Colts-Redskins quick thoughts
 

1. What a totally unexpected, unreal defensive performance. I was never really scared of Adrian Peterson, but I never trusted this defense either. That might have been the most physically dominant DL performance since the Freeney/Mathis/Brock days, and the most physically dominant overall defensive performance since CIN in the playoffs.

2. Darius Leonard is just EVERYWHERE. I don't remember the Colts LB I've seen like that. He's really surprised me by how technically sound he is too. His tackling technique is great. That was supposed to be the knock.

3. It's crazy to watch Margus Hunt out there. Dude is just rocking OL. Consistently. Last week, I thought: oh, Bobby Hart just sucks. But two weeks in a row Hunt has just obliterated OL. It's honestly mind-boggling to watch.

4. Also huge credit to Sheard, who was similarly dominant and multi-present today, and Ward for stepping in for Ridgeway and picking up a solo-earned sack. It almost seemed like, no matter who it was, the DL was consistently BLOWING UP the Washington OL. I've seen the Colts bend the edge against OLs before, but I don't know if I've ever seen them just destroy an OL like they did today. They were consistently in the backfield before or as handoffs were being exchanged...

5. That said, the defense still has some weak spots. They're not great at defending screens, and their DBs get in a bit of trouble when they start going press-man. Though I'm glad they varied it a bit today, because I think just going soft zone vs Smith is a bad plan.

6. I bet we learn that's a calf tear for Hassan Ridgeway and he's out 4-6 weeks.

7. This is about the Colts primarily, but I was REALLY impressed with Mason Foster for WAS. Were it not for Foster, I honestly think it's a total blowout.

8. On the other side of the ball: it was a great first 1.5 quarters for Andrew Luck, then mostly downhill from there. He's gotta get that "1 dumb INT per game" outta his system again. Bad old habits there. He was lucky he wasn't picked a few more times too. Forced a few.

9. Le'Raven Clark held up better than I thought he would. Credit to the kid.

10. I think Matt Slauson limits what this offense can do to a certain extent. He might be a good cultural leader, but his game is meh at best.

11. I think Reich got a little too predictable with his playcalling basically from Quarter 1.5 through Quarter 3. Too much running into loaded fronts, too little creative use of playmakers, too much telegraphing screens or swing passes. This team really needs to clean up these stretches where the offense goes 0-fer for quarters at a time.

12. THIS IS HOW YOU USE TY HILTON. Let him run a few deep routes that at least draw some PI, and then use him in the stack/rub/crosser game. He's ELITE at both. He knows how to rub a defender without drawing OPI, and he can free up as good as anyone. That final TD playcall to Hilton took full advantage of this and was brilliant.

13. Super impressed with Ryan Grant today. The statline was just OK (Luck shoulda gone to him more, IMO), but he had a block and a rub that really sprung major plays. He's just a smart player. I think the Colts need to upgrade WR2 in the next 2 years, but you can absolutely run this offense with Grant, and he'll get you to the spots you gotta be in.

14. I'm still not huge on this thing where the team benches Eric Ebron for the second half. I didn't think Hewitt was THAT valuable of an asset on the field, and I think the team continues to overrate Doyle. I think Ebron unlocks plays no one else can populate and gives you options you wouldn't otherwise have. I know his blocking is poor, but is Hewitt's really THAT great to warrant the complete tradeoff, or is Doyle really THAT balanced either way?

15. Pierre Desir should be a starting boundary corner, period.

16. I think Marlon Mack is still hurt. He had a few runs he normally woulda taken for 20+ that ended up going for 6 or so. Couldn't bounce at his normal speed, couldn't break tackles he normally does.

17. ...but I think Jordan Wilkins continues to be better than advertised. I keep forgetting he's quicker than I think he is.

18. And Nyheim Hines had as impressive a TD run from a Colts RB I've seen in some time. The balance was unreal. I wish the team would have used him more creatively in the passing game today.

19. This offense still has issues telegraphing screens. The defense is never fooled.

20. Today would have been a perfect day for Tyquan Lewis to be healthy. Sigh.

Disreguard

Wilkins was great. No fancy nonsense, just down hill

I love this offense. They were NOT predictable

The bend but dont break D will make me crazy, but Ill adjust

I had to add this. They ran for 100+, I love that!

