The Official "Colts are better than I thought" thread

[BradyManny]

Absurd refereeing aside, the Colts are better than I thought. And I already thought they were really good, but I thought based on the games I'd seen them this year, that their defense could be exploited.

I was wrong. They're good, they're damn fast and they make plays on defense.

Still, I think when we meet again we should win more comfortably. They're a great team, they're legit on defense and we all know they're going to score, but the Pats are THAT good that I feel confident about if and when we meet up.

BUT, they are better than I thought. They are definitely in our class and without a doubt, that class is far removed from the talent of the rest of the league.

 

[Bella*chick]

I'm in. They're better than I thought too. And I knew they were really, really good.

Best two teams in the league, hands down. It's like these two play in their own private world and every other team is just playing for the chance to lose to them.

 

[BradyManny]

Best two teams in the league, hands down. It's like these two play in their own private world and every other team is just playing for the chance to lose to them.

Seriously, I wish we could just watch these two teams play each other 16 times a year.

 

[BradyFTW!]

The Patriots are clearly better than the Colts, and going forward I will be confident whenever we play them. The Colts certainly aren't the 1b that they were coming into the game, but even as a clera #2 they're still better than I thought they were, for sure. The Colts are an extremely good team, and head and shoulders above every other team in the league other than NE.

Going into yesterday's game, I would have thought that even if Indy got all the breaks (as they did), it would still be a 10-14 pt game. Whatever they've lost on offense they've made up for with a ferocious, unrelenting defense that gave us our first real test of the year.

 

[Fixit]

I'm absolutely unconvinced that they can consistently stop the Pats' passing attack. The play-calling yesterday was downright awful for most of the game, and Brady threw two ill-advised balls that were picked.

They're fast, and they can hit, but they really can't cover for squat.

 

[BradyManny]

I'm absolutely unconvinced that they can consistently stop the Pats' passing attack. The play-calling yesterday was downright awful for most of the game, and Brady threw two ill-advised balls that were picked.

They're fast, and they can hit, but they really can't cover for squat.

Well, if you take away our two drives that were stopped by turnovers, then this game looks a little bit more like the Patriots first 8 games. But you can't take away those drives b/c the Colts made those two plays on the ball.

Bethea completely outplayed Stallworth for that deep ball (would've been a sure catch for Moss, no doubt) and Brackett made an amazing play on the second pick.

You can't take that away from them. Yes, we drove the ball on them consistently, yes, we were successful on offense in general. But their playmaking, the two picks, the sacks, those were plays stifled drives that otherwise would've been scoring drives, and you have to give them credit for that.

 

[Pats_AZ]

Addai is better than i thought. Colts defense is a little better than i thought. The Colt zebras are better than i thought . The Colts are not better than i thought.

 

[Fixit]

Well, if you take away our two drives that were stopped by turnovers, then this game looks a little bit more like the Patriots first 8 games. But you can't take away those drives b/c the Colts made those two plays on the ball.

Bethea completely outplayed Stallworth for that deep ball (would've been a sure catch for Moss, no doubt) and Brackett made an amazing play on the second pick.

You can't take that away from them. Yes, we drove the ball on them consistently, yes, we were successful on offense in general. But their playmaking, the two picks, the sacks, those were plays stifled drives that otherwise would've been scoring drives, and you have to give them credit for that.

Didn't they have just two sacks, and one was on the first offensive play?

Anyway, I do give them credit, they made some plays, but they didn't really stop the receivers except for the times they were mugging them. They were at home, and the coach/QB comm was down. I wasn't overly impressed.

You made my point for me, by the way. If it wasn't for two bad balls by Brady, the Pats probably score on those drives, as well. That's what I'm saying.

Next time, at home, I think Brady throws all over them, weather be damned.

 

[PlattsFan]

Addai is much better than I thought he'd be coming out of college. I thought he was a guy who couldn't make a move going forward since in the plays I saw he always nearly stopped when he made a lateral move. But he's so quick it doesn't matter, and he can cut when he needs to.

The Colts defense was much better than I thought. They played well and put a good pass rush on Brady. They're fast ... real fast.

The offense is showing some signs of holes, though, and it's not just because of Harrison being out. Harrison is slowing and aging, and the O-line isn't as good as it once was. Gonzalez doesn't seem to be as good as Stokely was (not just basing it on this game, since Gonzalez had the thumb problem). And Addai didn't dominate when he needed to late in the game like Edge used to.

Overall, yeah, the Colts are a really good team. Any other year and they'd be a legit Super Bowl favorite and be the toast of the league. Unfortunately, they're up against an all-time great team. I think the Pats take them by double-digits in Foxboro.

 

[xTROx]

the Colts Are Who We Thought They Were

And We Didn't Leave Them Off The Hook!

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

we all knew the colts are good and they still are good, but seriously the pats out tricked themselves.

