I was also responding to your sarcasm about an argument I’ve never made and I’m not sure anyone here has made - that Ballard is the reason Reich called the plays he did. I think some of the criticism is valid and some is over blown. However you can look at the several threads trashing Reich to see him being trashed for the GM decisions he doesn’t make to blaming Eberflus on him and not Ballard. That’s where I’ve primarily called BS and pointed out how Teflon Ballard has been.

Injuries, pass rush, QB play (Wentz mistakes, no viable backup, antvax issue), and then probably a tie between initial OL depth and play calling. Those are my biggest issues on the season.

I don’t have all 22 but my memory from being at the game was Tenn was playing the run and giving the pass. The Colts passing game left several plays on the field that were there. I also remember a few successful RPOs that were passes. In both cases taking what the defense gives you. I remember 3 running plays resulting in holding calls - putting the team in holes and common passing situations. But yes I still agree they could have ran a little more. In particular on 3rd down at the 38 leading 14-0. Going for it on 4th was the right call but 3rd down should have been a run if he knew he was going for it. 4th likely should have been too. The TE screen was a bad call. I liked passing - Tenn was geared for run but it should have been a roll out for Wentz with an option to throw it, throw it away, or run it. I have no problem with the OT play call. Wentz made stupid fucking decision and had multiple others opened - including Taylor in the open field.

Yes, I believe in this team. It may not be the best, but I think they have it in them. Go Colts!

10-7!

Reich was asked about the run pass ratio and the rpo’s were something he mentioned. Basically, he said there were 6 rpo’s that ended up as passes and the 2 minute drills at the half and the end of the game were what skewed the numbers a little. Also, that the Titans were trying to take the run away.

I have several issues with that. First, Taylor is the best player you have. You get him the ball even if you have to force it. Taylor had 26 carries in two games against the Titans, the two biggest games of the year. That’s not enough. That’s on Reich.

2nd, even conceding that they were trying to take Taylor away, they weren’t being successful. The holding calls were the main thing stopping Taylor yesterday. The Titans never really did.

3rd, Wentz got progressively worse as the game went on and he’s not really a carry the team on his back guy in the first place. The 4th quarter and overtime should have been Taylor time. Especially overtime.

All of those things go squarely on Reichs shoulders.

The 2 minute drills skewed it. Excuse maker. You control the calls during the 2 min drills dickwad. Go away.

The 2019 version of Wentz carried the team on his back and into the playoffs.

You all deserve better pay and respect than Ballard.

I am most upset at the use of what I believe is meant to be the foundation of this team, the offensive line. The Colts have spent a fortune both in money and in draft capital to build a dominant offensive line. I thought I saw this developing with my own eyes. I agree that JT is special but i don't give a damn who the back is, we should physically dominating teams and running on anyone. We were starting to do it with Mack and were doing it with JT last year BUT it was the line that set the tone. I thought the idea was to get an identity as as smash mouth team, one that can win in shit weather in December on the road. Wentz actually made some sense as that teams QB. He is though as nails physically and can play well within a team framework, at least he did for a few games with us. He sucks at hero ball. We knew this before he got here yet in the biggest game here he is being asked to play hero ball. WTF? Omaha has rightly pointed out that having Pacscal as our second wide receiver for this long is malpractice-it is even worse if you don't run the ball as this guys best attribute is his down field blocking. I hope they get back to running the football, no matter who they play or who the back is. If they were not going to do this they should be spending money and draft capital differently.

Which has emerged as a primary complaint for those most vocal in opposition to Reich. We DID have this mentality, we WERE bullying. Then, suddenly, he seems to have decided our identity, is to be crafty, to do the non-traditional. Seemingly it is HIS identity now and that is costing us ballgames. It needs to stop, Ballard, Irsay, whoever needs to sit on him and stop this gimmicky try to outthink them bullshit!

This is exactly the type of BS I’m talking about. In the 1st half and end of regulation drives the Colts scored 10 points. One ending with no time remaining and one ending with 22 seconds remaining. By most measures that fairly successful. There were 16 passes and 3 runs. If you want to complain about the int play call in regulation fine. Do so, it’s valid. Your comment here is just worthless BS.

I went to go see just how big an idiot Reich is for his apparently near criminal misuse of Taylor. He’s 11th in the league in rushes per game. 5 of the 10 players ahead of him have already missed games for injury (or are now injured). Including the top 2 in Henry and Cook. He’s also 11th in touches per game, but climbs to fourth in total touches. 3 of the top 5 guys in touches per game have already (McCaffrey, Cook) or will (Henry) miss multiple games.

I’d like to see Taylor get 2-3 more touches per game. I don’t want to see him used like Henry.

Wow, so we are now in the realm of load management to prevent injury. Guess what, no one even knows the World Series is being played other than people in two cities. No one cares. Why, because baseball dove into load management and now games are just a joke and the audience has abandoned the sport.

F it, might as well, Roger has already turned it into flag football, might as well go all the way down the rabbit hole. F it, next time an Andrew Luck type talent comes up and he's there to be had, pass on that talent because afterall, probably going to get injured so why pay someone to get hurt.

This is sad.

I have no fucking idea what you are even saying. Is load management a consideration in the NFL? Fuck yeah it is. Am I saying Reich didn’t run Taylor because of workload? Nope, never said that. I said I went to go see how badly Reich was using him compared to other backs and I see that he’s slightly low on per game averages and near the top in totals. Why? Because of injury for the other high use backs. And I said that I’d like to see 2-3 more touches per game but not a Henry like workload. If you think a Henry like workload is in the best interest of the team it just shows how little you understand about the game.

They run Henry a lot, because they know that's how they can win a lot of games. It's really not that deep. I would put Tanny and Wentz on roughly the same level. One coach realizes that the law of averages says that if Tanny throws it 40+ times, well there will probably be a 2 or 3 really bad events that happen and that reduces their chances of winning games. Whereas if Henry runs it 25+, there will probably be 2 or 3 really great events, events which will enhance their chances of winning games. Thus he goes with what is going to give his team the best chance to win a game, make the playoffs and perhaps win a SB. If the running back gets hurt, well thems the breaks, it is the NFL afterall.

Our coach, appears to eschew wins, playoffs, and potential SB's because, well I guess because in the long view, 51 pass attempts from a mid level QB provides better odds of winning games than does 25 runs by what is perhaps the leagues best back, at least the 2nd best.

Makes sense, lots of it.

All the names you mentioned have also been highly PAID so I’m beginning to wonder if that’s what they truly trying to avoid after JT has a monster year

Bring on the gladiators! They are sub-human, and disposible. Our entertainment is more important!

I’d say it’s more likely they are honest when they say they want a balanced offense. They are 14th in the league for run play percentage. Slightly on the run side of middle of the league. I’d like to see them a little higher, but they are nowhere near as pass happy as some would suggest.

And Irsay has never had an issue paying people. Taylor is 3rd in the league for total yards. He’s behind Henry and Kupp, with Henry now hurt. If they are trying to avoid paying him 2 years from now they aren’t doing a great job. I do think they’d have an issue with him averaging 29.6 touches a game like Henry though. Of course I agree with them.

It's not so much that people are upset with us being overtly pass happy. It is WHEN we are choosing to be pass happy, and putting the ball in a mistake prone Wentz when we should be pounding away with JT.

On his current usage (which we all feel is underutilized), Taylor is on pace for 250 + carries, 1300 + rushing, 12 + TDs rushing, approx. 45 catches (55 targets) for 500 + yards and maybe 3 more receiving TDs.

In my humble opinion, a back that nears 2000 all purpose yards is being utilized just fine. In fact, if he reaches those numbers while avoiding injury (knock on wood), then we have done even better with him.

Pass and Run split is fine. But we need to start running Taylor when we should be (and when the other team thinks we will) because its working regardless and it sets up the pass for Carson to have much clearer throwing lanes.

Either way our season is down the shitter anyway and we need to find a cleanup foot surgery for Wentz around Week 12. I would also consider moving Big Q by days end as well, because we could probably get a 1st for him and use it in an area of greater need. I love Q, but he has proven to be playing an expendable position.

Different people are arguing different things. I’ve specifically been pointing out Taylor’s usage because a handful of guys seem to think Taylor is never used or want him used like Henry. He’s being used on the slightly conservative side of a top back and the injury rate for guys being used a decent amount more is pretty damn high. Chopped in particular seems to think if Reich isn’t running Taylor 25+ times a game he’s just an idiot. I strongly disagree.

The situational questions I somewhat agree with although it appears I disagree with many of the anti-Reich sentiment in what should have been called. I think going for it on 3rd and 3 from the 38 leading 14-0 was the right call, but it should have been a run on 3rd down. And pending the outcome on 3rd, likely another short yardage run (if necessary). That’s the exact situation they’ve invested in the OL for in my opinion.

I think the TE screen called on the pick 6 was bad, but I’m fine and actually like not running Taylor there. A roll out of wentz with a safe pass, throw away, or run option for him is what I’d have preferred. Wentz is plenty mobile enough to do what Tannehill did several times to the Colts. That is underutilized by Reich.

And the final game sealing interception was not a bad play call. A play call that gives you 2 wide open options - including your star RB open in the middle of the field with no one within 10 yards of his is pretty damn decent in that situation. Wentz blew it by throwing into triple coverage. If your argument is you don’t trust Wentz, that is fine and I get it. I don’t think he’s a winner. But if you routinely can’t trust him to make the correct read in that situation then the team has significantly bigger issues than the number of carries it’s RB is getting.

So to be clear - I agree Reich erred in some play call. I just don’t agree with 3/4 of the BS being said.

Taylor doesn't need to run 25-30 times a game but the team should be a run dominant team. We have the players to be physical and we spend the game having them pass block 51 times. The offensive line should get a chance to dominate people. They need to be punishing the defense. Get Mack or Hines involved. Let Jackson run the damn ball. Wentz can win as part of a team. He isn't good enough to put the team on his shoulders. Physically yes, mentally no. Running backs get hurt, not matter how much they run the ball or not. Limiting Taylor so he doesn't get hurt seems to be what we are doing. It is working if your design is to keep him healthy. Not so much if you want to use him to win ball games.

3-5- 2 games lost throwing the ball for no good reason in situations where we should have run the ball
6-2- Several games won by running the ball even when it seemed they should have abandoned the run.

One has the best record in the AFC

The other is likely going to miss the playoffs

Reich sucks

When you’re up 14-0 I don’t care if it’s Taylor, Hines, Mack, or whoever run the goddam ball and can we scrap the Goal line shovel to a TE?

Reich is starting to become predictably unpredictable at the goal line and it’s not necessary we have the best guard in the league- inside the 5 should be run left every time

Put two of those RBs in the game and go wishbone for all I care.

It's the NFL. There are something around 1,700 gigantic fast men willing to risk severe injury to go out every Sunday and play this game in exchange for big pay days. Yes, this is our entertainment. Networks pay Billions of dollars for us to be entertained by this violence. But somehow, specific individuals should be exempt from this risk? Somehow because he wears the uniform we route for, we need to be worried about Taylor getting injured because he takes too many hits. Where is this same concern for a guy like Kelly who legitimately every play of every game is involved in a high speed car crash? Can't have it both ways. Either we enjoy and celebrate the violence of it and accept the risk, or we find it abhorrent and don't fund it. I don't think we can individualize the violent risk component of this admittedly very violent sport.

Are they disposable to you? Are they even human?

With what we know about CTE and the NFL none of us who support the NFL are above reproach. Not to mention the state of men like Earl Campbell. These men are willing to shorten their lives, become cripples and check out mentally because their brain no longer functions normally. Yeah, to me that's pretty close to gladiatorial shit.

I agree. I just think Pagano Jr. is crazy with his takes.

Taylor has had 20 carries in goal to go situations:

4 negative runs for -11 yards
7 runs for no gain
7 positive runs for 17 yards, 3 TDs
2 penalties for -16 yards

Wentz and Hines also each have a rush resulting in 3 yards and a TD

There have been 26 passing attempts resulting in:

8 TDs
1 penalty for -10 yards
1 interception
1 sack for -9 yards
1 sack/fumble

The interception was after a Taylor run for 0 yards

The sack for -9 yards was on 4th down after 3 straight Taylor runs for 0 yards each.

The sack / fumble was after a Taylor run for -2 yards

The penalty was on first down before Taylor had a chance. They scored a TD that possession throwing

Reich started the season attempting to pound it at the goal line and the results weren’t encouraging. 9 of Taylor’s 20 attempts came in the first 2 games. The results?

0 yards gained
0 TDs
2 penalties for -16 yards

Nelson was also in the lineup for both of those games. 8 passing attempts netted 3TDs during that time as well as a sack and the interception.

The point? The Colts have had more goal line issues than can be solved by just hand it to Taylor. That’s the way Reich started the season and it failed. They actually scored a TD in every goal to go situation against Tenn so I’d say there has been significant improvement. Not to mention Nelson has been banged up, missed games, and hasn’t been himself for most of the season yet. Great thought but I don’t think it matches reality.

I agree on the TE shovel pass though.

You made my point at the end so comparing early seasons stats to current situation doesn’t play in this situation, Nelson wasn’t healthy.. since he’s returned goal line hasn’t been an issue other than stupid shovel pass or Wentz fumbling

Taylor should be the focal point, Ballard has built the early 2000s Seahawks all over, it’s Shaun Alexander all over again behind his line he won an mvp running left every time

The shovel pass was in the 2nd game (with Nelson) as was all those runs that resulted in nothing. The most recent success in the goal line has featured more passing. Against Tenn there were 3 passing TDs and one running. You are trying to make the reality fit your narrative. It doesn’t.

