Colts 20 - Texans 20 : My Thoughts

[Ironshaft]

The Good:

- JT....JT.....JT A stud among men. Golden performance showing that he is one of the main reasons we will win games this season.

- Pittman. The only true receiving weapon on the roster at the moment. I have hopes that Reggie and Ryan will develop others but for now, he is it.

- Grover Stewart. Great game, big man! And he was so close to a couple of other TFLs.

- Kwity Paye. Not much going on in regulation but came up BIG in OT. Yeah, Austin Mills held the ball for too long but Pays was the one to make him.....pay (heh...)

- O-line (minus Braden Smith). I did not hear Pryors' or Raimann's or Pinter's names all game. Team ran for 150+ and Ryan had time on most of his attempts. They won their matchups.

The Bad:

- Defense scheme was soft. Sub-par QB should have had us pressing receivers to disrupt timing routes. Instead, we played soft zone and allowed Mills time to hurt us. Luckly, this is bad and not ugly because Mills is not skilled enough to hurt us badly.

- Braden Smith. Is he hurt? Was he drunk? Did a neighbor have a loud party that kept him up all night? Whatever it was, he did not play one of his best games today.

The Ugly:

- Specs. Needs to be cut NOW! 2 kickoffs out of bounds? Missed field goal to win the game? If a kicker has questionable leg strengthening like Specs, then he better be accurate as all get out inside his range. He is not.

- Offensive play calling. The wildcat at 4th and goal took half of possible play calling (the pass) off the table. The two play before the failed FG in overtime? Unneeded and harmful. Lack of downfield passing early in the game to back the box off. This offensive system was terrible...it was only saved by JT...JT.....JT.

- Coaching. We started well-ish but the failed 4th down was a let down that the team folded over. Coaches could not scheme them out of it. Situation football was terrible.

In the end, a tie is better than a loss but I have no idea what kind of team we have.

[CletusPyle]

The Good:

- JT....JT.....JT A stud among men. Golden performance showing that he is one of the main reasons we will win games this season.

- Pittman. The only true receiving weapon on the roster at the moment. I have hopes that Reggie and Ryan will develop others but for now, he is it.

- Grover Stewart. Great game, big man! And he was so close to a couple of other TFLs.

- Kwity Paye. Not much going on in regulation but came up BIG in OT. Yeah, Austin Mills held the ball for too long but Pays was the one to make him.....pay (heh...)

- O-line (minus Braden Smith). I did not hear Pryors' or Raimann's or Pinter's names all game. Team ran for 150+ and Ryan had time on most of his attempts. They won their matchups.

The Bad:

- Defense scheme was soft. Sub-par QB should have had us pressing receivers to disrupt timing routes. Instead, we played soft zone and allowed Mills time to hurt us. Luckly, this is bad and not ugly because Mills is not skilled enough to hurt us badly.

- Braden Smith. Is he hurt? Was he drunk? Did a neighbor have a loud party that kept him up all night? Whatever it was, he did not play one of his best games today.

The Ugly:

- Specs. Needs to be cut NOW! 2 kickoffs out of bounds? Missed field goal to win the game? If a kicker has questionable leg strengthening like Specs, then he better be accurate as all get out inside his range. He is not.

- Offensive play calling. The wildcat at 4th and goal took half of possible play calling (the pass) off the table. The two play before the failed FG in overtime? Unneeded and harmful. Lack of downfield passing early in the game to back the box off. This offensive system was terrible...it was only saved by JT...JT.....JT.

- Coaching. We started well-ish but the failed 4th down was a let down that the team folded over. Coaches could not scheme them out of it. Situation football was terrible.

In the end, a tie is better than a loss but I have no idea what kind of team we have.

My favorite part of this analysis!

We also had some terrible penalties in this game, we also had our share of these last season. I suppose they could be bad calls, I thought both PIs were bad, but those holding penalties are drive killers!

[IndyNorm]

Good analysis, but too soft on the coaching staff. We beat this team twice by a combined score of 62-3 last year. Them adding Jerry Hughes shouldn't be a 30 point swing, especially considering the better upgrades we made in comparison to them (at least we were lead to believe they were better). There's a reason why we're 0-4-1 in openers under Reich despite not having played a single playoff team to open the season in that stretch.

[Hoopsdoc]

Pittman and Taylor are absolute studs.

Pierce had an awful game. That drop on a perfectly thrown ball really pissed me off. My dogs thought I was nuts cursing at the tv.

