Colts Lose: I'm Officially Concerned and I Don't Care if You Think I Shouldn't Be
by LovinBlue on Sep 12, 2010 8:51 PM EDT
in Horse Bucket
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PrintI'm usually pretty even-handed in presenting my position on nearly every topic. Not today. After today's loss, plenty of people have issued cautions against turning Chicken Little: "It's only one game," "At least it happened now and not Week 14," "All these problems are fixable," and my personal favorite, "Don't worry - many Super Bowl winners, including the Colts, have dropped their first game." My response to that? A big SCREW THAT!
The first game of the season is INDEED important. A game against a division rival is ABSOLUTELY a must-win. While we patted the proverbial heads of Texans fans as they called this game their "Super Bowl," most Colts fans trusted that the preseason didn't matter, that "The Sheriff" would march into town and grab the win, that the offense and defense would somehow come together and prove overwhelming for the Texans. Well that didn't happen and the Colts now sit at the bottom of the division, looking up. Think about that for a second.
I am well aware that there are 15 more games to play, and that "anything can happen," but I'm not going to justify my way out of why I think this game was so important. More after the jump...
1. The first game sets the tone for the season. It's one thing to move on from a loss when the game doesn't matter. It's an entirely different feeling when you were TRYING to win. A win would have started the process of removing the bad taste that's sat in the Colts' mouths since February. This loss puts the toothbrush further out of reach.
2. Division games are the most important deciding factors in playoff seeding. You can't get that coveted first round bye without winning the division. I don't understand the rationale that it's ok to lose a division game, at any time. Sure, there are 5 more division games to be played, but it's possible that the Colts will have to win all 5 of them to reclaim the lead. This will not be easy - I'd rather the Colts have the "luxury" of dropping a late division game, having already claimed the AFC South title. And don't forget that in response to the late-season decision to sit players last year, the Colts face division opponents in 3 of their last 4 games.
3. The Colts put recovering players Jeff Saturday and Charlie Johnson in the game, potentially risking an injury setback to try to win this game. Not only did they show a diminished ability to protect the team's greatest asset, but they put more wear and tear on these critical players, AND they lost. Now they will have to play the next game (and the next, and the next) without the luxury of resting these players for recovery purposes. It's like unplugging your laptop with 80% battery and hoping you can make it through the rest of the week without another charge. I expect that we'll see CJ and Saturday sitting out practices this week, costing them even more time to gel with the other players on the line, perpetuating the issue.
Do I think the errors are fixable? Maybe. Do I still think the Colts can win it all? Right now, no (and I'd of course be thrilled to eat my words). Am I still going to watch every game and root for my team as much as ever? Absolutely.
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We should be worried
I worry most that the further we go from the Dungy era, the less competent the coaches will prove to be, from Caldwell on down….
Virtually
All of the current coaches ARE Dungy era coaches….
by DevilsReject on Sep 12, 2010 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions
If you think there is something wrong with the Colts, you are over-reacting
I think the game was mostly a testament to how far the Texans have come. They are a team to deal with. They are young. They are talented. They are well-coached. The Colts will be fine. They just can’t expect to roll over the Texans anymore or receive any handouts.
I dub the Colts....Unforgiven!
Keep Preachin on
I love your post. It’s exactly how I feel. I’ve already had two fanshots about the similar issues.
This is not acceptable. It’s like the Colts loss to the Patriots in the playoffs in 2004. It’s like we went in and just quit…..
The Colts have GOT to do something, and I mean something, to fix this. The proverbial “boot in the ass” comes to mind….
by DevilsReject on Sep 12, 2010 9:10 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Love the passion.
Hate the panic. Listen up everyone. We go into Houston and are a Austin Collie fumble away from pulling this game out of our you know what. You have to put these things into perspective. The Colts are going to make the necessary adjustments to win games. How many times do we have to go over this?
And that fumble was a fluke
(two players hitting in sequence with the last in a wierd shearing motion)—how many times will that happen in a season?
And STILL we almost won.
I will, however, confess that I would really, really, really, like to have a season in which we don’t all roll our eyes when the run defense is mentioned.
"almost won"?
“almost won”? At what point in the second half (when the “winning” happens) were we one score away from even being in the lead? We were at least ten points behind almost the whole 2nd half!
Check it to Pancakes! Pancakes!
The Colts: We play more football in the fourth quarter than some teams play all year!
No way
we started losing control of that game in the second half and never got it fully back. The relatively small score deficit (10 pts) was deceiving…that game was lost well before the end of the 4th quarter. Pretty unusual for these Colts.
"My goal is to be the person my dog seems to think I am."
"I'm all lost in the supermarket/ I can no longer shop happily/ I came in here for the special offer/ A guaranteed personaility."
R.E.L.A.X.
Look,
I’d be the first to say this game stunk to the high heavens. No team whose QB is forced to the throw the ball nearly 60 times is going to win a game. No team whose defense surrenders 250 yards on the ground is going to win a game. Certainly no team that commits 70+ yards in penalties deserves to win.
