Quick thoughts after loss to bucs
 

1. Dont turn the damn ball over.

Catch the fucking ball Pittman

Don’t field a punt if your on the run inside the 20 Hines

You had a pick 6 Rock goddamit

Taylor your still the real MVP

Reich and Wentz are not the problem.

Everybody would like to have some plays back or even a series back, but when you put up 31 pts its hard blame the QB or the play caller.

Turnovers and the refs calling a consistent game were the problem. The Brady's get the dpi's but we don't on essentially identical plays.

Yeah...I might have started to get the running game going earlier than we did (by earlier I mean a series or so). But a a good play caller is not going to stop doing what's working.

We are a very young team still learning how to win...we took SB CHAMPS to the brink while learning how to do so.

This game wasn't our most important, at the end of the day, we win all of or AFC games and we are in the playoffs.

We run the season out.

Reich is a part of the problem, not feeding Taylor the entire 3rd is dumb.

He’s also part of the solution.

They had a bunch of RPO’s called, but Tampa was selling out to stop Taylor.

Also, it’s not like the passing game wasn’t moving the ball. On the first drive, they moved it to the 20, and the second drive ended with the int on the Tampa 5.

I got a little pissed off when commenting in the game day thread. I was irritated that we went away from what we do best.

I like Reich, I don't think he should be fired first of all. The players appear to like him as well. But sometimes he gets a little too "cute or clever" with his play calling. This Colts team wins or loses with JT, that's who they are, that's their DNA, kinda like the Titans with Henry. The Titans got destroyed by the Patsies today, mainly because Henry was MIA. Hell, Tannehill isn't that damn good of a QB, Wentz is miles better. I have said this since day one, I like Wentz. Give him a little time to throw and he will pick your ass apart.

Having calmed down a bit now, turnovers and the refs kissing Brady's ass killed us. Hines can be a dumbass at times. And what the fuck was up with Pittman?

The bottom line is that the Colts should have won this game. One of the most disappointing losses in my opinion because we had that cheater Brady beat and a win would have really enhanced our chances of making the playoffs.

Think about this, we have now lost to the Titans and Ravens in OT, and by the smallest of margins to the Rams and Bucs. This is a damn good football team, but for some fucking reason we are snake bitten. I'm not giving up on this season, but watch the fuck out next season. I really believe next season we will see a return of Colts/Pats playoff run and the rest of the AFC will be watching us.

A side note, Wentz will be in the running for MVP next year.

There definitely has to be some context to the 26 straight passing plays, including the fact that included the two minute drill.

That said, I've seen some defending Reich for abandoning the run, pointing to the running stats in the first quarter. However, my argument is the Colts needed to keep the Bucs honest with a few runs. After all, you have the best back in the league, one who gashed the Bills when they loaded the box a week earlier.

Instead, Reich got tunnel vision, allowing the Bucs pass rushers to tee off again and again and again. What a surprise, Wentz got sacked and fumbled, and the Colts went from potentially leading 31-14 to trailing 31-24 in no time. It was game changing stuff.

Two more things.

1. I'd be happy if the Colts never threw another ball in the direction of Pascal again.
2. I'd love to see Wentz stop under-throwing his receivers. Even the last ditch prayer was under-cooked and didn't reach the end zone.

Regarding #2, he hit Dulin in stride, and also Doyle. I wonder if it was underthrown because he didn't set his feet before throwing. I know it isn't arm strength.

Here are my thoughts:

1. You can't beat Brady's refs. They won't let you.

2. TB has a great defense. Still, we scored 31 points. TThe lesser defenses should be easier.

3. Too many dropped passes early on. Pittman, Pascal, Taylor.

4. Dulin should play over Pascal moving forward. I wonder what Strachan did to get scratched so often. Patmon?

5. When we lost Buckner to end the one series, we got gashed quickly. He is THAT important.

6. Rodgers is coming along nicely. Rock is improved. He nearly had a pick that could have been returned.

7. This was two fairly healthy teams. If we can stay healthy, I like our chances. The Tacks are the least healthy, and vulnerable. We likely can't catch them, but we can beat them when it matters, if we can get there.

