Colts Thread

letowski

Watched the condensed game there on Youtube.

Was really both surprised and impressed with the defense, especially considering what we saw the last few weeks. I loved that Eburflus played more man, you can see the difference it made last night. The pass rushers had much more time to get to the QB and they did. Houston played his best game, as did Turay, I'm devastated for the kid his season is over because he was making great strides. What was also encouraging was the performance of the 3 rookies who started on defense (Okereke, Ya-Sin and Willis). I think Willis and Okereke are already better than Walker and Geathers, definitely Willis is better than Geathers, while Ya-Sin has locked down the right cornerback position. Odum also played really well.

For me the winning of the game was the oline play. Like jesus some of the moving Nelson was doing out there was off the charts. On a 4th and 1, Braden Smith blocked 3 guys in front of him down field for Mack to pick up the 1st down. All the backs played well. I'm still not fully on board with Jacoby to be honest. I'm not too upset over the pick, Ebron was open in behind, but his vision down the field is very suspect. We are struggling to push the ball down the field, and even when he does throw deep, sometimes its into double/triple coverage. We can't always rely on the run game, and we will need to see more from him. He is kind of playing at a level I taught he would, serviceable, but not at a level I'd make him my franchise QB.

I think getting to the bye 3-2 is a good enough start. Next game against the Texans in LOS is agruably the most important game of the season.

letowski

In usual circumstances, we would be cutting our kicker. But Adam isn't any usual kicker though. Once again he cost us the game.

I understand the standing Adam has in our locker room and in the game in general, but we have to cut him now. Ballard needs to make the tough decision he is paid to do. He is missing far too much. At this stage, I would just take a chance and sigh someone off the street that keep going with Vinateri. It can't get much worse. I mean he has missed about 4 PATs so far this year.

Deco99

letowski wrote: »

In usual circumstances, we would be cutting our kicker. But Adam isn't any usual kicker though. Once again he cost us the game.

I understand the standing Adam has in our locker room and in the game in general, but we have to cut him now. Ballard needs to make the tough decision he is paid to do. He is missing far too much. At this stage, I would just take a chance and sigh someone off the street that keep going with Vinateri. It can't get much worse. I mean he has missed about 4 PATs so far this year.

THE LACES WERE OUT

letowski

Deco99 wrote: »

THE LACES WERE OUT

You mean the laces were in? They were in for the Steelers final kick.

I'm not an expert in kicking, but it looked like he kicked the ground a half foot in front of the ball, I don't think the ball ever had a chance of getting over, whether the laces were out or in.

The missed PAT was costly too, he has to be chipping those kicks to avoid any chances of them being blocked.

The reality is his stats are the worst in the NFL this season, and if it were not for the fact he is arguably the greatest kicker of all time, he would definitely be cut by now.

I don't have any confidence in him. He has cost us two games in the first half of the season. That's too high. I have the utmost respect for him nonetheless. But ever since he had that hamstring injury during last season, he has not been himself. I think its age, its hard to return from those types of injuries at 47. Like there is no shame in age catching up to a player, it happens to everyone, and he is still guaranteed his golden jacket in Canton, Ohio.

Deco99

Yup, should have been laces out. Was meant to quote ace Ventura

kmart6

Oh another missed PAT, great!!

letowski

kmart6 wrote: »

Oh another missed PAT, great!!

Yep. I think we will still win.

But we are not a very good football team.

kmart6

letowski wrote: »

Yep. I think we will still win.

Nope.

letowski

kmart6 wrote: »

Nope.

If they don't cut Vinny in the morning, I mean i don't know what to say.

Ballard has to take criticism for this decision.

What an embarrassment.

Hoyer too.

letowski

Well this season is lost. Complete nightmare when it promised so much pre Luck's retirement.

On the positive side at least we know for certain that Jacoby is not a franchise QB.

But the roster is shakey. We are either ageing or lacking talent in all the premium positions, QB, LT, WR, DE, CB.

I think next off season Ballard needs to fix this passing offense, we were 3rd worst before today. He just needs to draft his QB and try (for the 3rd time) to get a good WR opposite Hilton.

But this roster is a good bit away yet from doing anything.

McG

if we'd had even an average kicker this year we'd probably be leading the division. Keeping Vinny this long has not done him, or us, any favours.

