Sunday, November 11, 2007
88 is out and the Pacers and Hoosiers fade
HEEEEY! There's the Pacers we know and love! Fading hard down the stretch in three straight winnable games! Last night's debacle of a 4th quarter was an embarrassment, but tonight to light up the scoreboard in the first quarter and then not even match that total in the second half. . . sigh, I guess the 3-0 was a mirage. I'm not surprised, but still a little disappointed.
The Colts waived TJ Rushing. I realize this is a roster move to deal with injuries (specifically almost no WRs), but his terrible game last week didn't help him. He barely made the 20 on his returns. Not a good sign, with Craphonso waiting in the wings to pull a CNN on us.
Finally, I'm not sure how the officials ruled the way they did at the end of the IU/Northwestern game today, but I suppose if you could just rule on the idiocy of play, Lewis's pass attempt DESERVED to be a fumble. I'm sorry, but if IU gets whipped by the Boilers next week, I hope they do get shut out of a bowl. Wins over Minnesota, Ball St, and 1AA schools just don't scream "we're for real." This team should already have 8 wins, and we'd be talking a possible New Year's day game. I'm just not convinced Bill Lynch is a big time college coach.
Finally, Demond and I haven't worked it out yet, but one of us will definitely be blogging tomorrow's game live, so check it out.
Demond Sanders: I can't say I feel sorry for you if you were looking to the Pacers and IU Football to get you out of your post-Patriots depression. Rushing will be back eventually. He was terrible against the Patriots, but he had been solid in his other games. No fumbles and consistently decent returns is all the Colts are looking for. Last week he hurt the team with poor decisions. Although Polian pointed out that they had a big return set up at one point and someone missed a key block that would have sprung Rushing.
The Colts waived TJ Rushing. I realize this is a roster move to deal with injuries (specifically almost no WRs), but his terrible game last week didn't help him. He barely made the 20 on his returns. Not a good sign, with Craphonso waiting in the wings to pull a CNN on us.
Finally, I'm not sure how the officials ruled the way they did at the end of the IU/Northwestern game today, but I suppose if you could just rule on the idiocy of play, Lewis's pass attempt DESERVED to be a fumble. I'm sorry, but if IU gets whipped by the Boilers next week, I hope they do get shut out of a bowl. Wins over Minnesota, Ball St, and 1AA schools just don't scream "we're for real." This team should already have 8 wins, and we'd be talking a possible New Year's day game. I'm just not convinced Bill Lynch is a big time college coach.
Finally, Demond and I haven't worked it out yet, but one of us will definitely be blogging tomorrow's game live, so check it out.
Demond Sanders: I can't say I feel sorry for you if you were looking to the Pacers and IU Football to get you out of your post-Patriots depression. Rushing will be back eventually. He was terrible against the Patriots, but he had been solid in his other games. No fumbles and consistently decent returns is all the Colts are looking for. Last week he hurt the team with poor decisions. Although Polian pointed out that they had a big return set up at one point and someone missed a key block that would have sprung Rushing.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Pike's Peak
Congrats again to the 5A Regional Champ Pike Red Devils. Next Friday's matchup should be a corker. They are so close to the dome, we can almost taste it. I'm not sure why our teams had to be so bad when we went there (although Demond got to see a basketball title). Still, it's nice for the old alma mater to keep throwing up wins.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Good News/No News
The Colts are going to be down anywhere from zero to 8 starters on Sunday. The Good News is that everyone participated in some of the practice. The No News is that most of them are still game time decisions. With any luck, we will actually field a team this week and not have suit up Bob Lamey at DT.
Seeing things
Eyes in the Backfield is back for week 9. We've had a major influx of new readers to the blog in the last few weeks, and it occurs to me that not all of you may be fully aware of our home page at 18to88.com, since at least a few of you hadn't seen the Star Wars predictions. If you've never been there, stop by and check it out. That's where we put our weekly features (like Eyes in the Backfield which lists 18 things to watch for each week during the game), and our more in depth articles that require us to actually research a little and not just be glib.
John sends us this retrospective of Manning and Leaf, that also says that Marvin was up and running around at practice yesterday. I don't know what that means, but it sounds promising.
John sends us this retrospective of Manning and Leaf, that also says that Marvin was up and running around at practice yesterday. I don't know what that means, but it sounds promising.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Maybe this game really will be Manning vs. the Chargers
If the injury report is to be believed, and it has been pretty accurate all season, the Colts will barely be able to field a team this week against San Diego. Phil B. runs them down in his blog, but it looks now like the team might be down Clark and Ugoh as well as the on going saga of Marvin Harrison. The Colts are also having trouble finding a warm body to play at linebacker, with the top 4 LBs hobbled by this injury or that. All this continues to emphasize the importance of continuing to win and lock up the two seed. Having an extra week off to get everyone healthy will be crucial come playoff time.
Until further notice, the number 1996 is banned from our blog (Scroll down to #6 and throw some salt over your left shoulder).
Also, check out this interesting exercise in 'redrafting'. The Colts original choices are both off the board (anyone still think of Tony Ugoh as a reach?) by the time they pick.
Mike Tanier of FO has an interesting point to make about two teams coming off losses but headed in opposite directions.
Until further notice, the number 1996 is banned from our blog (Scroll down to #6 and throw some salt over your left shoulder).
Also, check out this interesting exercise in 'redrafting'. The Colts original choices are both off the board (anyone still think of Tony Ugoh as a reach?) by the time they pick.
Mike Tanier of FO has an interesting point to make about two teams coming off losses but headed in opposite directions.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Up late
I didn't get to bed until the wee hours last night because I was putting together 18 Plays. I've had neither the time nor honestly the desire to scan the web for stuff today (weeks after a loss are usually like that), but I did like Dr. Z's power rankings. He did a good job explaining the ebb and flow of the game and is to this point the only commentator to mention that the Colts were missing linebackers (and not just Marvin Harrison). I also heard a first: Chris Mortensen said that:
"The Titans are winning despite Vince Young's struggles."
