Colts Texans post game reaction

[Dingus McGirt]

9 minutes ago, JColts72 said:

WR were pitiful today along with the D. 

Pierce?

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Just now, New Zealands #1 Colts Fan said:

If you didn't watch the game and only read these comments, you would think we lost 30-0 to the worst team in the league.........

That’s what is frustrating. Colts are always right there competing. They can never get over the hump.

[AwesomeAustin]

Joe Mixon is a great back.  Not surprised he played this well game 1. Texans were a slightly better team and it showed all game. I have feeling we will be in a lot of close games this year with endings similar.  This team is young and needs to play more to put it together. 

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, Zoltan said:

I disagree they were a nonreactor. they had there tackles for loss and 10 solo tackles. It was the LBs our only saving grace was our safeties who both led the team with 18 solo tackles and 27 total tackles you compare that to our two starting LBs they had 12 solo and 18 total tackles. I've said this for awhile now Speed and Franklin are overrated.

I’ll disagree several times you saw Mixon in the secondary before someone touched him.  Thats starts up front with DTs and the guy you just gave a big contract too in Grover because “bad things happen to teams when they try to run against him.”

[CR91]

Hell of a game. AR was great. Missed passes sure, but some of the wow throws just make you jump out of your seat. 

 

C.J is giving me Brady nightmares 

[IinD]

I'm honestly lost on how you literally can't stop anything 3rd & 10'ish'....

[Dingus McGirt]

Just now, IinD said:

I'm honestly lost on how you literally can't stop anytime 3rd & 10'ish'....

It’s been years…

[Happy2BeHere]

This game proved more upside than downside IMO.

 

if not for a missed 2pt opportunity and an unfortunate INT in the redzone this game was ours.

 

Pierce…3 catches on 3 targets for 125 yards…he balled everything thrown his way.

 

AR…9/19 is not good…less than 50% completion…but two TD passes of over 50 yards and 3 passes over 50 yards. He has talent and it translated to the field more today than in any of his previous games by a fair bit…I think he will be up and down but the upside could be massive.

 

run defense- what can you say? They stunk all game long…and this is the biggest surprise 😯 of the day. I expected to get torched through the air and not on the ground.

 

This loss is a definite bummer but I mean this colts team hung toe to toe and really save it for a few tiny plays we won this game. 
 

Smile..football season is here and things look promising 

[Colt Overseas]

It’s just really disappointing that it was the run defense, an area where we’ve a lot invested in, was the losing of the game. If Stroud and his receivers torched us all game (and they did have success as expected) I wouldn’t be as mad. But it’s incredibly frustrating to see us gashed like that, our secondary seemed to have to do most of the tackling rather than the front.

AR was kind of what we expected, explosive and inconsistent. But I feel good about him as there is definitely scope for improvement, especially with his relationship with AD over time. 
It’s a frustrating loss but we did ultimately lose to a better team with more talent. Ballard getting a lot of heat online, can understand the supporters frustration. 

[Indyfan4life]

I’d also like to add that Richardson HAS to be more consistent. Missing wide open throws that could have swung this game big time in our favor cannot be a thing. 

[stitches]

Am I the only one who thought the DBs didn't play that bad? Like... they didn't have an amazing game or soomething, but it was an OK game for the talent we have. And the worst plays of our DBs were ones where it was probably how they were coached to play those situations(Cross playing 8 yards off on the Diggs goalline TD)... 

[austriancolt]

By the way hope AR hand is ok

[GoColts8818]

Gameball goes to Pierce.  Showed what the Colts saw in him when he was drafted.

[stitches]

Just now, GoColts8818 said:

Gameball goes to Pierce.  Showed what the Colts saw in him when he was drafted.

I've been plenty critical of Pierce. He showed out today! Big props to him! That's how you fight for your starting spot, The only pass-catcher that made any plays for RIchardson today. 

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

This team always starts slow and horribly. Then does better week 2. It sucks id like to be 1-0 for once in quite a while but the trend continues. Oh well. I didn’t watch the game but got updates. 

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, stitches said:

Am I the only one who thought the DBs didn't play that bad? Like... they didn't have an amazing game or soomething, but it was an OK game for the talent we have. 

