[Chaka]

Since we haven't had one of these in a few weeks, I thought I'd out a few (or maybe more than a few) thoughts for discussion after our win over the Pack:

1. I don’t care if he does throw like Uncle Rico, Philip Rivers has played really well for the Colts. Saw a stat after the game from Joel Erickson - this November, in our toughest stretch of the season (against the Ravens, Titans and the Packers), Rivers is 101-of-151, 1,085 yards, 7 TDs, 2 INTs, 97.7 quarterback rating. And how about this? If Eason isn’t flashing, I could see Rivers being brought back for another season.

2. Brissett, on the other hand, is in his last season with the Colts. Seems like nice enough of a guy, but I cringe when he comes in the game. That said, I kind of like how they’ve used him in recent weeks. With Rivers in on some of these third/fourth and shorts, I feel like everyone knows where the ball is going because there is no way Old Man Rivers is running with the ball. With Brissett, the defense at least has to consider the possibility that he’ll run the ball. And that was a hell of a QB sneak Brissett had today.

3. Nice game by Jonathan Taylor. Maybe featuring Hines and Wilkins in recent weeks has provided him with some additional motivation, because his vision seemed improved today and he ran with authority. Or maybe we just wore down the Packers defense. I kinda like the fact that our RBs are so different and we never know who will be featured in a given week, as I think that can’t make our opponents game planning any easier.

4. Did we have any dropped passes today? Maybe I’m forgetting as I sit here right now, but I don’t recall any. A few passes tipped and a few more batted away, but that’s about it. The WRs have been pretty reliable in this regard. And when his passes aren’t getting tipped or batted down, Rivers has been pretty accurate, though his long passes sometimes leave something to be desired.

5. Speaking of WRs, several of our WRs need to get more looks, Pittman Jr. chief among them. Forget for a moment that I had him in my Fanduel lineup this week, but it’s odd that we didn’t look to him in the second half and he racked up 66 yards and a TD in the first half. Not a single target after that. I don’t know if it’s Rivers, the coaching staff, or just taking what the defense gives us, but it doesn’t seem like we have a “go to” skill player anywhere on this team. Every week it’s a different player.

6. I also think DeMichael Harris has earned more touches. He’s been pretty good on the reverses, but he’s also been surehanded as a receiver and seems electric once he has the ball.

7. There have been times I’ve questioned Reich’s liberal policy of going for it on 4th down, sometimes it feels like he goes to the well too often and it can be stressful, but I certainly like it better than the ultra-conservative strategy of many coaches. I think on balance it improves our chances of winning, and not insignificantly. I’d like to see a study on this – the point differential between a conservative strategy and Reich’s strategy.

8. What was with those holding calls? I’m no conspiracy theorist, but five holding calls in the space of eight plays, immediately after the Colts took control of the game and were in a great position to run out the clock? Look, I know some of these qualified as holding, but there’s holding on every play. What was with the sudden hyper-enforcement here? And then, at the end of this string of plays, the refs initially rule that an obvious incomplete pass is a fumble and a Packer’s defensive TD. Very curious.

9. Congrats to Hot Rod – nice game winner, hope you have plenty more with the Colts. Dead center between the uprights too - no Vandershanking here. Coming up short on that 50 yarder must have been a little embarrassing, but he rebounded well and his other kicks had plenty of distance so I have to think the 50 yarder was an aberration. Liked how the players swarmed him after the kick too.

10. Defense was great in the second half. We continued our pesky habit of being pretty soft in the first half, and then clamping down tight in the second half. I’m not sure why we can’t play in the first half like we do in the second half.

11. Four turnovers was awesome, but we need to convert those into more points. It was an odd game today in that every one of each team’s fumbles was recovered by the other team. We haven’t forced a lot of fumbles this year, so it was nice to see a few today.

12. More accolades for Julian Blackmon today. Wasn’t there some question as to whether this guy would be able to play at ALL this year following his injury? His impact has been staggering since Hooker went down. Great and fitting final defensive play in conjunction with free agent acquisition Buckner. Ballard deserves lots of credit here.

13. Speaking of Ballard, I’ll reiterate it again – just outstanding work. Call me a fanboy or whatever you want, it’s not true though. I just recognize it when someone is doing an exceptional job. Compare his Colts drafts to those of Grigson or even Polian (Ballard hasn’t had advantage of a first overall pick, so please don’t cite to Manning or Luck). Check out 2017, a draft which many here have criticized, and shortly after he joined the organization. Even if the top of that draft didn’t work out so well (Hooker and Wilson), he still hit on several 3rd day picks including Grover Stewart, Marlon Mack and Anthony Walker. Zach Banner has developed elsewhere. And that was probably his worst draft. Free agency and trades have been good too.

14. We have now finished our toughest stretch (Balt/Tenn on the Road/ GB) and came out of it 2-1. Not many pushovers left on our schedule (JAX maybe), but we should be favored in all of our games going forward except Pitt.