Stampede Blue: All Posts by Derrick Hawkins

Devil's Take - Fixing The Run Game

2013-03-01T21:00:09Z

Welcome to the Devil's Take! Today I'm tackling a topic that has been discussed a little bit since the end of the season, the running game. There has been some discussion here at Stampede Blue that perhaps the Colts need to take a look at picking up a free agent running back, notably Reggie Bush or Steven Jackson. Is this something the Colts should be looking into? Personally, I say no.

Last May, I wrote a fanpost titled "The hated Donald Brown". In that article, I spelled out several reasons why Donald Brown had basically been setup to fail as a RB for the Colts. I also pointed out that the issues at RB were part of a bigger issue. That still holds true to this very moment. The issues the Colts face in the running game have gotten only marginally better in 2012 than they had in any previous season since 2007. As we all know, the offensive line play has been less than productive for several seasons now when it comes to running the ball. Even with Manning still under center, the Colts had become all but a pass only offense for his last 4 seasons here.

You would think that with the greatest QB of all time, in my humble opinion, that you could do enough passing the ball to open up the run game. Unfortunately, as evidenced by Manning's final season under center in Indy, being able to pass the ball at will does nothing for the run game. You can't run the ball if you can't block anyone on defense, and the Colts quite frankly haven't been able to do that. It hasn't mattered who the running back for the Colt is or was, since the 2007 season ended, the Colts ability to run consistently has pretty much been nonexistent.

The current state of the Colts running backs are actually pretty decent. We have a home run hitter in Donald Brown, we have a big heavy back in Carter who can get short yardage, and we have what now looks to be a starter in Vick Ballard. Call me crazy, but I still think Brown has the ability to be a big contributor on this offense. I do think he could go for 1000 yards with a team that has a good o-line, but with the Colts, I see him as a younger Darren Sproles. I don't see any reason to rush out and spend money on a big name guy, or even draft another running back, at this point. The Colts just need to really focus their money and roster spots on fixing the offensive line issues.

In 2004, the Colts had 10 regular season games with more than 100 yards rushing. The team would finish with 1852 yards rushing.
In 2005, the Colts had 10 regular season games with more than 100 yards rushing. The team would finish with 1703 yards rushing.
In 2006, the Colts had 10 regular season games with more than 100 yards rushing. They had 2 additional games that almost made 100 yards rushing (88/92 yards). They also had 4 consecutive 100+ yard rushing games in the playoffs. That's a grand total of 14-100 yard rushing games out of 20. They would finish the season with 1762 yards rushing.
In 2007, the Colts had 8 regular season games with more than 100 yards rushing. This was the final year of a healthy Marvin Harrison, the first year without Tarik Glenn at LT, and the first year of Addai as a full time starter. This is the last season that the Colts would field a 1000 yard rusher. They would finish the season with 1706 yards rushing.
In 2008, the Colts had 4 regular season games with more than 100 yards rushing. They would only generate 1274 yards rushing.
In 2009, the Colts had 4 regular season games with more than 100 yards rushing. They would only generate 1294 yards rushing.
In 2010, with an injury riddled team, the Colts had 6 regular season games with 100 yards rushing. They would only generate 1483 yards rushing. Addai and Brown combined for 1002 yards (497/495).
In 2011, without Peyton Manning, the Colts would generate 5 regular season games with 100 yards rushing. Curtis Painter led the team in one game with rushing yards. Leading rusher was Donald Brown with 645 yards.
In 2012, with a new rookie offense featuring only Reggie Wayne as a veteran presence, the Colts racked up 7 regular season games with 100 yards rushing. They would add 1 playoff game with 151 yards rushing against the eventual SB champ Ravens. They would generate 1671 yards rushing and the leading rusher was Ballard with 814 yards. Brown who missed portions of the season with injuries, generated just over 400 yards on roughly half the attempts that Ballard had.

In looking at those stats, there are a couple of misleading tidbits. While the Colts did in fact rack up some 100 yard games in 2010 and 2011, these were due in large part to a few long runs by the various running backs. With the loss Manning in 2011, the Colts pretty much loaded up on the run, as evidenced by the big increase over the previous seasons. Having Painter as your QB will do that to you. In most instances, the Colts failed to even meet the league's rushing average of 3.9/4.0 yards per attempt. To make matters even worse, from 2008 to 2011, the Colts would finish 31st, 32nd, 29th, and 26th. Prior to 2008, the Colts would routinely finish around the 16-19th range in rushing the ball. Even when James went out with his knee injury, the Colts racked up 1600 yards and finished 19th.

Now of course, the 2012 season had the Colts finish 22nd. So what changed? Protection. In 2006 and 2007 we had no problem running the ball with a rookie and Dominic Rhodes….. in every year since our offensive line stability and talent level has gotten worse and worse. It’s no coincidence that our running backs have been injured more and less productive. We lost a great LT, lost a quality LG, and the Colts NEVER replaced that loss. Add to it Ryan Diem basically becoming a shell of himself, and the line became a joke. The Colts offensive line on paper in 2012, was the best the Colts had fielded since 2007. The athleticism of Luck and the inventiveness of Coach Arians enabled the Colts to make something out of nothing. The crappy strength of schedule did help some as well.

If the Colts were to pursue bigger/better bodies on the offensive line, I really believe that this Colts running attack can easily jump back up to the middle of the pack it once maintained on a yearly basis. When our offensive line was able to block, we were able to generate positive running yards most of the time. Despite how bad our offensive line pass blocked in our playoff loss to the Ravens, the Colts rushing attack was probably the best we had seen all year. I won't say that adding a superstar couldn't boost the Colts, but I think we have plenty of talent on the roster right now that could make leaps and bounds with proper blocking.

