Official Game Thread: The Colts Go 4-0 for the First Time Since 2009 (vs LA Lambs)

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

To add some fuel to the fire - apparently we only had 10 players on the field on the Atwell's 88 yard TD

I think that's an exaggeration. Mehki Blackmon tripped over his own feet, which is what allowed Atwell to be so wide open, which is where people are saying they "only had 10 men".

Edit: Nope, there were only 10 defenders on the field on that play. Inexcusable. Franklin is terrible.

[omahacolt]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

I think that's an exaggeration. Mehki Blackmon tripped over his own feet, which is what allowed Atwell to be so wide open, which is where people are saying they "only had 10 men".

Edit: Nope, there were only 10 defenders on the field on that play. Inexcusable. Franklin is terrible.

so are you actually saying you were wrong?


dam was wrong? is this another first for coltfreaks?

[Colts And Orioles]

o


How the 49ers’ Banged-up Defense, Big and Small Alike, Made the Difference Against the Rams

(By Eric Branch)

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/4...t-21081075.php



***********************************


INGLEWOOD, Los Angeles County — The Rams telegraphed their intention before the final snap Thursday night: They overloaded the right side of their offensive line with tight end Davis Allen and wide receivers Puka Nacua and Jordan Whittington bunched together outside tackle Warren McClendon.

It was 4th-and-1. And they planned to convert with brute force by handing off to Pro Bowl running back Kyren Williams. It was straight smashmouth. Pure bully ball. San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner had another name for it.

The big-boy strategy didn’t work. The reason: The smallest guy among the 22 on the field.

Cornerback Chase Lucas, 5-foot-11 and 184 pounds, the 49ers’ second-lightest player, heaved his body into the sea of humanity, filling the hole and allowing his teammates to stop Williams for no gain at the 49ers’ 11-yard line to finalize a 26-23 overtime win at SoFi Stadium.

Moments before the snap, Whittington, who was aligned outside Nacua, motioned inside to serve a lead blocker on a “crunch” run. And moments before Whittington made his move, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir told Lucas what to do if it looked like the crunch was coming.

“He told me, ‘Man, shoot the C gap,’” Lucas said of the play on which Lenoir and safety Marques Sigle combined to stop Williams. “If you see them run the crunch, shoot the gap, f— it up and we’ll clean up the rest. I just said, ‘All right, man, you don’t have to ask me twice.’”

Said Lenoir: “It’s really about his heart. It don’t matter the size.”

Fittingly, on a night in which a host of backups played starring roles, Lucas, a second-stringer, provided the exclamation point after he entered in the fourth quarter when nickel corner Upton Stout exited with an ankle injury. The improbable victory will be best remembered for No. 2 QB Mac Jones headlining an injury-ravaged offense that counted running back Christian McCaffrey as its only starting skill-position player.

But the 49ers wouldn’t have been wildly celebrating without other huge assists from defensive reserves such as rookie tackle Alfred Collins and pass rusher Trevis Gipson, who recovered quarterback Matthew Stafford’s fumble in the second quarter.

“It took everyone,” Lenoir said. “Everyone.”

Before Lucas, a mighty mite, made a massive play to thwart Williams, a massive man did the same: Collins, 6-5 and 332 pounds, the 49ers’ heaviest player, got the 49ers to overtime with an improbable play with 1:05 left.

With the 49ers leading 23-20, Williams, on 1st-and-goal from the 3-yard line, barreled through a sizable hole up the middle, seemingly destined for a go-ahead touchdown. At the 1, however, Collins swung at the ball with his 10-inch right hand, punching it free and recovering the loose ball.

Collins, a soft-spoken second-round pick, was succinct with his post-play analysis.

“If I didn’t do that,” Collins said, “things would have been different.”

Collins, who was playing extra snaps because defensive tackle Kalia Davis suffered a broken hand in the first half, celebrated by cradling the ball after finding a seat on the sideline, where he joyfully leaned his head back as fellow rookie defensive linemen Mykel Williams and CJ West pounded his pads.

“I was kind of tired and my legs were dead,” Collins said. “I just needed to get to the bench and sit down.”

The off-the-bench defensive heroics began with Gipson, 28, a well-traveled six-year veteran who made his 49ers debut after he was promoted from the practice squad hours before kickoff. He stepped on the field — and immediately secured the ball. Gipson fell on Stafford’s bungled pitch at the 49ers’ 30-yard line with the Rams poised to cut into a 14-0 deficit midway through the second quarter.

“That was my first play on defense,” Gipson said. “I said, ‘I’m going to just get off the ball, chase the ball (and) hunt. … It takes everybody, regardless if you’re one of the all-stars or not. … It’s a (testament) to the guys who aren’t so much in the light. We continue to work hard, we’re ready when our number is called. We’ll never want to be the weakest link.”

Warner, the 49ers’ brightest defensive star with pass rusher Nick Bosa sidelined for the season, picked up on the theme as the backup brigade, on offense and defense, helped will the 49ers to a wild win. During the late-game chaos, Warner didn’t realize Lucas had replaced Stout. His message: Join the party.

“I think it was during a TV timeout, I saw him standing there and I’m like ‘Oh, shoot,’” Warner said. “‘OK, let’s go, this is your moment. You might make the game-winning play, right?’”

o

[HoosierinFL]

Wait so its happened twice now that we fielded 10 on D and had a DB fall down and give up a big pass play?!

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by HoosierinFL

Wait so its happened twice now that we fielded 10 on D and had a DB fall down and give up a big pass play?!

Wait. Did we only have 10 men on the field again on their big completion on 3rd and 11 in the 2nd quarter?

[HoosierinFL]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Wait. Did we only have 10 men on the field again on their big completion on 3rd and 11 in the 2nd quarter?

Nevermind i didnt realize somebody bumped the rams game day thread