Strachan had a decent game, which for the Colts means he actually caught the ball when it was thrown to him.

Gransen had a drop but I expect that from him. The man has tree limbs for hands.

Stuard was a good pick up. Good special teams guy. Also, great hair.

I think this catastrophe makes next week in Jacksonville almost a must win.

[CletusPyle]

Pittman and Taylor are absolute studs.

Pierce had an awful game. That drop on a perfectly thrown ball really pissed me off. My dogs thought I was nuts cursing at the tv.

Strachan had a decent game, which for the Colts means he actually caught the ball when it was thrown to him.

Gransen had a drop but I expect that from him. The man has tree limbs for hands.

Stuard was a good pick up. Good special teams guy. Also, great hair.

I think this catastrophe makes next week in Jacksonville almost a must win.

That hit Pierce took didn't help much...a win next week makes the pain go away!

[Oldcolt]

Smith took his money and ran. He was a stud until he got paid. POS

We root for a mediocre at best team. Lots of talk about what if's, just like every other losing team. For this season to work we needed defense with a pass rush and for receivers to step up. Neither has happened. We are not elite anywhere. It will be a long frustrating season again.

[ChaosTheory]

This was a game of player-induced miscues. Gameplan my ass. Rewatch and you'll see how many times we tripped over our own dick.



-First off, the Texans played better than expected. Especially some young guys on D, and especially early. Lovie Smith is a good (defensive) coach.

-That said... from what I looked up, this was the 3rd most total yards the Colts have gained since moving to IND. The offense moved the ball like crazy. The issues they had were situational errors that they couldn't overcome. But as far as offensive gameplan, they passed and ran it all over the field.

-On the failed 4th and Goal... You can question not taking the points. But at that point in the game, the Colts had the ball basically the entire 1st qtr and HOU had only managed 13yds on two 3-and-outs. Not a crazy gamble.

-As for the wildcat play being dumb... I mean, whatever. Jonathan Greenard made a great play by faking like he was taking Taylor and forcing Hines to keep it before nailing him. We've done goofy wildcat shit before like vs the Patriots last year when Taylor was lead blocker for Hines and nobody criticized it then.

-Colts moved the ball from their own 25 to HOU 22 before Ryan throws that baffling INT to Hughes. And later they move from their own 25 to HOU 30 before Braden Smith gives up a sack-fumble and false-start on consecutive plays, killing that drive. Neither of those drives failed due to gameplan.

-Moore gives up a 33yd PI before the TD, they hit a flea-flicker for another FG, and then Ryan fumbles the snap in HOU territory. Not gameplan.

-Roughing the passer, and then their TE beats us up the seam again. 20-3.

-After another Ryan fumble (he had 4), we pin them at the 1yd line, about to get great field position, right?... and then we run into the kicker... add another 21yd PI call and it turns into a 6+min drive that bleeds into the 4th qtr.

-4th qtr they keep moving the ball minus the fuck-ups and the D straightens out, gets a clutch turnover, and then boom, 20-20.

-In OT, same story, D stuffs them and the offense continues to moves the ball right down to the 19. I don't know why Ryan didn't throw the ball away instead of taking the sack... but it was only a 5yd difference, which didn't matter because...

-Whether that FG attempt was 42yds or 37yds, Goggles did his best Vanderjagt impersonation and shit himself. That's not even mentioning the fact that he gave those fuckers the ball at the 40 on consecutive kicks before that.

Add up all these miscues by the players and the world won't be a mystery to you.

[Oldcolt]

Three players have not been living up to their contracts and seem to be in a downward spiral. Smith and Kelly have not been the same players they were starting the last year and certainly this game. Moore has had three lousy games in a row. Not sure what the issues are, they seem to be fine physically, but they need to turn it around pronto.

[Discflinger]

Pretty obvious that the refs and Vegas are much richer.

Other than that, Ryan’s arm strength is less than I had hoped.

[Discflinger]

Pretty obvious that the refs and Vegas are much richer.

Other than that, Ryan’s arm strength is less than I had hoped.

After rewatching the game I question everything. I love Jim, I love the shoe but damn the big $!

[Discflinger]

Also, anyone recognize how lazy the flip was?

[Mr. Session]

I don’t like pointing fingers at refs because ultimately one has to take responsibility for themselves. That said, the PI calls on Moore were pretty shitty and the no-calls for Houston doing worse were kind of disgusting, but that’s football in this era.