As always, thanks for reading and I appreciate all the comments. Follow me on Twitter!!! @DevilsReject97

Devil's Take - Colts 2013

2013-02-21T17:00:15Z

Welcome to my first Devil's Take of the 2013 year. The Colts of 2012 caught the NFL by storm, amassing an unexpected 11 victories and making the playoffs. Prior to the 2012 season, I predicted the Colts had a shot at 7-8 victories based on their schedule, but I didn't expect the season we had. I don't think many of us did. We all saw the raw potential of a guy being thrust into a no win situation, and coming out on top. We saw a raw offense filled with rookies step up each week, while still going through the growing pains.

At the end of the year, we outperformed every projection that anyone could have expected. Our interim coach won Coach of the Year. Our rookie GM won Executive of the Year. Our rookies on offense set the NFL record for combined yards at 3108, breaking the previous NFL and Colts record of 2751, set by the Edgerrin James led class of 1999. Andrew Luck set the single season and single game records for yards by a rookie QB. He was the MVP for the Colts, bar none.

The Colts have had to say good-bye to Tom Telesco and Bruce Arians, both moving on to promotions with other teams. Dwight Freeney and Austin Collie have been let go from the team. So where do the Colts go from here? It's an interesting topic of discussion...

Unrestricted free agents

Donnie Avery, WR

Darius Butler, CB

Austin Collie, WR

Moise Fokou, LB

Dwight Freeney, LB

Tony Hills, OT

Antonio Johnson, NT

Winston Justice, OT

Pat McAfee, P

Fili Moala, DL

Mewelde Moore, RB

Jerraud Powers, CB

Drew Stanton, QB

Jamaal Westerman, LB

Restricted free agents

A.J. Edds, LB

Jeff Linkenbach, G/T

Seth Olsen, G

Cassius Vaughn, CB

To start, the Colts should first shore up their necessary FA's and RFA's. McAfee is almost a given to be franchised, if he isn't re-signed to a deal quickly. Avery, Vaughn, Linkenbach, Justice, and Butler should all be retained, if only to allow for more continuity. The rest of the list is pretty much in my opinion fodder to be dropped. The only question mark is Powers. The guy has routinely been hurt, but he's a quality CB and the Colts could really use him if he can stay healthy. Given the injuries, he would probably be cheap to re-sign. Doing all of this, gives the Colts a much better opportunity moving forward with both the draft and free agency.

Offense:

If the Colts retain Avery and shore up their offensive line, this is a team that could challenge for the division immediately in the 2013 season. We have the offensive capabilities, we just have to have better line protection. We've seen what Luck and our receivers can do with good protection, so that's got to be the focus this offseason. The running game was in my opinion probably the best we have seen since the 2006 SB win, but injuries once again played a role in that. With the new OC in charge, expect to see more successful running plays this coming year.

Truthfully, if the Colts sign Avery to a new deal, I see no reason to add anything on offense except at the offensive line. If a player were to come free through free agency or a trade, sure sign them. However, I don't feel the Colts need to waste much effort trying to improve the offense, just the protection.

As a sidebar, the Colts would be wasting money and time trying to make a trade for Percy Harvin. While the guy is extremely talented, he's not the kind of player we need right now. The Colts have a young core with good leadership. What we don't need is a Terrell Owens type coming in and ruining the locker room.

Defense:

The defensive switch to the 4-3/3-4 hybrid defense was for the most part, a failure in 2012. This was primarily due to unexpected injuries as well as in some part, certain players inability to adapt. Some players were exposed in pass defense while others were able to excel. At the end of the day however, the Colts defense ranked near the bottom in most categories, especially in turnovers and run defense. Still, the defense had it's moments where you could see them out there making a 300% effort to win. Freeman was the diamond in the rough for the Colts, and in short, he was the story for the Colts defense all year. The Colts would be wise to lock this guy up long term.

While the Colts can shore up their offensive line issues with a few free agents and possibly one draft pick, they will need to spend most of their draft picks on defense. We need to get a safety, a corner, and honestly two defensive linemen in this draft. Yes, the Colts have a lot of cap room to make deals, but it's best if the Colts can focus on signing guys who understand their roles, not flashy big name free agents.

NFL Draft:

The Colts have 5 picks as it stands right now, so they have to really make them count. Unfortunately, the Colts cannot afford to spend them all on defense, which I'm sure most of us would like. The Colts need to select an offensive linemen with their first rounder, as the lack of quality protection is what hindered us all season, as well as what eliminated us in the playoffs. I'd lean more towards a right tackle than a guard or a center, as the Colts have adequate players on the roster already. That being said, the Colts cap room does allow them to make some trades based on taking on a player from another team. Signing someone who plays from a 3-4 defense would be a worthwhile endeavor for the Colts.

Free Agency/Spring Training:

I fully suspect that the Colts will probably have to invest in getting help on the defensive side of the ball in free agency as well. The Colts simply have too many holes that need solid players at. The need to find a replacement for Freeney, the lack of a quality backup for Mathis or Freeney, the unknown ability of Chapman, and the lack of any real good CB besides Davis really means the Colts will have to work to get it there.

This year, the defense will have to be the focus for this team to succeed. We counted on luck and Luck too much last year, and this year we need to be able to count on the defense to help.

As always, please feel free to comment. Follow me on Twitter! @DevilsReject97

The Devil's Take - NFL Week 9 Recap

2012-11-05T15:32:38Z

Welcome to the Devil's Take!!! Wow, just wow! The performance that Luck put on today was out of this world. To not only see this man grow before us, but for the Colts to win the game, it's been a great day here in Indy. Hell, even the sun was out shining today. Could you ask for a better outcome from the kind of performance we got today? Short of asking for no injuries, I don't see how.

