There's not much else to say about the 62-7 Colts loss to the Saints, as there are only so many ways to say how bad the Colts played Sunday night. Want to know just how bad it was? Elias fills us in:
- It was the most points given up in a game since the 2000 Playoffs when the Jaguars beat the Dolphins 62-7.
- As BBS mentioned yesterday, it bests the most points given up in franchise history, which was 58 to the Bears back in 1956, in a 58-27 loss.
- The Saints became only the third team to score at least 60 points, pass for at least 300 yards, and rush for at least 200 yards in a game.
- With his five TD performance with 0 interceptions, Drew Brees tied both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning with his fourth such game, most in NFL history. In total there have been 32 such games with 300 passing yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs, and Brees' 88% completion percentage was the best of any of those games. Yikes.
The ugly numbers after the jump. It's really bad.
Non-Adjusted Stats for Week 7:
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | Off/Def Above | Off/Def Below | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 54.5% | 22 | 93.5% | 26 | N | Y | 4-0 |
| ANPY/A | 2.261 | 21 | 11.378 | 25 | N | Y | 4-0 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 23 | 0 | 23 | N | Y | 7-1 |
| Yds/Drive | 22.91 | 18 | 55.70 | 26 | N | Y | 3-0 |
| ToP/Drive | 1:58.3 | 23 | 3:49.9 | 26 | N | Y | 8-0 |
| Yds/Play | 5.478 | 11 | 7.427 | 26 | N | N | 3-0 |
| First Downs/Drive | 1.00 | 22 | 3.60 | 26 | N | Y | 6-0 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 36.4% | 13 | 75.0% | 26 | N | Y | 6-1 |
| Avg Start Pos | 20.2 | 22 | 31.7 | 21 | N | Y | 5-1 |
| 3 and Outs | 5 | 15 | 0 | 25 | N | Y | 3-1 |
| RZ Eff | 100.0% | 1 | 92.9% | 19 | N | N | 4-1 |
| Plays/Drive | 4.182 | 25 | 7.500 | 26 | N | Y | 4-1 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 1.065 | 13 | 0.133 | 26 | N | Y | 4-1 |
| RB Success | 47.6% | 10 | 78.9% | 26 | N | N | 6-2 |
| Yds/Carry | 6.74 | 3 | 6.21 | 23 | N | N | 6-1 |
| Net Punts Yds/Game | 42.00 | 12 | 40.00 | 11 | N | N | 3-4 |
| Ranking - Week (26) | 20 | 26 | 26 | ||||
| Ranking - Season (206) | 185 | 206 | 206 | ||||
Adjusted Stats for Week 7:
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | Off/Def Above | Off/Def Below | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 53.7% | 25 | 84.1% | 25 | N | Y | 4-0 |
| ANPY/A | 2.263 | 24 | 9.855 | 25 | N | Y | 4-0 |
| Turnovers | 3.4 | 24 | 0.1 | 24 | N | Y | 7-1 |
| Yds/Drive | 21.41 | 20 | 44.47 | 25 | N | Y | 3-0 |
| ToP/Drive | 2:11.6 | 19 | 3:24.5 | 24 | N | Y | 8-0 |
| Yds/Play | 5.249 | 10 | 6.692 | 24 | N | N | 3-0 |
| First Downs/Drive | 0.95 | 25 | 2.89 | 26 | N | Y | 6-0 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 35.9% | 14 | 53.6% | 24 | N | Y | 6-1 |
| Avg Start Pos | 21.7 | 20 | 31.6 | 21 | N | Y | 5-1 |
| 3 and Outs | 5.0 | 15 | 1.8 | 23 | N | Y | 3-1 |
| RZ Eff | 69.6% | 15 | 90.1% | 19 | N | N | 4-1 |
| Plays/Drive | 4.187 | 25 | 6.371 | 22 | N | Y | 4-1 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 1.078 | 12 | 0.468 | 24 | N | Y | 4-1 |
| RB Success | 44.1% | 14 | 69.3% | 26 | N | N | 6-2 |
| Yds/Carry | 5.43 | 7 | 6.19 | 24 | N | N | 6-1 |
| Net Punts Yds/Game | 42.47 | 12 | 32.79 | 2 | N | N | 3-4 |
| Ranking - Week (26) | 23 | 26 | 26 | ||||
| Ranking - Season (206) | 196 | 205 | 206 | ||||
Some thoughts:
- We'll start on offense, where we see a glimmer of hope. The running backs ran for nearly 7 yards per carry, even though it didn't matter at all. Still good to see the rushing attack actually working. The Success Rate also wasn't terrible, about average.
- The Offense however had no ability to sustain a drive, other than the one they scored a touchdown on. Five 3 and Outs, not even averaging 1 First Down per Drive, only four Plays per Drive, and (once again) a low Time of Possession per Drive. The defense is on the field way, way too much because of this, making them look even worst than they already are.
- The defense was in the bottom three of 11 of the 16 stats, but was only dead last in 2 (YES!). Seriously, there's nothing good on the defensive side. Nothing.
Season Stats through Week 7 (Adjusted):
| Statistic | Offense | Rank | Best | Defense | Rank | Best | Record | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSR | 62.5% | 29 | Patriots | 76.0% | 32 | Ravens | 36-5 | 0.878 |
| ANPY/A | 5.030 | 18 | Packers | 7.814 | 32 | Jets | 46-9 | 0.836 |
| Turnovers | 1.99 | 20 | Lions | 1.25 | 25 | Packers | 43-13 | 0.768 |
| Yds/Drive | 23.80 | 26 | Patriots | 35.20 | 31 | Ravens | 33-6 | 0.846 |
| ToP/Drive | 2:12.0 | 31 | Chargers | 3:11.0 | 30 | Bears | 46-8 | 0.852 |
| Yds/Play | 4.953 | 19 | Patriots | 5.706 | 26 | Ravens | 33-6 | 0.846 |
| First Downs/Drive | 1.26 | 29 | Patriots | 2.10 | 30 | Bears | 33-12 | 0.733 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 35.4% | 20 | Saints | 50.6% | 32 | Jets | 42-10 | 0.808 |
| Avg Start Pos | 27.1 | 31 | 49ers | 34.3 | 30 | Patriots | 38-11 | 0.776 |
| 3 and Outs | 4.57 | 22 | Saints | 3.05 | 25 | Ravens | 32-11 | 0.744 |
| RZ Eff | 59.6% | 24 | Bills | 76.7% | 28 | Buccaneers | 38-14 | 0.731 |
| Plays/Drive | 4.882 | 30 | Chargers | 6.080 | 31 | Bears | 28-14 | 0.667 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.703 | 11 | Dolphins | 0.810 | 17 | Chargers | 27-25 | 0.519 |
| RB Success | 49.5% | 7 | Patriots | 48.8% | 25 | Seahawks | 26-22 | 0.542 |
| Yds/Carry | 4.26 | 11 | Eagles | 4.22 | 20 | Bengals | 26-22 | 0.542 |
| Net Punts Yds/Game | 37.60 | 19 | Saints | 38.05 | 15 | Bears | 29-22 | 0.569 |
| Overall | 29 | Patriots | 32 | Ravens | ||||
A couple thoughts here:
- I never thought I'd see stats this bad for the Colts, but here we are. The running game is the only positive on either side, and it's been really good. I'll also point out the 3rd/4th down percentage is still continuing to improve. I'm really trying here folks.
- This is the worst defense we've seen from the Colts in 11 years. No way of sugar coating it. It's dreadful.
- In the NFL as a whole, Turnovers aren't as predictive of wins as they have been in years past, ranking just 8th of the 16 stats. I'm sure it'll level off as the season goes on, but for now teams are turning the ball over, not forcing turnovers, but still finding a way to win.
Week by Week Comparisons:
| Colts | Opponent | Non-Adjusted | Adjusted | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Offense | Defense | Total | Offense | Defense | Total | |
| 1 | Texans | 173 | 156 | 194 | 137 | 135 | 160 |
| 2 | Browns | 161 | 138 | 178 | 175 | 185 | 198 |
| 3 | Steelers | 169 | 109 | 170 | 187 | 57 | 146 |
| 4 | Buccaneers | 145 | 175 | 191 | 172 | 188 | 197 |
| 5 | Chiefs | 62 | 197 | 152 | 71 | 206 | 192 |
| 6 | Bengals | 139 | 137 | 157 | 114 | 174 | 171 |
| 7 | Saints | 185 | 206 | 206 | 196 | 205 | 206 |
As you can see, the defensive performance was a tiny bit better this week than against the Chiefs, just showing how truly awful they played a few weeks ago. They backed that up with the worst offensive performance of the season, which gave us the recipe for one of the worst losses in NFL history.
I don't know where the Colts go from here, but there is absolutely no reason for this team to be this bad. None. One person doesn't make the kind of difference we've seen, especially on the defensive side, where I don't think Peyton Manning ever played. The Bye week is still three weeks away, and if the Colts don't show any signs of life, changes must be made.
Thankfully I'm numb to the crappy football at this point, but now every week I'm going to be thinking: "Just how much worse can they get?".