It was nice seeing Paye have a meaningful impact there, twice.
Pitt looks like he wants to get paid

They’re going to kill Taylor’s career if they keep using him like this. Watch how defenders have to tackle him. My knees hurt watching the game.

Hines looked about as good as I’ve seen him. I thought he ran well and we finally worked his matchups. That said, and I’ve said this before, this dude fucks up fielding a punt every year. Put 34 back there, he’s better at it anyway.

Blackmon did not have a great game. He’s one to keep an eye on.

Some of the LB’s can really lay in the wood. That hit Franklin put on burkhead was tough. Speed got a good lick too.

Wtf was up with this snap issues? Maybe adrenaline? You’d think they’d have gotten over that shit during pre-season.

Ryan is more mobile than the media or the general fan will give him credit for, and I knew this before because I live in Atlanta and have seen him play for years as I’ve adopted the falcons like a stepchild (At this point I’ve lived here longer than Indianapolis) - but buddy needs to slide.

Gilmore looked okay I guess. I don’t think Moore had a bad game I think the refs made it look worse.

Strachan looks the part. Every time the put him out there he produces.

[Racehorse]

Also, anyone recognize how lazy the flip was?

What happened to calling it in the air?

[Racehorse]

Not sure who said it, but the point that we were moving the ball well, but kept stepping on our own dicks was spot on. This team can do great things if we execute better. Dropped passes, fumbled snaps, running into the kicker, and missing a FG are examples of stepping on our own dicks.

[albany ed]

a lot of blame to pass around, but for me, the following should happen:

Special teams coach should get reamed
a full two hours of Center to QB practice
improve the kicking game, wasn't Sanchez the Kick Off guy?
either improve the play calling or take it out of Reich's hands, or both

If Taylor continues to be our only effective weapon, he won't last the season.

[albany ed]

Not sure who said it, but the point that we were moving the ball well, but kept stepping on our own dicks was spot on. This team can do great things if we execute better. Dropped passes, fumbled snaps, running into the kicker, and missing a FG are examples of stepping on our own dicks.

Well, if your dick is long enough to step on it, you shouldn't be on a football field, you should be making porn movies. :D

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

improve the kicking game, wasn't Sanchez the Kick Off guy?



Yes, but Haack is not Sanchez.

When selecting the replacement punter, besides punting (obviously), the task that the Colts were most concerned about was how well the punter held the ball for FG's and XP's. The team didn't place a premium on if the punter could handle kick-offs.

So when the Colts chose Haack, that meant that prior to yesterday's game the kick-off experience on the roster was:

Haack: 4 kick-offs in his NFL career
Blankenship: 24 kick-offs in his NFL career

[MeSayDayo]

Well, if your dick is long enough to step on it, you shouldn't be on a football field, you should be making porn movies. :D

Our backup QB disagrees

[MeSayDayo]

Pretty obvious that the refs and Vegas are much richer.

Other than that, Ryan’s arm strength is less than I had hoped.

That might be one of my conclusions after this game- That Ryan certainly does not have elite arm strength.

Either he chooses not to deploy his fast ball, or he simply doesn't have one anymore. He is just as much of a timing, anticipation thrower as Rivers was but he is much more mobile. That is basically what I think we are getting with Ryan this year, and we can definitely work with that.
He is quite cerebral pre-snap, and knows where to go with the ball quickly when his first or second read isn't there. That is so key in this system.

I do think next week we must take a fair number of deep shots- if not to simply show the league that we are not a one man horse on O. I need to see that Ryan can scare teams with the deep ball still- and with a player other than Pittman- only then will I be convinced that this team can do anything this year.

I liked Moe, he played solid. AP looked like a rookie but one with very good physical traits. Granson looked more involved but clearly a player with a defined role and prospective impact. Campbell did fuck all, Dulin did about as expected. Strachan needs to maybe be playing AP's snaps for now as he looked big and steady and reliable.

Our biggest issues continue to be Reich, like it is every year. He single handedly loses us games (in this one he lost us the win, anyway) either by inept situational play calling or simply not having the whole roster ready to play in week 1 or crucial games.

I like Frank, and he does good things, but I am starting to realize that the bad things he does repeatedly is hurting this team far more than the good things. Time will tell, but I feel his leash shortening by the week.

[nate505]

The team didn't place a premium on if the punter could handle kick-offs.
When your alternative is Blankenship taking kickoffs...that's a real, real, real, real bad oversight.