The Colts would put on the best aerial attack I've seen since Manning's 2004 season, and would shred the previously #2 defense in the NFL on 3rd down all day. Despite not being able to run the ball well all day, they continued to pound it, making the Miami defense at the very least, respect the run. In doing so, it left the door wide open for something us Colts fans have become all to familiar with, the good old play action fake. Only, this time, there was a very new twist: Andrew Luck. With Luck, the Colts could run a bootleg style play fake, which allowed him to buy extra time on every throw. This not only allowed the offensive line a bit of a breather, but it also made for some great check down throws.

To be honest, if you told me before the game that the Colts would generate 500+ yards of total offense, I'd have requested a drug test. I can honestly say that no one, not even an insane over the top diehard fan, saw this kind of output coming. We know Luck is the real deal, but this kind of day against the Dolphins, no one could have pictured it.

The performance by Andrew Luck is memorable for a variety of reasons. He tied Peyton Manning's NFL record for most 300 yard games in a rookie season at 4 with 8 games to play. He also broke Cam Newton's freshly set record of 432 yards passing from last year with 433 yards passing. Unlike Newton however, Luck did this against a top 5 defense.
As of the end of the Colts game, Luck is now the 3rd ranked QB in terms of yardage in the NFL with 2404 yards. The number 4 QB? Peyton Manning with 2404 yards. Broncos? 5-3. Colts? 5-3. I don't see how it gets any better than that!!!!!
The Colts offense faced a top 5 defense this week, and it was the #2 ranked 3rd down defense coming into the game. Luck would carve them up to the tune of converting 13 of 19 3rd downs. To add insult to injury, they would convert 6 of those 13 3rd downs for over 10 yards or more. This was the best play calling I've seen by Arians all year, and he put it together beautifully. To be blunt, I think that it may have been the finest play calling I've seen the man do, period.
While the run game struggled most of the day, when the defense was kept out of the backfield, the run game routinely generated positive yards. The stats for the day aren't pretty, but they get the job done. Sometimes to win, you have to win ugly. While I don't consider the win an ugly win, the job the RBs did today wasn't pretty. It didn't need to be. It just had to be done, and they got it done.
This is now the second time this season, that the Colts have beaten an opponent who beat up a team that the Colts were beaten down by. The Bears and Jets both trounced the Colts in double digit wins. Ironically, the Packers and Dolphins would then do the same to the Bears and Jets. Both the Packers and the Dolphins would lose by 3pts to the underdog Colts.
The NFL this week was honoring veterans around the world for Veterans Day with it's Salute to Service week. For every point scored during the NFL's 32 designated Salute to Service games, the league will donate $100 to each of its three core, military non-profit partners -- Pat Tillman Foundation, USO and the Wounded Warrior Project. As of this moment, that's roughly $59,000 dollars for each of those charities. If you're a veteran, whether it be past or present, thank you very much for your service. Many of my family, including myself, have been a part of the armed forces. What you do for your country cannot be explained in just words, but your sacrifice and your honor are very much respected by me. May all of you in the war zones come home safe, and may your scars fade quickly.

Now, for the past two weeks, I've been very critical of the defense. Most of this criticism has been directed at the lack of effort and play calling. Yes, I called for the firing of Manusky in my article last week, and I still feel he's done no matter how the season plays out at the end of the year. However, I have to tip my cap to the job done today by the defense. Today, they really showed A TON of heart, and to see them take the haymaker thrown by the Dolphins early on and rebound, was a thing of beauty.

Through much of the first quarter and into the second quarter, you saw the Colts and Dolphins trade long drives that ended with scoring or scoring attempts. After the Dolphins Reggie Bush scored on a video game style run, the Colts defense would rally the troops, and finally start putting the screws down on the Phins offense. From that point forward, the Colts would limit the Dolphins to only 3 points. They would prevent a Dolphins rush attack from breaking 100 yards rushing. They would keep the Dolphins to only 4 of 11 on third downs.

To see that kind of effort, despite losses of Mathis and Powers in this game, was a thing of beauty. This was the kind of effort I had been looking for. This is why I had been so critical on the past two games, because I felt like it wasn't being seen on the field. If we can continue this kind of intensity, we've got a great shot of playing spoiler the rest of the year.

The Colts next opponent, is the Jaguars. They will be without MJD for this game. This actually will offset the loss potentially of Mathis for the defense. Still, this is a game the Colts need to win. Winning this game would go a LONG way towards building the monster.
Chuck Pagano was in the house today. It's only fitting that his return to the team, even if only as a bystander, would result in this record setting day.
Through 8 games as a QB in the NFL, Luck already has 4-300 yard passing games and 1-400 yard passing game. He has 2404 yards passing, 148 yards rushing, and 15 total TDs. Pretty damn good for a rookie QB.
Donnie Avery is turning into what may be really the steal of the year for the Colts. Sure, he's dropped a few balls, but he's becoming the go to guy for Luck on anything over 20 yards. He led the Colts in receiving for a second time this year.
As a possible second steal, Dwayne Allen is playing lights out football. The kid had 6 receptions for 75 yards. 2 of those were for big yardage on back to back plays.
The return of Mathis forced the Dolphins to pay attention to someone other than Freeney. End results was a sack for Mathis and a sack for Freeney. As long as this Colts defense can get pressure on the QB, they are fully capable of hanging with any team they play.

There's a lot of negativity I could say about the penalties and to some extent, some of the defensive play. However, today, all I can do is applaud the effort of this team. We left 6 points out on the field today with missed FG's. The defense routinely seemed to be giving up 10-14 yard passes. However, whenever the Colts had the ball, it never felt like we weren't going to score. In many of the past Colts games, the Colts would always give us one good half, one bad half. Today sure didn't feel that way. What we saw today was a Colts offense that routinely marched up and down the field for positive yardage in a consistent fashion. We saw a defense early on give up some points but who would settle down and start laying the lumber. We saw a rookie QB take a sharpie out and mark out the word rookie in front of his name.