Although we are looking at a pretty tough uphill battle with a rock solid schedule and a loss in our division column, guys this is the Indianapolis Colts. Week 14 of the 2006 season we were decimated by the run against Jacksonville. We all know how that season ended.
Our problems were execution. If we simply execute our game plan, we are going to be in good shape.
I will concede our run game needs to get better (Yes I know that line gets tired), but it will get better. Our pass protection needs to be sharper, but we were missing two major pieces almost all of training camp.
Things are going to be ok… I’m concerned about Bob Sanders. The guy has no luck with injuries, but if he is going to be out for a long period of time, I believe his career in Indy will be over.
That being said…
Relax… We have 15 more games to go… if we are in the same place with the same record in 3 weeks… then I’ll start to panic!
First Round Bye
You CAN NOT get a first round bye without winning the division. Wild card teams don’t get byes.
Im concerned also
I was expecting the pass defense to give way but not our beloved run defense, this game had me wondering about the other games down the road, we will have to face off against an barrage of elite RBs in the league and Chris Johnson, Brandon Jacobs, and Clinton Portis are just to name a few that worries me the most. But if Bob “The Hitman” Sanders would have stay healthy for the game the Texans would have been shit out of luck.
Our pass defense on the other hand looked pretty good, Andre Johnson was very limited (I must admit something I didn’t expect.) and Melvin Bullitt is showing some good instincts, so the part of the defense that truly worried me was the strongest aspect in today’s loss.
Pierre Garcon, Jerraud Powers, and Austin Collie were the main reason why I was so amped and stoked for the next Colts season. Collie and Powers truly impressed me but I was highly upset about Garcon’s stone hands, even his one-hand snag didn’t impress me.
The O-Line wasn’t as bad as I would have thought but Im not going to call them good either. Even though Charlie Johnson was matched up against Super Mario, he give it his best, Saturday looked good as usual, as for the others: The Rest is Silence.
Devin Moore didn’t give me any kind of hype (I barely saw him during PS) but he might just give our return game new hope, despite being call back for holding; he showed patience and waiting for the lane and just took off ( I was amazed).
This is just week 1, so I’m not pissed off at the lost, I’m pissed off that them Texans fans have braggin’ rights for the next few weeks. GO COLTS
LOL
I’m pissed off that them Texans fans have braggin’ rights for the next few weeks. GO COLTS
we been bragging for years… that streak had all the odds against … sometime the colts were going to lose.. today was the day .. let them enjoy it for a while
Sanders injured
I mean, at some point in time you kinda have to expect it.
by eltharion_doa on Sep 12, 2010 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions
is nice too get frustration out
but this week there were few people positive for this game anyways.. about the concerns for the rest of the season , 1 game that was the super bowl for the other team is no enough to think we will miss playoffs, it is not time to panic just yet, let’s hope this is a wake-up call for the coaching staff and Polian , a lil scare to make them act on the issues if they want to protect Peyton and the season. Sometimes when you deal with stubbornness a wake-up call like this is the best that could happen.. Lets wait a couple more games and the actions taken around the issues to take out our paper bags.. I’m sad but i guess we can’t win em all always.. Go Colts!!! I still believe!!!!
also
Manning came out of this game in one peace, something to be thanful for considering how poorly the online played. Which I think will improve with a full week of practice and playing legs back under our center and tackle, who btw is clearly the worst left tackle in football.
by Coltsinsider on Sep 12, 2010 10:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise..
The Colts will now be playing catch up in the division. The only season that Indy have won the Super Bowl is after having played all 17 games. If they turn things around, this could end productively.
hopefully
something will be done.. at least at the OL end .. remember who’s health depends on it, I say they needed to see how they were going to play on a real game with saturday and CJ that were no available in pre-season , now they seen… they will act no doubt ..on the defense i just expect they will move guys around and try to coach em better.. but on the OL i expect FO commitment to fix the issues the franchise depends on it
I've been concerned all off-season
I don’t see the point in hiding your head in the sand and pretending everything’s sunshine and rainbows.
The offensive line isn’t good enough, and the interior defense is genuinely awful. Will Manning and friends be enough to win us a lot of games? Yeah, probably. Is that going to be enough? I highly doubt it.
Colts fans need to wake up. You cannot win a title with a defensive line that’s incapable of stopping any kind of decent running attack – and the Texans were 30th last season in rushing! – or an offensive line that is constantly giving up pressure. Manning’s able to deal with the pressure, because he’s awesome, but if they could give him an extra couple of seconds, our offensive would be vastly more explosive.
It’s a major, major problem, it has been since the first snap of training camp, and it baffles me that so many people are ignoring it.
I agree
with everything you said. And, I have to say, your line ‘The offensive line isn’t good enough’ is probably the biggest understatement I’ve ever read. Manning had about 2 seconds to do something with the football before Mario Williams and company was all over him. Our offensive line should be totally embarrassed and sickened. And, the run defense and poor special teams play is the same old disgusting story every year. Now, you add a horrible offensive line to the mix and it’s a recipe for disaster. But, the greatness of Manning almost overcame all this, if not for a few dropped passes. It was the perfect storm of awful play by many areas of our team, yet Manning almost won it. Things better change soon. I was worried after the trial run at Green Bay. Seriously, how do you give up 59 points, even in pre-season. And, I’m worried now.