8. Turnovers usually go in our favor. Not today. That is why we took the L. Clean that up, and we can play with anyone. NE and AZ look to be tough games, but AZ is not the same AZ as they were early on. Win one of those two, and beat the dogs left, and we get in.

9. Can we forget about Pascal? and where was MAC today?

This is more reasonable a critique than most of what I've read.
And I do think more running could have been beneficial. But we do have hindsight. Yes, I suppose the DL will tee off when they expect a pass.

But I think it would be overly prudent to stop thrashing a defense with the pass because maybe this next play will possibly result in Shaq Barrett eating Eric Fisher's lunch.

And we were thrashing them. As you said, we drove down to their 20-yard-line and were on our way to a 31-14 lead. That was all passing. If we don't turn the ball over, Frank's gameplan is praised.

It's kind of like how you don't hear anybody bitching about him going for it on 4th down this game... Because we scored.

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Good thread ...... simple, and straight to the point.

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Losing teams always have tons of excuses. We have blown three big leads, each one with a bunch of 'if onlys'. We need to find the way to win. If it was only one game then sure, refs were bad. But it is who we are, a team that blows leads. It has to have a mental component to it. I'm glad that a bunch of Freaks are still pumped for this year. Not me. Don't like this team or the way it plays. Don't care for the 'leadership' that our player exhibit. Hope next year is better but don't hold out much hope. Bummed.

Yeah didn’t help he was flushed from the pocket on a 3 man rush. Rolled right and threw back left.

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I agree completely ...... in game threads, I often say that good teams find ways to overcome bad breaks, whether they be freak turnovers, injuries to key players, or bad calls by the referee.

On the other, the Colts are 6-3 over their last 9 games including a win over a good Buffalo Bills team ...... so the Colts still have a chance to win at least 4 out of their final 5 games to finish at either 11-6 and 10-7. If they do, they will have shown to be (at least) the equal of the 2018 team, a team which started the season at 1-5 before reeling off 9 wins over their 10 final regular season games and then stunning the favored Houston Texans on their home-field in the Wildcard playoff game.

They have already beaten the Bills ...... they still have 3 more chances left to beat good teams (the Cardinals and the Patriots) and/or an above-average team (the Raiders.)

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Thanks C&O. Your perspective is appreciated and true. I just find this depressing but am glad to have folks like you around to see the half full glass.

I’d love for someone with access to the All-22 go through and see how many RPOs were called, what the decision was and what the outcome was. I’ve seen someone on Twitter claim there were 6 RPOs called in the 3rd quarter, all ended up passes and all we’re completions. I don’t know if that is accurate, but I do remember there being several RPOs called that ended up passes because of the way TB played them.

The problem was they were becoming predictable. All the Bucs had to do was show an alignment and the Colts would pass. They dictated what the Colts were doing not the other way around. And even though Wentz was on fire the first half, he just can’t seem to maintain. The more Wentz throws it seems more likely he will make a mistake. Anyway, if they mixed in the run some, it would put that defense on edge, also their defense is best when they rush the passer. JT can still break big runs against 8-9 in the box.

Until we get another good receiver and we can show we can rip a team through the air all day, teams are going to stack the box against us.

My random thoughts with no particular order or sense:

1. One of the bigger issues with getting way too predictable with passing is that our OL is a much better run blocking group than pass protection at this point. With all the talk about loading the box, there was a period in the 3rd into the 4th where they were getting constant pressure with rushing just 3 linemen.

2. Do we ever run a draw?

3. I'm thinking (despite the stupid announcers talking about how 'healthy' the teams were) that we're really starting to miss our starting safeties... would like to have seen Blackmon going up against Gronk or keeping Fournette contained.

4. Back to Reich... piss poor game management... aside from the imbalance, how about using the timeouts so that we have more than 10 seconds at the end... that's kinda why you use them. Also, with a timeout left, and we force a sideline pass to a covered guy??? Also, on the final play, why the F is MAC, former basketball player, not on the field... and you throw it to a single receiver and not a group?

5. Was it me or did Darius seem to be consistently caught in 'no-man's land' in pass coverage yesterday? Is that an issue?