The arrow is ticking upward for this team.

Leonard

17 tackles
15 solo
1 sack
1 FF

https://twitter.com/Colts/status/104...663268864?s=19

Just crazy!

https://twitter.com/Colts/status/1041424462179127297

and one more from Leonard
https://twitter.com/Colts/status/1041420820147568641

There was one play where Darius Leonard, on a throw over the middle 25 to 30 yards downfield, was right there when the pass was completed, as the middle linebacker. He is the best MLB the Colts have had in at least two decades.

The prior MLBs couldn't cover 5 yards downfield.

That was a great play call on the last TD.

Luck still forces some throws. Hopefully if the D keeps playing well and he realizes he doesn't have to score every time, he stops doing that

The whole RB group was great today. Amazing effort on the run TD.

I also don't understand why Ebron was not in more in the second half. And not just because he is on my fantasy team

The D is still soft on short yardage throws and pass D, but they are getting more of a pass rush than I expected. Its just hit and miss, not consistent. Some plays still way too much time

Hunt looks amazing so far.

Castonzo being back will really help this OL

Shocked that Peterson did not do more today

The offense still looks completely lost on screen plays.

Overall though have to be happy at 1-1 after two weeks and with what we saw today.

Could be tied at the top of the division after today

One thing that can't be denied is that this staff understands & knows how to design plays for a modern offense. Also the blitz design that got Leonard free on a big sack was outstanding. The old staff was using crayons & a coloring book. I also think we caught a break when McDickhead backed out.

Basham a healthy scratch. Maybe effort is more important than scheme fit sometimes.

That said it's hard not to get excited for the way the DL played today. There's something to the Marinelli DL and I need to watch it more. Good to see Eberflus implementing it.

Leonard is a breath of fresh air. Already on his way toward being one of the best Colts LBs in modern history.

I really did not believe in Hunt after last week. I thought it was just a guy playing above his head against his former team and taking advantage of a bad tackle. Can he keep up this level of play?

This has been my biggest takeaway from the first two weeks of this season compared to the previous 5ish season. As far as breaking down and really analyzing the Xs and Os of football goes, I'm not great. But I have noticed a very noticeable difference in play calls, play design, and overall crispness of execution.

He's played great, but it's two games.

Hence “on his way”. Not that much competition either. The last young LB with this type of energy was Session, but Leonard seems like a better athlete.

Margus Hunt is one of the many reasons GMs draft traits. 6'8" 290 with a sub 5 40 is why he's so successful in this system. I wanted him back in the 2013 draft. Glad he's finally starting to put his talent and ability together.

Lol

This dude and his 40 times. All that matters to him

The 6'8" 290 is more important in the equation than the sub 5 40, but it all displays the incredible athlete he is. You could cite 40, 10 yard split, 3 cone, 20 yard shuttle, or 60 yard shuttle, the point is that for his size he is incredibly fast. 40 is just the most commonly referenced and easily accessible of those. Technique is what wins, but teaching incredible athletes great technique is what makes a great player.

But seriously, can you guys remember the last Colts DL who just blasted through OL like that? I mean, Freeney and Mathis killed you off the edge / with spin moves etc. But just in a pure power sense, I can't think of the last Colt who impressed me like Margus Hunt has first 2 games.

He's played his role (power DE/UT) very well. Also thought he got robbed of a sack on the offsides call on Turay. Turay just got a great jump on that play, he didn't cross the LOS until clearly after the ball was snapped if you watch the replay.

Corey Simon for a quick game or two.

The main story of the game was the defense. The front 4 completely took
an upper tier offensive line to school and it was a coming out party for
leonard who might be the difference maker on D they've lacked since freeney.
Offensively, they ran the ball far better than I thought they would. I disagree
that Luck only played well the first 1.5 quarters. I think the third quarter
would have been different if the PI on Ebron had been called, this team just
cannot get a fair shake from the officiating crews. And he did lead the team on
the clinching drive in the 4th. He still has a lot of work to do, the second pick
was inexcusable but he's really getting there, fast.
This was game they could have lost in the past with that third quarter lull, it's the kind of game they did lose last week. But they learned, they were stout
and that is cause for optimism. Yo, Philly.