1. they tried to run the ball and be tricky. do what you do best(3wr, 1 rb, i te set)
2. they didn't get welker involved, should ahve put him in motion sooner(take a look at the game when welker is not thrown to)
3. the pats waited too late to go no huddle
4. the pats didn't give max protect or any protect to the 5 man line(i think they didn't adjust quick enough and overestimated the 5man line)


the pats hurt themselves as much as the colts and refs did.

 

[BradyManny]

You made my point for me, by the way. If it wasn't for two bad balls by Brady, the Pats probably score on those drives, as well. That's what I'm saying.

Yes, I think they only did have two sacks, but Light's tripping call might as well be considered a sack.

But my point is that you can't discount the fact that they made plays that prevented us from scoring on drives where we were in control. That's a victory that the rest of the league has not shared in up to this point.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

I'm absolutely unconvinced that they can consistently stop the Pats' passing attack. The play-calling yesterday was downright awful for most of the game, and Brady threw two ill-advised balls that were picked.

They're fast, and they can hit, but they really can't cover for squat.

agreed that palycalling was odd, maybe the qb to coach communication had something to do with this.


did this communciation prevent them from going no huddle?

 

[NEPat]

Addai is awesome, and their defense did a great job.

Best two teams in the league, hands down. It's like these two play in their own private world and every other team is just playing for the chance to lose to them.

Yeah, I wish we could just fast forward to the AFC Championship game. I know, anything could happen, you never know in this league, blah blah blah, but if these two teams don't meet up in a rematch I will be as shocked as I have ever been. Who else is there in the AFC? The Chargers? Please. The Steelers are the only other team I give a shot to, but I don't think they'll be able to pull it off.

It's these two teams and no one else.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Addai is awesome, and their defense did a great job.



Yeah, I wish we could just fast forward to the AFC Championship game. I know, anything could happen, you never know in this league, blah blah blah, but if these two teams don't meet up in a rematch I will be as shocked as I have ever been. Who else is there in the AFC? The Chargers? Please. The Steelers are the only other team I give a shot to, but I don't think they'll be able to pull it off.

It's these two teams and no one else.

I guess we'll see if the chargers can impose their power runnign game on the chargers next week.

 

[hambone1818]

Two things jumped out at me: Addai and the speed of the defense. The rest of that team was exactly what I expected. It can't be discounted that 1) the game was in Indy with (I still believe) some audio help; and 2) take away those ridiculous penalties and the game is VERY, VERY different. I still think the Pats are good for 2 more TD's in Foxborough, but I was very impressed with Addai and their fast defense.

 

[Ring 6]

I think they are a little better than I expected, but I think the gap is larger than yesterday showed.
For the first time all season we short-circuited on offense a few times. The issue with that isnt that we cannot overcome it and still score 35+ points, the issue, against the Colts is that we get fewer opportunites with the ball, because their offense holds it.
If we played like we did yesterday on offense, against any other opponent (playing d just like Indy did) we would have ended up with 35-36 minutes of time of possession and 34 or more points, because we would have had more drives.
The missing 2-3 drives and 6 minutes of t.o.p. was because of Indys offense staying on the field, not because our offense was tremendously worse than it has been. Add 2-3 drives, let Brady take back 2 throws, and we end up with at least 34 points, maybe more.
It doesn't matter though, because the job isn't to score 37 points, it is to win. It was a complementary game where the O and d played hand in hand.

 

[NEPat]

I guess we'll see if the chargers can impose their power runnign game on the chargers next week.

You mean against Indy? My guess is Indy is going to play a very sloppy game and the Chargers will win. I think it's just going to be way too difficult for the Colts to win after playing such an emotional game against the Pats.

But over the long haul, you just cannot trust the Chargers. Their coach is terrible, the players know the coach is terrible, and it's affecting their play. They will not be a problem for either the Colts or the Pats if they even see them in the playoffs.

 

[scout]

In conclusion, the analysts are saying that the Colts will compete and can take the playoff game in New England. First, I'm not convinced that they will survive to get there. I think they have a very good defense, but lets wait and see. Secondly, because they were without Harrison and a lineman and held the Patriots to 24 points, they have a very good chance of beating us in the Foxboro. Do you seriously think the referees will be making the same lame calls at the Razor and after their bosses review the tapes? Do you think a reversal of fan noise will aid the Colts? Do the Colts have any more schemes in their bag (2 linebackers/ 6 db's) or will they play that same scheme and if so, does BB have a plan? The Colts have one game left on their schedule (Baltimore Dec. 9) in which they might have adverse weather. Conversely, the Patriots have no dome games and no games south of Baltimore. Yea, no advantage at the Razor come January.

 

[nowayback]

the colts are worse then i thought.....refs...noise...home field. i thougth they were better..prob from watching them against weaker teams. if the pats played like that i would have been disgusted. red zone 2 times first half ..nada. fluke play to take lead at half.

imagine they are your team..they play at home, the other teams gets called for 140 yds penalties. qb throws 2 picks...and you lose!