Quick Thoughts - Week 4
 

-Defense was bad today. Very surprised how bad our Front-7 was. Noticed after Speed's bonehead penalty... they just didn't seem to have much fire. Very weird. 467yds.

-Offense did no favors early with the nothing drives.

-AR's spotty accuracy will be a concern until it's not. Flashed some great stuff and showed resolve/toughness, but also missed some big easy plays.

-Freeland got worked, which you expected. Not as bad as I thought, though, but still focused on.

-Run game was a grind. Thought AR gave too much on the RPO late in the game. Outside looked open on several.

-TEs finally started getting chunks on crossers in the 2nd half. Couldn't make up for the 1st half.

-Stafford threw a couple of indefensible balls. Will need to rewatch , but I thought Moore was making some plays, sans the OT TD.

-Good fight in the 2nd half. Way too many failures in the 1st.

-OT rules are fine. Make a fucking stop.

Yeah, that was really weird. It was like after Speed's dumbfuckery that they didn't want to be out there anymore.

Overall I'm happy. Not happy with the L but this year is about growth.

- Defense definitely had a poor first half but they shut them down in the second half.

- Speed's bonehead play was awful, but he's the 2nd best LB we have right now.

- If Leonard is not healthy, fine. Speed needs to get more snaps. If Leonard cannot find a way to return to form by the end of the season, Indianapolis needs to consider trading him or advising him he will need to compete for his job next training camp.

I'm not confident, at all, that Leonard makes the same play on the TE at the end of the game like Speed did to force the incompletion. Maybe I'm wrong.... Shaquille has yet to present an argument, though.

- Pass rush did not do enough at the end of regulation nor OT. They were close but close is not good enough and given Stafford was playing on one leg, it's just not good enough.

- Our backup DT's cannot help us in the run game. At the end of the day we need to win the division, so if saving our guys for this out of conference game is a necessary evil - so be it. Regardless, that interior line reminded me of 06 before the playoffs.

- Richardson looks good and his ability to extend the play is refreshing to watch. Outside of that fumble, I thought he was pretty good.

- One knock on Richardson. He is consistently high with his throws. I've heard so many people act like accuracy can be developed, and I don't know if I've ever actually seen it.

- Pierce is showing us flashes but he needs to be more consistent.

- Tight ends looked good today. Nice play from Mo and Ogletree especially.

- They need to get a W at home. This streak is absolutely unacceptable and they need to start taking that personally. Way to many people are in those stands investing time and money to watch us take L's and then see that there is real potential but it's only followed through on road games.

Big picture wise, I'm okay. It was a fun game to watch.

Yeah, the defense was bad today. Can’t give up 467 yards to a middling team missing some of their best players. That’s inexcusable.

We know the offense will be spotty. The defense can’t afford to be.

Definitely baptism by fire there.

my thoughts

1) richardson made some plays here where you just think this guy is going to be a problem for years. then he also didn't make simple throws that he has to make. kind of what we expected going into the season. his floor looks way higher than i thought it would be. if healthy, i assume he will be a problem for years to come.

really wish he would have used his legs more at the end of the game. but made plays with his arm that a lot of qb's just can't

2) leonard is done. the dude can't play anymore. we have to move on at the end of the year. it sucks. he was a special player but that is over.

3) ej speed is a moron. you can't fuck up that bad on 3rd down. you are a fucking idiot.

4) freeland looked bad at times. very bad. but he also settled in and had some good plays. overall i say he was competent. curious how he is with an offseason in the weight room

5) aaron donald is so good.

6) buckner runs our whole defense. he makes such a difference when he is out there it is night and day. dayo and ebukam were fine but everyone else was garbage. i guess grover made a few plays but overall bad. if we don't have buckner we are bad

7) hope flowers is ok. dude has been a nice player all year. brents seems like a solid pick.

8) safety play sucks. they just don't make plays

9) rb's didn't have much room but man do they just take forever to get moving. we need jt back bad.

10) alec pierce sucks. ogletree was good today. great to see him do well. MAC made a play. great play by AR there. i like our te's but hate our wr's. well i like downs and pittman but the rest are garbage.

11) 7 straight home losses now. that is disgusting

Good stuff.

My wife asked why I’m not more upset. I’m usually beyond pissed after a loss.

I told her this is about what I expected. They’re going to have games like this. This, to me, is about building for next year.

AR needs to get better at throwing the ball but I firmly believe the guy is destined to be great. He’s just so talented.

Also, I agree on Leonard. I was hoping he was just rusty but it’s been 4 games and he’s been completely invisible.

I’m afraid he’s done.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel for Leonard coming off surgery... but it's not trending well.