Yeah, but the guy also had never played in this scheme until this year. Maybe this is finally the right fit?

That's why you're consistently wrong.

The offensive playcalling has improved drastically, which is no surprise given that Reich was an offensive coach for a very innovative offense last year and Pagano was too conservative offensively.

You realize that's something that's occurring in-game right? Those play calls are happening during the game, so why are you saying coaching makes no difference to in-game results? You just admitted that it does in this last post, so please quit being stupid.

They run play action, haven't seen that in forever

That is like telling water to stop being wet.

I'm a big Corey Simon fan and remember him far more fondly as the guy who occupied the entire OL and allowed every other DL to make plays in 2005 vs the fat tub of lard everyone else seems to remember him as.

But even Simon wasn't in the backfield; he was occupying blockers. More of a Vince Wilfork type. Hunt is just moving blockers, quickly and violently as hell, into the backfield.

The 1995 DL (Bennett, Whittington, McCoy, Siragusa) was pretty good. They (and front seven in general) were a very physical unit that owned the LOS, forced turnovers and played a really good brand of smashmouth football.

The only thing worse than Dam bringing up his dumb ideas on coaching is you dummies baiting him into defending his dumb ideas on coaching. Can we move on for fucks sake or are we just going to let this ruin every thread?

No shit. Players have to make plays (this was already known by everyone, it's not some amazing revelation you tried to make), but they have a much easier time doing so when it's a good play as opposed to a shit play like Pagano and company would call. You try to make it easier on those playmakers, not harder. When you make it easier on those playmakers with better calls, it absolutely affects the game, just as you admitted earlier. Quit being obtuse.

The way they use TY Hilton is the biggest thing from the coaches, and I primarily mean Reich, so far. We have all been calling for it for, what, 4 years, and they are finally doing it. No, he is not doing everything downfield, as is traditionally his best attribute. But they are using his speed and finding him a way to get him the ball. The drag routes, bunch formations......My God, some Colts coach has been watching football in the last 10 years and knows how to run these finally and use them to get the ball to the fastest guy on the team!! TY Hilton is no longer just shut out of the game if teams stop the vertical passing game. He can actually do other things.

Nyheim Hines' TD is the result of playing Nyheim Hines, and not handing the ball to Frank Gore up the middle a billion times. (Frank Gore doesn't get a TD there.)

TY Hilton's big plays came off a screen -- which clearly was drilled in practice and executed to perfection; can't recall a successful bubble screen in the Pagano era -- and a rub route, which Pagano never really saw fit to ever install conceptually in the offense.

You're going to lose the argument every time if you look to the offensive side of the ball. Pagano entirely and continually minimized the talent of his roster on that end. The jury is still out on Reich, but so far, he looks to be maximizing it by getting the ball in the hands of playmakers (Hilton/Hines/Ebron/etc.) continually while not falling victim to predictability.

Instead of, you know, like a dozen Frank Gore wildcat carries because Gore has GRIT.

Not only a coaching staff aware of his strengths, but his weaknesses. Yes, you can jam Hilton. You know how to beat that? Stacks and rubs. So this coaching staff does that. Pagano/Chudzinski would never have dreamed of that.

Sometimes coaching is as much about erasing or minimizing known weaknesses as it is playing to strengths.

Also team is running the hurry up not just when they are down by 3 scores, but as a change of pace and to keep the defense on the field, not giving them time

The one concerning thing about the offense is the strong first half starts, but then the 3rd quarter has been awful both games. I think they did score once in the 3rd vs the Bengals, but had lots of 3 and outs and short drives in the second half.

I was impressed with leonard and wilkins.

biggest take away for me was actually enjoying watching colts football again. even in the loss last week, it was nice to see a modern nfl team rather than that uninspiring shit show we have had recently.

Yeah, that's gotta stop. OL has been problematic in 3rd quarter in particular, but larger issue is run game seems to disappear.

How can you not see the difference on defense?

I see the difference in the talent and team speed on the defensive roster. Leonard is clearly a playmaker that this team lacked in 2017.

Aren't you one of the clowns who said our roster was worse under Ballard?

I am one of those. And still think that

So, coaching matters, because Pags would not have pulled off this win.