I can't tell you how relieved I am that someone actually pointed this out. At some point, the world has to wake up to the fact that that defense is legit, and Young simply isn't playing up to the quality of the rest of his team.
My war with the Pats fans continues much as it has for the last couple of days. We have settled down in to just two categories: nice guys who had a good laugh and sickos. To the nice guys out there who root for the Pats, I say good luck, hope your team stays healthy so we can have legit epic rematch in January with no excuses for anyone. To the sickos (and they far out number the people who are decent). . . I usually just mock them.
As it turns out we've had a LOAD of traffic from the Boston site "Sonofsamhorn.com". Which explains the virulent nature of a lot of the email. One guy actually bothered to download 18 Plays and then wrote me this morning to say:
You guys are such homers it makes me sick. It makes my physically sick.
This was about the 10th message from this guy. We had earlier dialogued about whether some of his earlier comments were racist (Tony Dungy looks like a crack user said Mr. Personality). Of course, I responded to him as I always do when people accuse of being homers. . .
OF COURSE WE ARE HOMERS! OUR WEBSITE IS CALLED 18to88.com!
Let me be clear for those of you out there that seem confused about Demond and I:
1. We are Colts fans.
2. We run a website for Colts fans.
3. We don't make any money doing it, and we have no agenda other than to be funny (defined by: whatever makes us laugh at each other) and promote our team.
4. Although. . . we can be bought if anyone is interested. . . no? Ok, no harm in asking.
Again, I sort of thought all that was sort of self evident. . . but apparently it isn't.
88 Reasons to Hate the Patriots is now the second most viewed page in 18to88 history, still some 32,000 views behind our Star Wars NFL predictions. Which basically proves that love (of Star Wars) is stronger than hate (of the Patriots). Let's hope that always holds true.
"The Titans are winning despite Vince Young's struggles."
I can't tell you how relieved I am that someone actually pointed this out. At some point, the world has to wake up to the fact that that defense is legit, and Young simply isn't playing up to the quality of the rest of his team.
My war with the Pats fans continues much as it has for the last couple of days. We have settled down in to just two categories: nice guys who had a good laugh and sickos. To the nice guys out there who root for the Pats, I say good luck, hope your team stays healthy so we can have legit epic rematch in January with no excuses for anyone. To the sickos (and they far out number the people who are decent). . . I usually just mock them.
As it turns out we've had a LOAD of traffic from the Boston site "Sonofsamhorn.com". Which explains the virulent nature of a lot of the email. One guy actually bothered to download 18 Plays and then wrote me this morning to say:
You guys are such homers it makes me sick. It makes my physically sick.
This was about the 10th message from this guy. We had earlier dialogued about whether some of his earlier comments were racist (Tony Dungy looks like a crack user said Mr. Personality). Of course, I responded to him as I always do when people accuse of being homers. . .
OF COURSE WE ARE HOMERS! OUR WEBSITE IS CALLED 18to88.com!
Let me be clear for those of you out there that seem confused about Demond and I:
1. We are Colts fans.
2. We run a website for Colts fans.
3. We don't make any money doing it, and we have no agenda other than to be funny (defined by: whatever makes us laugh at each other) and promote our team.
4. Although. . . we can be bought if anyone is interested. . . no? Ok, no harm in asking.
Again, I sort of thought all that was sort of self evident. . . but apparently it isn't.
88 Reasons to Hate the Patriots is now the second most viewed page in 18to88 history, still some 32,000 views behind our Star Wars NFL predictions. Which basically proves that love (of Star Wars) is stronger than hate (of the Patriots). Let's hope that always holds true.
The families of Charlie Johnson and Tim Jennings probably shouldn't listen
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Mayor Who Saved the Colts
It looks like Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson is going down in defeat tonight. We can talk ad nauseam about how high the local property taxes are (I sold my house this summer because of insanely high taxes), yet I come not to bury Bart Peterson, but to praise him.
In college at Indiana I wrote a business school paper about the fight for a new Colts stadium. At the time, Jim Irsay said he wasn't sure it was a good idea, perhaps implying that the market was just too small to support a team. Bart Peterson was among a small group of civic leaders who had the foresight to realize that if the city lost the Colts it would undo a large chunk of the progress the city has made in the past twenty years. Peterson made it his personal mission to make sure the team stayed. I voted for him in the last election based only on his positive stance towards the Colts. Yes, I'm that kind of crazy.
I want to say thanks to Bart Peterson. He is right up there with the honorable Bill Hudnut, as far as I'm concerned. Mayor Hudnut was the mayor who brought us the Indianapolis Colts. Bart Peterson was the Mayor who helped to save them.
Fan Mail
So I'm not sure if we should thank the good folks at Cold Hard Football Facts or not. They linked us on their main page yesterday ("Funny Colts blogger struggles with cycle of rage") and linked it to 88 reasons to hate the Patriots. That was really cool of them, but it also flooded our inbox with insane emails. Apparently, I have to explain myself using very small words so some people can understand me: We are joking. It's called hu-mor. Yeah, we really do hate the Pats, but seriously folks, we are joking around. This site is the result of two brothers publishing the kind of stuff that we email and IM to each other every day anyway. We are two guys sitting around laughing, and want the rest of you to be in on the joke. Not everyone gets that; they took 88 Reasons as some kind of cultural manifesto.
The email we received fell into three categories:
1. So profane and vile that it sort of made me sick that people could be so twisted. There was actual evil involved in some of these emails.
2. Furious that we dared to make fun of Bill Belichick's son-Seriously. I actually felt bad about the one about Tom Brady's baby, and I actually slightly adjusted the wording this morning because I felt it was a tad harsh toward a kid who hasn't even had the chance to be annoying on his own yet and will probably grow up to hate his dad as much as the rest of us. But come on. Joking about Bill's annoying kid (who does have a drug charge against him) is not the end of the world. Every one of the dude's buddies must have emailed us calling us puritanical and cruel and what not. Whatever, it was a joke, and we laughed about it, and we aren't apologizing for it.