He was never the downhill, physical type of LB like Speed and Franklin (or Okereke when he was here). He was sideline-to-sideline, coverage, and turnovers. Some of that is Eberflus vs Bradley systems.

But he mostly just doesn't look mentally/physically back. Give him the year, but most likely dump the rest of that $40m or whatever is left on the contract.

- the O line was better than I thought they would be. They got better as the game progressed.

- the coaches need to run more play action with Richardson rolling out. Right now he is better on the move. He needs to learn how to be a pocket passer in time, I think its better to make him a moving target.

- thumbs up for the coaching staff adjusting the offense for the second half.

I disagree on Pierce....good points otherwise! I don't think AR looks for Pierce at all, probably play calling but too soon to say he sucks!

I said it in the game thread prior to kick off that I expected to see him do some remarkable things outside the pocket today- and he did, there's a LOT of Mahomes in there and it is beautiful. He also threw some wicked strikes from the pocket which was good to see as well.

Another thing that seems to stand out so far in his very brief career- he seems to thrive in the sped up game. Not only does it NOT seem the game is moving to fast for him, it seems he does his best processing when it is going fast. So many young QB's struggle with that element as they are developing because they are so slow to process but because he is so adept at escaping and creating on the fly it seems to suit him perfectly. I would love to see more "2 minute" offense with him. Right now he seems as though he will be great in the hurry up structure. Kudos to him and Steichen for that.

Additional couple of thoughts:

- Granson sucked today. Dropped what should have been 2 1st down catches. The first one was a somewhat tough catch going to the ground, but he had his hands on the ball. The 2nd one on our final possession hit him right in the numbers. Inexcusable.

- Was good to see Pierce finally come down w/ a contested catch. He should have had the 2nd one as well since his hands were on the ball, but 1/2 is better than what we've seen from him so far this year.

- So much for our DL depth. I get that Buckner is our best player (at least on defense), but not having him out there turned the whole group from stud to dud against an OL that was completely dominated the past 2 weeks.

- The playcalling sucked on our final possession. Also, we should have taken the FG in the 3rd quarter. There's still well over a quarter of football left. Take the points there.

- Was pleasantly surprised by our resilience and 2nd half comeback. Think we're in for a very bright future :)

After the game, the beat reporters asked about the LB rotations:

https://twitter.com/RomeovilleKid/st...06373758390276


https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/st...81644863463712

https://twitter.com/JoelAErickson/st...89985434083485

When was the last time we made half time adjustments that worked? Young team, early in the season but man there are some thing to finally like here. I think Steichen can really coach. I am pretty pleased considering we lost.

o

I thought that the defense played better in the 2nd half ...... and the offense put a lot of excess pressure on the defense from the beginning of the game. Their first 5 possessions of the game were ......

PUNT

FUMBLE

PUNT

MISSED FIELD GOAL

PUNT

2 of those 3 punts were 3-and-outs, and the other was a 6-and-out. The offense finally put the ball in the end-zone for our first points of the game late in the 3rd quarter.


In the first half, after Speed's inexcusable late extended the drive and gave them 7 points right off the bat, they held the Rams to 1 TD and 3 FG's the rest of the way in regulation ...... plus , they made 2 stops late in the 4th quarter just to get the game into OT ...... plus, our head coach eschewed a very good chance to get 3 points after our defense forced a turnover via an INT in the 3rd quarter. A field goal right there (instead of going for it on 4th down) would have cut the deficit to 23-11.

So overall, there was a lot of shit put on them early on, although the late hit which resulted in 7 gift-points for the Rams was their own damned fault. In the game thread when the Rams went up by a score of 20-0 with 6 minutes still left to play in the 2nd quarter, numerous posters were thinking that were were in for something a 41-14 beat-down ...... the defense only gave up 3 points for the final 2-plus quarters of the contest, which is more than half of the game.


And none of what I am saying is negating the critiques that the OP and others have made in regard to the defense's overall play today, because those critiques were spot-on ...... but rather I'm pointing out a nuance that even on a sub-par day when they didn't play well overall, they actually wound up being more effective than it may have seemed.

o

o


Same here.

The score at the end of the first half was 20-0.

The score at the end of regulation was 23-23, and we were a dropped pass away from pulling off an improbable comeback.

I don't think that there was a poster in the game thread that would have believed that if you had told them that that would happen when we were down by a score of 23-0 late in the 3rd quarter.

o

Unless his play massively improves I can see no way to keep him on the team, but if we are willing to trade him no one is taking on that contract. His cap hit for us next year is 20m, but only 8 dead if cut. His base Salaries of 15 and 19 million no one is going to be willing to pay for his production.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/indianap...leonard-25135/

It is such a shame to see him robbed of that athleticism that had him on HOF trajectory. Sucks for us but you have to believe that for him it is agonizing to have to come to terms with it and what it likely means for his playing future; lack thereof.

