At 0-2 And the Season Likely Finished, Why Don't The Colts Experiment More?

I agree Hughes looked better rushing the QB as a stand up rusher. So did Philip Wheeler, who did that a lot at Georgia.

The question is, what situational packages would allow a stand-up rusher from the outside? When Brock was here he would rove and eventually pick a gap to rush, but from the interior. Hughes is not going to get a rush from the inside unless he plays some LB. Is this a realistic possibility?

I think this premise about Caldwell coaching for his life makes sense. I don’t think Irsay is going to just be OK with losing 13+ games this year even if Manning is out. But if Caldwell is smart (maybe) and coaching for his life (probably), why not take a few risks since coaching the way he knows isn’t working?

There’s been little pressure on the QB with a 4 man rush. Maybe line Hughes up as a LB and rush 5 (or 6) and sell out to get the QB? Of course that would mean the CBs need to play closer and maybe rougher. Which I think they did a little more of that vs. Cleveland.

I have no doubt the Colts are going to lose a lot this year. But it would at least make the games a little more exciting if they would take some more risks and do something different to try to win.

They just won. But I fail to see how a game that was 14-12 going into the 4th quarter is a dominance.

And you are suggesting a 14 game pre-season ? Busted suggestion

1. Keep Pat Angerer at MLB where he looks natural and is doing less thinking and move Brackett to WILL where he can cover RBs and TEs in the flat and get into his zones, which he is better at than shedding blocks in the middle vs OLs, our run D looks much better with Angerer in at MLB.

2. Maybe, with an extra day of preparation, give a shot for Ijalana at RT starting with the Bucs game, or after the bye week

3. Someone already opined this, use Philip Wheeler as an edge rusher, in stand up mode

4. If we are 1-5 at the bye week (lone win vs Chiefs, I hope), put in Curtis Painter, let us see what he can do for all the time we have invested in him.

The current coaches are too dumb to think outside of the box and clearly don’t know what to do to get the most out of the players.

If anything, the Colts should at least play Brown and Hughes and hope they show some flashes of competence….only then will we ever be able to use them as trade bait

And yes…Polian is an effing idiot

Why can’t Donald Brown at least return kicks and punts? Hughes should definitely be playing some Linebacker

this guy seems more like a LB than a DE.

i think there will be a new regime once Peyton is gone. i don’t see them getting a new head coach or front office until then.

The Colts organization experienced winning over the past decade based mostly on Manning. The organization did a pretty good job of building a team around Manning. However, at some point the organization came to the conclusion that the reason for the success was because of their philosophy and approach to the roster, the offensive and defensive schemes, the special teams, etc. But it really wasn’t true. Other organization models and philosophies could have won with Manning. Some would have done worse, some better. But now that Manning is out of action, the organization is trying to rely on its philosophy and approach to weather the storm. So, they speak of “correctable errors” and making small improvements, while most observers, outside the organization, realize that the philosophy and approach mean little or nothing at this point. If they want to win some game this year, they need to make big adjustments in scheme, protections, defensive aggressiveness, and special teams. They have to play like an underdog that needs every yard of field position and every point. And, Brown and Hughes could be part of this. Brown should be returning punts (and, I mean returning the punt, not just fair catching it). If that puts Brown at risk of injury, so be it, he’s the third RB. Hughes should be a stand up rusher because he could very disruptive in that role.

Hey, if the team goes 0-8, 0-9, 0-10 what is stopping the front office of firing Caldwell and gamble on Tressel to the rest of the year? I mean, he’s already on the payroll. I don’t really think he is the best fit for HC for the Colts, or that he should be the HC next season, but hell, I’m sure he’s a better coach than Caldwell.

This offseason Peyton will have a huge say in whether or not Caldwell is retained. I mean he’s apparently the entire offense and defense so why not make coaching decisions as well

No NFL team should ever regard themselves as “done” after only two games. If the Colts stay as bad as they’ve looked so far, there will be plenty of opportunities to work long-term prospects in December and maybe November. But right now the Colts’ staff ought to be scrambling to figure out how they can win games with what they have available. Many teams have come back from 0-2 starts to make the playoffs, or at least make serious runs that put them in contention. This team still has lots of talented players.

This team is not going to win. Caldwell is coaching for his job but it wont matter. I just hope they hire a better coach than Caldwell. With this organizations disfunction they might hire someone worse if that is possible.

jim tressel i would smile everytime i pass caldwell cause i know his job would be mine soon

It’s always bugged me that we passed over Hakeem Nicks and Kenny Britt to draft Donald Brown. Really? And it’s not like it was one of those deals where you can say “well, hindsight is always 20/20. Everyone was saying Don Brown was a 1st-rounder.” I personally was screaming at the TV when we didn’t draft Nicks. Can you imagine how good our WR corps could look with Wayne, Nicks/Britt & Collie? I know neither Nicks or Britt is a burner, and are a lot like Wayne, but still… Wayne and Marvin weren’t that different either, and that worked out pretty well.

Which would’ve been great. I didn’t want a skill player but I did like Nicks and preferred him if we absolutely had to get one. Britt was my 2nd choice, because of his attitude and because Nicks just seemed like a better player.

Britt has surprised me by playing well even after being such an idiot in the offseason. He isn’t really like Wayne. He is a big body and has some speed. Reminds me more of Terrell Owens with better hands.