The new Cardiac Colts are now 5-3. Yes, you read it right, I said Cardiac Colts. Luck is such a throwback to those Harbaugh led Colts, teams that weren't supposed to be in the middle of it, and a team you couldn't ever really count out. Well, this team, is truly embracing that mantra right now.

Before the season began, I said this was a team that should go 7-9. Looks like I'm going to be wrong. This is a team that should and very well could be 11-5 going into the final game of the year. Too early to get ahead of ourselves, but only New England and Houston are really games the Colts shouldn't be favorites or at least even going into it.

As always, thanks for reading and I appreciate the comments! Follow me on Twitter @DevilsReject97

Devil's Take - Week 8 Recap

2012-10-29T23:43:40Z

Welcome to this week's Devil's Take! The Colts won yesterday by a score of 19-13, over the Tennessee Titans. This was a good overall game, with some shaky aspects along the way. Still, the Colts buttoned down and got the win when the game was on the line. It's nice to be sitting here at 4-3.

Now, in last weeks article, I pretty much blasted the Colts defense for lack of effort and hustle. Some of you felt I was way off base, while others were in agreement with my view point. Bottom line for me was that I was not happy with how the defense played. Part of that to be fair, was directed at the defensive coordinator. Multiple times the defense lined up in obvious blitz packages and they were routinely picked up. So another week, against another average team, how would the Colts defense play? We'll get to that in a minute.

Andrew Luck - Broke away from his form over the past two games and returned to the guy we saw in much of the other games this season. He's currently just shy of 2000 yards through 7 games, and made the kind of veteran decisions you wouldn't expect from a rookie QB on multiple plays through out the game. Still, he needs to work more on getting his head on a swivel a bit sooner, as he's leaving himself open to unnecessary hits and drive changing sacks.
Ground game - Two games in a row against bad rushing defenses equals two weeks of high rushing output by the Colts ground game. While I'm not going to go overboard and say the Colts rushing attack is back, it's good to see them finally making bad defenses pay. The last few years, it didn't matter who we played, we rarely had a 100 yards on the ground ever. To have it in 2 games back to back, and 4 of the last 5, is a good thing for the Colts.
Pass Rush - I get that Mathis is out, Redding and Teveasu have been out, and Freeney is hobbled, but the problem for the Colts right now is merely getting a hand on a QB. Since bulldozing Aaron Rodgers for 5 sacks in the 2nd of the Green Bay game, the Colts have managed just 3 sacks in 3 games. The irony of course is that Jerry Hughes accounts for 2 of those sacks. At the end of the day, the Colts need to get more production out of both their D-Line and their LB's for more pressure on the QB.
Pass Interference - One of the first times I've seen that many calls for Offensive Pass Interference on a single team in a single game. Still, while one of them may have been a great flop job by Powers, all 3 of them were correctly called. You cannot push off a player to get position. Bottom line, the refs are paying attention to this kind of thing.

So about that defense... yeah, still needs some serious work. You can say well we held them to 13 points. We held the Browns to 13 points last week too. The fact that we held them to 13 points is irrelevant. They ran the ball just well enough while they routinely found holes in the middle of the defense due to almost no pressure on the QB. Here's what I see:

Browns generated 264 yards passing, gaining 14 first downs through the air, and averaging almost 6 and a half yards per throw. Titans generated 227 yards passing, gaining 11 first downs through the air, and averaging a little over 7 yards per throw.
Browns and Titans both failed to really get the run game going in terms of consistency, but in the passing game, were able to move up and down the field.

Now sure, you'll say well they only scored 13 points. We played two of the bottom 12 worst offenses in the NFL. Ironically, we beat both those teams while losing to the absolute worst offense in the league. If that doesn't tell you there's something wrong with the defense, then I don't know what to tell you.

There is however, light on the horizon. Part of the bad play has come from injuries, injuries that are now starting to heal up (Mathis, Redding). Some is coming from obvious position changes (Nevis starting over Moala anyone?) as well as possible sightings of Chapman on the practice field. Angerer has returned and looks great through 2 games. All of this is one positive aspect to take into consideration. The other? Fire the DC already. I mean seriously, I am seeing almost no effort on the play calling for the defense. I'm constantly seeing blatant blitz calls and soft disguises on the defensive front.

What's worse, is the lack of pressure from the line is leaving the DB's on islands that you can't expect them to cover for 5-8 seconds. The lack of real pressure, in the form of hits, hurries, and sacks, is making our DB's look really bad. Some of it is bad play, but more of it is the lack of pressure.

I'm sorry, but I really lay the issues on defense at Manusky's feet. This is his responsibility, and I just don't see how this defense should be this bad. Injuries have played a role to some extent, but not all of it is the players.

It was very refreshing to see the Colts able to run the ball for a second week of solid running. While I'm not sold on the running game resurgence, I'm glad to see the Colts finally taking advantage of other team's weaknesses. In the past few years, even when the Colts faced bad run defenses, those defenses would somehow come up with a Herculean effort to keep the Colts from running the ball. To see the Colts gash the Jags, Packers, Browns, and Titans like they did, it was a very big deal. The Colts have not produced this kind of run game effort in several years. In fact, the Colts are on pace to produce their best rushing totals since 2007, besting even last year's efforts.

Back during the offseason, I mentioned that Donald Brown had the chance to run behind what is arguably the best O-Line the Colts have had running the ball since back when Edge was here. While it's taken some time, both due to Arian's play calling and some injuries, it looks like that comment is slowly but surely starting to bear fruit. The big thing is going to be the continued development of Luck, and how much he can force the opposing defenses to honor him in the passing game. If the Colts can do that, this rushing attack could be legit.

Before I go, I do want to say that while I am a homer for my team, I felt that the fumble by Allen should have been ruled a fumble. The Colts caught a break, and unfortunately for the Titans, it's one that can't be reviewed. I've seen nothing that shows or can prove that they whistled him down due to forward progress. Still, sometimes we get screwed, and sometimes we are the lucky ones....