6. I'm comfortable that Wentz has got the goods and will be even better for us with a full year/offseason under his belt.

7. The PI against Rock was bullshit. As well as the one in the endzone.... even Olsen called that 'questionable'. Didn't see enough replay on the Pitman one.... probably by design.

Those guys are both projects. Fans always get pumped for rookie hype. But Strachan didn’t even play football last year and came from a tiny program. They both have a large learning curve since Reich wants his WRs to know all the routes for each WR position. We might see more Strachan next year, Patmon maybe, I feel like he has peaked.

better known as stupid

You keep great opposing QBs off the field as much as possible

I rarely watch the NFL but one thing that seems to stick out in general is there is lack of brilliant coaching.

If Wentz can’t be trusted to throw in that scenario then he’s the wrong QB. I agree on needing another receiver, but again - the Colts moved the ball very effectively. I could understand the complaints if they weren’t sustaining drives. That just wasn’t the case though.

And I’m not Wentz’s biggest fan and I actually don’t have much issue with his decision making against TB. The throw to Pittman one on one against a safety wasn’t a bad decision IMO. Ball placement wasn’t great, but decision wise I don’t see it as a problem. It was a great play by the DB and a lackluster one by Pittman IMO.

Tampa DB's were beat up, passing the ball was the right thing to be doing, but you have to running the ball on occasion as well to slow down the pass rush.

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An occasional end-around/reverse would be nice ...... either a single-reverse, or a double-reverse.

I like reverses to befuddle defenses, and keep them guessing more. Also, reverses additionally give you the option of throwing the ball ...... as long as the recipient of the reverse/double-reverse is behind the line of scrimmage, he can choose to throw the ball down-field to another receiver if he feels that he doesn't have adequate room to run for a substantial gain.

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This is spot on in my opinion...this team is very close to being a real contender! Yes, it's disappointing as hell that we lost so many close games that could have gone our way with just one break here or there, but that is part of the process of learning to win....I still think this team squeaks into the playoffs, which would be good experience, the breaks have a way of evening themselves out and they are due to catch one!

I know we always say next year, but this team is going to be in contentions for many years to come (barring a serious injury to Wentz or Taylor) and they will make some runs at a championship!:D

completely agree. Wentz threw a 50/50 jump ball trusting pittman to go get it. I thought that int was all pittman's fault. He didnt position himself well for that play and may have gotten interfered with as well.

I think he is better than average. But he needs to be controlled. He makes some stupid mistakes and honestly I kinda wait for them to happen during the game. He also makes some amazing plays. The escape run, the scramble 3rd down toss to Pittman. I guess you take the bad with the good. But is he the QB who can throw three TDs and not turn it over, or is he the QB that is going to turn it over a couple times a game with bad decisions.

Part of me still wishes we had gone with a rookie. The Bears QB or Mac Jones.

I watched the Pittman one several times. At first, I was screaming PI. After a few other replays, it was likely just a ball thrown 5 feet too short.

The turnovers were the biggest problem in the game, but even with all of the turnovers, the game likely would've gone the Colts way if one play was called correctly. In the 3rd quarter, the Colts were up 24-21, the Bucs had the ball on 3rd and 8 at the Colts 10 yard line. On the play that ensued, Cameron Brate pushed off of TJ Carrie (offensive pass interference), but Carrie recovered, the ball was thrown to Brate, who was in the endzone, and it ended up incomplete. The penalty called was defensive pass interference, and the Bucs got a 1st and Goal at the 1 out of it, which was converted into a TD on the next play. If either no call was made on the play, or the correct offensive pass interference call was made, the Bucs likely only tie the game at 24-24 rather than go up by 4. This would've given the Colts a 4 point advantage at the end of the game, they would've been up 31-27. It's possible that they still lose in that situation, but much less likely than in the 31-31 tie in which they found themselves. That said, better ball protection would've also won the game, can't leave a game against Brady in the refs' hands, they'll give it to him every time.

^^^ for me it was the hines fumble. That killed us.

I was at the game but it sure as hell looked like Winfield pulled Pittman’s shoulder and helped propel himself to go get the ball

It did. On the replay I saw, Pittman leaned back on his own. It looked like he was pulled in real time.