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.
Here are the Stats from Week 7:
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | Off/Def Above | Off/Def Below | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 87.9% | 2 | 56.0% | 5 | Y | N | 6-0 |
| ANPY/A | 8.676 | 7 | 0.931 | 2 | Y | N | 10-0 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | Y | N | 10-0 |
| Yds/Drive | 43.44 | 3 | 24.73 | 10 | Y | N | 8-2 |
| ToP/Drive | 3:24.3 | 3 | 2:40.1 | 16 | N | N | 5-3 |
| Yds/Play | 6.517 | 4 | 4.610 | 7 | Y | N | 8-1 |
| First Downs/Drive | 2.67 | 3 | 1.27 | 9 | Y | N | 4-1 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 66.7% | 1 | 26.7% | 8 | Y | N | 6-2 |
| Avg Start Pos | 22.5 | 24 | 26.2 | 8 | N | N | 9-2 |
| 3 and Outs | 1 | 1 | 3 | 18 | N | N | 4-1 |
| RZ Eff | 100.0% | 1 | 21.4% | 4 | Y | N | 5-3 |
| Plays/Drive | 6.667 | 4 | 5.364 | 15 | Y | N | 4-2 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.850 | 14 | 1.237 | 2 | N | N | 3-4 |
| RB Success | 46.2% | 11 | 40.0% | 10 | Y | N | 6-1 |
| Yds/Carry | 6.00 | 2 | 5.17 | 22 | N | N | 4-2 |
| Net Punts Yds/Game | 37.75 | 17 | 41.00 | 18 | N | Y | 3-5 |
| Ranking - Week (26) | 4 | 6 | 3 | ||||
| Ranking - Season (206) | 8 | 38 | 12 | ||||
Some thoughts:
- First off, a small addition: I've added the Total Ranking for the Week for Offense, Defense, and Overall, as well as a Season Ranking for all 3. The number in parentheses is the number of games the ranking is out of. As you can see, the Colts played the 3rd best game of Week 7, and it was the 12th best game of the season.
- The Colts were above average on both sides of the ball in 7 of the top 8 categories. Another recipe for an easy win.
- You see that Yds/Carry number correct. 6.0 YPC was good for 2nd in the league last week. Nice work to the RBs and the OL.
- The Defense held the Rams to below 1.0 ANPY/A, which was 2nd best in the league. That was better than both the Jets and Packers, who played far worse QBs.
- The Defense gave up a lot of rushing yards to Steven Jackson, but most of it was in the 2nd half, when the Rams kept slowly slitting their own throat by running the ball so much down by 2-3 scores. That's just fine with me.
- Top 3 categories - A combined 26-0. Another stellar week for the Winning Stats.
Here's how the season looks after 7 weeks:
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Best | Defense | Rank | Best | Record | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 81.1% | 1 | Colts | 66.7% | 11 | Broncos | 44-2 | 0.957 |
| ANPY/A | 9.147 | 1 | Colts | 3.582 | 4 | Saints | 54-3 | 0.947 |
| Turnovers | 1.00 | 5 | Broncos | 1.67 | 15 | Eagles | 48-10 | 0.828 |
| Yds/Drive | 42.37 | 1 | Colts | 28.23 | 13 | Eagles | 47-7 | 0.870 |
| ToP/Drive | 3:02.8 | 4 | Patriots | 3:00.3 | 30 | Saints | 46-14 | 0.767 |
| Yds/Play | 6.690 | 2 | Cowboys | 4.442 | 3 | Eagles | 47-10 | 0.825 |
| First Downs/Drive | 2.25 | 1 | Colts | 1.71 | 20 | Saints | 38-8 | 0.826 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 52.6% | 2 | Dolphins | 43.6% | 25 | Broncos | 37-8 | 0.822 |
| Avg Start Pos | 28.0 | 24 | Bears | 27.4 | 7 | Texans | 51-8 | 0.864 |
| 3 and Outs | 2.17 | 2 | Cowboys | 3.17 | 24 | Eagles | 33-11 | 0.750 |
| RZ Eff | 74.8% | 4 | Chiefs | 56.0% | 8 | Vikings | 32-15 | 0.681 |
| Plays/Drive | 6.333 | 2 | Patriots | 6.355 | 32 | Giants | 34-17 | 0.667 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.701 | 7 | Seahawks | 0.726 | 20 | Saints | 57-37 | 0.606 |
| RB Success | 48.3% | 12 | Dolphins | 50.3% | 27 | Eagles | 40-15 | 0.727 |
| Yds/Carry | 3.82 | 22 | Cowboys | 4.27 | 18 | Cardinals | 24-27 | 0.471 |
| Net Punts Yds/Game | 41.79 | 8 | Raiders | 41.15 | 21 | Patriots | 21-24 | 0.467 |
| Overall | 1 | Colts | 16 | Eagles | ||||
Some general thoughts:
- The Colts are #1 in 4 different Offensive Categories, and are 2nd in 4 others. That makes the Colts the #1 Offense in the NFL.
- The Defense has been great in Yds/Play (3rd), ANPY/A (4th), and Red Zone Efficiency (8th). They are dead last in Plays / Drive, and are still giving up drives over 3 minutes long.
- It's not being talked about at all, but the offensive performance put on by the Bengals on Sunday was the best of the season. Yes, even better than winning 59-0. But it wasn't Tom Brady or the Patriots, so it's just a blowout win. They were in the Top 5 in each of the top 13 statistics, and the rushing stats they were in the top 10. dmstorm22 nailed this trivia question.