Foxtrol

letowski wrote: »

Well this season is lost. Complete nightmare when it promised so much pre Luck's retirement.

On the positive side at least we know for certain that Jacoby is not a franchise QB.

But the roster is shakey. We are either ageing or lacking talent in all the premium positions, QB, LT, WR, DE, CB.

I think next off season Ballard needs to fix this passing offense, we were 3rd worst before today. He just needs to draft his QB and try (for the 3rd time) to get a good WR opposite Hilton.

But this roster is a good bit away yet from doing anything.

As a non-Colts fan, did you ever get a reason as to why Ballard didn't spend much money in the last off-season? I know he had great success in the draft and with cheap FAs the year before but that is rarely sustainable year on year.

They were in a great position to kick on this year but it now seems like a wasted one.

Did Ballard just get too full of his own success? Do you think that approach will change next year?

letowski

Foxtrol wrote: »

As a non-Colts fan, did you ever get a reason as to why Ballard didn't spend much money in the last off-season? I know he had great success in the draft and with cheap FAs the year before but that is rarely sustainable year on year.

They were in a great position to kick on this year but it now seems like a wasted one.

Did Ballard just get too full of his own success? Do you think that approach will change next year?

The main reason he gave from the start was that he philosophically believed that to rebuild a strong sustainable roster from the ground up, it needed a core group of young Colts players that were drafted. So his idea was to build his team almost exclusively through the draft, with as you say, supplementing with bargain, stop gap veteran players in positions he had not got around to drafting yet. His other approach was to build from inside out, so we have alot of draft capital invested in the oline, dline and linebackers, with little investment in skill positions.

To be honest, its been an approach I'm OK with, as it was the antithesis of what his predecessor Ryan Grigson did, who was a terrible GM. Ballard got GM of the year last year, but with the exception of the 2018 draft class, his draft and free agent work is decent but not great. My main issue with his work is he hasn't invested either money or high draft picks on premium positions and as a result, it feels like the Colts have a solid roster, say players 10 to 53, but not enough high end talent/playmakers you need to go far in the playoffs.

I could see his approach start to change, were swimming in cap space, (even before Luck's retirement) and now that he has 3 draft classes down, he has a good locker room of young players to build around. It also must be taken into account he can't break CBA rules on minimum spending, he is aware of that and has spoken to the media that he will make sure they are meeting cap expenditure requirements. But its hard to know. I think next year he will be under some bit of pressure as there has been a level of regression/stagnation in the team. Nevertheless we still have a young team, but everything the future hold for this franchise the short to medium term will likely hinge on the QB he takes in the first round next April. As bad as the Colts roster was in 2017, and it was bad, at least above all he had a franchise QB. But with that asset gone, replacing Luck will his biggest test yet as a GM, and one he will be ultimately judged on.

letowski

Thought I'd just put up my end of the season thoughts before the Free Agency and Draft next year. I'll try to be as brief as possible as there are a multitude of reasons why we are such a mediocre/below average team right now.

From a high level standpoint, I've two major issues in the direction this team is going:

First is with Ballard and the second is with Eburflus. With regards to Ballard, I've talked about it above, but imo he has got be be more aggressive in acquiring talent, especially in the free agency or even in the draft. If he continues to just sign cheap stop gap players in the Free Agency, it will take years to draft enough high playmakers on both sides of the ball to have a good enough team to go far in the playoffs. Right now we have loads of holes on our roster, which I will get into below, that simply cannot be fixed through the draft in 1 or two years, even if he drafts well.

With regards to Eberflus, I have large reservations with this defensive scheme he is running here. Last year, I got it, we were making the switch to a 4-3 zone defensive set, so he called a soft zone Cover 2 to reduce big plays and keep things as simple as possible for the players so they could make the transition. But this year, with the exception of the Chiefs game, I don't think we have evolved or at least tried to bring in some nuance in our defensive scheme. And we don't play much press man at all, even on 3rd down. We just allow receivers free access off the line and let them take easy 10 yard completions. Against New Orleans, I've had enough of it to be honest, Brees is obviously a HOF, but how at this level we allowed a QB to throw 29/30 passes is a disgrace in my opinion. I think fundamentally this scheme will only bring us so far, but I don't think you can go to a SB with it and expect it to hold up against the top passing teams. I think it will continue to be shredded to be honest, its more suited to college than the pros.