3. People who thought the article was hilarious and have a sense of humor. I thank you both.
Here are some of the best emails of the day:
Tim says: I appreciate the vigor with which you support your Football club, but don't you guys have more important things to do with your time out there in Indiana? Like husking corn for instance? I hope northeastern teams continue to blow out your pathetic franchise and beat you at the very game with which you are obsessed. The Northeast is the best part of this country and always will be. Clinging to your pathetic little football team won't change that. The funny thing is, while you guys are living and dying by the Colts, football is just a simple form of entertainment here in the northeast and always will be. I just find it to be so amusing that your area of the country obsesses to no end over football and you can't even beat the Northeast, an area of the country that could care less about football. Face the facts, whatever you do, we can do better. It's always been that way and it's not going to change. Have fun milking your cows tomorrow morning.
Sincerely, A proud upstate new yorker
Dude, what a great email! Did you work on that all day? I couldn't have done a better job of mocking the arrogance of the north east myself! Classic performance! Not to mention the irony involved in going to the trouble of emailing someone from the midwest to complain about how much spare time WE have out here. Sooooo funny. Man, you should write professionally, because you are a gosh darn hoot! thanks for reading!
Next we have William who quite fairly points out that perhaps our criticism of a Pats fan site was self inflicted: Um, don't go to Patriot sites, dude. Crazy thought, but if it is ilovethePatriots.com, um maybe you won't like it. Just saying.
Too true, my friend. All too true. We had that coming.
Sean writes: You're list on why you hate the Pats was really cute. Looks like the fans are just like the players, whiny little b*****. Why don't you spew some venom on your choker quarterback who has let his fans down like what, 20 times in big games?? You guys pay good money for tickets to see those choker losers and they reward you guys with sub-par play time and time again. Dungy gets fired from Tampa Bay and what happens the next year? Manning leaves Tennessee and what happens the next year? I never understand why you guys support your brides-maid team year in and year out. We'll see your loser team in Foxboro in January and beat them yet AGAIN.
Here's my list on why i hate the Colts:
1. They are a bunch of losers with loser fans.
Manning chokes YET AGAIN!!
LEWSERS!!
At first I thought Sean was being satirical as well. I wrote to thank him for hilariously mocking the Pats fans who blame Manning for everything because apparently they think football is a game played by two men at a time, and Manning is a choker because he threw two perfect TDs that his wideouts dropped and was blindsided on consecutive possessions by a line that decided to imitate a sieve. Incredibly, as it turns out Sean was serious! I then chided him for his spelling. He replies (and I'm serious):
That's a Jim Carrey line from Ace Ventura, Einstein. The LEW is accented. Get it?
Oh I'm sorry, Sean. I stand corrected. It was my mistake to think that we were living in 2007 and to expect a reference from this century (or at least from a movie classic enough to be worth quoting a dozen years later). You've done it Sean! Your wit and wisdom have bested me.
A couple of quick notes: 18 Plays will be up late tonight or tomorrow morning. Also, Pats fans keep commenting on old posts from the weekend, but oddly enough no one has anything to say about "Let me be very clear." Huh. Curious.
The email we received fell into three categories:
1. So profane and vile that it sort of made me sick that people could be so twisted. There was actual evil involved in some of these emails.
2. Furious that we dared to make fun of Bill Belichick's son-Seriously. I actually felt bad about the one about Tom Brady's baby, and I actually slightly adjusted the wording this morning because I felt it was a tad harsh toward a kid who hasn't even had the chance to be annoying on his own yet and will probably grow up to hate his dad as much as the rest of us. But come on. Joking about Bill's annoying kid (who does have a drug charge against him) is not the end of the world. Every one of the dude's buddies must have emailed us calling us puritanical and cruel and what not. Whatever, it was a joke, and we laughed about it, and we aren't apologizing for it.
3. People who thought the article was hilarious and have a sense of humor. I thank you both.
Here are some of the best emails of the day:
Tim says: I appreciate the vigor with which you support your Football club, but don't you guys have more important things to do with your time out there in Indiana? Like husking corn for instance? I hope northeastern teams continue to blow out your pathetic franchise and beat you at the very game with which you are obsessed. The Northeast is the best part of this country and always will be. Clinging to your pathetic little football team won't change that. The funny thing is, while you guys are living and dying by the Colts, football is just a simple form of entertainment here in the northeast and always will be. I just find it to be so amusing that your area of the country obsesses to no end over football and you can't even beat the Northeast, an area of the country that could care less about football. Face the facts, whatever you do, we can do better. It's always been that way and it's not going to change. Have fun milking your cows tomorrow morning.
Sincerely, A proud upstate new yorker
Dude, what a great email! Did you work on that all day? I couldn't have done a better job of mocking the arrogance of the north east myself! Classic performance! Not to mention the irony involved in going to the trouble of emailing someone from the midwest to complain about how much spare time WE have out here. Sooooo funny. Man, you should write professionally, because you are a gosh darn hoot! thanks for reading!
Next we have William who quite fairly points out that perhaps our criticism of a Pats fan site was self inflicted: Um, don't go to Patriot sites, dude. Crazy thought, but if it is ilovethePatriots.com, um maybe you won't like it. Just saying.
Too true, my friend. All too true. We had that coming.
Sean writes: You're list on why you hate the Pats was really cute. Looks like the fans are just like the players, whiny little b*****. Why don't you spew some venom on your choker quarterback who has let his fans down like what, 20 times in big games?? You guys pay good money for tickets to see those choker losers and they reward you guys with sub-par play time and time again. Dungy gets fired from Tampa Bay and what happens the next year? Manning leaves Tennessee and what happens the next year? I never understand why you guys support your brides-maid team year in and year out. We'll see your loser team in Foxboro in January and beat them yet AGAIN.
Here's my list on why i hate the Colts:
1. They are a bunch of losers with loser fans.
Manning chokes YET AGAIN!!
