Sunday, October 12, 2008

Brushing off the haters

Quick takes on what I saw today at the building formerly known as the LOSer Dome:

1.) Marvin is Marvin. We've been saying it all season (and desperately hoping we weren't wrong). It only took a 67 yard torching of Chris McAlister to emphatically announce this fact to the world. Reggie may now be the Colts top receiver, but Marvin is still damn good. He was cracking me up by doing the international sign for brushing off the haters after both his scores. I couldn't find a picture of it, but I was glad for him.

2.) Peyton and Marvin are still not on the same page. Maybe this is an oversimplification, I don't know. They don't look right. Peyton missed Marvin on yet another deep bomb that looked like an easy score. This could just be caused by a mid-play adjustment that one of them expected the other to make. He also threw oddly behind Marvin on their second touchdown connection. They will get this fixed. This offense can be magic if they can get just a hint of a running game going to set up play-action.

3.) The Colts Special Teams are on fire. Everyone has noticed, but we were all too depressed until now to really care. They are fast. They shed blockers. They tackle. In other words they are everything they weren't last season. Oh and Adam Vinatieri must have roided up before the game because, damn, he was launching it.

4.) Reggie's touchdown that wasn't might have sunk my fantasy team. What? Nobody cares? Well, at least Tony Dungy does. He was livid.

5.) I think Tony was also mad about the 11 penalties on his team for 84 yards. Several of which were legitimate.

6.) Who played better today: Guys like Melvin Bullitt, Clint Sessions, and Tim Jennings. Super-subs.

7.) It's amazing how sure-tackling and quarterback pressure can make your defense look great.

8.) No turnovers on offense. Five on defense.

9.) The D nicely sniffed out a couple draws and unique running plays. That was satisfying. I guess playing the Bears, Vikings, and Jags did teach them something.

10.) Mike Hart's tough first down run didn't look like Colts football. I liked it. Hope he's okay.

Links:
Prisco liked what he saw, and thinks the rest of the AFC is sweating.

Kuharsky thinks this was a big statement

Banks liked what he saw from #18


Here's some people talking. Warning: Many of them are doing so out of their ass.



Watch CBS Videos Online


I think Mort is just making stuff up at this point.



Jeff Chadia thinks the Horse is back

10 comments:

shake'n'bake said...

"international sign for brushing off the haters"

This? (mute it if you don't like uncensored rap).

Demond Sanders said...

LOL - That's the one.

Andy said...

Did Charlie Johnson still suck, or was he even stepping it up? The one weekend I have off and can actually watch the game live of course had to be the weekend my dad planned to move a bunch of furniture to his house and needed my help.

shake'n'bake said...

I'm breaking down the tape later tonight, but my impression from watching it live and one run through following Clark was that CJ had the best game of all the linemen.

shake'n'bake said...

Diem screwed up twice just in the times Dallas Clark pass blocked on his side. Saturday screwed up on all three of the plays on the first drive (though two of them were because he was helping Pollak then couldn't still cover his assignment).

Anonymous said...

The line started off just horrible. I would love to know what adjustments were made.

S

chipbennett said...

"The Colts are a finesse team..." say what, Ditka?

Of all the inane crap I heard, I could hardly believe that old canard got hoisted once again.

I've been telling people all along that Marv hasn't lost anything - that Manning just needed a little bit more time in the pocket to set up the pass.

Any updates on Addai or Hart? That is a very concerning situation.

Bob M. said...

Not related to the Colts, but FO's in game discussion server is slow right now and I had to share this:

I love the NFL's pithy play-by-play:

1-10 SD46 (8:59) M.Cassel pass short right to W.Welker ran ob at SD 39 for -7 yards...

wow, I guess that IS a short pass for negative seven yards.

As of now, the Colts and NE are tied for the two wildcard slots. Insane to think playoff seeding in Week 6, but still... glad it's even a possibility. We should be 4-1, but with a couple bad bounces, could also be 1-4.

Coming up, GB looks battered but dangerous--much like the Colts but with a lesser captain at the wheel. Tenn looks pretty tough--two wins and we're in GREAT shape.

Bob M. said...

oops, I missed NYJ in the wildcard mix.

Looking at the highlights on NFL.com, I have a few points: when guys are tackled in the EZ, shouldn't that be a flag? Reggie was nearly horse-collared after taking two steps on his TD--an injury there would truly suck. The Colts D was insane today--Mathis looked unstoppable--3 sacks, a FF and a F recovery, if he is not DPOW, I'll, um, do something. Mark my words! In fact, look at the NFL standings--only 5 teams have allowed fewer points than the Colts. That's not bad. (Excluding Cleveland with 4 games and it's tough to measure because many teams have 6 games...)
GB has been a scoring machine, so that will be a test next week. The Pats by contrast, with the same record as the Colts, have scored in the same ballpark as winless Cincy, Oakland, and Detroit, while allowing 20 more points than they scored. I'm thinking they COULD (despite the EZ sked) end up in 3rd in the AFCE, which would be a bummer.

Anonymous said...

Small but interesting tidbit from early in the broadcast (at the time it looked like the line was clearly getting overmatched) -- Simms and Nantz said that Manning told them that the line was going to be OK, "because they are tough guys".

If I were a rookie offensive lineman with a name no one knew, I'd like to be able to tell my kids some day that Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning (the best there ever was) told the world that I was a tough guy.

s