State your opinion in short

by iowacolt on Oct 6, 2011 11:54 AM EDT

I see lots of topics regarding complaints about Polian's, Jim Caldwell, Jim Irsay etc. How about a single thread that gives each person their platform to state their opinion about why we are currently 0-4. Obviously the loss of Manning does not count, leave that one out because we all know that if Manning were healthy we would most likely be sitting at 3-1. Lots of folks think that we should be better than 0-4 even with the loss of Manning.

My personal opinion is that there is some definite areas on the team that lack the personnel to win a championship even if Manning were healthy. 1st is the O-line. The team definitely took a step in the right direction by selecting Costanzo and Ijalana but they've missed on a number of picks in the recent past and it's hurt.

2nd is the defensive secondary. The loss of Hayden and the absence of a good Strong Safety has definitely been a problem the last 2 seasons. I'm sure the front office thought that Melvin Bullitt was going to solidify this area and that they couldn't afford to keep Hayden around given his large contract and numerous injuries. I like the young guy Lefege but he is just a rookie.

Areas of the team that I definately think have been upgraded over the last 5 years are the defensive line and linebackers. A number of years ago those 2 areas really sucked and we had a revolving door at DT and linebacker. Angerer and Conner are leading the NFL in tackles and when Brackett is healthy our linebacking corp is pretty darn good. Not Baltimore good but better than in years past. The addition of Drake Nevis, Moala, Brayton and Jamal Anderson are definitely solidifying the defensive line.

My opinion is that most likely there will be a coaching change next year. I've been a critic of Polian in the past but I'm not at the point where I believe he has failed to the point that he deserves to be fired. No one is perfect and I don't think a change in the General Manager is warranted at this point

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.

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great idea

Manning not playing, obviously.

But I think the defense is a huge problem. Not because they’re bad, but because the Tampa 2 system doesn’t work as well as it used to. And definitely not the way they’re executing it. You can’t have Pat Angerer 15 yards deep and not expect easy catches across the middle, every single freaking time.

Calling offensive plays against the Colts is like playing Madden against an 8 year old.

by beckmania on Oct 6, 2011 12:30 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Ditto

Is that short enough?

"The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they don't know the game" -Bill Shankly

by Bromantic on Oct 6, 2011 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions

defensive line has upgraded in the past 5 years?

2005 we had a very solid defense with solid defensive line play from montae reagor and eventually floppy cory simon. 2006 our d line stunk it up. 2007 they played better with undrafted rookies. 2008 the line stunk again. 2009 it got a little better with the addition of mookie and muir. 2010 the line again stunk. as you can see the trend would be 2011 line should play well. But they actually arent doing so well. And Moala is in no way an upgrade over any of the previous starters. i do think by years end of Nevis stays healthy the line will play better because Nevis looks like a beast. Brayton and Anderson are ok pickups. But i wouldnt say i am in any way confident in the line for next year. they need to not have nevis line up at nose and get a big strong body in there to nose it up leaving nevis to play the under tackle and get in the backfield. Mookie is a good back up but not a starter.

Linebackers———i dig it.

Polian——is definitely slipping and needs to go no doubt about it

head coach -— everyone is calling for a defensive guru or whatever, we dont need that. we do need a new defensive coordinator but not a head coach. all the head coach has to be is someone with a presence and not a figure head. Right now Bill Polian makes all decisions, that should not be the case. So either Polian goes bye bye or a head coach is brought in that can say “shut up bill”

by Bradman721 on Oct 6, 2011 1:40 PM EDT reply actions

I think we were close to being 3-1, with one of those being lucky and two where we actually stayed close by our play.

So to answer the 0-4 question very directly,. it is because of a dropped pass here, or a dropped sure interception there, or a stupid 3rd down and short conversion call over there. In other words, all those little details that make up a great team effort that wins.

To answer it more indirectly, we will know in about two more Painter starts whether we should have started Painter in the sure loss against Houston to get his feet under him, and then win at least two of following three games. If Painter continues to improve, the go grab a veteran and plug him in idea will be proven faulty. No one to blame here if this happens because the NFL universe agreed that it was the prudent thing to do. It would be fun to prove the universe wrong.

"If they want me to be a crazy, emotional, frenzied fan in section 603, then they can't expect me to be reasonable about the business of football"

by indylator on Oct 6, 2011 5:27 PM EDT reply actions

Opinion

Go Colts!

by AZ_Colt_Fan on Oct 7, 2011 1:44 AM EDT reply actions

Three areas of weakness

1. Secondary. In my opinion, Bethea is the only player of any real talent. Powers is serviceable but he’s not a championship winning calibre corner. As for Lacey and whoever spells Bullit……….

2. Speacial teams. While I’m not advocating that we should sign players for that particular phase of the game, we need to improve. Dramatically. We neither create opportunities or limit opposing teams and it consistently puts undue pressure on the offense and defense.

3. Pass rush. This is a bit more ambiguous but I believe it’s an area that is weakening in this team, more so that the O-line. We only have two players capable of pressuring the QB (Freeney & Mathis). Whether that’s an interior line problem or weakness in our defensive scheme is open for debate, but I believe we need to do more to create pressure from other areas of the D otehrwise good QB’s will rip us to shreds.

In general though, I do believe we need to lift the latent level in this team and the front office will have their work cut doing that and replacing ageing vets!

by TartanColt1 on Oct 7, 2011 4:11 AM EDT reply actions