LEWSERS!!
At first I thought Sean was being satirical as well. I wrote to thank him for hilariously mocking the Pats fans who blame Manning for everything because apparently they think football is a game played by two men at a time, and Manning is a choker because he threw two perfect TDs that his wideouts dropped and was blindsided on consecutive possessions by a line that decided to imitate a sieve. Incredibly, as it turns out Sean was serious! I then chided him for his spelling. He replies (and I'm serious):
That's a Jim Carrey line from Ace Ventura, Einstein. The LEW is accented. Get it?
Oh I'm sorry, Sean. I stand corrected. It was my mistake to think that we were living in 2007 and to expect a reference from this century (or at least from a movie classic enough to be worth quoting a dozen years later). You've done it Sean! Your wit and wisdom have bested me.
A couple of quick notes: 18 Plays will be up late tonight or tomorrow morning. Also, Pats fans keep commenting on old posts from the weekend, but oddly enough no one has anything to say about "Let me be very clear." Huh. Curious.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Let me be very clear. . .
about the 'noise' issue at the RCA Dome. I don't believe the Colts pipe in noise. I don't believe the CBS tape is proof of anything other than audio difficulties at CBS (and seriously folks, do you really think they only run one 'track'? That's why Nantz's audio could be ok and the crowd noise distorted). Apparently, Colin Cowherd said they cross checked it with the radio audio from both the Colts and the Pats and the radio broadcasts didn't have the same distortion.
BUT. . . If the Colts did pump in crowd noise it would be cheating. It would merit the loss of a first round draft pick (or in this case a second and a third, since the Colts don't have a first). It would be an egregious crime against the game. Bill Polian should resign and no longer be considered by anyone for the Hall of Fame. Tony Dungy should resign if he actually had anything to do with it (which I doubt very seriously he would even be in a position to know about it). He should also not be considered for the hall.
And you know what Pats fans. . . I'd be ok with all that. Cheating is wrong. There is no place for it. Consequences should be swift and harsh. If it's proven to the same degree of certainty that Belichick's crimes were PROVEN and admitted by him, then this should be the punishment. No question.
I don't think they did anything, and I'll be shocked if anything comes of this, but I hope for a full investigation. I will be FURIOUS at the team if something is proven. Look, I'm a baseball fan, so I understand 'gamesmanship'. Stealing signs (non electronically) is legal in baseball. Doing things like painting the visitor's locker room pink to get an edge are fine. Violating SPECIFIC LEAGUE DIRECTIVES is wrong. We slammed Belichick for it (though not as hard as our readers wanted), and we tease the Pats fans about being cheaters. If it turns out that our team really did do these things, we will be rightly irate. The rules are their for a reason and ought to be followed.
No hypocrisy here, Pats fans. We won't defend a moral degenerate just because he wears our colors. There is simply no place in the game for cheating. I still can't figure out why the Pats defend their slug of a coach.
UPDATE: The Colts have been cleared. It was all CBS. Sorry folks. Try again.
BUT. . . If the Colts did pump in crowd noise it would be cheating. It would merit the loss of a first round draft pick (or in this case a second and a third, since the Colts don't have a first). It would be an egregious crime against the game. Bill Polian should resign and no longer be considered by anyone for the Hall of Fame. Tony Dungy should resign if he actually had anything to do with it (which I doubt very seriously he would even be in a position to know about it). He should also not be considered for the hall.
And you know what Pats fans. . . I'd be ok with all that. Cheating is wrong. There is no place for it. Consequences should be swift and harsh. If it's proven to the same degree of certainty that Belichick's crimes were PROVEN and admitted by him, then this should be the punishment. No question.
I don't think they did anything, and I'll be shocked if anything comes of this, but I hope for a full investigation. I will be FURIOUS at the team if something is proven. Look, I'm a baseball fan, so I understand 'gamesmanship'. Stealing signs (non electronically) is legal in baseball. Doing things like painting the visitor's locker room pink to get an edge are fine. Violating SPECIFIC LEAGUE DIRECTIVES is wrong. We slammed Belichick for it (though not as hard as our readers wanted), and we tease the Pats fans about being cheaters. If it turns out that our team really did do these things, we will be rightly irate. The rules are their for a reason and ought to be followed.
No hypocrisy here, Pats fans. We won't defend a moral degenerate just because he wears our colors. There is simply no place in the game for cheating. I still can't figure out why the Pats defend their slug of a coach.
UPDATE: The Colts have been cleared. It was all CBS. Sorry folks. Try again.
The Morning After
So I'm still not exactly sure how I feel today. The weird thing is that there are still a lot of games to play but it feels like there shouldn't be. I was pondering where this loss ranked among the tough losses we've had through the years, and the answer is, I have no idea. Obviously, if we miss out of the #1 seed by a game, it'll hurt more, but I honestly thought that it wouldn't matter before the game, so I'm not really even depressed today. I see New England going 15-1 and Indy going about 14-2 or 13-3. The two seed seems fairly secure, and hopefully the team can come off the mat with a tough win next week in San Diego.
These are my thoughts of day:
1. There are a lot of pissed off people in New England today. A lot of people lost a lot of money on that game because they bet the Pats. That makes me smile.
2. The Patriots seem rather surly even though they won. Their aura of invincibility was irrevocably shattered yesterday, and I don't think they like it.
3. What's with Belichick being an ass to Dungy? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I sort of am. Is this really over the comments Dungy said after the cheating? If you read those comments, they really weren't much. He seemed to be saying it was a shame that people will taint their accomplishments the way people look at Barry Bonds. BB is a psycho. He must be a very unhappy man.
4. The coverage seems to go in two veins: some people say NE is going 19-0 because Indy can't possibly win there. Others seem to realize that this was about more than a win and a loss, because that won't matter much in the end. This was about NE getting exposed by a team that was down 5 starters. Indy is perfectly capable of winning in Foxborough, as they've shown the last two years. I actually think the bad weather will hurt NE more than Indy, but I've made that point for weeks and even I'm sick of saying it.
