Quick thoughts on last night
1. Fuck the Pats
2. Fuck the refs. |
I was somewhat encouraged by this game, especially seeing Luck play well. He made his usual number of dumb throws, one of which ended in an INT and two others that could have. But, for the most part, he was a bright spot. Still can't figure Ebron. He has talent, but just too many drops on easy passes. Between the preseason injuries and all the injuries on the team now, it would be hard to expect more out of the remaining players than we're seeing. I'm hoping we see a reasonably healthy team before season's end so we can determine where our biggest needs are for next season.
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Just some non-obvious thoughts. I was wiped last night.
1. I'm not sure if Reich or the booth should have challenged the Pascal INT (I'm not calling it a Luck INT), but that should have been reviewed, right? Couldn't you argue possession with knee down? If it's Reich, then you also factor in Agholor being out of bounds, and he really needs to learn to throw a flag. 2. The WR roster beyond Hilton is embarrassing. How bad is Reece Fountain if he couldn't beat out this group? Ballard screwed up here this offseason. This wasn't a "fix everything" offseason, but you can't have basically street WRs who are THIS bad and be sitting on as much cap room as the Colts are. 3. Erik Swoope is a good receiver. It was dumb that he was off the squad in favor of Mo Alie-Cox last week. 4. One of Quenton Nelson or Ryan Kelly was to blame for the first Luck INT, which came because a free runner found himself in Luck's face. I've watched the play over and over again and can't determine if Nelson stayed passing his block to Clark to long, or if Kelly was supposed to slant left and pick up the delayed blitz. Either way, miscommunication between those two, which is disappointing to see because that's supposedly the strength of the OL, right? 5. But on the good OL news front: I thought Braden Smith played very well. He went against the weaker Pats DE at all times, so it's weighted somewhat, but he played well enough to where I'm not sure you just slide Good back in the starting RT spot. Interesting decision to be made there. 6. Final OL point: I genuinely can't figure out why the Colts can't even pretend to have a run game. A lot of teams are still playing Colts in nickel. I do think the Colts waste too many run downs with delayed handoffs or dives into a loaded front, but I also see plenty of downs where the Colts are simply running into a four-man front and all the blocks just stick on the first level while some LB comes through and completely cleans house at the LOS. 7. I think you saw why this team needs Marlon Mack (or a back like Mack) last night. Hines is a terrific weapon in the passing game, but too small to run between the tackles. Wilkins is tough enough to run between the tackles, but not much of a factor in the passing game. This team missed Mack last night. 8. I'm a bit torn on Eberflus' designs last night -- they were ultra conservative -- but I keep landing on how handicapped Eberflus was throughout. We knew from last year that Chris Milton should never see the light of day as an actual cornerback, so that was always going to be ugly. But then there was some random guy named Arthur playing corner too. And down their top two linebackers, incidentally their most athletic linebackers. I'm not sure what I could have come up with with the benefit of second-guessing that would have been any better than what Eberflus offered, to be honest. 9. But Reich and Eberflus need to come down on that dumb shit like celebrating a gift turnover when you haven't done shit all day. Frankly embarrassing to see bad corners who would never see the light of day were it not for a fluke INT celebrating like they've done something. 10. Matthias Farley was AWFUL last night. In general, the Colts safeties have underwhelmed this year, probably because they're systemically never within 10 yards of the ball. But I don't know what Farley was doing out there last night. He took a gift INT, but he also gave up a ridiculous TD that should have been an easy INT, got stiff armed to oblivion, and let a hobbled Gronk run free all night. All while joining the aforementioned group celebration. That was embarrassing. 11. I think it's hilarious that Lenzy Pipkins is always trying to fight someone though. Mostly because it's fun to make jokes about that name. 12. Two more hamstring injuries last night. TY Hilton maybe out several weeks with his. There needs to be a serious inquiry made as to what the hell is going on with the Colts' medical and training programs. Something is wrong. It's not just bad luck when it's this many years in a row. I don't have an answer, but the questions must be asked. If I were to guess, I would say the Colts are doing something wrong on the preventative end that's making players more susceptible to hamstring injuries. Part of their strength & conditioning program. Occam's Razor there, and I could be wrong, but generally when a team has a rash of the exact same injury, it's because they all do something to make themselves vulnerable to that injury. |
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Did Castonzo play at all yesterday? Any thoughts on Ebron? I know the obvious answer is that he drops too many passes, but I was a bit surprised to hear than his 105 yards last night was a career high. To my untrained eye he seems like he could be dominant, and I really think he's going to be a good pickup for us even with the drops. |
Thru 5 games I'm feeling pretty good. 1-4 sucks but I love the no quit in this team. No excuses from them either. Reich was planning on going for two if we got another td when we were down 7. Love that. Now we need some wins. I don't think you can carry this attitude the entire season if you keep losing. A nice 3 game winning streak would set us up well.
