clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2011 NFL Week Seven: Inside The Colts Numbers

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?".