Sunday, November 18, 2007

Back from the Dome

Well, they didn't win by 70. They didn't win 30-0. They won 13-10. The game ended in an eerily similar fashion to last week. The Colts needed to have a game-winning six minute drive. They had a huge fourth and inches. This time they went for it. Ball game.


  • Can anyone tell me why Dungy left 6 seconds on the clock? I know they won the game, but does that decision make sense to anyone? Inform me.
  • Why was Charlie Johnson allowed to play the whole game. He never got better. He was rattled. Others on the line had struggles as well. Manning usually had to dodge two men before he could get a throw off. Batted balls galore.
  • Joseph Addai had 106 total yards. Hard-fought yards. Amazing. He's the best player on the Colts right now and it's not close. Great jump cut on the touchdown run. Insane 9 yard run at the end of the game. Scary good.
  • The defense didn't pitch a shut out, but it felt like they did. They were on the field all day and showed very little sign of it. Josh Thomas had a solid day, but they didn't generate as much pressure as would have hoped. The defense is light-years ahead of the offense right now. They'll need to have a huge game against Atlanta. Yes, I realize Atlanta is horrible. Yes, the Indy offense is that bad right now. Yes, it is the line's fault.
  • DZ and I had this conversation on AIM after the game:

Deshawn Zombie (4:36:06 PM): Charile Johnson is so horrible
Deshawn Zombie (4:36:14 PM): I'm insane with rage

Demond Sanders (4:36:18 PM): he actually depressed me
Demond Sanders (4:36:24 PM): like psychologically

  • If you were like me you were sitting there at halftime thinking, "So this is how it's going to be?" Some seasons just end when enough guys get hurt. Happens every couple of seasons. The Colts have been fortunate with injuries for the bulk of Manning's career. If they make any kind of playoff run, I'll be impressed with their guts. This should be fascinating to watch how it plays out.
  • I booed Adam Vinatieri in the first half. I've seen situations where I felt booing was wrong, but this wasn't one of them. Quit missing kicks and we'll stop booing. I clapped for AV too, and cheered him on, but he deserved to be booed for those misses. That said, I'm glad he got the chance to make the game winning kick. Hopefully that killed his yips for good.
  • I can't figure out why Crap Thorpe wasn't used earlier as a receiver. I feel bad for Moorehead, but he isn't working out. Also, I liked the game Fletcher played last week. I know he's the third string TE, but he makes plays.

Deshawn Zombie comments: Today is a perfect lesson that style points don't count in the NFL, just wins. We won a few of these clunkers last year (Buffalo, Tennessee). The line was awful, the receivers couldn't catch passes, all of which left Manning off rhythm. Jake Scott is clearly no more a tackle than Charlie Johnson. Let's hope he isn't playing there past Thursday. Joe Addai is a freaking football genius. He had no holes and was an absolute beast in all areas of the game, even blocking Jared Allen WAAAAAAAY better than either Utech or Charlie Johnson. As for Vinatieri...who knows. Tasker kept saying he was hurt, but then said he wouldn't talk about it. This left me wondering how he knew he was hurt. His distance was fine (the 49 yarder had plenty of leg), and the kickoffs weren't any less deep than normal. We need to take care of business in the short week, get healthy and move on.

Did anyone catch Dan Dierdorf saying after the Chargers/Jholes game, "The Colts are looking in their rear view mirror, and they see Jack Del Rio's face smiling back at them"...hee hee. It's true, and that's why I'm not sweating the division title.

Also, so much for Pittsburgh being a super power. I've seen them play a lot. They are good...good enough to beat anybody on any given day, but they are also woefully inconsistent and people who thought they were going 13-3 or 14-2 are nuts. 13-3 is my magic number for the Colts to have the number two seed. We need to crap out another win Thursday night over an inferior club and then use the 10 day 'second bye week' to get guys healthy again. Oh, and just in case anyone out there thought the Pats weren't pissed about getting held to 24 by Indy should ask Buffalo how they feel right now. I watched enough of that game to see a Buffalo safety choose NOT to cover Randy Moss on a deep ball, and thought, "Well, there's no point in leaving this crap on". It was the first quarter.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know it's bad when you're hoping for the Tackle signed off the practice squad last week to get the start.

Anonymous said...

It's funny, once Moorehead was gone, the offense suddenly figured out how to play.

Though, I was amazed to see CJ block somebody once Diem went out. Hopefully, Ugoh at least plays a half against Atlanta.

No more Moorhead. He ran lazily on a crossing route that seemed like he was just practicing and was shocked that the ball came near him. Plus, he has the Caldwell eyes. Yikes.

I remember thinking about the blown PI call when the defender tackled Aaron before the ball got there, and concluded that the refs didn't throw the flag because he wouldn't have caught it anyways.

Also, the IC on Thorpe saved them six, if he released passed them, he'dved streaked in for 6. Also, he's the permanent KR, as he seems to have that air of one good cut and he's gone.

Anonymous said...