I think at least some of the secondary issues were Bradley’s scheme.  It doesn’t matter the situation he plays his guys five yards off and other teams know that and draw up plays to take advantage of that, see the TD pass to Diggs to prove it.

[RollerColt]

5 minutes ago, New Zealands #1 Colts Fan said:

If you didn't watch the game and only read these comments, you would think we lost 30-0 to the worst team in the league.........

You mean like how the Bengals had their rear ends handed to them by the projected worst team in the league Patriots? As upset as we are, Cincinnati fans are completely imploding.

[ColtsGermany]

This game has me officially off the Ballard Fan bus. Spend some damn money on the secondary....

And what about his love for Gus. Does Gus have/know smthn to blackmail Ballard?

For the money the Colts spend on Oline, they gotta do a way better job in the run game to justify thwt money.

AR is boom or bust on almost every play, as expected. Pierce looks great with a qb that actually can throw more than 25 yards....

So far my 2 cents...

[Solid84]

2 minutes ago, stitches said:

Am I the only one who thought the DBs didn't play that bad? Like... they didn't have an amazing game or soomething, but it was an OK game for the talent we have. 

I think Jones and Brents both had some pretty terrible plays that cost us A LOT. Same with Cross.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

4 minutes ago, IinD said:

I'm honestly lost on how you literally can't stop anything 3rd & 10'ish'....

Bradley does not know how to call 3rd and longs. When your 3rd and 17 just let them have the easy short pass. 

[Zoltan]

1 minute ago, GoColts8818 said:

I’ll disagree several times you saw Mixon in the secondary before someone touched him.  Thats starts up front with DTs and the guy you just gave a big contract too in Grover because “bad things happen to teams when they try to run against him.”

 

Thanks for proving my point . 

Yeah Moxin wasn't touched until the secondary and for two LBs who's strength was supposedly tackling and run defense were complete liabilities. where they had several missed tackles against Mixon.

[Solid84]

2 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Gameball goes to Pierce.  Showed what the Colts saw in him when he was drafted.

Also, despite the general negativity, can I just say AR 3 total TDs... that's good for anyone.

[smittywerb]

Before I start, i want to say the reason why we lost this game is because of TOP.  Texans 40mins to our 20mins.  Why did the Texans have that much time, our lack of RUN DEFENSE.  What was that?! Smh Anyway:

 

Good:

- Alec Pierce:  y’all know I’ve been down on AP but man he absolutely BALLED today.  If this is the AP we’re getting this year then he’s definitely our WR2.  Amazing game.

 

- AD:  he should have over 100yds for 2 TDs but AR missed him TWICE.  Good game by the rook despite his stats not showing the full picture.

 

- AR:  he had some downs but more ups than downs.  Accounted for THREE TDs, avg yds over 10, and only sacked twice.  I will say, him missing AD for 2 potential TDs is not good, but that will get better.  We have to remmeber, AR still needs the reps, but I think we have our QB people.

 

- Pass rush:  got some good pressure and got home 4 times.  We need to work on containing Stroud better when he breaks the pocket, but overall good effort.

 

- Special Teams:  blocking that punt was nice!  Would’ve been the first piece of a possible comeback.
 

- Corners:  I have to say, they played within the means of the scheme.  As I said above, limiting stroud to those numbers is what this scheme is about.  Unfortunately, the front 7 couldn’t hold up their end of the stick.
 

 

Meh:

- Pass Defense:  I know Nico burned us today, but holding stroud to under 300 yards when he threw 32 times, I’ll live with that.  I know, it’s because he was going for underneath stuff mostly, but I can live with it.  
 

- Nick Cross:  not a bad game, but not a good one either.  He was active and getting tackles but the Nico deep ball when he caught it over cross and another player was not a good look.  But ok game from him

 

Bad:

- Run Defense:  THIS is why we lost the game.  Defense was on its heels ALL game because we couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t get their offense into predictable situations, and led to the HUGE disparity in TOP.  Wow, just wow.  
 

- Red Zone Defense:  we really didn’t get beat deep this game, but red zone defense was atrocious.  The one play that sticks out is the last diggs touchdown.  You’re playing man to man in a goal situation, and cross is 5 yards off the ball in diggs, like WHAT?!

