It is easier for a team to come out after a bye week and fool an opponent. Plus, their team is not the same team without Cooper, so film on them was not going to be very reliable. I think I heard Gruden was 8-3 coming off a bye week.

They had two three and outs, and one drive ended for Oakland at the half. They forced two punts all game and then at the end of the game they turned it over on downs after 6 plays, down 14 and had to go for it with time running out. And then there was the fumble, a great play by Leonard

Oh and by the way, that drive for the end of the half, they almost completely screwed up because some idiot gets a penalty on the kick off that puts them all the way out at the 40 yard line, instead of back at the 20 or 25. Luckily though the Raiders I believe committed a penalty as well to back them up and keep them from potentially getting a FG.

So I am supposed to be happy with the one forced punt a half by the D? Let me start the slow clap for them.......way to go. You are officially on the level of an arena league D where one or two stops a half is just enough for a win

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Thanks for the answer to my question, but as I stated, I agreed that they looked lost for a good deal of the game and that it was their worst game of the season to date ........ you seem annoyed that I even asked.



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The way you asked the question seemed like you were implying the D was good for part of the game. because they made a few stops, just enough to win, so yes, I was a bit annoyed by the way you put it.

The D did their job for like 10% of the total game. The other 90% was just crap.

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I clearly stated in that post (and in a previous post) that it was their worst game of the season, and that they even had more cohesion as a unit in the game against the Patriots, a game in which Tom Brady and company put up 38 points overall, 31 of which came from long drives.

There was no reason for you to be particularly snarky and defensive in your reply.



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Thanks.

The defense at-large has been surprisingly better than expected in the first half of the season (except for the Raiders game.) The offense put them in multiple bad situations with turnovers deep in their own territory in several of their previous games, especially in the game against the Jets.

It remains to be seen if they can keep that up for the entire season, and whether or not the clunker that they put up in the Raiders game was a bump in the road or a pattern.



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Time will tell. The bye week should get Hunt and Hooker healthy enough to see if it was the new norm or an aberration due to the strange happenings over the Raiders bye week. I am hoping for the best because we need them healthy to beat HOU.

They need to not make dumb mistakes to beat HOU.

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I suspect that Frank Reich taking over as head coach of the team will lead to considerably less of these (dumb mistakes) than the team had when Pagano was at the helm.

I don't think that it will necessarily happen overnight, but over a sustained period of time I suspect that this metamorphosis/evolution will happen in all areas of the Colts' game (offense, defense, and special teams.)



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(vs. JAGUARS, 11/11)



I believe that the defense at-large made a very modest improvement from the awful Raiders game, but that isn't saying much.



On 5 first half possessions they forced 2 punts, but also ceded 2 TD's and a FG.



The 2nd half was somewhat of a "bend-but-not-break" product ........ they ceded a touchdown immediately out of the locker room, but they made the Jaguars work for it by taking 8:35 off of the clock in the process. The drive also included a fake field goal attempt on 4th down. Then they had back-to-back stops, forcing a long field goal attempt (which was missed) on the first possession, and then forcing a punt on the 2nd.

On the 2nd of these stops, the offense put serious pressure on them by turning the ball over deep in Jaguars territory when they had at least a field goal in their pocket.

On the Jaguars' 4th possession of the 2nd half, the defense got screwed on an awful defensive holding call when the Jaguars had a 1st down and 20 ........ sometimes solitary calls like that change the entire complexion of a drive (and sometimes, of a game.) In spite of that, the defense still forced a long FG attempt (which they made), preserving a very slim lead for the Colts at 29-26.


Just prior to the Jaguars' 5th and final possession of the 2nd half, the Colts' offense (yet again) put the defense in a bad situation by missing a long field goal attempt late in the 4th quarter ........ that not only kept the deficit at 3 points, but it also gave the Jaguars outstanding field position at the Colts' 42 yardline. With the Jaguars needing only a field goal to tie the game, the defense rose to the occasion by forcing a fumble to thwart the Floridians' hopes.




10 JAGUARS POSSESSIONS


3 TD's (1 of which included a fake FG attempt on 4th Down)

2 FG's

3 Punts

1 Turnover (Fumble Recovery)

1 Long Field Goal Miss (52 Yards)


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