Moorehead has googly eyes. Maybe they prevent him from playing well. They're the googliest eyes I have ever seen. I can't believe I am saying this: "More Craphonso!"

Anonymous said...

We had more drops than the average NFL team LAST YEAR. This year has been even worse.

How many today? I counted 5 and missed two stretches of the game to drive my kid to and from his practice.

At the half, Peyton had throw 16 passes with 4 of them dropped. When your pass pro sucks, your receivers aren't on the same page with the QB, and you can't run block, you offense won't be very good when your receivers drop 25% of the team's pass attempts.

It will pretty much suck big time. Especially when you can't make a FG.

Anonymous said...

I was beginning to worry that Peyton was going to kill his WR with all those high throws. I know his protection was horrible, but he was off all day. Fletcher and Thorpe need to be permanent replacements for Utech and Moorehead.

Jessi said...

I don't like to complain, but I will say this: Tonight when Michael and I were talking about Vinatieri's, umm, spotty performance I accidentally called him "Vanderjagt."

Hopefully he will continue on the note he ended on tonight. That's all I'm going to say.

Anonymous said...

And Peyton, for how much I love him, needs to be alot better. Some of his throws were WAY off the mark, and those added on top of the good passes that were dropped are very frustrating to watch.

Does anyone recognize this offense's performance? I don't, and its unfortunately due to the fact that I don't recognize many of the offensive players.

Anonymous said...

And one more thing....when the hell did we become the effing Baltimore Ravens?

What a total shift in identity...used to be the "finesse, soft, flashy" offensively minded team with an average to mediocre defense, now an extremely physical and punishing defensive team with an inconsistent offense that sometimes struggles to put points on the board against average defenses.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Repeat after me...QB's are never as good when under pressure, and because the recievers couldn't get open deep, and the line couldn't protect, the Colts switched to short routes. Then KC did something brilliant; they stopped rushing and just jumped to tip balls figuring they couldn't get to Manning on 8 yard routes. Thus, to get the ball over jumping linemen, Manning has to throw high. When teams don't respect the deep ball, bad things happen.

Bob M. said...

Hey Stan, you're not anonymous, you're STAN from FO! Busted!

Sheesh, this has the feeling of... the mid-80s, maybe 1990 or so all over again.

Good news: Pitt lost, is wildly inconsistent (so were we last year, he reminds himself), and now has the same conf record we do. whew! Not sure what the next tie-breaker is, but I was glad their loss was AFC.

Bob M. said...

Hey, some MORE good news:

(Petty of me to say this, because I used to love him, but he was always a big part of Jax's stout D against us), Mike Peterson broke his hand against the Chargers and is out indefinitely. I wish him a full recovery, but am glad to see that game get a little easier with our offense staggering. 4 days to ATL, then 10 days to JAX. We'll be healthier by then, right? Maybe Dungy is following the Sanders/Clark health model from last year: limp into the playoffs however you can, so long as everybody's in one piece then.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, until some blind-side blitz over a JV LT removes Manning's head from his helmet before the playoffs. I like Jim Sorgi, but think he works best for us with a clipboard in hand....

Deshawn Zombie said...

That's too bad about Mike Peterson. He was a great Colt, and I never begrudge a guy getting paid. I hope he comes back soon.

Bob M. said...

I loved Mike Pete until I heard him jawing from the other side. He is a huge and underappreciated player and might have put together a HOF career if he had been on the right team with the right media exposure. Not one Pro Bowl, right? Then again Marcus Washington went to a pretty good media town and played well but summarily got lost in Dan Snyder's avalanche of veteran FA signings. If you rate them all on a Production per dollar scale, I bet Portis and Marcus are two of Snyder's best FA pickups.

Speaking of LBs, how did Freddie K look? (bit of a media blackout here in Seattle.) In on 9 tackles is nice, but I DO get a little worried when 3 of our 4 most prolific tacklers in a game are DBs. Though it IS nice having CBs who love contact.

Anonymous said...

Bob,

No effort to avoid putting my name out there. I just hit the Anon button because it's easier. I've e-mailed the proprietors of this blog a number of times. Go back and read some posts and you'll see they cite me as the source of some of the links they have put up.

However, there are also a lot of anon posts here that aren't mine. I'll put my initial on mine from now on, if it will make you happy.

Frankly, the last couple of games, I can't tell what passes are bad throws and which ones are bad conversion reads (or routes) by the receivers. People need to remember that Colt receivers rarely get wide open. One of the reasons that the Broncos have gotten so frustrated in their playoff losses is due to the fact that they actually played very good defense and the point totals made it look like they were awful.

The Colts have often used small openings and hit them with such consistency that they make it look easier than it really was. That takes precise routes and precise throws. Peyton can't make a precise throw, if the receiver doesn't go where he is supposed to. Or if he has to wait to make sure that the proper conversion is actually going to be made.

At least we are NOT seeing Peyton, with all day to throw, throwing bounce passes to wide open receivers or sailing balls 10 feet over their heads. You have to go to NE to see that.

S.