Thanks for the read and hope to hear your comments! Follow me on Twitter @DevilsReject97

Colts Defense Putting Forth Halfhearted Effort, Poorly Coached

2012-10-23T13:00:38Z

Welcome to the Devil's Take, Week Seven Edition!

Normally, this is posted by Sunday night, but I really wanted to sit back and digest Indianapolis' 17-13 Week Seven win over Cleveland.

I was very, very upset with the performance of this team. To be blunt, they played like crap.

Now to be fair, the first 20 minutes of the game, the Colts offense was pretty much on fire. They made the plays they should make, and sustained long drives on their first two possessions. However, after that, they pretty much crumpled. As for the defense, well let's just say yours truly could have run for what the Browns gained on the ground.

To be perfectly honest, the Colts defense played their worst game of the season in my opinion.

So why do I feel that way?

Sure, the Colts had a few guys out on defense, but it has been that way for most of the year now. There are only two reasons the defense is this bad, and those are halfhearted effort and poor coaching. Sure, injuries do play into it some, but hard fought effort can overcome those injuries to a degree. I'm not even seeing that out on the field.

The Colts out rushed an opponent for the first time this season, gaining 148 yards of offense rushing. They finally had someone not named Donald Brown gain 50 yards or more rushing from a RB position for the first time since 2010.
The Colts held their opponent from rushing for at least 100 yards for only the 3rd time this season. Unfortunately, only 2 of those games resulted in a win for the Colts. The first game, resulted in a blow out through the air that skewed the ground game. However, the Colts are capable of hanging in with any team as long as they can stop the run consistently. The key word is consistently.
For the 2nd week in a row, Luck has looked bad, and it's not just him. The offense has flowed and faltered in very wide spurts, and that is something I think is indicative of Arians playcalling. While Arians is a very good offensive coordinator, I think he is still trying entirely too hard to not screw it up. He's shown a willingness to throw caution to the wind at times, but I think for this season, you need to just go all out. The Colts are going to basically live and die on his arm, and until the Colts show that they can punch back, teams are going to be content with sitting back and letting him throw.
What's with the blatant missing of the facemasks lately? I saw two plays that the Colts should have gotten a first down on due to facemasks that were not called. One on a RB, quite blatant actually, and another was on a WR. In both cases, the Colts would have been given new downs. Instead, they punted or were forced into bad down and yard situations. Adding insult to injury, the refs/Colts missed a dropped pass by the Browns on their first offensive possession after the half. The player did not maintain possession of the ball as he went to the ground and you can clearly see it come out as he rolls. While I never got a clear shot of the other side, how this wasn't at least challenged is beyond me.
The Colts defensive backfield is catching a ton of hell right now, but the truth is it's not their fault. The Colts front line is not getting any real push, and is rarely getting to the QB with any consistency. I mean seriously, we failed to so much as sack the QB in the Browns game, but we could kill Rodgers 5 times? The DB's are doing for the most part, the best any one can ask of them. They screw up yes, but most of it's because they aren't getting the help up front.
Can we telegraph our blitzes any more than we do right now? OMG I was like here's one, here's another, here's a fourth.... Either commit to a real 4-3 for now, or stop giving away the defense....it's 10 times worse than the offense telegraphing run...

148 yards rushing, that is a number the Colts haven't seen in about two years. In fact, it's only like the 3rd or 4th game of over 125 yards rushing by the Colts since 2009! That's pretty amazing if you ask me.

But - of course, there's a but - this was a team the Colts should have put that number up on. The Browns rushing defense is one number better than the Colts, and they are a slightly worse passing defense. This was a game where if the Colts didn't gain at least 100 yards, then it was a true indictment on the backs.

While at times both Delone Carter and Vick Ballard played very well, I still didn't see anything that screamed to me that they should be starting. Ballard did play strong through out however, and he's shown that if he can get a consistent line in front of him, he could play at a high level in the NFL. Carter has already shown these flashes, but he needs to stay healthy to keep showing it.
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has amassed almost 1700 yards in 6 games, despite two very bad showings by him. The Colts need one more decent lineman on offense, and they could really be something. Perhaps the return of Joe Reitz at LG will make a difference, because it was obvious last year in the running game. Still, we need one more guy on that line to really start picking it up, or find one in free agency/draft.
As mentioned by a few of you, Luck's accuracy is clearly a factor for this team. He's missed on several wide open passes, thrown out of bounds on others, and in some cases, just a WTF was he thinking throw. In almost all of these instances however, it's a case of growing pains. For every great moment he has, he's had several meh or cover your eyes moments. It's normal and natural. He's the most touted QB in the history of the NFL, and so far, he has shown he's worthy of it. I guess the point of this is to remember that unlike many other rookies in the last few seasons, he's come to a team with no identity, no direction, and pretty much a nobody roster outside of a few veterans. Let's give him the time to continue learning, and make his mistakes. Trust me, this is a team that could be great in a hurry next year on offense. Patience people...patience

Before I depart, I want to address the few comments about the running game from this win. The Colts ran the ball effectively on a team they should have physically been able to do so. The Browns have had trouble stopping the run all year. Sound familiar? The Browns have had two games all year where the opponent was kept under 100 yards, both of them against the Bengals. They went 1-1 in those games. Their remaining 5? They gave up 630 yards, 243 of it to the Giants. What am I saying? Don't get carried away with a warm, fuzzy feeling. It's not the team turning the corner. It's simply the Colts running the ball on a team they should have run the ball on, and actually doing it for once.