 

- Gus Bradley:  We had a bad run defense last year, and one game in it seems we’re going to have it this year.  He better fix it quick.

 

- Run Blocking:  there is NO way this team is going to able to compete without getting JT going.  Luckily, AR was able to do his thing but JT HAS to be the key.  It keeps the defenses honest.  Run blocking was BAD today.

 

 

All in all, I’m happy.  We lost by 2 to a AFCCG contender.  You can’t be that mad at that.  AR looks good, offense is definitely explosive even without the run game today.  If we keep this up, I think we’re making the playoffs this year.  Plus, everyone else besides the Texans lost today so we’re ok for now lol.  Now what this means is we HAVE to finish second in the division (or first of course) if we want a good chance at making the playoffs.

 

also, we need downs back.

 

 

[Shive]

Just now, Happy2BeHere said:

This game proved more upside than downside IMO.

 

if not for a missed 2pt opportunity and an unfortunate INT in the redzone this game was ours.

 

Pierce…3 catches on 3 targets for 125 yards…he balled everything thrown his way.

 

AR…9/19 is not good…less than 50% completion…but two TD passes of over 50 yards and 3 passes over 50 yards. He has talent and it translated to the field more today than in any of his previous games by a fair bit…I think he will be up and down but the upside could be massive.

 

run defense- what can you say? They stunk all game long…and this is the biggest surprise 😯 of the day. I expected to get torched through the air and not on the ground.

 

This loss is a definite bummer but I mean this colts team hung toe to toe and really save it for a few tiny plays we won this game. 
 

Smile..football season is here and things look promising 

That sums up my thought pretty well. I think we saw how important Downs is to this offense and how much we missed him. He's the guy that consistently got open on the short to intermediate routes and that part of the passing game was definitely missing today.

 

Just now, stitches said:

Am I the only one who thought the DBs didn't play that bad? Like... they didn't have an amazing game or soomething, but it was an OK game for the talent we have. 

Considering how talented their QB and WRs are, I agree. I think some of the issues in coverage today were more from a schematic issue than on-field execution, but definitely room to grow for the latter.

[BProland85]

17 minutes ago, B~Town said:

Hunter destroyed Braden Smith all game long . 

Hopefully Goncalves is the answer at RT longterm. 

[BProland85]

I’ll watch the game tmrw as I don’t have Sunday ticket but did Latu have no impact? Didn’t see any stats from him. Not even a tackle. 

[Boss7894]

Nobody expecting much anyway just gotta ride the ups and downs as I was told in the offseason

[DoubleE Colt]

It's so stressful being a Colts fan...... we're not bad enough to get blown out by teams and we're not good enough to win comfortably so we're always stuck with nerves hanging by a thread until the bitter end! Some comments here are an overreaction, other concerns probably justified......personally I'm fed up of not being able to defend 3rd and long, it's happened too often for several years. I know the defence will get stuck and they deserve it for some plays but it's the same pattern as last year really.....they keep us in the game for 3 quarters while the offense stutters along and then it falls apart in the 4th!

[AKB]

everything is fine, we just need to fire Bradley and our season will be super bowl or bust

 

right?

[PeterBowman]

Just now, BProland85 said:

I’ll watch the game tmrw as I don’t have Sunday ticket but did Latu have no impact? Didn’t see any stats from him. Not even a tackle. 

Be did cause a couple false starts on Tunsil.....so he was being accounted for.

[GoColts8818]

Just now, Zoltan said:

 

Thanks for proving my point . 

Yeah Moxin wasn't touched until the secondary and for two LBs who's strength was supposedly tackling and run defense were complete liabilities. where they had several missed tackles against Mixon.

That doesn’t prove your point in the slightest.  The way the run defense is works is the DTs clog the holes and slow the back down and let the linebackers come up and make tackles.  The DTs weren’t clogging the holes taking the linebackers out of the play.  The problem started up front.  Franklin and Speed didn’t have good days either but they also weren’t put in position to because the DTs didn’t do their jobs letting the linebackers be blocked out of the play by the guys the DTs are supposed to suck up.  Anytime a running back is getting six or seven yards down field before he’s touched you have an issue with your DTs.

[Solid84]

Just now, BProland85 said:

I’ll watch the game tmrw as I don’t have Sunday ticket but did Latu have no impact? Didn’t see any stats from him. Not even a tackle. 

