Colts developing an efficient running game since bye week

And now I’m thinking maybe he’ll make me eat my words. Both of his TDs yesterday were seriously tough, gutsy runs. Addai’s not going to break half a dozen tackles the way Dominic Rhodes could sometimes do but damned if he didn’t sumo his way into the end zone when it counted.

100+ yards and two TDs yesterday is no joke by any measure. As much as I would love to see more 100-yard rushing games, Addai is definitely pulling his weight on offense. And his last run of the game on 3rd-and-too-much was really quite crucial. He didn’t get the first down but he shouldn’t have been expected to. He did get McAfee in a much better position to punt and we got to bleed more valuable seconds off the clock.

I miss having an electrifying RB like Edge was and I wish our play fakes were more convincing but I’m coming to respect Joe’s blocking and receiving skills much more. Brown will be back and when we have both of them on the field at once I’ll be pretty happy with the state of our running game.

A lot of people are going to question our production based upon our yardage output, but, to add to your argument, we’ve played against a very tough SF D, and and much improved Houston run D. Also factor in the fact that the majority of our production has come in the 4th quarter, like you said, but the biggest thing that needs to be mentioned is that both SF and Houston had the lead and gave up that much production. That’s the kind of run game we need to develop if we want to do anything in the playoffs.

Not spectacular. I guess some guys consider a running game efficient ONLY if there’s 150+ yds, 2 TDs or something. Efficient is quite different to spectacular and as a football team, you need to get the job done. Gain those tough, short yards and aid the passing game. Addai has done that this season, not shining at all, but he has tried as he has a mysteriously bad O-Line for the running game.
True, D-Brown is more explosive and has some nice long runs, so everybody claims that those 3 or 4 plays make him that much better than Joe. Probably he is, but not because one guy is better, the other one sucks.
Besides, #29 has done some great job receiving and blocking.
He hasn’t been spectacular at all, but as time goes by, he is looking better and better. The key here is to run the ball through the whole game just as they do on 4th quarter. That KEY TD run yesterday was simply great and the truth is, Addai has been one of the reasons this Colts team has won those 2 tough games.
As BBS says, we can’t claim yet that our running game is awesome or that we have one of the best running games of the league. They (Joe, Brown the O-Line and specially that friggin Simpson) need to keep proving us they can move the ball with some consistency.
For now, Addai is playing some good football and has helped the Colts win the last 2 games so, show some appreciation and love for our #29.

who do we play again next week?

Can someone put out an APB on Mike Hart? Whose Cheerios did he piss in to get demoted behind Chad Simpson?

carries. addai needed breaks and we could have used another look even if it isn’t a great one

He played hurt last season because he HAD to. Nobody else was there to help him. Not to mention he’s one of the best receiving RBs in the game and he’s an elite (that’s right I said elite) blocker. You can see an obvious difference when he was in the game last season and when he was out.

Not to mention you can’t really blame him for losing almost an entire offensive line. Not saying he was better than Edge by any means, but that line was definitely better. But I’d rather have a back like Addai and a line like we have AND the defense we do over what we used to have.

Either Addai takes a huge paycut, or he’s as good as gone. Go head and be his apologist, but when you have a line that doesn’t allow a sack for nearly six games, and the number one RB can’t approach 100 yards, and forces Manning to throw 40 times in the first half…you have a problem… Why can’t he just run through the gaps….PS…if you watch his stretch play runs…he NEVER turns the corner quickly, and heads up field, he just stretches to the sideline.

When we play a good pass defense, you’ll lament the lack of a running game…

Do some people just want to close-mindedly hate on Addai by ignoring the awful run blocking? I’m tired of seeing two defenders in the backfield before Addai has the ball tucked away.

And regarding the pass blocking, I’m not so sure we should feel that great about it. Manning is the greatest QB ever, and part of that is his decisiveness and ability to get of the ball quickly. I think he is pressured more than he should be. LT and RG are problems period. And this is even more evident in run blocking.

Addai runs fine, catches very well and pass blocks on an elite level. I’m glad he’s a Colt. I hope they keep him.

but the 2nd back is hurt and his other back-up is Simpson who is co-whipping boy with Jennings.

Run block must improve. Saw lots of Texans penetrate the line before Addai got started. Stretch play not as good as in years past. I still don’t like the Addai dance but he understands the importance of pass blocking and receiving. One dimensional backs don’t work in this offense.

but when the colts come to reliant, and i think they will still be undefeated, the texans will FINALLY play 4 quarters and win.

great job by caldwell to challenge the fumble, and bad job by the texan coaches up in the box for not running another play.

if we score on that drive, i think they win the game.

its the closest we;ve been to winning in indy, and ill take it for now.

cant wait for peyton to retire, hopefully only three more years after this one

Man yall would be lost without him, so enjoy while you can.

thanks to angelsfaith and others that were so cool all week, and look forward to doing it again REAL SOON!!

This entire argument is just beyond stupid anymore. All of the Addai apologists used the o-line as a scapegoat for Addai’s lack of production, and now that he is producing a little, it’s because he’s “back” and not because the o-line has improved. How quaint.

