Game Recaps
Week 8: Inside the Numbers
by mgrex03 on Nov 3, 2009 11:41 PM EST
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What a game on Sunday. It's been a while since we all had to sweat 60 minutes of Colts Football. Here's some notes from this weekend:
- From Elias: The last RB to throw a TD pass for the Colts was in 1984, when Curtis Dickey threw a 63 yard Touchdown pass to Tracy Porter. This was the 2nd game as the Indianapolis Colts. The last time a non-QB threw a TD pass? Ken Dilger in 2001, a 39 yarder to Marvin Harrison. I guess the Colts don't do this very often, huh?
- Also from Elias: A record the Colts set in 2006 was broken last night by the Saints. The Saints have allowed 154 points this season, which is the most points allowed for a 7-0 team in NFL history. The previous record was 153, by your Super Bowl Champion Colts. Elam's late field goal did more than just
coverbeat the spread! - In the middle of the 4th quarter, Dwight Freeney recorded a sack of Alex Smith, setting the franchise record by getting a sack in 8 straight games. Only 2 more to tie the NFL record.
- Manning threw his 2nd most passes in a game without throwing a TD pass, with 48. His record? 50 passes in this very forgettable game.
- That's now 16 straight wins. Let's keep the train rolling!
Let's get to the numbers...
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Recap Week Eight: Colts 18 - 49ers 14
by BigBlueShoe on Nov 1, 2009 9:44 PM EST
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Fans and media have grown accustomed to seeing the 2009 Indianapolis Colts blowing out teams left and right on route to a 6-0 start, winning 15 straight regular season games (dating back to last season). Against the San Francisco 49ers, we were promised some "real" competition.
And the game did not disappoint.
The 49ers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, the result of a 64 yard Frank Gore TD in the first quarter. The Colts struggled to respond on offense, scoring only field goals rather than touchdowns when their team was in the redzone. And because we are all so very, very SPOILED this year, with offense exploding out of nearly every game the Colts have played, there were many Colts fans who spent halftime wringing their hands, wondering if the Colts were as good as advertised. Some fans were ready to "jump off the ledge" after Alex Smith drove the 49ers offense 89 yards in 1:11, capping the drive with an 8 yard TD pass to Vernon Davis with roughly 30 seconds left in the half.
However, at the end of the TD, Davis was flagged for excessive celebration, and 15 yards was tacked onto the end of Indy's kick return. In 25 seconds, Peyton Manning drove the Colts to the 49ers' 13 yard line. Matt Stover then kicked a FG to cut the lead 14-9.
From that point on, the Colts shutout and shutdown the 49ers, and exposed SF's coach Mike Singletary for the petty, immature bum he really is.
The 49ers did not score a single point in the second half. Their running game was stuffed and their passing game smothered. Frank Gore ran for 91 yards on 13 carries. That's 7 yards a carry. But, this is one time where the stats really lie to you. 64 of those 91 yards came on one play, which featured normally sure tacklers Jerraud Powers and Antoine Bethea attempting to "hit" Gore rather than "tackle" him. After that play, the Colts held Gore to 9 carries for 20 yards. To put it mildly, Gore got lucky on his 64 yard run. The rest of the game, he was stuffed. The Colt then turned their pass rushers loose on Alex Smith, who was decent on one series and terrible throughout much of the game.
In a nutshell, this was a game that really showcased the Colts defense, who helped make up for the lack of cohesiveness from the offense. Again, these are the new Colts. These Colts don't just play defense.
They dominate with it.
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Quick Recap: Colts 18 - 49ers 14
by BigBlueShoe on Nov 1, 2009 4:32 PM EST
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At halftime, half of this community was ready to shoot themselves as the Colts entered halftime down 14-9. The San Francisco 49ers, using exotic blitzes, were confusing Peyton Manning and the Colts offense in the first half. For much of the entire game, it was a field position battle. But, in the end, the Colts managed to scrape together a few clutch plays near the end to scratch out the win.
The first half saw the 49ers capitalize on poor tackling, with Frank Gore scoring a 64 yard rushing TD. However, the rest of Frank Gore's carries (12) went for 27 yards. The Colts defense was stellar, save two series: The Gore TD and the drive before halftime, which resulted in a 8 yard TD play from Alex Smith to Vernon Davis. Aside from those two series, the Colts dominated the 49ers offense. Smith threw for only 198 yards. He was sacked 4 times and threw a costly INT in the first half.