5. There were a couple, not many, of weird comments about Manning. Um, he played pretty great folks. His receivers dropped two TD passes or this game isn't close. His left tackle was a disaster, and he was throwing balls to Aaron Moorehead. This one isn't on him. He out played Brady, who had all his weapons, but other than Moss bailing his high throws out all day, didn't really look that good. He did have a nice scramble for a big first down and threw a nice ball to Stallworth and two good tosses to Welker at the end, but this game was about people other than Manning and Brady. Both had good throws and bad throws.
6. I'm glad the D is pissed. Honestly, I'm ok with their 'collapse' because they still held the Pats to 24, but they clearly felt they should have held them to 10 or so. That's the right attitude. Bring that fire Sunday night, will you?
7. I'm pretty much right in line with Kravitz's take which sounds like things we said here yesterday. Honestly, the red zone failures yesterday had as much to do with personnel losses as anything. No Harrison and no AG meant that Clark could be blanketed all day. The FO Comments mention that as well.
8. Randy Moss is the unquestioned MVP of the NFL. I can't honestly understand how there is even a debate about this. Can someone explain to me how an argument can be made for anyone else. As far as the Tim Jennings thing goes, don't ask me. It's utterly inexplicable. He must be fast, because he's not good at much else. He did almost have a pick on a nice jump of a route against Moss yesterday, but that was the only play I saw him make. There isn't anything else to say about him that hasn't already be screamed.
9. Thanks to all of you for reading! I had a good time with the live game blog and we passed 1000 hits in a day for the first time, so that was cool. Win or lose, 18to88.com will be here for you to comiserate with. I'm actually not surprised by the lack of blowback from the Pats fans. I think we all know that game could have gone either way, and there isn't any point in blowing crap until January when all hell will break loose.
10. I'm not going to post a lot of links today or tomorrow unless they are really strong. I'm exhausted by the past week, and sort of tired of the talk. We will be doing 18 Plays tonight, so look for that tomorrow.
11. About the noise glitch on CBS. . . seriously people, get over this story. Some idiots actually think that the technical glitch they saw on TV was what things sounded like in the dome. I hope the league does a full investigation so the morons can stop their yapping. NOT EVERYONE CHEATS PATS FANS! Just because your coach is a freak doesn't mean the whole world is. Give it up.
Like I said, I'm not really depressed at all; I'm irritated and a little pissed off. I imagine the Colts feel the same way.
These are my thoughts of day:
1. There are a lot of pissed off people in New England today. A lot of people lost a lot of money on that game because they bet the Pats. That makes me smile.
2. The Patriots seem rather surly even though they won. Their aura of invincibility was irrevocably shattered yesterday, and I don't think they like it.
3. What's with Belichick being an ass to Dungy? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I sort of am. Is this really over the comments Dungy said after the cheating? If you read those comments, they really weren't much. He seemed to be saying it was a shame that people will taint their accomplishments the way people look at Barry Bonds. BB is a psycho. He must be a very unhappy man.
4. The coverage seems to go in two veins: some people say NE is going 19-0 because Indy can't possibly win there. Others seem to realize that this was about more than a win and a loss, because that won't matter much in the end. This was about NE getting exposed by a team that was down 5 starters. Indy is perfectly capable of winning in Foxborough, as they've shown the last two years. I actually think the bad weather will hurt NE more than Indy, but I've made that point for weeks and even I'm sick of saying it.
5. There were a couple, not many, of weird comments about Manning. Um, he played pretty great folks. His receivers dropped two TD passes or this game isn't close. His left tackle was a disaster, and he was throwing balls to Aaron Moorehead. This one isn't on him. He out played Brady, who had all his weapons, but other than Moss bailing his high throws out all day, didn't really look that good. He did have a nice scramble for a big first down and threw a nice ball to Stallworth and two good tosses to Welker at the end, but this game was about people other than Manning and Brady. Both had good throws and bad throws.
6. I'm glad the D is pissed. Honestly, I'm ok with their 'collapse' because they still held the Pats to 24, but they clearly felt they should have held them to 10 or so. That's the right attitude. Bring that fire Sunday night, will you?
7. I'm pretty much right in line with Kravitz's take which sounds like things we said here yesterday. Honestly, the red zone failures yesterday had as much to do with personnel losses as anything. No Harrison and no AG meant that Clark could be blanketed all day. The FO Comments mention that as well.
8. Randy Moss is the unquestioned MVP of the NFL. I can't honestly understand how there is even a debate about this. Can someone explain to me how an argument can be made for anyone else. As far as the Tim Jennings thing goes, don't ask me. It's utterly inexplicable. He must be fast, because he's not good at much else. He did almost have a pick on a nice jump of a route against Moss yesterday, but that was the only play I saw him make. There isn't anything else to say about him that hasn't already be screamed.
9. Thanks to all of you for reading! I had a good time with the live game blog and we passed 1000 hits in a day for the first time, so that was cool. Win or lose, 18to88.com will be here for you to comiserate with. I'm actually not surprised by the lack of blowback from the Pats fans. I think we all know that game could have gone either way, and there isn't any point in blowing crap until January when all hell will break loose.
10. I'm not going to post a lot of links today or tomorrow unless they are really strong. I'm exhausted by the past week, and sort of tired of the talk. We will be doing 18 Plays tonight, so look for that tomorrow.
11. About the noise glitch on CBS. . . seriously people, get over this story. Some idiots actually think that the technical glitch they saw on TV was what things sounded like in the dome. I hope the league does a full investigation so the morons can stop their yapping. NOT EVERYONE CHEATS PATS FANS! Just because your coach is a freak doesn't mean the whole world is. Give it up.
Like I said, I'm not really depressed at all; I'm irritated and a little pissed off. I imagine the Colts feel the same way.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Regrets and recriminations
Just got back from the game. Here are a few thoughts, some of them rage-filled and non-sensical:
1.) Congratulations to the Patriots for winning. They played about as well as I expected. They may very well go 16-0.