Nice read LB....
But in my mind a loss early gets the urgency boiling earlier. A few less Garcon drops, one less Collie fumble, and one less offsetting penalty, and this game has a whole different look. I am worried about the OL and DL though. No way did I expect to see us get run on like that.
I think we should be scared...
That an injured Charlie Johnson and Jeff Saturday were still, by far, the best options at their positions. Polian did a TERRIBLE job assembling OL talent for this year’s team. C. Johnson isn’t an ideal starting LT to begin with. But he’s clearly their only viable option.
by Collin McCollough on Sep 12, 2010 10:50 PM EDT reply actions
Peyton took A TON of hits
had a sleeve on his left elbow. I didn’t notice if he was wearing it in the first half or not.
"We ARE going to our own private island, Chris: it's called the State Fucking Fair!"
by naptown_ninja on Sep 13, 2010 8:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Colts didn't pull it out like they usually do
I am a little concerned, but for different reasons. We’ve had plenty of games in recent years where the defense couldn’t stop the run, where the offense struggled, where we fell a few scores behind – even late in the game. But what has really been special about the Colts the past two years has been their uncanny ability to come up with a big play or drive when they really needed it. Most of the recent games against the Texans have looked pretty much like this one for the first 3 quarters or so. But then the O starts putting together scoring drives and the D starts making stops and getting turnovers, and the Colts end up on top.
That’s what didn’t happen today. If Collie holds on to that fumble and the D comes up with a stop or turnover instead of a 4-play scoring drive, then the game looks alot like the game in Houston last year. Key question is whether the failure to get it done today shows a slippage in clutch performing, or just the law of averages catching up with us – can only make so many improbable comebacks against one team.
if the Texans don't get the TO and McAfee recovers his own onside kick....
The OL is going to be serviceable if not gloriously impressive if there are not a rash of injuries.
The real shock is how soft we looked on defense where our roster includes 13 returning starters (not just 11 including Sanders/Bethea/Bullitt and Hayden/Powers/Lacey, who started half the games last year).
"To be a great football coach, you have to be smart enough to do it well, and dumb enough to think it's important." -- Can't remember whom I am paraphrasing.
by zherebyonki on Sep 13, 2010 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions
I thought the secondary
did alright. The line/LBs really shit the bed.
"We ARE going to our own private island, Chris: it's called the State Fucking Fair!"
by naptown_ninja on Sep 13, 2010 8:02 AM EDT up reply actions
word
"To be a great football coach, you have to be smart enough to do it well, and dumb enough to think it's important." -- Can't remember whom I am paraphrasing.
I was thinking this was what it was
but praying it’s just a sprain. We’ll know when they reveal the results of the MRI.
How can you not love a team that does this?
Today we passed over 50 times
and ran for around 10. Sorry I don’t have the exact numbers but it’s around that. When was the last game where we actually ran more than we passed?
We should be passing much more than running.
We just need to give our gunslinger some time to make the incredibly accurate throws he’s capable of.
Week 1 blues
The “Sheriff” traditionally needs some kind “posse” to get the job done. Garcon dropped a touchdown. Gonzo set his feet and made beautiful catch… standing on the fucking sideline. Donald Brown STILL doesn’t know who block -EVER. Addai was actually finding some room to run… but behind by two scores he’s not gonna get time consuming handoffs. The defensive line/LBs played like shit. Period. Our defense that is supposed to be deeper and more comfortable in the new system got handled. My confidence has been reduced by half. go colts?
"We ARE going to our own private island, Chris: it's called the State Fucking Fair!"
Most disappointing after watching again...
1)The decisions to punt on Texans side of field
2)The play of LBs was simply awful. Brackett and Session didn’t get a whole lot of PS action and looked the part. Wheeler, I’m sadly just getting used him missing tackles. Cody Glenn please get healthy. I’d like to see you get your shot while Angerer is allowed time to develope.
3) Garcon’s drops
4) The team knowing how Houston was going to approach this game and still looked flat and in some ways stale. Being flat is on the coaches, looking stale is on the FO.
It's a very simple fix....
Polian merely agrees to stifle Peyton’s comments about the new Umpire placement in exchange for the rest of the Comp Committee passing a “3 Mississippi” rush rule.
"Hey, quit callin' the f@&%in' plays, alright?...When we call pass plays, BLOCK!" - #18
I have a feeling
the O line will get it’s shit together by next week. It’s just one game. We can still win the division with 5 wins. I have a feeling the Titans and even the Jags can beat the Texans. We will win the next one against them anyway.
The O line better get it’s shit together…they’re gonna get Peyton killed if they don’t.
"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007
by peytonsthebest on Sep 13, 2010 10:33 AM EDT reply actions
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