Reality Check: The Colts

hagan714 · 09-07-2007, 07:47 AM

Reality Check

Ok what did we learn? The saints once again we folded against the NFL elite. We where beaten straight up. We are not there yet.

Offensive Line: The Colts came out and dared us to run. We did and they stuffed us. Our offensive line was once again beat in the trenches. The one to me that stunk up the field the most was big Jon. He missed blocks and got beat through out the night. He was not alone but he did stand out, as did the entire right side of the OL. The Colts dared us to play ball control and we could not do it. That is what we needed to do in order to keep Manning of the field and win the game. If you recorded the game watch it, if you can stomach it and keep an eye on big Mike. As a lead back he is suppose to clear the hole of secondary level defenders. All night he was forced to block first level defenders that the OL was suppose to be blocking.
We failed.
Grade D- Only because Drew did not get killed out there

Running Backs: I do not know how much blame I can put on them with the poor play of the OL. Reggie still looks a bit to tentative at times. His timing is off by that split second in deciding what to do at the end of a play. That split second allowed the defenders to close in and make the tackle to prevent a couple of 1st downs. He still need to learn how to get tackled going forward and get that extra yard or two.

Wide Receivers: Again like the RB it is hard to put blame on them when the OL failed so badly. But no one stood out to even remark on. Well Henderson did catch a couple of short passes and that was good see.

Quarterback: Well Drew seemed ok I guess. He did have a melt down in the second half. One interception he stared down the WR during the entire play. He did it a couple of times. There was no doubt were he was going with the ball. He made a few very bad reads on the defense and threw to WR in double coverage. Not his best game by far. But we should expect a few of these. That was the knock on him in San Diego and he had them last year.

Tight Ends: I save the best for last. This was the key to the game. Eric could have been the man last night. In the passing game he was the player the colts were giving us. To many times his defender would peal off of him and break the pass up intended for a wide out. I like what I saw out of him. I also see why he gets injured so much. Like Bush he needs to master the art of being tackled going forward. Well in his case just accept the fact he is tackled and go down.

The same applies to our defense. We stunk up the place.

Defensive Line: Addi had a field day. They were man handled the entire second half. The Colts OL did what they want with us and it only took 5 of them to do it. The DT played much better than our great DE’s. This was not hard to do. It still took 3 linemen to neutralize them. Smith got pushed around all game. Ugho owned him in the running game. He was a great draft pick by the Colts. There #2 pick out played our #1 pick in the draft. LOL just had to say it.

Linebackers: They were dropping 10 to 15 yards deep and making tackles trying to make up that ground. I do not know how much blame to put on the coaching and the players. But it did not work. Drafting a LB corp. is needed. I never bought into this one year contract rotation system we are running. We are just not athletic enough here. None of them played really well. Scott was probably the best of the group as usual.

Cornerbacks: Jason David is not the answer. Once again we are going to play the year without a true #1 CB. Sorry I was never a fan of this signing. He is best suited as our #3 in the slot against smaller and faster slot receivers in our system. McKenzie should be our #2. So here we go again. I have CB at the top of my FA and Draft list. Unless we get Young on the field and let him develop Ok they did play much better in the short to intermediate game. That’s something.

Safeties: Like the LB’s they were giving up way to much cushion. But the play was much improved from last year. Welcome back Harper. He allows Bullocks to play FS. Both played much better together. The coaching here I think was to blame, again. The way to neutralize the colts is use a Jacksonville game plan. Secondary must play a lot of zone. We did it in the first half and got away from it in the second.

Coaching: We started and finished the game with our game plan in tack and failing. The Colts made half time adjustments and scored 28 unanswered points. Sean failed to adjust the offense to what the defense was doing. Gibbs went away from what was working in the first half. Maybe that turn over for a touchdown and the lack of offense made them think we had to be more aggressive. So here I say in the first half the coaches get a C. In the second half: a big fat F.

To sum it up our OL once again has proven it is not among the best in the NFL. They are good but the right side of the line is a work in progress. Maybe that explains why we only gave Jon a 2 year contract and we drafted Alleman. Strief and Alleman maybe the answer but how long will it take, if ever, for them to win the starting positions. The DL and LB’s are in the same boat but we do not have money or the picks invested in young players to take over. Let’s face facts here, the saints approach is one of putting a fairly good defense on the field and putting the money into the offense. So I have already decided what we need to draft on day one next year: OG/OC, OT, CB, DT, and LB. Not in that order. Hmmm, same list for me as last year.

Let us hold our collective breathes that we do not have a mental melt down against weaker teams and we can pull off one or two victories against the elite teams of the NFL and we maybe able to get home field advantage through the playoffs. That is the only way we are going to get a shot at super bowl. So let’s hope this is a wake up game to the team. As fans we need to step back a bit here. Let’s win the division first then worry about the rest later. Let the media do there thing and we as fans do ours. 12th man at home is the key.