2.) Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady.
3.) The Colts choked as a team today. Up 10 in the fourth quarter and they can't close it out. That's the definition of a choke job. I'm sorry, but it is.
4.) The Colts played well today. The game went down much the way I predicted in my post below. Joseph Addai is amazing. Manning played well, despite being down two receivers and his all important Left Tackle. The defense really impressed me, unfortunately they couldn't seal the deal.
5.) It's really boring to say, but field position cost the Colts huge today. Well, that and poor play by the O-line in the second half. And a completely unbelievable dropped ball by Reggie Wayne. Okay, there are a few things to blame.
6.) The Colts will play in Foxborough in January. That's what is so frustrating about this loss. All week I've been saying to myself and others that this game wasn't that important. And in many ways it wasn't. It certainly proved nothing about who the best team is. But because of the Pats joke of a schedule it absolutely means the Colts will not get the 1 seed. That's the legacy of this game. That's what will be so depressing to all of us for the rest of the regular season.
7.) Let the Marvin Harrison vigil begin.
8.) The Colts need to beat San Diego next week and do everything possible to forget this game ever happened. Play them one at a time and if the Colts are lucky they'll take the field on January 21st, 2008 at Gilette Stadium.
9.) They'll beat them next time.
1.) Congratulations to the Patriots for winning. They played about as well as I expected. They may very well go 16-0.
2.) Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady.
3.) The Colts choked as a team today. Up 10 in the fourth quarter and they can't close it out. That's the definition of a choke job. I'm sorry, but it is.
4.) The Colts played well today. The game went down much the way I predicted in my post below. Joseph Addai is amazing. Manning played well, despite being down two receivers and his all important Left Tackle. The defense really impressed me, unfortunately they couldn't seal the deal.
5.) It's really boring to say, but field position cost the Colts huge today. Well, that and poor play by the O-line in the second half. And a completely unbelievable dropped ball by Reggie Wayne. Okay, there are a few things to blame.
6.) The Colts will play in Foxborough in January. That's what is so frustrating about this loss. All week I've been saying to myself and others that this game wasn't that important. And in many ways it wasn't. It certainly proved nothing about who the best team is. But because of the Pats joke of a schedule it absolutely means the Colts will not get the 1 seed. That's the legacy of this game. That's what will be so depressing to all of us for the rest of the regular season.
7.) Let the Marvin Harrison vigil begin.
8.) The Colts need to beat San Diego next week and do everything possible to forget this game ever happened. Play them one at a time and if the Colts are lucky they'll take the field on January 21st, 2008 at Gilette Stadium.
9.) They'll beat them next time.
"The Charlie Johnson Game"
Before the season, the Footballoutsiders predicted a decline for the Colts offense due to replacing Tarik Glenn with Tony Ugoh. What you saw today is what the Colts offense would look like if they had actually replaced Glenn with a lesser player. Charlie Johnson was consistently awful today. His false start pushed the Colts back on the field goal drive and he gave up the sacks on the next to last Colts possession. There were lots of key plays and players in that game, but Johnson's play was unforgivably bad.
Come back soon, Tony Ugoh. We miss you.
Come back soon, Tony Ugoh. We miss you.
DZ's running game blog
PREGAME:
I'm sick today. I've had a horrible cold all weekend, but I'm going to man up enough to type (yeah, I know, save your crap for someone else). Before the game let's be clear about some things:
1. I think Indy wins and easily. I don't think the Pats get to 25 points.
2. No matter what happens today my opinion about the following issues will not be changed:
A. The Pats won't beat Indy in January even if the game is played in NE
B. Peyton Manning is a better QB than Tom Brady
C. New England is a great team who I hate
Don't try arguing about these things with me. I don't want to hear it. Today's game is meaningless either way, and I'll say that again after we blow these guys out.
3. I'm more worried about Tony Ugoh's health than Marvin Harrison's.
4. THE PACERS ARE 3-0! Hey, let's celebrate while we can. I think that teams respond to coaching changes, but that effect is often temporary. O'Brien has his players ears for now. I hope it lasts.
5. They sunk Notre Dame's battleship! I'm Irish and from Indiana, so I at least passively root for ND usually. Not yesterday. I don't know if it is the joy of watching Weiss lose or what, but that was fun.
6. Demond just informed me that Harrison and Ugoh are both out. That sucks, but doesn't really change my opinions about this game.
7. Vince Young is 14/20 for just 110 yards and 2 picks. But Carolina's O is horrible, 13-0 Titans. He just wins games doesn't he? Barf.
8. The J-holes and Chargers both suffer bad losses. Does anyone want to be #3 in this conference? Adrian Peterson is a freak of nature. That game could have been 50-10.
9. That last point sounds like Peter King wrote it. That's a bad thing.
10. Demond called to say, "It's loud as hell in here". I could barely hear him
IT'S GAME TIME!
QUARTER ONE:
I'm sick today. I've had a horrible cold all weekend, but I'm going to man up enough to type (yeah, I know, save your crap for someone else). Before the game let's be clear about some things:
1. I think Indy wins and easily. I don't think the Pats get to 25 points.
2. No matter what happens today my opinion about the following issues will not be changed:
A. The Pats won't beat Indy in January even if the game is played in NE
B. Peyton Manning is a better QB than Tom Brady
C. New England is a great team who I hate
Don't try arguing about these things with me. I don't want to hear it. Today's game is meaningless either way, and I'll say that again after we blow these guys out.
3. I'm more worried about Tony Ugoh's health than Marvin Harrison's.
4. THE PACERS ARE 3-0! Hey, let's celebrate while we can. I think that teams respond to coaching changes, but that effect is often temporary. O'Brien has his players ears for now. I hope it lasts.
5. They sunk Notre Dame's battleship! I'm Irish and from Indiana, so I at least passively root for ND usually. Not yesterday. I don't know if it is the joy of watching Weiss lose or what, but that was fun.
