Despite the lousy finish last night, I think most of us feel extremely good about the state of this team right now. The offense looked sharp, despite a smart aversion to running the ball. There was no reason to get Addai beat up. Manning was clearly in rhythm, and would have put up 30 had he stayed in the game. Most impressively was the furor of the defense. I can't ever remember a Colts team that hit as hard as that one. We all know that Bob Sanders will eat brains, but watching Guzman leap over two guys to make a bruising tackle was awesome. This is a nasty defense. Despite allowing a bucketload of return TDs and several meaningless scores in the last two minutes of games, the Colts have the best scoring D in football. Of all the Colts teams I've seen, this one is the first to surpass the cursed 1996 as my favorite. I have this feeling like this team is about to ascend to a completely different level over the next month.
How hilarious was last night's game as a microcosm of everything we've been saying about VY? I mean seriously. He was having a really strong statistical night, but the Titans were losing. As soon as he left the game, I knew we were in trouble. Jeff Fisher's interview was weeeeeird after the game. He basically said Young COULD have played. YIKES. Did he really just bench his star QB in the 3rd quarter of a must win game that he was losing? Yup. And that's why he's great. He knew Collins was the best hope for winning that game, and was lucky he got the excuse he needed to play him.
Here's a start on today's links:
Clayton does a good job on the key issues of the playoffs.
CHFF picks their awards
John Clayton puts the Colts as at 2-1 to knock of the Pats.
Scouts Inc. weird system rates the Colts and Pats as even on offense.
Scoop may be crazy, but he's not wrong.
Monday, December 31, 2007
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4 comments:
Final DVOA Ratings are up.
Colts finish with the #2 offense, #3 defense and #32 special teams. Awesome.
Special teams rank is way too high!
I have to stand in awe of 18to88's take on VY. I was sort of on board before last night's game. But it truly was the microcosm game for me. Colts gave up the easy stuff and high % of completions, like they have been doing all season, so on paper, he looked competent, but if your running QB cannot run or connect for the distance he needs when he needs to.... well, what good is he? 9 TD passes all year? Sheesh!
Okay, you beat me on the Scouts Inc link, which I was just about to post. I like their rating system, though the sum of the parts is not the same as a team acting in unison. Works for me. Their VY commentary is excoriating. And the Pats' biggest O weakness? Maroney.
Also, Clayton isn't giving the Colts 2:1 odds to win. It's 2:1 against beating the Pats. But compared to Tennessee's 75:1, it's practically a lock!
Personally, I like his analysis of the first game (implying that a healthy Colts team would have won), then he veers off course by stating that the Pats are twice as likely to win as the Colts. Maybe because of HFA? I'd put it at a 50/50 shot.
Also, the "Scoop May be Crazy" llink goes to the same place as the Scouts Inc link.
Cheers and Happy New Year.
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