09-07-2007, 07:47 AM	#1
hagan714 LB Mentallity Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 15,870 Blog Entries: 68	Reality Check: The Colts Reality Check Ok what did we learn? The saints once again we folded against the NFL elite. We where beaten straight up. We are not there yet. Offensive Line: The Colts came out and dared us to run. We did and they stuffed us. Our offensive line was once again beat in the trenches. The one to me that stunk up the field the most was big Jon. He missed blocks and got beat through out the night. He was not alone but he did stand out, as did the entire right side of the OL. The Colts dared us to play ball control and we could not do it. That is what we needed to do in order to keep Manning of the field and win the game. If you recorded the game watch it, if you can stomach it and keep an eye on big Mike. As a lead back he is suppose to clear the hole of secondary level defenders. All night he was forced to block first level defenders that the OL was suppose to be blocking. We failed. Grade D- Only because Drew did not get killed out there Running Backs: I do not know how much blame I can put on them with the poor play of the OL. Reggie still looks a bit to tentative at times. His timing is off by that split second in deciding what to do at the end of a play. That split second allowed the defenders to close in and make the tackle to prevent a couple of 1st downs. He still need to learn how to get tackled going forward and get that extra yard or two. Wide Receivers: Again like the RB it is hard to put blame on them when the OL failed so badly. But no one stood out to even remark on. Well Henderson did catch a couple of short passes and that was good see. Quarterback: Well Drew seemed ok I guess. He did have a melt down in the second half. One interception he stared down the WR during the entire play. He did it a couple of times. There was no doubt were he was going with the ball. He made a few very bad reads on the defense and threw to WR in double coverage. Not his best game by far. But we should expect a few of these. That was the knock on him in San Diego and he had them last year. Tight Ends: I save the best for last. This was the key to the game. Eric could have been the man last night. In the passing game he was the player the colts were giving us. To many times his defender would peal off of him and break the pass up intended for a wide out. I like what I saw out of him. I also see why he gets injured so much. Like Bush he needs to master the art of being tackled going forward. Well in his case just accept the fact he is tackled and go down. The same applies to our defense. We stunk up the place. Defensive Line: Addi had a field day. They were man handled the entire second half. The Colts OL did what they want with us and it only took 5 of them to do it. The DT played much better than our great DE’s. This was not hard to do. It still took 3 linemen to neutralize them. Smith got pushed around all game. Ugho owned him in the running game. He was a great draft pick by the Colts. There #2 pick out played our #1 pick in the draft. LOL just had to say it. Linebackers: They were dropping 10 to 15 yards deep and making tackles trying to make up that ground. I do not know how much blame to put on the coaching and the players. But it did not work. Drafting a LB corp. is needed. I never bought into this one year contract rotation system we are running. We are just not athletic enough here. None of them played really well. Scott was probably the best of the group as usual. Cornerbacks: Jason David is not the answer. Once again we are going to play the year without a true #1 CB. Sorry I was never a fan of this signing. He is best suited as our #3 in the slot against smaller and faster slot receivers in our system. McKenzie should be our #2. So here we go again. I have CB at the top of my FA and Draft list. Unless we get Young on the field and let him develop Ok they did play much better in the short to intermediate game. That’s something. Safeties: Like the LB’s they were giving up way to much cushion. But the play was much improved from last year. Welcome back Harper. He allows Bullocks to play FS. Both played much better together. The coaching here I think was to blame, again. The way to neutralize the colts is use a Jacksonville game plan. Secondary must play a lot of zone. We did it in the first half and got away from it in the second. Coaching: We started and finished the game with our game plan in tack and failing. The Colts made half time adjustments and scored 28 unanswered points. Sean failed to adjust the offense to what the defense was doing. Gibbs went away from what was working in the first half. Maybe that turn over for a touchdown and the lack of offense made them think we had to be more aggressive. So here I say in the first half the coaches get a C. In the second half: a big fat F. To sum it up our OL once again has proven it is not among the best in the NFL. They are good but the right side of the line is a work in progress. Maybe that explains why we only gave Jon a 2 year contract and we drafted Alleman. Strief and Alleman maybe the answer but how long will it take, if ever, for them to win the starting positions. The DL and LB’s are in the same boat but we do not have money or the picks invested in young players to take over. Let’s face facts here, the saints approach is one of putting a fairly good defense on the field and putting the money into the offense. So I have already decided what we need to draft on day one next year: OG/OC, OT, CB, DT, and LB. Not in that order. Hmmm, same list for me as last year. Let us hold our collective breathes that we do not have a mental melt down against weaker teams and we can pull off one or two victories against the elite teams of the NFL and we maybe able to get home field advantage through the playoffs. That is the only way we are going to get a shot at super bowl. So let’s hope this is a wake up game to the team. As fans we need to step back a bit here. Let’s win the division first then worry about the rest later. Let the media do there thing and we as fans do ours. 12th man at home is the key.
	"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode