Quick thoughts
 

I've never started one of these. If it doesn't come out right, I may not do another.

1. The Bears D is good, but we should have scored more. The OLine should try to go away from zone blocking down there and let the hosses impose their will.

2. TY was open quite a bit. Those who wrote him off were wrong. He lost a TD to DPI, and a huge catch on a horrible pass by Rivers.

3. What was with Hines getting so many snaps over Taylor? Maybe it was pass blocking, but why run him up the middle? He is elusive, but small Get him in open space. Frank knows better.

4. Specs can kick. The first one barely went through, but it went through. He isn't prime AV, but he is better than last year AV.

5. Justin Houston still can dominate a game. Yes, the rest have to be able to do their job so they can't double him, but he beats his man one on one.

6. The secondary looked very good. There were a couple of blown plays, but they were much improved from week 1.

7. Rivers needs to find a way to not let his lack of speed be a detriment to the team. We will see more good defenses get pressure and he can't outrun a sloth

8. I don't know why Marcus Johnson was ever cut. He is no WR1 or WR2, but he can play.

9. What can we say about Blackmon? The dude is the baller we all thought Hooker was going to be. In fact, I think all of the rookies who played yesterday did well. I also loved seeing Okereke in on a lot of tackles for very little gain. The defensive scouts hit home runs the last three drafts.

10. Sanchez can punt with anyone. He may be the factor in changing momentum in an important game later in the season.

11. It was ugly, but a win is a win!

Next week will be a true test for this D. Cleveland is by far the #1 rushing team in the NFL. If the D can shut them down, there's no telling how far they can go this year.

I heard that Costanzo was replaced late in the game. Was he hurt?

I think they were trying to be cute with personnel groupings and that’s why Hines had so many carries.

They came out with three tight ends, 1 WO, and 1 RB quite a bit and Hines in that package probably works better than Taylor because his receiving skills enable more options.

I think Hines and Burton are “tweeners” and can create difficult looks for defenses. Chicago has a formidable front 7, at least Indianapolis moved the ball and got field goals. Sometimes that’s how you gotta get the W.

TY isn’t going to have 100-150 yard games consistently—that’s where some fans will always overrate what he does. I hope he has 3 to 5 meaningful catches per game, regardless of yardage. The problem I’ve always had with him is that he disappears too often to count on him like a #1. Having other receivers who can’t stay on the field compounds that problem.

I personally didn't see this as an ugly game.

There were 11 bears possessions
- seven punts
- a FG
- a pick
- end of half TFL
- TD in (arguable) garbage time

So we are another week in the top 5 of NFL defenses, at least. In the past we have needed Peyton to have a average game, or Luck to have a good game in order to win.

We are not asking Philip Rivers to do that. Just don't turn the ball over. Get some first downs and let the rest follow.

I know that Cleveland still has RB Kareem Hunt on its roster - but they won't have their 1-2 punch available against the Colts. Nick Chubb is out for 6 weeks.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1313150087317643269

Baldy gives some break downs and some props to the Colts defense.

https://twitter.com/baldynfl/status/...468756999?s=21

I think it was a good team win. Some games are going to be like this. They lost their premier defensive player (Leonard) and still won.

I think back to the 06 playoffs and I know everyone thinks about the win in the AFC Title game, but that divisional round against Baltimore was arguably one of the toughest wins I've ever seen Indianapolis obtain.

Sometimes that's what it takes. I like what I saw yesterday.

Yes, Castonzo injured a rib in the Bears game.

The Colts will monitor him through the week.

Colts have several LB's nursing injuries. Besides the Leonard injury, Bobby Okereke injured his thumb and had surgery today AND EJ Speed injured his elbow.

The Colts haven't ruled anyone out for the Cleveland game, but it is worth monitoring their practice schedule through the week.

You know its 2020 when the Colts have the number 1 rated defense in the league.

People use the term ugly to describe a win that the defense is the catalyst for. I thought it was beautiful.

The Bears had the #2 pass defense in the NFL coming in. No surprise the Colts struggled in the passing game. That said, the Colts OL should've dominated this game as the Bears were giving up 5 YPC coming into the game. Too many squandered red zone opportunities as well. I don't care how good the opposing defense is, 1st and goal from the 3 should be a TD every time.

Regarding Julian Blackmon, he plays faster and better than his 2019 tape indicates. He was flying all over the field making plays very capably as a free safety yesterday. I think he and Willis will make a solid starting duo going forward.

Just a question.

Any chance Reich is playing down to the opponents so as not to show too much this early? The O hasnt had to do too much the last few games

Hines was in for PassPro. JT isnt there yet. Thats my opinion

I have a hard time seeing that. Even bad teams are stacked with the best college players. You start holding back and a team will upset you. I think JT is still coming along and Hines just knows everything plus is a better passing option if Rivers audibles.

I'm talking more in game. being conservative and not showing anything

I am enjoying watching Hines featured more.


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I wish Reich would take a look at the way they run the ball and follow suit. There is so much more variety and imagination. I am sick of Reich running JT up the gut. Get him into space, use his wheels.

That said, the o-line also needs to block better.

I'd also like to see the Colts get JT more involved in the passing game. Right now, it's too clear what we're going to do when he is in the game and what we're going to do when Hines or Wilkins are in the game.

Speaking of Hines, let's stop running him - a midget - into traffic.

As a whole, JT needs more snaps. Also

I feel like a few of the looks they've used and plays they've run have been too put them on film so they can use the same setup in a later game to catch a team off guard and get a big play. That said, going back and watching the game again, I was shocked at how little the Colts used playaction against the Bears, especially watching how quick their defense was to come up and fill vs. the run (the Bears would typically have 9-10 guys in the box by the time the handoff was completed on a run play). In fact, I can't remember a play in that game where the Colts used playaction, thinking about it now. I wonder if this was to set up some future opponent, or just a missed opportunity on Reich's part. Playaction against a team biting that hard on the run is usually devastating. Also, as a random side note, I think on one of the 3 plays where the Colts had first and goal from the 3, they should've tried a screen or a shovel pass, especially considering how that sequence went. I think either option would've been more effective.

That’s a bit of wishful thinking. Now I do think,and I believe he said, he wasn’t as aggressive due to how the game was played

One thing that has frustrated me with the offense this season, is we will take a deep shot on 1st down and fail, you can almost guarantee that the next play will be a run. I don't mind the 1st down call, and we will probably fail on 50% or more of those downs, not a problem, it's what we do afterwards that annoys me. As was said earlier use the play action, and our TE's more. How many catches have the TE's had? Not many i would guess.

Mo Alie-Cox has 11 for 194 yards with 2 TD's, Doyle 4 for 61 yards, Burton 2 for 16 yards. So a total of 17 in 4 games for a total of 281 yards and 2 TD's. The backs have had way more:- Hines 16 for 97 yards with 1 TD, Taylor 10 for 90 yards, Mack 3 for 30 and Wilkins 2 for 22 yards, totaling 31 receptions for 239 yards and 1 TD.

I would like to see this change quite a bit, literally swapping the frequency around. Would prefer to see the TE's averaging 8 receptions a game and the backs just the 4. We seem to be struggling to utilise the middle of the field in the 10-15 yard range. Which is the area of the field that i thought Rivers was at his best in.

I think we have some really good TE's, and would like to see us trying to use them in similar ways to how the 49ers have used Kittle, or the Eagles have used Goedert and Ertz.

I mean it is the strength of our QB, and we are struggling again at the WR position, so why wouldn't we be doing this automatically? Makes little sense to me.

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The Bears just beat the Buccaneers, and are now 4-1 overall.

In the process of winning the game, they completed a comeback from double-digits for the 3rd time in their first 5 games ...... that has only been done once before in their franchise history, in 1985.



SOURCE: ) ESPN

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The Bears are 5-1.

If the Colts can get their rear-ends in gear sooner than the 2nd or 3rd quarter of the their games, they could be a tough team to beat.

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