6. Demond just informed me that Harrison and Ugoh are both out. That sucks, but doesn't really change my opinions about this game.
7. Vince Young is 14/20 for just 110 yards and 2 picks. But Carolina's O is horrible, 13-0 Titans. He just wins games doesn't he? Barf.
8. The J-holes and Chargers both suffer bad losses. Does anyone want to be #3 in this conference? Adrian Peterson is a freak of nature. That game could have been 50-10.
9. That last point sounds like Peter King wrote it. That's a bad thing.
10. Demond called to say, "It's loud as hell in here". I could barely hear him
IT'S GAME TIME!
QUARTER ONE:
- Colts won the toss. That sucks. I love starting the 2nd half with the ball.
- Getting Addai involved early is awesome. I'm shaking so hard I can barely type. I hate being sick.
- Big drop by Wayne. He makes that play in his sleep.
- Watching Charlie Johnson block on the edge was encouraging.
- Manning gets them with hard count. Not in the stats, but a sign of his greatness.
- The challenge slows the game down and puts the Colts rhythm at risk. Can they overcome a 2nd and 10 plus the slow down? I'm commenting every play. Must slow down.
- Never mind. I forget about how I've been saying for weeks that the Pats can't stop the run.
- Huge first down run by Addai. The Pats whiffed by drafting Marooney.
- Great play by Seymour. Forces a tough third and long. Johnson's choke job forces the Colts into a give up play. AV yanks the kick. That's a rough start. We all know they can move the ball easily on the Pats; points are what count.
- Mathis (aka the Invisible Man) shows up large early. 3rd and longs are must stops in this game.
- Great job by the cover two. No points for the Pats. Good pressure by the line kept Brady from looking downfield.
- Addai shows why I think we'll win in January regardless of location. THE PATS CAN'T STOP THE RUN.
- Pass int saves a TD for the Pats. AG beats his man like a drum.
- Does Keith fumble...if he did I'll kill him
- No fumble, 3rd and goal. RUN THE BALL AGAIN.
- AG loses the ball. Settle for a suck FG. Should have been 6.
- Hey! There's our sucky kick coverage! Glad you're back boys...we missed you.
- Moss hears footsteps but makes the catch
- A Big 3rd and 1 for the Pats is coming up. But that's next quarter. This quarter saw Indy dominate but let the Pats off the hook, due in large part to a horrible false start that pushed the field goal attempt back. The Pats were held off the board for a quarter which helps dispel the myth of their 'unstoppable' offense. The kick coverage really hurt them on this drive, giving Brady a short field.
QUARTER TWO:
- No QB is as effective when under pressure.
- No surprise that NE is running the draws. The Colts are down to some really crappy LBs. It's hurting their ability to stop the run. This isn't the same defense without Keiaho OR Hagler
- Let's see if the Pats WRs are more sure handed than AG...yup, Moss beats Tim Jennings (WHY IS TIM JENNINGS-aka worst corner ever-on Moss)
- The difference in this game is a missed FG and a dropped TD pass. Frustrating start, but it still seems unlikely that the Pats put up more than 24 points, unless the kick coverage goes to hell a few more times.
- Big play for Addai catching the ball. You feel like he's going to break one long today.
- Nice block Charlie.
- Addai is a beast. Yet more reason he kicks Marooney's ass-he can catch the ball
- Terrible, terrible pass int call. Payback is awesome. I hate that fade route to Morehead.
- Good coverage on 3rd and 5. I hate wasting a down on that first down fade.
- This next drive will decide what type of game it'll be. If NE scores, it might be an up and down game. A stop...and I think we are looking at 30-20
- SOME JACKHOLE IN MY BUILDING JUST TOOK OUT THE CABLE!
- Ok, it's back just in time to watch Moss get scared of catching a ball in traffic.
- 3rd and 7, play of the game right here and Moss beats Jennings. Someone needs to stop putting Jennings on Moss. I heard that would be the matchup all week, but it makes no sense. Jennings is the worst corner on the team.
- We really miss the linebackers.
- I'm done till halftime, I'm missing too much by blogging.
- Ok, I lied. First off, Cold Case made 100 Episodes? The only thing more improbable would Shark making 100 eps.
- Also, Indy needs to use timeouts on D here. This is why I hate losing the toss. NE has a shot of getting the dreaded two straight possession. The Colts need to preserve the clock for a 2 minute FG drive regardless of what NE does here.
- Um, that crap doesn't work against good teams, Tommy.
- I think the Pats must have taken that timeout, there Jimmy (unless that happened to have been a first down).
- Not a bad little half drive by the Colts. You can't be too aggressive or risk giving them the ball back with great position and lots of time.
- JOE MAHFREAKING ADDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI
Half time comment: This game should be 20-7. A dropped TD and a missed FG, or NE would be in dire straights right now. Let's go and win this bad boy. Demond called. He's already hoarse. He's been screaming for an hour and a half.
Third Quarter:
- Marlin Jackson is a real man. Great plays by Hayden and Jackson force a punt. Look, NE is good, but they've played some horrible teams. Let's just bury this ridiculous "unstoppable offense" crap about NE. They are good, and they might win this game, but Indy has proven that even down a handful of LBs, that NE can be controlled. This is a good, even great team, but they are not some invincible force of nature.
- That was a bad pick. Very Bradyesque, Peyton.
- Mathis destroys Brady again. Huge play coming on 3rd down.
- Wow, sucks to play on the road boys. Pats can't even score when in FG range to start a drive. Bullet...consider yourself dodged.
- Both offenses look out of sync. But the Colts do an amazing job of covering a huge punt despite flags against NE for unsportsmanlike conduct. The D needs one more big stop to hold the momentum.
- What an absolutely amazing game. The Colts almost get the stop, but Brady escapes the heat, and then Bob Sanders blows up a 3rd and 2. That was a great drive by NE, and Moss's catch was superlative. I think I've settled back into calm appreciation for the teams playing. These are the two best teams in the NFL and nothing definitive will be decided today. NE had has some tough calls go against them, and Indy is down 5 starters. That's life. There shouldn't be any excuses today.
