Doyel: Reality is setting in on the Colts'

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Wasn’t their high level play in the past largely under the same coaches? Was Nelson and Smith so well coached in college they are just now losing their technique and understanding? Sorry I’m not buying it. 2/5 of the expected starting unit sucked. That has a huge affect on a unit required to work as one. Especially early with stunts that require trust and communication. There are likely other issues as well (Qs back, Kelly’s mental health, Covid), but coaching as the primary issue makes no sense.

I was going to say the same but haven't had much of a chance to get on here this week until tonight. The OL had the same head coach since '18 and same OL coach since '19. I suppose Mawae may have fucked them up, but he was hired prior to '21 and being a HOFer I'm sure he knows how to teach blocking techniques. Pryor and Pinter coming in definitely hurt, but it doesn't explain things like Kelly getting tossed around like a rag doll for entire games on end. Definitely much more to it than just coaching.

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Lov2fish

NFL is a copycat league. Once someone figures out how to stop an offense the rest tag along. Very, very plausible scenario. It is the one thing I loved about Tom Moore. He would constantly add wrinkles to our offense, and present same plays with completely different looks. He was a true offensive genius. Of course I may be a little bias.

And it’s very easy to figure out the QB is throwing everything less than 10 yards so let’s sit underneath the chains

Irsay hired Saturday to keep fans interested with 2 home prime time games remaining he didn’t wanna be embarrassed on National TV… unfortunately it changed nothing because we looked like clowns on Monday night and the “motivator of men” (Colts looked real motivated to start the game) looked out matched and like he was definitely out of his league

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

Not talent. We have a line that is playing worse than their talent. We have a great defense even without Leonard, who is one of the best in the game. One could even make an argument that if he were playing, we would have three or four more wins, because he gets turnovers when we need them the most. His absence is hurting the team almost as much as having Ryan as QB. It's not like we are losing badly. Most games have been one possession scores, which Leonard flips in our favor with his ball punching skill.

o


I agree on the talent ...... we've got talent, we've just played way below it.

But as great as Leonard is, I would much rather have last year's offensive line blocking for Ryan than have a healthy Leonard on defense if I had to choose between the two. Even without Leonard, the defense has been the strongest and most consistent segment of the team so far this year ...... so to me, the equation is not that we would have 3 or 4 more wins with a healthy Leonard on defense, it's that we would have 3 or 4 more wins if we had last year's offensive line blocking for Ryan. Additionally, there is a pretty good chance that Ryan may not have suffered a separated shoulder in his throwing arm in the second place if he had had last year's stellar offensive line blocking for him in the first place. And that separated shoulder probably has not yet completely healed, also.

o

[MeSayDayo]

I don't really get why everyone is pushing the notion that this offensive line was fantastic last year. Yes, they were good enough to usher JT to 1800 yards. That's great, they should have, given what they were paid. But need I remind you all that we started last season 1-5? For as good as they run blocked at times last year, they were almost as abysmal in pass blocking. I would say streaky at best.
So the devolution of this line is not a 2022 thing. The seeds were clearly in place before that. Some have suggested COVID- But I think its a combination of losing at least one starter per year from a consistent unit and trying to replace it with lesser talent. You might be able to get away with that in one offseason, but three in a row? The line, as everyone knows, is just as much about health and playing together as a unit as it is about the individual talent in each spot. Yes, the line is only as good as the sum of its parts, but that doesn't matter if players aren't afforded the luxury of building chemistry year to year with the man beside him.
Through this deficiency in doing exactly half of what is asked of them, the line forced our offensive philosophy with Reich to, over the span of 1.5 seasons, become quite one dimensional. This- and this primarily- had a domino effect that we are now seeing come to fruition. As todays NFL stands, you have pass to set up the run to be successful, and I don't think any of you could convince me otherwise. It's almost gotten so advanced that you have to pass to establish the run to set up the play action.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by MeSayDayo

I don't really get why everyone is pushing the notion that this offensive line was fantastic last year. Yes, they were good enough to usher JT to 1800 yards. That's great, they should have, given what they were paid. But need I remind you all that we started last season 1-5? For as good as they run blocked at times last year, they were almost as abysmal in pass blocking. I would say streaky at best.
So the devolution of this line is not a 2022 thing. The seeds were clearly in place before that. Some have suggested COVID- But I think its a combination of losing at least one starter per year from a consistent unit and trying to replace it with lesser talent. You might be able to get away with that in one offseason, but three in a row? The line, as everyone knows, is just as much about health and playing together as a unit as it is about the individual talent in each spot. Yes, the line is only as good as the sum of its parts, but that doesn't matter if players aren't afforded the luxury of building chemistry year to year with the man beside him.
Through this deficiency in doing exactly half of what is asked of them, the line forced our offensive philosophy with Reich to, over the span of 1.5 seasons, become quite one dimensional. This- and this primarily- had a domino effect that we are now seeing come to fruition. As todays NFL stands, you have pass to set up the run to be successful, and I don't think any of you could convince me otherwise. It's almost gotten so advanced that you have to pass to establish the run to set up the play action.

We had arguably the best run blocking OL in the league last year and a top 10 pass blocking line (finished the season 9th in sacks), which is pretty damn good when you put the two together. Especially compared to this year where our OL is either last or close to last in the league in both categories.

Agree that the replacement of players with lesser talent has definitely had an impact, especially at LT since it's the lynch pin of the OL. But this doesn't explain why we have guys (Nelson and Kelly) who got bitched once or twice a year are now getting bitched once or twice a game in Nelson's case and once or twice every set of downs in Kelly's case.

[Oldcolt]

We are who we are and talented isn’t a verb I would give to this team. Maybe a few individuals that ‘appear’ to have talent, but as a team zilch. It is the kind of ‘talent’ that disappears in crunch time and leave this fan base with a ton of ‘if only’s’ (if we hadn’t fumbled on the 5 years line, if we only didn’t throw that late interception). Maybe when you continuously make whatever mistake you need to make to lose then that is exactly who you are, a team of losers. In the NFL, with athletes as good as they are, my only hope is that this is mental and new leadership can turn it around, it has happened before and it can happen again.