I also have noticed something else about the Colts running game. All three Colts RBs have routinely run into their linemen during their runs. I saw this a lot last year with DB, but I also saw it with Carter as well. Now you are probably saying well yeah, our o-line sucks. This is indeed part of the problem. However, it's also the system. Donald Brown is a one cut back, the kind Mike Shanahan loved in Denver and still loves in Washington. They ran a beautiful rushing attack that's still pretty much in use in Denver still. Get the line moving, make a hole, and let the RB make it work. Brown is that kind of back. However, the Colts are a type of offensive line that can't do that. It's a matter of skill as well as personnel.

So this season and much of last year, they've been an offensive line that is trying to let the play develop, let the back find the hole. The problem with that is DB often outruns the line, and fails to find a gap. This is why Carter and Ballard have been better and have seemed more patient, more capable. However, it's when the holes are not there, that DB's speed to the outside, on sweeps and play action, makes him so much more dangerous. I ask you to start watching the line play when the ball is being run. You'll pretty much see that the Ballard/Carter are not finding those holes on the outside when they are there. Still, it's only a small sample size for me to be 100% certain on. Just think on it and keep an eye out for it...

Thanks as always and follow me on Twitter @DevilsReject97

Devil's Take: Colts Defensive Playcalling Limited, Run Defense Terrible

2012-10-14T21:56:28Z

Welcome to the Devil's Take!

Well, that game freaking sucked. The I can't stop a 5 year old running the ball reared it's ugly head once more, and the Jets run game would go on to power them to a 35-9 win over the Colts. If not to add insult to injury, the Colts running attack couldn't even take advantage of a team who was giving up 150+ yards per game on the ground.

Without any real pressure all day, Mark Sanchez was able to get relatively comfortable in the pocket most of the day. The Jets finally found success running the ball against a team whose one weakness is defending the run. This opened the field up for easy passes from the Jets QBs. The longest passing play came from Tim Tebow of all people, and the Jets would only rack up 105 yards passing.

Andrew Luck - What more can I say about the kid? He's truly carrying this team right now. Despite pressure all day against a very good coverage defense, he throws for over 250 yards. The defense knew he was throwing every down, and still couldn't quite get him stopped.
Run defense - I know the losses to injury aren't helping, but the Colts need to get this figured out. They've given up over 500 yards rushing in just 2 games this season, and one of those games was to a very, very bad Jaguars squad. Shore this crap up or you can pretty much see how the rest of the year is going to go.
Defensive Playcalling - For once, the offense played fairly well, but this Manusky needs to look at what he's calling. I routinely saw nothing changing on defense all game. Limited blitzes, nothing different really in the scheme all game. You practically dared them to run on you, and you got smacked with a Mack truck instead. Better pick it up or your gone by seasons end for sure, if not before then....

It sucks when you see your team under perform, regardless of who you root for. We Colts fans have a team that truthfully is a wild card team this year, despite the "rebuilding" tag most of us know is attached to the Colts. We have a sure fire Rookie of the Year winner, because if he keeps this up, he'll be breaking Cam's record by season's end. So why can I maintain any positivity right now? Because I watch guys like Reggie Wayne and Donnie Avery laying out for our rookie QB. I watch as teams know where he is going to go, and he is pretty much making those throws every time. Yes, he's still making mistakes, but the kid is truthfully ready to go 100% in this offense.

If there has to be any criticism on Luck, there are two big plays in particular where I feel he should have just run the ball. Both were short yardage plays where he tried to extend the play instead of just taking off. He made these decisions in the past, I'm not sure if the coaching staff told him not to this week. Making those plays changes the game, and he needs to remember that. It's nitpicking I know, but it has to be said to be fair.
This game came down to poor run defense and dropped passes. The dropped passes weren't all Luck's fault, but some of them were not thrown as well as could be. I'm going to chalk this up to a big let down after a big emotional win. Keep an eye on it moving forward though, as if it continues, expect to see a lot of attention made of it.

All I will say

IF after the Colts running game sucks this week, it’ll shut up all the naysayers about Brown…

If I’m wrong, I’ll happily admit it to after the fact….

by DevilsReject on Oct 10, 2012 1:13 PM EDT

I said this earlier this week when it was reported that Donald Brown was out for 2-3 weeks with a minor knee injury. How sweet it is to be right. The over the top and completely ignorant bashing of Donald Brown can finally start coming to an end, because the rushing attack the Colts fielded today was absolutely abysmal. ZERO first downs running the ball. 2.4 yards per carry average on 17 rushes. The 3 longest runs of the day by 3 players accounts for almost HALF the yards gained on the day. You want to talk about pathetic, this makes pathetic look good.

Donald Brown was your day one starter, and ran for 48 yards on 9 carries and a TD against the best defense the Colts have faced all year. In the game against the Packers, he's put up more yards on the ground than the entire RB roster has all season. Do I need to say more? No, but I will.

Donald Brown has what every other guy on the roster doesn't have, which is speed. He can make the change to that second gear. Is he a great back? No. Does he have the best vision? No. Is he an elite back in the NFL? No. Still, he makes this horrible offensive line look a lot better when he runs the ball then when anyone else runs it. He has more 100 yard rushing efforts as a Colt than anyone else in the past 3 years. He has the best yards per carry with a minimum of 50 carries on the year. This was a defense that the Colts should have been able to run on.

Now, I'm sure I'll hear this in a post," The Colts were behind, they had to throw so the running game suffered." Yeah, they did get behind. They also couldn't run for squat. Which is what put them behind in the first place. When they needed to get that 2nd and 2 or that 3rd and 3, they were throwing it instead of running it. The reason why the Colts RBs suffered today is the offensive line, and it only goes to show how much DB has been doing with his speed that makes him look that much better.

As always, thanks for reading and look forward to your replies/comments.

Follow me on Twitter @DevilsReject97

Devil's Take - Week 5 Recap

2012-10-07T22:36:08Z

Welcome to the Devil's Take!!!!!! Today, our beloved Colts rallied in a spectacular fashion to beat the vaunted Green Bay Packers. Talk about a complete 180 in terms of how I felt from the beginning to the end. This game really felt like the 2006 AFC Championship, down big early, and just grinding it out for the win. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of this team. Sure, we had some bumps today, but we also laid down some serious lumber in return.