Bullshit, easily could’ve run it in on the first drive. No what do we do? Let Taylor run it to the 2 yard line— 3 incompletions only to convert on 4th down

2nd TD after an INT we pass on first and goal

Taylor got stuffed earlier in the season when Nelson wasn’t healthy it’s a different situation now and when you’re up 14-0 it’s not even a discussion

Nelson is a weapon that should be utilized to our advantage, same with Taylor stop making it easy for the defense

I just don't understand the context. Taylor apparently needs to receive some level of rest / protection so he doesn't get injured but the giants in the middle that absorb relentless blows EVERY damn down, they aren't subject to that same risk?

Yeah it's brutal, it's borderline inhumane. It's also a multi-billion dollar business. None of these folks have to participate in that market if they don't want to. Once they sign the contract, unfortunately they are putting their bodies in harm's way. Taylor included.

Read my signature for the context.

I offer plenty of praise and complimentary comments, but when an idiot is an idiot, gonna get called an idiot. Not running JT is idiocy because Frank Reich is an idiot.

Taylor had two rushes in goal to go situations against the 49ers the other game with Nelson. One for 0 yards, one for -2 yards. The wentz sack / fumble was the play after the 2 yard loss. So in the 4 games with Nelson (he only played 13 snaps in 1st Tenn game) here are the results:

12 plays
-1 yards gained
1 TD
2 penalties for -16 yards

The one TD was admittedly the most recent play - the last TD against Tenn. I’m guessing he was obviously healthy for that play, but not the other 11. Of course he missed practice yesterday and his status for Thursday is up in the air. If he plays is he obviously healthy or not? Or do you want to wait to use the play results to decide as you are doing here?

And that’s not to mention the Colts were 4 for 4 in goal situations in the game you are complaining about. 3 of the TDs required just 1 play - 2 were passes, 1 was a Taylor run. None of the data backs up your claims. You are simply throwing out the simplistic view that Nelson and Taylor are good so those situations are easy. Other teams have some pretty damn good players too and others teams also know that Nelson and Taylor are good.

Being predictable is what makes it easy on a defense. I personally think Pittman and MAC are weapons at the goal line just as much as Taylor. Same with Wentz’s legs. Utilizing all of them (and other options) is what will make life difficult on a defense. Not handing it to Taylor every time.

I seem to recall the negative draft scuttlebutt on Taylor was that he had a huge number of carries in College. I really believe that power backs USUALLY have a limited number of carries before wearing down. I like seeing him used, but using Hines and Mack and giving him some down time is a good move IMO. If the Colts can manage to get a wild card playoff spot, he'll be needed big time.

There are plenty of analysis you can see on the drop off from running backs following heavy usage seasons. Or just scroll down the list of most touches per season in NFL history and look at the year following that high touch year. Like almost everything, it is not 100% universal but the trend is pretty damn clear. I could POSSIBLY understand you argument for Henry equivalent usage if this was a SB caliber team and that was the way to get there. But it simply isn’t. This is not a SB caliber team even if Taylor gets the same 29.6 touches a game Henry was getting.

This discussion about touches, at least for me, isn't about getting JT injured by overuse. I want the offensive line to get 'touches' (by that I mean I want them to get more chances to physically dominate thru the run). Let JT get his 20 touches a game but let other guys get some also. And it isn't about the number totally. It is when you need to run you can (ie run out the clock in the 4th quarter, get that two yards for a first or TD). Watching football for 50+ years the only teams that can do that consistently are teams that make a commitment to running the ball, being physical, during the season. Put the game in the hands of the offensive line, when people fear that, then Wentz can be effective enough (I don't like the guy at all and am bummed I need to pull for the asshole but he has physical talent, mentally he seems weak) Doing all of that wouldn't solve our pass rush issues however. We still would suck.

I have no problem with them mixing it up on offense, unless your up 14-0. I just feel like we played right into the Titans hands when it was a nightmare scenario for them in the beginning

But with all that said unless it’s Aaron Donald I’m running left 4 times inside the 5 yard line with Nelson that should be unstoppable

Dude, you have had nothing good to say for weeks. It is tiring.

Is Henry out for the season? I can't help but think if JT had been getting 30+ carries every game and came up lame, criticism would be filling up this message board.

Success has a thousand fathers, and failure is an orphan.