With regards to talent on the team, I have it that we have 4 holes on offense and 4 holes on defense. The major problem is that they are at some of the most important positions on the football field. For me, were short at QB, WR, TE, RG and Left DE, CB, DT, NT. And heavens forbid, if Castanzo is considering retirement, that is a disaster in every sense considering there is 3/4 good years left in him. Obviously were not going to fill every hole next year but getting sorted the biggest issue at QB would be a start. Were at 13th overall in the draft and I think were going to have to give up either our 34th overall or next years 1st round pick (or some kind of package) to get into the top 10 to get our franchise guy. Hopefully Ballard can find another good player or two in the draft and use his enormous cap space to address more positions.


I think in some ways, the season ending so terribly could be a blessing in disguise. The last few weeks fully exposed alot of the team's weaknesses and there is no hiding from them. I think what's important now is just getting a good QB and build from there.

Crendist the dentist

What are people making of Phillip Rivers so far? Personally don't think he's been an upgrade from Jacoby. I think he's been lucky with a great defence and O-line

letowski

Crendist the dentist wrote: »

What are people making of Phillip Rivers so far? Personally don't think he's been an upgrade from Jacoby. I think he's been lucky with a great defence and O-line

Yeah I agree, I think he is holding the team back. Defenses are selling out against our run because they know Rivers doesn't have the arm strength to make alot of throws, especially to the boundary. He is also putting savage pressure on our oline, he has no ability to escape pressure. I think we have to look at drafting a QB next year.

There has been massive backlash by Colts supporters online over Rivers performance against Cleveland. I think supporters are getting the feeling that its possible our offense could just be as bad as it was last year, because of the QB play, and that we will struggle again to make the playoffs.

It's disappointing because we have made great strides on defense.

ger664

Most disapointing for me is a fit TY and he cant seem to ever find him

letowski

I have to say, Phillip has been outstanding these past few games. He really has settled down after a rocky first couple of games and our offense is humming now. What's so encouraging is players are starting to emerge, Hines, Taylor, Pittman and TY rediscovering his old form. Taylor particularly giving us that physical run game with our oline, keeping us ahead of the chains, has allowed Rivers to game-manage the offense, get the ball out quickly and sustain drives. This is exactly Frank's offensive philosophy and it's been really enjoyable watching this team play.

Defense too is going well and has taken a big step forward this year. I feel though, were just shy a quality edge rusher that would make this unit consistently dominant. Houston and Autry are solid no doubt, but at times we have struggled to get off the field on 3rd down. But that being said, the defense is have a very good season and have exceeded my expectations. Buckner has been a transformational player for the defense.

Yesterday puts us 1 step in the playoffs now but also with momentum on our backs. The AFC wildcard weekend will be a dogfight, alot of teams playing very well right now too. But I think this team is capable of winning in January if we can avoid injuries and continue to improve.

not_quite_last

I think the Steelers game will be the litmus test. This team should be able to win there - especially after the Steelers have now lost 2 in a row. But history is on the Steelers side.

Win that game and the Titans lose to the Packers, and that should be a home game for the wild card round - unless the Jags wreck everything again!

letowski

not_quite_last wrote: »

I think the Steelers game will be the litmus test. This team should be able to win there - especially after the Steelers have now lost 2 in a row. But history is on the Steelers side.

Win that game and the Titans lose to the Packers, and that should be a home game for the wild card round - unless the Jags wreck everything again!

Yeah we have a horrendous record against the Steelers and Big Ben. But your right, they have been inconsistent, while we are trajecting upwards. I'm looking forward to that game.

Colts need to take care of their business at home to the Texans and Jags. Both those teams were routed this weekend and should be straight-forward wins.

not_quite_last

letowski wrote: »

Yeah we have a horrendous record against the Steelers and Big Ben. But your right, they have been inconsistent, while we are trajecting upwards. I'm looking forward to that game.

Colts need to take care of their business at home to the Texans and Jags. Both those teams were routed this weekend and should be straight-forward wins.

It should be a good old fashioned defensive battle with the Steelers. Both teams with good defenses and run games. And 2 QB's from the same draft!