- To end the third quarter Wayne drops a TD pass and Welker rips off a long return. I think we are all worried about the stamina of the defense in the fourth quarter, but they end the third quarter in fine fashion, stopping the run.
FOURTH QUARTER
- GARY MAFRICKIN BRACKET!!! Amazing play. That's how he made the Pro Bowl two years ago. The Pats implode with a personal foul call.
- Horrible play calling. HOLY CRAP WHAT A CATCH BY CLARK. Manning avoids the hit and delivers a huge first down.
- Manning and Addai are huge as the Colts pull ahead by 10 under 10 to play. This game feels like it's being played in 1957. It ought to be watched in black and white. It's old school all the way.
- Tough break as Bethea doesn't get deep enough on Moss. Bob Sanders getting hurt is both devastating and sort of predictable. I bet he comes back. If he doesn't, it's because he's out for the year.
- I know two guys are hurt in the secondary, but they are also the best tacklers out there. If the Pats run the ball twice, it's a 3 point game.
- Demond calls to say Bob is back in the game.
- Great catch by Welker. This barn is officially burning.
- It's time for a "Baltimore Drive"
- I fear Lilja just killed this drive. Oh wait, Diem just helped! Hey, Charlie Johnson helped too! Nice job O line. Way to kill that drive.
- Yeah, I don't like our chances right now.
- Big mistake not challenging the Stallworth catch. He bobbled it when it was OB. Well, there are the 24 points for the Patriots. Might it be that Brady FINALLY had a game winning TD drive? Our line is playing so bad...I like his chances.
- Ugh, watching Morehead drop that pass was almost hilarious.
- And so ends a pretty frustrating game, assuming the Pats get a first down. The line play was just not strong enough at the end. This goes back to what I said hours ago. I saw nothing here today to change my opinions of these teams. AV missed a FG, AG drops a TD, Wayne drops a TD. This game could have gone the other way just as easily. NE will lose games this year, and will lose in January. I think a healthy Indy wins this game going away. That's not an excuse; NE did what they had to do and they won, but they didn't convince me they were the better team. Just the better team at the end today.
Patriots Pre-game
I really hate these guys. I'll be rooting as much for the Patriots to lose today as I will be for the Colts to win. This game is difficult to predict because of the injuries to Marvin Harrison, Tony Ugoh, and Freddy Keiaho. The presence of each would have a major impact on the game. Marvin greatly limits your options as a defense because you don't want to leave him with single coverage very often. Tony Ugoh's run blocking is critical in a game like this. And do you really want to face that offense with Rocky Boiman playing a major role?
The national experts were much more split in their predictions than I figured they would be, but the media hype-meter undoubtedly points to the Patriots. The Colts are underdogs in a building where they've won 14 consecutive games. The Colts almost never play the respect card, but today they come in with a chip on their shoulder.
I liked what I saw from the Cleveland and Dallas rushing offenses earlier in the season. Today is not a day where you worry about preserving Addai. You hand it to him 25 times and throw it to him 12 times. The Colts are going to come out swinging and grab a sizable lead. It's a much tougher game without the injured players, but I still have a good feeling about this game. I think Indy hangs on for a 34-28 win.
The national experts were much more split in their predictions than I figured they would be, but the media hype-meter undoubtedly points to the Patriots. The Colts are underdogs in a building where they've won 14 consecutive games. The Colts almost never play the respect card, but today they come in with a chip on their shoulder.
I liked what I saw from the Cleveland and Dallas rushing offenses earlier in the season. Today is not a day where you worry about preserving Addai. You hand it to him 25 times and throw it to him 12 times. The Colts are going to come out swinging and grab a sizable lead. It's a much tougher game without the injured players, but I still have a good feeling about this game. I think Indy hangs on for a 34-28 win.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Because 18 just wasn't enough
Are you seething yet? Are you sick of the hype, the hoodie, and all things New England? Then check out
88 Reasons to Hate the New England Patriots
I want to give special thanks to those readers who contributed especially Colts Girl Brandy, Darnell and Joel whose entries made the list in some form or another.
In other news, I will be doing a live game blog tomorrow. For reasons not worth going into, I can't make it down to Indy for the game, so Demond will be screaming his lungs out alone, and I'll be stuck here with most of you. Not that I'm bitter.
88 Reasons to Hate the New England Patriots
I want to give special thanks to those readers who contributed especially Colts Girl Brandy, Darnell and Joel whose entries made the list in some form or another.
In other news, I will be doing a live game blog tomorrow. For reasons not worth going into, I can't make it down to Indy for the game, so Demond will be screaming his lungs out alone, and I'll be stuck here with most of you. Not that I'm bitter.
Devil Power
Good on ya' boys! The Pike Red Devils captured their first sectional championship in football last night. The week before they controlled Ben Davis on the road. It's been amazing to see the transformation in the major sports for Pike in just barely more than a decade. We had been competitive in basketball under Ed Siegal for many years, but nothing could have prepared us for the run of glory that occurred in the late 90s and beyond. And now, to actually be relevant in football...It's a little hard to believe, but awesome nonetheless. Anyone who's ever won a sectional knows it's a thrill, but you gotta keep winning. Losing in the regional baseball finals two years in a row still hurts me very much, so I hope the boys have another great effort in them next week. The dome is oh so close now....
Welcome to Colts-Pats Weekend!!!
Wilco has a special message for the Patriots:
DZ comments: I love Wilco. Does my love for Wilco make me cool enough to offset the fact that I breathlessly posted about the X-Files last night? No? Oh, ok. I'll just go sit over there in the corner...
DZ comments: I love Wilco. Does my love for Wilco make me cool enough to offset the fact that I breathlessly posted about the X-Files last night? No? Oh, ok. I'll just go sit over there in the corner...
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