Oswlek

I put this in this thread, but it seemed to die there.

I'm sure that this isn't going to go over well with out Indy brethren, but Indy's D wasn't nearly as good as some want to make it out to be yesterday. They were largely just the beneficiaries of some of the worst quarterbacking one will ever see.

I have to admit that I didn't watch all that much of the first half, so some of this may be a tad bit off, but I don't expect it to be by much. Anyway, there are a few plays that I want to highlight:

* On Bob Sanders' int, the WR nearest looked open because Sanders was playing the ball instead of running to where the WR was, but no one was anywhere near Gray and he had plenty of time to find the underneath guy who looked open to me.

* On the other int, the WR would have been able to waltz into the EZ had the pass been where it was supposed to be. He blew right past the CB and the one safety on the field was nowhere near the play. Instead the ball was underthrown by about 10 yards (if not more) and on a line, so the WR had no chance a play of any kind. Easy completion for big yardage most of the time - and not just with Brady/Manning throwing the ball.

* On the drive after the tipped Manning int, there were two plays that I can remember. 1) A WR was free on a slant pattern - he had inside position and no one was in the throwing lane - but despite the WR only being 7 yards downfield the ball was still off by 4 yards. 2) The play either just before of after that one, Gray dumped it into a guy who had two guys right on him despite the WR in the zone beyond that one being completely free.

The other negative that seemed exploitable was Indy's selling out to stop the run. Jax came in with a decent plan to pass on 1st down to take advantage of this selling out, and they would have been more successful had they any real threats at WR. Once the human misfire took over and Indy extended their lead, it was all over.

I can say unequvically that if Indy covers like that against NE that the Pats will slap a 40-spot on the board.

Now, that said, I was very impressed with Indy's running game. I knew that it was improved, but I didn't realize just how improved it is. They took it to a good Jax front and just mauled 'em. That Kenton or Toby Keith kid looks like a decnt player, not just a product of the system. Unless my eyes deceived me, I saw a lot more power running from Indy rather than just stretch-stretch-stretch.

NE is going to have to get their tackling issues taken care of because Indy will be hard to keep under 30 points themselves.

Edit to add: Indy's defense is still quite a bit better than they have been in a while. They have maintained the swarming aggressiveness that they picked up in the playoffs last year. Their tackling has improved immensly, and their run D is obviously a lot better as well. I just wasn't impressed at all with their pass coverage.

Where Indy may catch a huge break is if Watson misses this game. Welker is a bad matchup for them, but Welker and Watson is a matchup *nightmare*.

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"They have one objective," said Washington cornerback Shawn Springs. "They whoop people's [backsides]. If you understand that, it answers all your questions. They might not lose [this year]."

SVN

i think the jags receivers dropped some critical passes too. The one before the safety in the EZ was a glaring one. Wouldve gotten them out of the hole.

PatsSteve1

I don't care what the stats say or the rankings say either. I'm not totally sold on the Patriots D. It's hard to tell for sure because almost every game the score has been so out of whack, and yes the D is missing Seymour and was missing arrison for awhile. But do those "excuses" mean you can't play better D?

eric5280

The Colts are definitely an elite team. Their offense is still very dangerous and their defense is exponentially better with Sanders there. However, while other teams struggled against them, the Patriots were the lone team to exploit them last year with far inferior receiver corp.

Maybe the redskins game will tell me differently but I don't see any defense on the planet that can stop the Patriots offensive jaugernaut. People talk about how they relied on the pass as if it were a bad thing. I don't see it that way. They have run the ball enough and well enough in the early games to show they can clearly run if they choose to. Other than the Dallas game, the Patriots have put up above average yards and yards per carry. When they resort to the passing game, it's becaue they prefer it, not because they are forced to do it. AND opponents have shown zero ability to stop the pass even when they know they are going to pass. To me, that's an even scarier proposition because teams can't hang their hats on trying to stop the run.