You seriously can't be a Colts fan right now and not be pleased with today's performance. The Colts after learning of a serious illness impacting their coach, came out and looked a bit out of it. Still, they battled tough and kept the grind going. They remembered that this game is 60 minutes, not 15, not 30, but 60 minutes. Today, the tortoise beat the hare.

I've already seen a few people saying the Colts did not win this game, didn't deserve to win it. That's just plain crap. Backups at the center and both guard positions, 2 starting CB's out, and then injuries to Moala in the game. This is a game we should have lost by 30 on paper!!!! This is why they play game. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

Andrew Luck had his 3rd - 300 yard game in his first 4 games, tying a NFL record held by Cam Newton. In 4 games, Luck has 1208 yards, an average of 302 ypg. That's freaking amazing, considering he's faced 3 of the top defenses in the NFL in 4 weeks. Oh yeah, we beat the team that destroyed the Bears that destroyed us. Rather hilarious.
Reggie Wayne has had a career revival. He's off to the absolute BEST start of his NFL career, including his years with Manning at QB. Through 4 games he has 506 yards on 36 receptions for an average of 14.1 ypc. Oh, and by tonight, he'll be leading the NFL in total yards by a WR.
Donald Brown - What can I say? The kid can run the ball in the NFL when someone actually throws a block. He doesn't have to be a grinder, he just has to get the ball going forwards. Nice to see Arians making the change to getting him outside more. 17 rushes for 84 yards at almost 5 ypc. Even if you take away his 14 yard run, it's still 16 rushes for 70 yards at almost 4.4 ypc. Brown already has more yards in one game then all the other RBs on the roster have combined.
I want to know why Edgerrin James number is being worn by anybody for the Colts. That to me is simply an offense that can not be allowed. The guy is the best RB in the history of the team, and you let a nobody wear it? Not even just wear it, but the fact it was even available is mind blowing. Rectify it Colts, and do it yesterday.

The Colts have played up and down all season, and today was by far the best game I've seen them play all season. This wasn't a full 60 minutes of effort, but it was a better overall effort than any previous game. Yes, they won against the Vikings, but the Vikings self destruction clearly was the factor in that game. The Packers, while making some mistakes, clearly had the Colts on the ropes early. In fact, the turning point in this game was the Colts missed FG late in the 2nd quarter. Sure, the Colts missed the FG, but they were finally getting into a rhythm offensively. They were able to move the ball productively. This would carry over into the 3rd quarter where the defense would get the party started.

Speaking of the defense, what a crazy turn around in this game? In the first half, the Colts couldn't protect Luck and the Packers sacked him 4 times. In the second half, the Packers got zero. Ironically, the reverse would be true of the Packers. The Colts couldn't even so much as touch Rodgers in the first half, only to sack him 5 times in the second half. The defense is slowly getting there, and once they are healthy again, this is a team effort that truly could be dangerous moving forwards.

Officiating in the league has gotten better since the original refs are back, but the truth is that in this game, there were a few blown/bad calls that had direct impacts early on. There are 4 in the Colts/Packers game in particular, that stand out.

The missed neutral zone infraction on the Colts first series. It's clearly visible in both the replays and at the time of the play that the Packers were lined up offsides. Yet, the Colts are called for a penalty. This was a bad call by the refs, and at BARE minimum should have been an offsetting penalty and a redo for the Colts. Colts lose the ball instead.
The hit on Andrew Luck by Nick Perry. Bad call by the refs. It was a clean hit, a by the books hit him in the chest hit. Unfortunately, the NFL is a bit trigger happy on protecting people. I played defense and this was not a penalty.
On the Colts FG score in the first half, the refs missed a blatant pass interference call on Woodson in the endzone. This should have been a 1st down and Goal at the one yard line. It would have drastically altered the game at this point. Unfortunately, the zebras missed it, and the Colts would settle for a FG.
The pass interference call on the Packers late in the game, was marginable at best, and honestly, should have been a no call. Sure, you can call Shields for an armbar, but you can clearly see Avery is locked on to him in the replays. Maybe call it a gimme from the refs for the missed one earlier in the game, but it was a bad call either way.

I don't know about any of you, but I was very happy to see the Colts get a win on this game. The team, the community, and the sheer outpouring of concern for Coach Pagano, just really needed this. Hopefully, the Colts can take from this a renewed sense of pride, and look forward to the Jets next week.

As a sidebar, I want to send a quick shout out to Bruce Arians. Today, the Colts looked much better offensively than they have all year. Sure, there is still work to be done, but man oh man did it look 10 times better. The problem was never really the amount of runs or passes, it was about trying to force a square peg into a round hole. You can't line up a finesse team and try to pound the rock in a Power formation. It don't work. Today, we saw almost none of that. Most of the break downs on offense today were pretty much due to a very nasty defensive effort by the Packers. The few that weren't, are just simply getting beat. If he continues to call games like this, the Colts could seriously be a contender this year, not just years down the road.

By the way, congrats on the Colts for matching their 2011 season win record. Everything from here is all about making other teams pay for laughing....

Devil's Take - Week 3 Recap

2012-09-23T21:53:51Z

Welcome to this week's Devil's Take! Today, the Colts played like absolute crap for about half the game, the Jaguars steal one, and the blind mice in the zebra suits need to go. I hope you are as pissed as I am, because this was a game the Colts should have won. This is a game they blew, and blew it badly. The same type of collapse the Vikings had in Week 2 against us is the same kind of collapse we had against the Jaguars.

Quite frankly, I haven't been this pissed off about a loss since that debacle in 2006, when we were absolutely thrashed by the Jaguars. Unfortunately, there isn't any SB winning run on the horizon for this ball club, and it only gets worse down the stretch.

