Colts fan and Stampede Blue community weekly Q&A — Week 11 ANSWERS

Every week, Colts fans and Stampede Blue readers can submit their Colts questions to have a chance of them being answered in our weekly Q&A.

Missed out this week? Don’t worry, you can get involved next time by submitting a question when the Q&A post goes up in the comments section, in the Twitter replies or on the Facebook post comments.

Let’s jump straight into this week’s questions:

Emiller17 (Stampede Blue Comment): The running game has struggled over the last few weeks and the O-Line has looked pedestrian for most of those games. Is this a result of defenses not respecting the pass without TY and Brissett or a decline in o-line play or a scheme issue?

Answer: I think not having Hilton and Brissett in the passing game certainly affects how defenses attack, knowing that the Colts will likely lean on their rushing attack more. But I think the biggest issue with the run game has been that the offensive line has had a bad streak in which they have played very poor and not what the team and fans expect from them. The run game will improve and it will coincide with improved play from the offensive line.

Clydesdales (Stampede Blue Comment): Expectations were high at the start of camp. They took a hit, when Luck walked. They rose again with wins over KC and Houston, now they have fallen again, allowing questions to creep in. Is this a playoff team?

Answer: When the team is healthy, Brissett, Hilton and Funchess all back, this team is definitely a playoff team. The Colts proved this with the two wins you mentioned in your question; Houston and Kansas City. The team has a good defense, great run game and Brissett is more than capable of leading this team to the playoffs with a healthy supporting cast.

IndyNasty (Stampede Blue Comments): After a couple of articles touting Zach Pascal as “the real deal,” he only had 2 catches for 26 yards on 7 targets against Miami. Why did he struggle, or was the blame mostly on Brian Hoyer?

Answer: Against the Miami Dolphins it appeared the offensive plan of attack was to run the ball due to a poor Miami run defense and to target Eric Ebron due to his previous comments. This all went out the window when Ebron was dropping passes and Miami’s run defense actually held up well so Brian Hoyer seemed to try to take the game by the reigns which we all know how that ended. Hoyer was one of the main reasons why Pascal struggled but also the whole offense as a whole struggled, so I wouldn’t worry about Pascal.

RandoNoro (Stampede Blue Comments): What’s the all-time worst season ever had by a kicker in the NFL?

Answer: Having done a bit of research a few names kept popping up as having really poor kicking records; Bob Timberlake with a kicking success rate of 6%, Happy Feller with a kicking success rate of 37.2% and Tommy Davis with a kicking success rate of 47.1%.

Dann Austin (Stampede Blue Comments): Why haven’t Chris Ballard and Frank Reich been more aggressive in getting players on the field or signing more players that can come in and contribute right away? We basically have the worst starting wide receiver group and they’re taking things slow with Devin Funchess. It’s like they’re content with falling out of the playoff race.

Answer: When it comes to getting players back on the field being aggressive is very counterproductive as it can end up in players being re-injured which knocks the player out for longer. Ballard signs new players when he feels its necessary but he usually brings them in on the practice squad first, lets them acclimate to the team and then promotes them when necessary. The season is a marathon not a sprint so it can pay off later to be patient now.