The Texans are now mathematically eliminated from the AFC South and the Wild card chase, so they have nothing to play for now.
And the Jags are fighting for the first pick.
The way this team has been beating the teams they should beat this year - apart from the Jags game - they should be ok in both games.

decolts

It is hard not to be happy as a Colts fan right now! Rivers has definitely turned a corner in the last few games - you would have to imagine the few wobbles that came from him in the early half of the season were down to the change of team and no pre-season, he's really impressed me as well how he has handled the occasions where he is being pressured and gets his throws off and on target. He just seems to be so smart and can read defences so well and that showed big time last night. I'm delighted to see Taylor showing what he can do, he had his blips earlier in the season and he has come back so strong from that and improved his game. There is no doubting that his vision has come along way in recent weeks and being able to spot the gaps. And then throw Hines into the mix.. I love that guy! He is so reliable and a great partner for Taylor, showed glimpses before this season of what he could do and this season he has just gone to another level. Will be very interesting to see what happens at the end of the season and if they try and keep Mack onboard and have the 3 guys in rotation - no doubting Mack is a top weapon but has just been super unlucky with his injuries.
As for the defence they are just on another level this season! Buckner is the obvious difference there and he has proven to be a great trade for that 1st round pick but others have really shone as well. Grover Stewart has been immense this season and rightly deserves that new contract, and in the secondary Blackmon and Rhodes have been great additions in there. Rhodes has really brought that secondary along with his experience and has been great value considering he is only there on a 3 million contract for the year.
I just hope now they don't go and throw away all the good work that has been done up to now by slipping up against texans and jags!

not_quite_last

I've never been a fan of Rivers from his Chargers days, but I agree, once they got a few they got a few games under their belt, he's been doing well. And now he's finding Hilton as well. That'll spread the defense and give the RB's even more room to operate in.

Taylor really does have seemed to turn the corner. He looks more patient and is finding the gaps. And the pace of him when he hit the gap against the Raiders.
Love Hines too. I've always liked Wilkins as well. He doesn't have the other RB's pace, but he always makes yards and after his few fumbles the first year, he's been very consistent. So I guess if Mack comes back, he'll be the odd one out.
But if Mack does come back next year, it really will be a 1-1 punch at RB like Reich said at the start of the season.

The defense, I think is all down to Buckner. The opposing QBs have to get the ball out a bit quicker, they can't step up as much, it all gives the LBs and DBs less time they have to cover and can attack the ball more.
And then with the running game working so well, they get to rest as well. The second half of the Packers game, where I think Rogers was on the field for 3 or 6 plays in the 3rd quarter so they were well rested.

I've only started following the Colts since the early 2000's, but I've always hated the bend/don't break defense they use to play. Had my hopes up when Pagano took over, but thanks to Grigson being terrible with the picks, this is the most confidence I've had in the defense ever. It used to be if the defense was on the field at the end of the game, it meant a loss. Now I have more faith in them getting the stop when it's needed.

ger664

Rivers has got better in finding his targets down field, but clearly the defense is why we have this run going. Second half against the texans was 2-0 with a defensive score. We gave the ball back after the 2 minute warning 6 points up and they got the job done. Same against the packers after the OL went backwards down the field with penalties. Held them to a field goal and then turned them over in OT.

letowski

ger664 wrote: »

Rivers has got better in finding his targets down field, but clearly the defense is why we have this run going. Second half against the texans was 2-0 with a defensive score. We gave the ball back after the 2 minute warning 6 points up and they got the job done. Same against the packers after the OL went backwards down the field with penalties. Held them to a field goal and then turned them over in OT.

That's true but there were periods is both those games where the offense played very well. Against the Packers we scored 31 points in regular time, obviously messed up there at the end not finishing them off, but we moved the ball fairly well (300 yards passing +100 yards rushing). The Texans I thought Reich's 4th and 1 call in the redzone and turning down a chance to go two scores ahead was very questionable. We played poorly on offense in the second half but had 24 points on the board in the 1st half.

There has been consistency issues for sure and also with the playcalling, but I do think were at a much better place than where we were at the start of the season.

letowski

That was a rough loss. It seems crazy that we will finish on 11-5 and not make the playoffs but it’s possible now.

