Buckner recovery and TD.

[ShuteAt168]

3 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Okay who do you want that’s out there that’s going to be significant upgrade?  The Colts signed two vets in the pre-season and they couldn’t beat Jackson or Funk out for roster spots and most Colts fans here agreed.

Anyone who doesn’t fumble twice and drop a key pass, and anyone not fresh off the practice squad — that’s who I want. Guys are a dime a dozen who can plunge ahead for 2.5 to three yards and not fumble — that would have been valuable today yes? Just sign one. You just saw what Jackson and whoever the practice squad guy did. Then we had a sixth round rookie too. This is an adequate RB corps to enter the first game of the season? If so, I’m cool with differing opinions. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, chad72 said:

That’s the NFL every week. Can’t play 3 good quarters in both sides and expect to win. Good teams find a way to win despite being punched, that’s what the Jags did.

 

Despite AR int, Bradley’s unit could have given AR some margin for error by not giving up a TD, I’d have been fine with just a FG conceded.

At the end we should have took the FG early when AR was still in. It would have been around a 45 yarder. Then we kick to them with 2 timeouts left. If we hold them we still probably have a minute left at worse with a chance to tie. I would have played that strategy assuming only down 31-24.

[masterlock]

24 minutes ago, Believe blue1306 said:

I thought our defense played well

 

[csmopar]

12 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

There were some reports this morning that makes it sound like Taylor might very well suit up and play starting week five.  That’s the best the Colts can probably hope for right now.  Yeah you can probably replace Jackson for a marginal upgrade (although at this point not fumbling would be a step up) but I don’t think it’s going to be a game changer.

Link me?

[Indyfan4life]

Ballard is gonna need to swallow his pride and trade for a stud WR or do something. Pierce is literally doing nothing, and we have no downfield threat. 

[masterlock]

36 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Defense was tremendous

AR looked pretty good. But we are going to have to connect on some deeper passes.

To connect on deeper passes you'd first have to attempt some.

[OffensivelyPC]

Another 4th quarter blown lead. Great for 3 quarters just to implode in the last 15 minutes.  Aggravating.