MoLewisrocks

Manning couldn't get the ball in the EZ through the air until he hit an uncontested wide open Clark in the closing minutes. They were able to pound it in twice close but were also stoned twice and forced to settle for chip shot FG's. Manning got sacked once and hurried (and flustered) several times, threw a pick and nearly had another picked.

That said, JAX remains vastly over rated even with a pretty stout D. That hype and being good looking is apparently how Del Rio keeps his job. Cutting Byron was the first smart move he's made on offense in years, but Garrard is nothing more than a decent game manager if properly handled. Last nights game plan to surprise the Colts through the air, with a phalanx of no name, stone hands receivers, was foolish. Sticking with the plan once Gray came in was beyond stupid. They were only down 7 at the time. When they briefly committed to run the ball smart and hard they drove 40 yards on 10 plays for a TD to open the second half. And their D really stiffened and made a valient effort to retain momentum forcing a punt. Unfortunately pinned on the 4 Del Rio popped another stupid pill and asked the UDFA to pass his way out of his own EZ.

If this is Manning being Manning circa 2007 against a good but not great D, he's gonna get pummeled by an offense led by another HOF QB with a veritable arsenal of weapons his defense has never faced the likes of.

Interesting that they sat Marvin and Addai late, think they are still concerned about health particularly with Marvin. He was rubbing his apparently still sore knee on the bench in the 4th.

Going to be real interesting to see how Cover two fares against 3-4 top teir weapons and a coupled with a handful of other viable options. Deion was saying the other night that big, tall, fast talents like Moss and Ocho Cinco and TO (when he doesn't have the dropsies) love cover 2.

MoLewisrocks

Absolutely not. I think it's human nature though to play up or down to the competition (unless you have an axe to grind as Tommy apparently did in Miami and frankly the Colts D did in JAX last night - avenging 375). That may have been part of issue with the Colts offense last night once the UDFA entered the fray, although Peyton did look pissy at times like he was not happy with his units execution even in a game he knew was in the bag before the half.

I just think at the end of the day if both offenses have their best day we come out on top regardless of which D shows for each team. Though I do think both D's will be up for this matchup. I think when both are on we still have an edge. Remember we held through most of the first half in that AFCC without Harrison or AD or Gay or Junior and with a banged up Seymour and a lot of sick and tired bodies trying to gut it out. And we put 21 up on their D which is essentially unchanged without Moss or Stallworth or Welker even on the horizen.

We also clearly have the better of the matchups on ST.

workhorse

Hard to judge this game if you only saw the second half since they had a back up in there. You can't really judge the Colts coverage at that time. They were stacked against the run daring them to beat them with the pass at that point, plus the game was not done but pretty close to being in hand. If they were worried about the Jags passing, I think you would have seen a different coverage scheme.

I was impressed with the Colts running game too against that front seven of the Jags.

I don't know if they are concerned or if they just saw it as a chance to rest them and make sure they don't reaggrivate their injuries.

I like Bob.

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Oswlek

On some of the plays (the second int for example) Sanders was right up on the LOS, so you are right about that. But Indy was most certainly in full pass defense during the last two plays I mentioned (and there were others, I just didn't recall the exact situation well enough to mention them here). They were not stacking against the run up 22-7 in the 4th.

Sanders is definitely likable. Seems like a decnet interview as well. BTW, what the hell was with the barage of NE/Brady questions in the post-game interview? They just locked up wins in all three division foes' homes and all but sealed up the South. Can we *not* talk about the Pats for even a second?

__________________
"They have one objective," said Washington cornerback Shawn Springs. "They whoop people's [backsides]. If you understand that, it answers all your questions. They might not lose [this year]."

Bo0MeR

Yeah throw that one pretty much out the window, the hype will only grow more and more each day until Nov 4, and possibly beyond

The ESPN hype squad will make sure Colts/Pats is shoved down everyones throats in every aspect of everything

Oswlek

I can't even imagine what it would be like if they were broadcasting the game.

{Shudders}

__________________
"They have one objective," said Washington cornerback Shawn Springs. "They whoop people's [backsides]. If you understand that, it answers all your questions. They might not lose [this year]."