First, I'd like to start off by tipping my cap to the Jags and congratulating them on their win. I don't want to see or hear any bashing of the Jags fans either, because while their team stole one, it's the Colts/refs fault for letting it happen. Jones-Drew is a beast of a RB, and once again showed why he's one of the best in the league. Granted, he's routinely shredded the Colts no matter how you look at it, but he still accounted for roughly all but like 100 yards of the Jaguars total offense.

Austin Collie's knee injury should in effect end his Colts career. From all outward appearances, it looks like a blown ACL. He couldn't even put weight on his leg at all. Look, I think the world of the kid, and I want nothing more than for him to be healthy. Unfortunately, as with Gonzo, he simply cannot stay on the field and stay healthy. Both players showed fantastic ability and promise, but injuries keep derailing them. If I'm the Colts, he goes to IR regardless. Just one more way of preventing him from taking any more risks as a Colt. It was a very huge blow to this team and I am just sick seeing him get hurt again.
The NFL needs to get their act together and resolve this issue with the referees. While the Colts blew this game, there are two very bad penalties that were missed in this game, on top of another 3 or 4 that you simply cannot have in a game. Both penalties were major penalties that should have been called.
Two weeks in a row, the play calling of Bruce Arians has been atrocious in long spurts for the Colts. I seriously don't understand the logic or the decision making of it, but you cannot allow the other team to dictate what you do. You got a franchise QB in Andrew Luck with some of the best talent in a QB ever seen, and you continue to go turtle in some of the worst times. It's time to take the blinders off, because Luck doesn't need the training wheels.

While the Colts go into their bye week at 1-2, it's not all ugly. The few injuries outside of Collie's sustained during the game, will be all healed up. All of the Colts players not named Collie or on IR will now be back and available for the Colts after their bye week. Freeney, Angerer, and Davis will be back at 100%. This should help beef up the defense a little better. The offense meanwhile will have Reitz back, along with allowing Satele to rest his injured knee for a two week period. This should give the Colts their best starting O-line for the season.

However, after the bye week brings arguably the toughest stretch of the Colts season. Road games at Jets, Patriots, Lions, Jaguars, and Titans. Home games against the Packers, Dolphins, Bills, and Browns. If they can survive that test, and even come out of it at around .500, well they will be ahead of schedule. The Colts are already one game away from being better than last season, and honestly, they had a chance today to do just that and blew it.

Blown Calls - The NFL has got to get the referee situation resolved and do it sooner than later. On two separate plays, the refs in the Colts/Jags game missed bad, and I mean bad, on failing to call a penalty. The NFL rulebook clearly states you cannot deliver a forearm, shoulder, or tackle to a QB thats already engaged in a slide. Jaguars LB Allen should have been flagged for a 15 yard penalty on it. On a following play, Allen would again commit a penalty on Luck, only this time it was called. You can say the Colts got it back, but the fact remains it was a blatantly obvious call that was missed. The Colts would also lose one on a blatant blatant pass interference call late in the fourth quarter. You could say the ball was uncatchable possibly, but the fact remains the WR took a shot to the head from a defender who was in no position to make a play on the ball. HORRIBLY BLOWN CALL. That call would have converted a 3rd and 20 for the Colts, and given them a chance at another scoring drive. There were others that were missed, but these were the most painful of the group.
Running the ball - I understand the offensive line is a work in progress, and I understand injuries are playing a part in the lack of cohesion on it. Still, what I have seen repeatedly is an attempt by Arians to run offensive sets that the Colts simply cannot do. Not to mention, they're telegraphing run EVERY TIME. I'm sick to freaking death of seeing our RB's getting tackled in our own backfield. Arians needs to take a page out of the Manning/Moore playbook and start using the RBs as receivers out of the backfield more. These plays often create space for the RBs and have been very good to the Colts over the years. It worked very well today also.
Bonehead decision - I don't know who to blame for that idiotic delay of game on the FG, but I will clearly say that as a head coach, you cannot have that. That one penalty changed not only the the immediate play calling of the Jaguars, but it also impacted the end of the game. Had the Colts gotten that FG, they'd have been kicking a FG instead of trying for a TD at the end. It's clearly a learning moment, but man if I was your coach the whole ST would be running laps for a week...
Andrew Luck - What else can we say about the kid that hasn't already been said? He's clearly ahead of where any rookie has been, including even the great Peyton Manning. He's making very good decisions in most instances, and even the bad ones he's made for the most part are ones you chalk up to learning the ropes. 65 completions, 122 attempts, 846 yards, 5 TDs, 4 INTs, 80 yards rushing on 10 attempts. Take the kid off the training wheels and throw the whole playbook at this offense, because he can do it.
Donald Brown - Had a 101 yards of total offense for the day, something no other Colts RB on the roster has done in the past 2 seasons. The only other RB in the last 3 seasons to get 100 yards total in any capacity was Joseph Addai. Why does this matter? It's because I'm sick to death of people with their lynch mob mentality on DB. If no one else on the roster is getting this kind of production, don't you think its OBVIOUS the issue isn't the RB? He isnt the best RB and he may not be with the team next year, but it ain't his fault the running game sucks. Dead horse /end rant.

My disgust with the 106 yards in penalties by the Colts is just over the top. You can't play like this. You will not win the game, just ask the Vikings last week. This was a game the Colts should have won. I'll even go so far as to say this is a game the Jaguars didn't win, but the Colts gave away. Still, you have to respect the Jaguars for not giving up on this game and ultimately they got the W. A win is a win is a win.

I'll be really interested to see how much progress the Colts make during the bye week, and to see how well that translates onto the field against Green Bay and New York. I hope you guys have a great week and as always, I appreciate all of the comments and opinions.

Follow me on Twitter @DevilsReject97