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Two guys land on top of Luck with their full body weight and it’s not roughing the passer?
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And right when I'm getting frustrated, he makes a great grab or bodies a DB. So I can't figure it out. He looked better between the 20s last night than he has previously, but for now, I'd say: great RZ weapon, but not appreciably better than Swoope between the 20s. |
Some slightly slower thoughts on the game than what Racehorse gave us! :)
1. From the game thread, Luck in his last 2 games is 78 for 121 (64.4%), 828 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT for a QBR of 96.71. ESPN is also recording that in those two games, Colts receivers dropped 11 passes. 89 for 121 73.5% completion rate. I have zero worries about Luck going forward; he is back. 2. Granted, I don't think the Pats defense is all that (espectially when compared to some of the D-Lines we have played recently) but for a patchwork O-Line to hold any NFL defense to only 1 sack is pretty impressive. They sucked on the first series at at times in the 1st half but gave Luck time to eat ham sandwiches in the pocket during the 2nd half. Braden Smith showed he deserves to be on an NFL field and Clark has just impressed me. Well done, Gentlemen. 3. Grant and Rogers have been give AMPLE opportunity to step up and show that they are a WR2 in the league and neither have done so. Huge opportunity last night to make a statement and both wimpered out. I agree that at least one top 4 round draft pick next year has to be WR and I would like to see some free agency choices brought in as well. We have T.Y. Hilton and then a bunch of WR3s and WR4s on the roster. 4. Like the rookie RBs. They both have their role and will get better has AC comes back and our RT position settles in. 5. Well, for who we had on the field, I am not horrified by our defense. Missing two top CBs, misisng our best LB, having our 2nd best LB knocked out early. Having our best interior pass rushers injured in Hunt and Autry. Yeah, in the end getting 38 points scored on you is not a good showing but they honestly played well enough for the Colts to win the game if the offense had been able to produce. 6. That said, we need more talent on defense. I hope that the free agent market can deliver a few studs next year along with a 1st round pick to infuse more talent. 7. I thought the gameplan on both sides was solid to good. Offense was innovative and was KILLED by dropped balls. Defense was a bit soft early (I like the muddle huddle rush 2 drop 5 approach) but really played well for most of the 2nd half. 8. Lost the first half 24 - 3. Tied the second half 14 - 14. Progression; I will take that. Long rest and hopefully get all our walking wounded. I think we will see a much better team in the second half of the season. Walk Worthy, |
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He made some great grabs. Was overthrown a couple times. He had that first drop for a first down he never would have gotten. But after that I thought he looked great. He has been scoring touchdowns for us and has been healthy. LBs can’t stay with him and he goes over the top of corners, he has been getting open consistently. So far he has been doing well for us and his contribution is much more than any of our other receiving threats. Don’t know what the problem is. |
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That being said, it does feel to me like the guy could be a special player. Something about him – maybe it’s the combo of his size, speed and physicality – just stands out, moreso than Swoope or even Doyle. I won’t kid myself and say he’ll ever have Doyle’s reliable hands, but I'm pretty optimistic he’ll become an elite receiving tight end for the Colts. |
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Different kind of "hands" though I guess. |