The key play of the game was the score that gave Indy the lead for the first time, which was a 22 yard TD pass from... wait for it... Joseph Addai to Reggie Wayne. That's right! The only TD pass the Colts scored in this game did NOT feature Peyton Manning. Addai threw a very good lob to Wayne, who tied a career high with 12 receptions for 143 yards and a TD. Dwight Freeney also recorded a HUGE fourth quarter sack, which gives him a sack in 8 consecutive games. Matt Stover was also 4-4 on FGs, and Pat McAfee was outstanding punting the ball.
BTW, Matt Stover in post-game interviews was awesome. He kept talking about how impressed he was with the Colts defense.
One more thing: Mike Singletary is a bum. A total and complete bum of a coach. As Bob Lamey and Will Wolford noted during the Colts radio broadcast, the 49ers were doing their best New England Patriots impersonation by faking injuries in order to slow Indy's no-huddle offense. The radio announcers noted players were receiving signals from 49ers coaches to "go down" when the Colts tried to go hurry-up. It was disgusting. It was vomit-inducing.
It didn't work.
So, congrats Mike! Your team is 3-4. You've lost three in a row, and when the chips were down, you tried to cheat. Oh, and all those defensive changes you did this past week? Yeah, they didn't work either. Manning threw for 347 yards, completed 64% of his passes, and the Colts won. Utter and complete tool = Mike Singetary. 49ers fans deserve better than this dirty schmuck. I hope they don't think my disgust at Singletary is disgust for the 49ers. Nothing but respect for the 49ers as an organization, and I love the community at Niners Nation. But Singletary's coaching today was both vile and un-becoming an NFL coach.
The Colts are 7-0, sans attempts to cheat, and did so in a scrappy, hard fought game. Go Colts!
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Week 7: Inside the Numbers
by mgrex03 on Oct 28, 2009 9:55 AM EDT
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A new week, and the same old story for the Colts. Yes it was against the Rams, who are probably the worst team in the NFL, but the Colts dominated from start to finish, and it's a good sign they are putting a beating on the NFL's bottom tier. A couple notes from Sunday:
- I mentioned after the win against the Titans the Colts had tied a franchise record for consecutive road wins. Well, they've now bested that with their 8th straight road win. That will stay in tact until they travel "home" to the Charm City of Baltimore, where they haven't lost since 2001. That was actually the last time the Colts lost to the Ravens.
- Peyton Manning only threw for 235 yards, breaking his streak of 5 straight games with 300+ Passing Yards. Lots of yards passing was not needed to put away the Rams. He sure was efficient doing it though.
- Speaking of Manning, Pro-Football-Reference Blogger Neil Paine tells us that Manning's start to 2009 has only been bested once before, in 2004 when he had the 2nd best QB season of all time. Here's what he said:
- BBS mentioned in the Luke Links that the Colts have now won 15 straight games, tied for 5th best in NFL history. Let's keep it going one week longer.
- Dwight Freeney now has a sack in 7 straight games. NFL Record is 10, set by the Broncos Simon Fletcher back in '92-'93.
In terms of career 6-game starts, Manning's '09 ranks 1st in completion %, 1st in Y/A, 2nd in yards, 2nd in TD, 2nd in passer rating, and 2nd in adjusted YPA. What's even more amazing is that this a 33-year-old Manning we're seeing carve up defenses, not a 28-year-old one. It's going to be entertaining to watch Manning attack opponents -- and his 2004 numbers -- over the course of this season.
Ok, enough of the record setting. Let's get to the numbers, after the jump.
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Recap Week Seven: Colts 42-Rams 6
by BigBlueShoe on Oct 26, 2009 8:33 AM EDT
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This was not a case where the Colts went into someone's stadium and beat the snot out of a team that had quit on their season and forgotten how to win. As VanRam at Turf Show Times put it, this game seemed to highlight a big talent gap between the Colts and Rams. I have always liked Rams coach Steve Stagnuolo, and I think he will do a good job moving forward, teaching these Rams how to win again. But right now, they are searching. We Colts fans have been there as well, watching our team learn how not to commit penalties, turn the football over, blow coverages, etc. The Rams played with a lot of fight, but in the end the Colts simply overwhelmed them.
Surprisingly, the Rams are one of three NFL teams still without a win this late into the season. We're almost to the mid-point of the regular season (shocking, I know), and the Buccaneers, Titans, and Rams all are winless. Meanwhile, three more clubs (Lions, Chiefs, and Browns) all have only one win. That's six clubs with a combined record of 3-37.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, for the first time in NFL history, three teams will hit Week Eight with undefeated records. The Colts are one of those unbeaten teams, along with the Broncos and the Saints. If the Vikings Chester Taylor could hold onto a friggin screen pass, we'd have four unbeaten teams in November, which would have been even more amazing.