  He is an excellent blocker, and a good pass catcher BUT at best he is an average running back, he certainly can’t run the stretch the way edge could, he can’t seem to straight arm a player for the life of him. He also dances too much behind the line.

yes I agree there were several plays were he had had a chance as the defenders were behind the line before he could do anything, but I think he still takes too long to decide and doesn’t SEE the holes he needs to.

James used to be patient and wait for blocks but then he would GO. Addai doesn’t seem to have this skill.

Addai seems to just need to go. It is when he starts the dancing he gets into trouble.

Brown from what I have seen is completely different, and I think we need to get him back. When was the last time Addai had a 45 yard run?

Never. His career long is 41 (though he’s had receptions over 45 yards each of the last two years)

however Edge who we are obviously all fond of hasn’t had one since his rookie year.

Addai has been playing better the last couple of games, but his ypc isn’t spectacular, by using the stats BBS provided. If he could run the ball better, then he wouldn’t need to block or receive out of the backfield as much. So I think while those skills are important (esp. to the Colts), they are overvalued. You still need a back that can average more than 3-4 yards per carry over the long haul, which would greatly improve this team.

I think this team is in trouble if this is all the running game the Colts have come playoff time. Throwing the ball 35-50 times isn’t a good recipe for winning consistently in the playoffs. This offense needs more balance. But, as BBS sentimented, they are showing signs of improvement so there is certainly reason for optimism.

Hard for a guy to gain yards when he gets hit directly at the hand off. There were a couple plays where the D was literally in the backfield as soon as he got the ball. When he gets a little push he gains yards.

However, this post is incorrect. The Colts run game hasnt improved at all since the bye week. They’ve played the Rams, 49ers, and Texans, with only the 49ers having an above average run defense, and yet the Colts were unable to pound the ball with any regularity.

Need proof from someone that doesn’t post on a blog that the running game isnt better? Okay, let’s ask Tom Moore:

Hello, Tom, how are you today?

“Hi, uhm, Spaz? I’m fine, thank you, I could use a smoke, though”

Yes, well, you had to stop since you won the super bowl, maybe you should get some of that fancy gum. Anyhow, the offense has looked a little “off” the past 2 weeks, some people have attributed it to Manning, what do you attribute it to?

“Yes, it’s definitely Manning being “off”. Manning is so off that we asked him to throw 40 times in the first half yesterday. As you can see, when the run game is improving and the passing game is off, we put away the run game and go exclusively to the passing game, against a team that is constantly playing 2 deep safeties."

Well, that seems counterintuitive, Tom! I Hope you arent being sarcastic! Anyhow, about that run game, what did you think about it yesterday?

“Well, Spice, we had 9,563 3rd or 4th and 1s yesterday, and we threw the ball on 9,562 of them. We had to run the one time Peyton’s arm fell off, just one play, though, it was super glued back on after that run. Also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this is 2 weeks where we’ve started kicking up the skilled-player-option plays and then end arounds.”

Yes, Tom, those ‘trick plays’ as the fans call them, why is that?

“Well, its pretty easy, actually. Teams are dusting off their 2008 strategies. Play 2 deep safties, play the pass before the run, and, like last year, we’re unable to run with any regularity against their soft front. Since Jake Scott and Tarik Glenn aren’t walking through that door, we have to come up with some method of running the ball better. Now, fans will say, ‘so you’re going to use end arounds and option passes to suppliment your running game?’ and the answer directly is no. The plan is, if you keep running those plays, eventually the safeties and lbers will get off their keys, will get off their marks, out of their gaps, because they’ll be watching for the end around motion of dallas or reggie, or they’ll cover our WRs when they are running patterns. Now, yesterday, the LBers were deep and the safety had coverage on Garcon, and it looked like Reggie had a crease. It was a bad pass, to be sure, but Reggie says that he was trying to throw it away, and throwing across your body with momentum carrying you is hard for a QB, let alone a WR. I think it will serve us in the long run.”

Well, thats some great insight, Tom. I know the team doesn’t usually let you talk to reporters, but we really appreciate it. Since i have you, do you mind if we talk about some injuries?

“Sure, that would b…”

“Its Polian, he’s set us up the bomb! GET DOWN!”

Next year Addai is up for renewal, I believe. At one point he and his agent probably thought he was capable of commanding a HUGE RB’s salary….What I meant was when he comes to the table next year to negotiate his contract he would have to take a paycut in terms of what he thinks his market value WAS, as opposed to what it IS….
 I’m sure he doesn’t think he’ll stay with the Colts for 1.3 million…. or that he is deserving of that little amount of money….

Either way, we’re in the market for a new RB… You have no gift for inference, Deshawn Zombie, and that’s a tough handicap to go through life with.

If the running game is efficient, and we are looking at about 4.5 per carry in the past 3-4 games, why do we run the ball so few times? Peyton should not be throwing more than about 35 per game IMO. We should work on being a more balanced team so Peyton doesn’t have to once again shoulder the load when the playoffs come around.

It seems like the Colts quit on the run if they run a play that doesn’t gain more than 5 yards. I just wish there was more of a commitment to the running game. I realize Peyton is one of the best but his TD/INT ratio has slowed a bit the past couple games and it is largely a result of his passing attempts being so high.

Spaz, what does Moore say to that?