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2) Clark got flat out beat by Trey Flowers on that sack, but the OL held their own otherwise. 3) Not many good options on the FA market. There's some names, but the only player that excites me as anything more than a 1 year stopgap is Golden Tate. There are a few interesting second tier second chance guys like Kelvin Benjamin, Kevin White, and Brandon LaFell, but those aren't guys you count on to be a WR2. 4) Hines is a playmaker who needs to see the field often but likely can't handle a full workload. Wilkins is a decent compliment, but I think Mack could be a better one if he can ever get back on the field. 5) No Darius Leonard plus the offense putting the defense in bad positions several times throughout the game, so it's no surprise they gave up 38 points. Someone really needs to drill into Luck's head the importance of ball security. That will make him a better QB and lead to the team winning more. 6) Preach. The free agent market seems to be loaded on defense next year, especially for DL, but I'd like to see at least 2 of the likely 3 top 50 picks the Colts will have go to the defensive side of the ball, if not all 3. 8) Won second half 21-14, though I don't like that the drive before the last one ate so much time. If there's one thing this offense seems to lack at this point, it's the ability to gain chunk yardage when needed. |
The Colts made halftime adjustments that worked. I cannot believe I can write that sentence in complete truthfulness.
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It’s a little off the subject I suppose, but I am interested in the idea that Doyle has a ongoing fumbling problem. Off the top of my head I recall the fumble earlier this season against the Bengals, but perhaps I've blocked out the others. Please provide more info on this. |
Idk about ball security but I’ve felt for some time Doyle takes way to many licks.
I don’t know if it’s his lack of athleticism or if he just likes playing that way but I’m honestly surprised he doesn’t have more fumbles/injuries. |
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Eric Ebron and Erik Swoope ........ our two tight ends combined for 12 catches, 149 yards receiving, and 3 TD catches. Out of those 149 yards combined, Ebron had a career-high 109. o |
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First rule of football, it hurts to play it and be good at it. Second rule, you need to get over rule one. |
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I think you guys are nitpicking. Watch the game again. He was making ridiculous grabs and dove for some of them. He was keeping drives going and was really the only guy balling out there. As for problems on this team he is way down on my list. I can think of the only one drop, he was overthrown for the rest of the passes. Chester Rodgers dropped a TD pass and a potential huge gain on another drive (Ebron saved that drive after Rodgers dropped it too). Ebron is the only one catching TDs on this team consistently. Him and the rookie Hines. |
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That said, I think Rogers is catching better than he was earlier in the season. |
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I don’t have any video clips to direct you to, but off of the top of my head I recall a play last night in the end zone where Luck made a poor throw to him, and it bounced off the end zone turf about five feet away from his feet. I’ll say right now that I don’t think it was catchable. However, what was noticeable to me was that he made no real effort to move towards the ball or to lean in the direction of the ball. This wasn’t an issue of getting hit, it was just weird. There was another instance a week or two ago where Luck overthrew him on a long pass leading into the end zone. Again, it may have been too far to catch, but what was noticeable to me is that he didn’t reach his arms out or dive for it. He just made the decision that it was uncatchable and watched as the ball bounced off the turf ahead of him, and he turned around to jog back to the huddle for the next play. It’s noticeable, and leaves you wondering if he could have caught the ball with a bit more effort. |
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https://www.pro-football-reference.c...E/EbroEr00.htm I'll take Clark. Numbers don't lie |
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Luck overthrows a lot, especially his TE's. He did it to Fleener a ton. TV angles can be deceiving, if I see him in person this year I'll judge for myself. I don't know, like I said with all the other issues Ebron is near the bottom of my concerns. He's healthy, he's catching touchdowns and 1st downs. That is a lot more than I can say for the rest of the team. |
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I found myself watching Braden Smith at RT to see if he might work there. I'm no expert on assessing OL play, but from my novice POV, I'm thinking he may have gotten himself a starting job for the season. Any of you experts care to weigh in?
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