He was in on the pass rush early, but the Texans switched to mostly running later and that kinda imploded the defense.

[Shive]

3 minutes ago, Zoltan said:

 

Thanks for proving my point . 

Yeah Moxin wasn't touched until the secondary and for two LBs who's strength was supposedly tackling and run defense were complete liabilities. where they had several missed tackles against Mixon.

I saw several plays where Franklin was absolutely demolished by a blocker. DL is partly to blame for not keeping the LBs clean, but he got manhandled all game.

[DougDew]

• HOU is the better team, period.
• AR did fine with his first game,  Basically came down to missing an easy TD pass and throwing a pick in its place.  Other Qbs do that, even HOFs.  Accuracy is an issue...did we expect that to be fixed by now?...um, no.
• The defense gave up running plays at critical times, that speaks to talent rather than the DC. 
• Secondary looked competent, no glaring plays or clear whiffs for big plays.
• After what, 5 years, DeFo still looks to be our best defensive player, and that's kinda sad.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Steichen did the offense no good either by not giving Richardson easy passes.

[GoColts8818]

2 minutes ago, Shive said:

I saw several plays where Franklin was absolutely demolished by a blocker. DL is partly to blame for not keeping the LBs clean, but he got manhandled all game.

Because the DTs were letting the blockers get to the second level.  If you let that happen there isn’t much your linebackers can do.  The problem started up front.  When they were a non factor that means the blockers get to your second level and now the linebackers have to suck up those blockers and your secondary cleans up the running back which is what we saw all day.  Pretty much the Colts run defense was level behind how it’s supposed to operate and it’s because the DTs gave them nothing.  

[Zoltan]

1 minute ago, GoColts8818 said:

That doesn’t prove your point in the slightest.  The way the run defense is works is the DTs clog the holes and slow the back down and let the linebackers come up and make tackles.  The DTs weren’t clogging the holes taking the linebackers out of the play.  The problem started up front.  Franklin and Speed didn’t have good days either but they also weren’t put in position to because the DTs didn’t do their jobs letting the linebackers be blocked out of the play by the guys the DTs are supposed to suck up.  Anytime a running back is getting six or seven yards down field before he’s touched you have an issue with your DTs.

I feel like you should re-read your posts because once again you are proving my point the DTs did clog the holes and got a couple tackles for loss, it's just if the RB made it past them the safeties had to make the play because our LBs were non-existent in the run game. Linebacker is supposed to meet them in the hole that wasn't happening and when they did they didn't wrap up and Mixon was breaking their tackles. It's the same problem as last year when you could watch speed and Franklin go for big hits and bounce off the RB. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

Our Run Defense was good last year with Stew. We lost because they controlled the game by running. Also, we still give up too many 3rd longs. We scored 27 points, this isn't AR's fault at all. I thought AR played good for the most part and made some huge plays to keep us in it.

 

Gus Bradley just doesn't cut it IMO. Against very good or great QB's, his defense isn't going to work. We can beat average QB's, even some good one's but Stroud will pick you apart with the D we play. So will guys like Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Lamar, Rodgers, Tua, Dak, etc..

[VikingsFanInChennai]

5 minutes ago, ColtsGermany said:

This game has me officially off the Ballard Fan bus. Spend some damn money on the secondary....

And what about his love for Gus. Does Gus have/know smthn to blackmail Ballard?

For the money the Colts spend on Oline, they gotta do a way better job in the run game to justify thwt money.

AR is boom or bust on almost every play, as expected. Pierce looks great with a qb that actually can throw more than 25 yards....

So far my 2 cents...

Answer is simple...

 

Unlike most other GMs, Ballard wants to run a specific defensive scheme and he thinks Bradley is the best the league has available and not already employed by another team to run this defensive scheme... That's why Steichen didn't get to choose his choice of DC unlike almost all other NFL Head Coaches. 

 

And, fans are left to console themselves saying, "oh, if Steichen was not on board with Gus, he would've objected".... 

 

Well, this is the scheme Ballard wants, and Bradley is the DC he got!

[twfish]

17 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

Who cucks this team more? Ballard or Bradley? 🤔

Bradley all day long