Like several of Indy's games this year, the Colts have re-discovered their formula which eluded them last year: Start fast, overwhelm the opponent, pin your ears back, and sack the hell out of the QB. Oh, and they re-learned how to run the ball as well, which made this blogger feel much better about this very special, very well-coached team.
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Quick Recap: Colts defeat Rams 42-6, now 6-0
by shake n bake on Oct 25, 2009 4:04 PM EDT
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Strangely frustrating game for a 4 score win that was really never in doubt. Injuries to Wayne, Brown and possibly Sanders along with run D somewhat reminiscent of the Miami game, and Peyton not reaching 300 yards for a record breaking 6th game in a row put a bit of a damper on the Colts win.
But really how upset can you be with a 36 point victory?
3 TD day for Peyton, with 23 receptions spread between 8 players. The Colts rushed for over 150 rushing yards on 25 attempts in large part due to 45 and 31 yard runs from Brown and Simpson, respectively. The Rams gained just 117 yards through the air including 2 TOs. Bulgers only TD of the day went to Colts undrafted rookie CB Jacob Lacey. The pick 6 was Lacey's first career interception. In other defensive firsts Daniel Muir picked up half of his first career sack after sharing one today.
Colts are still undefeated!
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Week 5: Inside the Numbers
by mgrex03 on Oct 14, 2009 3:19 PM EDT
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The Bye week is upon us, with the Colts sitting at a perfect 5-0, including a thumping of division rival Tennessee. Here are some of the interesting things after this weekend:
- The Colts won their 7th straight Road game, which ties a franchise record. There is still a long way to go to break the NFL record, which is 18 games, set by the 49ers in 1988-90.
- Peyton Manning threw for 300 yards in his 5th straight game, now only 1 back of the NFL record. I feel pretty confident he'll at least tie this record, before playing against the 49ers on Nov. 1.
- Manning also passed Fran Tarkenton for 3rd all time in Touchdown Passes, now only sitting behind Brett Favre and Dan Marino. Once Favre finally retires, it should take Manning about 4 years to pass him.
- The Colts won their 14th straight game, breaking the franchise record set in 2005. Let's keep that number growing. The record is 21, set by the Patriots.
It looked like the Colts completely dominated the Titans, just by watching the game. But how did the numbers look? Follow me over the jump to find out...
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Recap Week Five: Colts 31-Titans 9
by BigBlueShoe on Oct 12, 2009 10:52 AM EDT
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While blocking his man in the first quarter on a punt return, much maligned Colts cornerback Tim Jennings was doing everything he could to contain the Titans gunner he was assigned to block. Jennings entered the game on thin ice already, it seemed. Having been the primary back-up to Kelvin Hayden and starting in three games at cornerback already this season, Jennings was benched to start the game in favor of a rookie free agent, Jacob Lacey. For the past few weeks, opposing QBs had been picking on Jennings, known for playing too soft in coverage by providing WRs with too much cushion off the line of scrimmage.
While engaged with the gunner on the punt, Jennings (who did not know where the ball was) heard the call for "short punt." This meant the ball was kicked shorter than everyone anticipated, and that it was likely the ball was in his vicinity. But the call was too late for Jennings to disengage from his blocker and get out of the way. Instead, Jennings bumped into Colts return man T.J. Rushing, causing him to muff the punt, which was recovered by the Titans on the Colts 34 yard line.
The Titans faithful cheered wildly. Colts fans went ballistic. Tim Jennings walked off the field, seemingly disgusted with himself.
Despite the Colts building an early 7-0 lead off an Alge Crumpler fumble that was converted into a Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne touchdown, early miscues and mistakes, like Jennings bumping into Rushing on the early punt return, kept the Titans in the game. While the continued stellar play of Peyton Manning (81% completion, 309 yards, 3 TDs) will likely generate all the headlines around Yahoo, CBS Sports, ESPN, and likely Peter King's Monday morning opus, it was really the play of the Colts defense that mainly helped Indy win its fourteenth straight regular season game, dating back to October of last year.
Despite the early miscues with turnovers, penalties, and sloppy play on offense and special teams, it was the defense that played hard, tough, inspired football. They harassed Titans quarterback Kerry Collins all night, and completely and utterly stoned dynamic running back Chris Johnson (9 carries, 34 yards).
And, at the end of the night, as the Colts walked off the field with a three game lead in their division as they head into a bye week, one of the big heroes of that defensive effort was none other than Tim Jennings. More after the jump...
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