There is a lot that could be made of our second half performance but I wouldn’t lay it all on the most popular narrative that we got away from the run game. It was quite clear that the Steelers sold out to stop our run in the 2nd, bringing their safety down and often blitzing the nickel too and Rivers understandably checked out of a lot of run plays. Our pass offense played poorly in the 2nd half, that drop by Burton was a killer. Obviously being down to our 5th and 6th choice tackles had a huge bearing on the game, but I didn’t think Reich helped them out as much as he should. I think we have become too reliant on TY and crossers to Pittman, we don’t have enough playmakers in the WR or TE positions to put teams away.

On defence again it’s that average pass rush and Rock/Carrie’s corner that’s the weakness. Some questionable DPIs (and a no-call OPI) didn’t help but a bit like with Reich and the tackles, I didn’t think Eberflus gave enough help to Rock or Carrie. The Steelers went ahead and exposed our weaknesses there. It’s frustrating, we didn’t need to commit a safety into the box, because they had a crap run game, we should have just stuck to Cover-2 like we always do with help for the corners. Leaving Rock and Carrie on an island against Claypool and Johnson was always a recipe for disaster.

Overall I though we got well out coached in the 2nd half. I still think there is a decent chance we can make the playoffs, but it’s hard to see the team going very far. We have a solid team, but there just isn’t enough top level talent on the roster to take out any of the big guns imo.

decolts

Really hard loss to take. Definitely most disappointing loss since the Jags loss in week 1.. they were flying in the first half and everything just seemed to be working and when the steelers got the momentum in the second half you just knew what was coming and it is something that had the potential to happen in previous games too but the defence just showed up on those occasions with a game winning play.
I do think we will make the playoffs but likely to be a one and done if we do get there!

letowski

I wanted to get my thoughts in while their still fresh. That was a tough loss. I had a feeling before the game, that we were going to Buffalo with a bit more hope than expectation. We've been stumbling a bit in recent weeks, while the Bills have been the form team in the NFL. If the game had played out say 23-37, it would be easier to get over, but when we left so much points out there, that's really frustrating. I will say this though, I think its a good sign that were able to go to a very good Buffalo team and play them well for 60mins. We have improved a good bit this year, we had a good year going 11-5 and there is plenty scope to improve again next year.

I guess looking forward, getting long term solutions at QB and LT are priorites, but I hope both Rivers and Castanzo return. Rivers did give us solid quarterbacking this year overall, played well today and I don't see a ready made replacement that we can replace him with. Finding his succssor will be pivital to the long term success of this team. Defense made massive strides this year. I really only see us short at edge rusher and help opposite Rhodes. Overall, Ballard brought in 6 good starters last offseason (Rivers, Rhodes, Buckner, Taylor, Pittman and Blackmon) and we made a marked improvement. If we can find a couple more next offseason, we definitely have the potential to get back into the post season next year and challenge hard again.

decolts

Oh man am I gutted! What a massive missed opportunity that was. Like you said if we were beaten by a couple of scores I could take it but having lost by 3 and I think the better team overall it is a hard one to take. The lost points today were unforgivable. 4th and goal from the 4.. take the field goal - I dont like this line Reich uses about the analytics were good for it.. I've heard that way too often over the last couple of seasons! As for Blankenship I'm not sold on him, he had a shaky start to the season which was understandable, good middle part to the season but the last few weeks he has reverted back to his form at the start of the season and you can't have a kicker who you can't fully trust, especially if you wanna to win championships!
As for Rivers I can see him coming back but only if there isn't anything better on the market for us, he will do a job next season but is he a guy to take the colts to the next level? Personally I'd really like to see Stafford come in, he would be my pick to move us forward.
I hope they keep Mack and add to the RB strength for next year, Wilkins will move on (hopefully).. Hooker I think will go too, way too many questions marks over him at this stage and that showed when they didn't take the option to extend him before the season started, feel like his attitude just isn't right and don't think missing the season will have improved that.
They definitely need Castonzo back tho need to be looking for his long term replacement in the draft, and also think Hilton will be back next year.
I know tomorrow hindsight will set in and ill see a lot of positives from them this season, which there definitely was but I'm just gutted now.

Claude Burgundy

Great 4th quarter comeback but the 4th down decision near the end of the 1st half was big mistake.

Will Rivers return ?