He is listed at 230 lbs...not sure I am buying that?

Richardson is a roller coaster. When he's on, he's a cheat code, a completely unfair offensive advantage that can kill opposing defenses with his arm or his legs. When he's off, all the opposing defense has to do is contain him in the pocket and wait for him to make a mistake. Just need to get him on a little more consistently.

Yeah and it was his third NFL game. He’s going to figure things out and when he does, look out.

Couldn’t be more excited for the future with this guy.

I remember being in a bar and watching a game in Allen's rookie year, think it was against the Vikes, maybe the Browns. They were a really shitty team at the time. They were playing opposite Colts. Early in season, probably 4-5 games in. I remember frequently having my eyes drawn to that screen because of the wild shit he was doing and you just knew he was going to be good it was only gonna be time that had to pass by.

Watching AR feels the same to me. Eyes are drawn to him and you just expect him to get better and better.

Its footwork. When he’s off the mark, he hasnt set his feet. He has a great arm, the accuracy comes from having feet in a proper base. Watch Mahomes, terrific arm, but get him off his spot, it influences his accuracy. Minshew will be a big help with this. He needs great foot work to compete in the NFL.

Arm strenght doesnt mean squat if you cant hit the tight window.

He is 6ft 4 in. All muscle.

If the Colts decide to part ways with Leonard after the 2023 NFL season:

$20.124m = 2024 Cap Hit
$08.000m = Dead Money left on contract
=========
$11.876m = Cap Savings in 2024 if Leonard is cut.

Colts currently have $70.636m in free cap space for 2024 (only counting the top 51 out of season cap hits). Adding Leonard's free cap would move us from #7 in free cap space in 2024 to #3 behind only the Patriots and Bears.

Of note, in this scenario, the top five in free cap space would be:

1. NEP = $96.210m
2. CHI = $95.268m
3. IND = $82.512m
4. TEN = $80.786m
5. HOU = $75.757m

With #3, #4 and #5 all being in the AFC South, it could be a wild free agency ride next spring for our division.

Maybe he will smile and give you a vegemite sandwich.

His cap hit is why I just shake my head when people yell "Trade Leonard!" If he sucks, who would trade for him? This is not Madden.

He hasnt been game ready for over a year. Keep him, one of the LBs will get hurt, miss a game, land on the short term injury list. He is a solid vet who can step in and play.

He is a positive force on the field and in practice and in the locker room.

I do not understand why fans obsess about the cap. Its not their money, get over it. Has Ballard ever run out of cash during a season?

Haven't seen it but talking about on radio, he is apparently skirmishing with fans over their criticism of him on X. Not good.

Leonard hasn't been bad like some people imply. He just hasn't returned to pre-surgery form, which is to say, his nearly $20m/yr worth.

If he only ever gets back to Starting-LB caliber, that's fine in a vacuum... you just can't pay a Starting-LB an All-Pro salary.

Sure you can, show Taylor the door. The team can do what ever they want.

Not if you want to field a competitive team. We already allowed someone who is currently better than Leonard walk b/c of Leonard's contract (Okereke). Franklin has played his way into getting paid. You going to not extend him and ultimately let him walk in order to keep Leonard? That might work out ok if Leonard is back to his old self. But if he remains JAG then that's a horrible decision.

Also, on top of JT (if he has indeed removed his head out of his agent's ass) Grover, MPJ, Moore, and Blackmon are all FAs at the end of the season. That $12M we'd save towards the cap will definitely come in handy when trying to re-sign some of those guys.

Give Leonard the season to see if he can turn the corner towards becoming his old self. Maybe even some of the offseason as well. But t if he doesn't progress then it's best for the team to let him go. Sucks if this happens, but would be best for the team. Just like it was in '08 when we let Marvin go.

If he can get back to creating turnovers, there is no way you release him.

Of course. Like I said. Give him the rest of the season and maybe part of the offseason to see if he starts getting back to being his old self.

It is stupid to ignore cap implications, it is a huge aspect of team building. So far Leonard has not been a force at anything, what ever this locker room presence is I doubt it is worth 20 million. I don't think many are seriously implying we should cut him right now, but if by the end of the season he is not playing at an all-pro level it would be stupid to not release him, great locker room BS or not.

Here’s why you should care: in a hard salary cap environment, overpaying one player will limit or even eliminate a team’s ability to sign other players.

I dont ignore the cap. I dont really care. Thats Ballards problem. And I’m GUESSING that at the end of year three of the Richardson experiment, the team isnt in the playoffs, there will be a new coach and GM. 50-50.

1. Its not my money
2. I cant do anything about it

I got bigger worries that do have ramifications in my life.