Some light shed on just how bad Indy was - FootballOutsiders

[The Dynasty]

Nope blowout.

The only reason the Jets beat the Colts was to take the ball out of Sanchez hands in the second half and allow the Jets running game to wear down the Colts front seven.

Mark Sanchez posted a pathetic 62.4 quarterback rating against the Colts in pristine atmospheric conditions.

Mark Sanchez: Game Logs at NFL.com

In addition, the Colts had by far the worst rushing defense of the six AFC playoff qualifiers. The Patriots rush defense is superior to the Colts.

Furthermore, Peyton Manning was without the following offensive players against the Jets:

Dallas Clark
Anthony Gonzalez
Austin Collie
Donald Brown
Ryan Diem

How many offensive players were out for the Jets against the Colts?

This will be in all likelihood the Jets plan from the start, and it puts all the pressure on the Patriots DL, which is a unit that is extremely thin. While statistically the Patriots run defense hasnt been that bad all season long, it has been only recently where the injuries have caught up to them. As it was shown in the Packers game the Patriots DL can get worn down and their play gets effected. This cannot happen this Sunday. 3rd down defense will be extremely important this week, TOP will also be extremely important. If the Jets can maintain possession and have drives like they did in the 2nd half last week then they have a real legitimate shot at winning.

 

[ATippett56]

This will be in all likelihood the Jets plan from the start, and it puts all the pressure on the Patriots DL, which is a unit that is extremely thin.

Until you have all the facts, you don't know what the heck you are talking about. Warren, Wilfork, Deaderick, Love, Pryor have been on the roster from opening day.

While statistically the Patriots run defense hasnt been that bad all season long, it has been only recently where the injuries have caught up to them.

Until you have the facts, you don't know what you are talking about. The New England Patriots have only allowed ten points combined in the last two regular season games.

As it was shown in the Packers game the Patriots DL can get worn down and their play gets effected.

The Green Bay Packer offense is far superior to the New York Jets, don't even try to make that analogy.

This cannot happen this Sunday. 3rd down defense will be extremely important this week, TOP will also be extremely important. If the Jets can maintain possession and have drives like they did in the 2nd half last week then they have a real legitimate shot at winning.

Get this thru your thick skull, the New England Patriots have scored at least 31 points in their last eight games.

The bottom line is to stop with your mindless incoherent conjecture.

 

[ATippett56]

If the Jets can maintain possession and have drives like they did in the 2nd half last week then they have a real legitimate shot at winning.

The New England Patriots have a far superior run defense than the Indianapolis Colts.

NFL Stats: by Team Category

How many offensive players were out for the Jets against the Colts?

 

[The Dynasty]

Until you have all the facts, you don't know what the heck you are talking about. Warren, Wilfork, Deaderick have been on the roster from opening day.

Three players would be pretty thin. Kyle Love? Eric Moore? Cohen? Not exactly a feared DL.

Until you have the facts, you don't know what you are talking about. The New England Patriots have only allowed ten points combined in the last two regular season games.

And who were their opponents? Oh yeah, the Bills and the Dolphins. The Bills averaged 6.0 yards a carry, something to think about.

The Green Bay Packer offense is far superior to the New York Jets, don't even try to make that analogy.

Really? Matt Flynn is better than Sanchez? Jackson and Kuhn are better than LT and Greene? I would say with Rodgers out in that game the Jets offense is better than the offense the Packers put on the field that Sunday night. That game showed that the Patriots will struggle if the defense is forced to be on the field for a great deal of time.

Get this thru your thick skull, the New England Patriots have scored at least 31 points in their last eight games.

The bottom line is to stop with your mindless incoherent conjecture

So, what happened in the regular season is guaranteed to happen in the playoffs? Also, with the Patriots not blowing the Jets out, I would not expect them to score 31 points either.

 

[ATippett56]

Three players would be pretty thin. Kyle Love? Eric Moore? Cohen? Not exactly a feared DL.

Again you don't know what you are talking about. Warren, Wilfork, Deaderick, Love, Pryor have been on the roster opening day. Good enough to hold the Jets offense to three points in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

And who were their opponents? Oh yeah, the Bills and the Dolphins. The Bills averaged 6.0 yards a carry, something to think about.

Again you don't know what you are talking about. The Buffalo Bills scored 30 points the first time the two teams played. What is shows is how far the New England Patriots have improved in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

Really? Matt Flynn is better than Sanchez? Jackson and Kuhn are better than LT and Greene? I would say with Rodgers out in that game the Jets offense is better than the offense the Packers put on the field that Sunday night. That game showed that the Patriots will struggle if the defense is forced to be on the field for a great deal of time.

Matt Flynn has a better concept of the Green Bay offense than Mark Sanchez does with the NY Jets. Oh yeah, Mark Sanchez posted a subpar 62.4 quarterback rating against the Indianapolis Colts in pristine atmospheric conditions without any key injuries to the NY Jets offense. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

So, what happened in the regular season is guaranteed to happen in the playoffs? Also, with the Patriots not blowing the Jets out, I would not expect them to score 31 points either.

The last time the Jets played a team on the road with a winning record and a healthy offense (no key injuries), the Chicago Bears rung up 38 points on the Jets with the worst offensive line in the NFL. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

 

[The Dynasty]

Again you don't know what you are talking about. Warren, Wilfork, Deaderick, Love, Pryor have been on the roster opening day. Good enough to hold the Jets offense to three points in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

Not a Jets fan, dont know why you think I am. Even with the guys you named that is not a feared DL, nor a very good DL. The Patriots are without their second best DLmen in Wright, and Brace saw more time than Deaderick, Love and Pryor. Admit, the DL is a cause for concern.

Again you don't know what you are talking about. The Buffalo Bills scored 30 points the first time the two teams played. What is shows is how far the New England Patriots have improved in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

So you are saying that because the Patriots allowed 27 less points to the Bills in the 2nd game of the year against them, that shows how much they improved? :bricks: Wow.

Matt Flynn has a better concept of the Green Bay offense than Mark Sanchez does with the NY Jets. Oh yeah, Mark Sanchez posted a subpar 62.4 quarterback rating against the Indianapolis Colts in pristine atmospheric conditions without any key injuries to the NY Jets offense. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

:bricks: Why is Matt Flynn a backup then? Passer rating is an overrated stat. He gained 40 yards in the last 2 minutes when it mattered most, right? Not saying hes great, but you said Matt Flynn is better than Sanchez which is a moronic statement.

The last time the Jets played a team on the road with a winning record and a healthy offense (no key injuries), the Chicago Bears rung up 38 points on the Jets with the worst offensive line in the NFL. Unfortunately, Jets fans like yourself are completely blind to the facts.

So because of that you think the Patriots will real off 38+ points? You have an interesting way of predicting the future.

 

[ATippett56]

Not a Jets fan, dont know why you think I am. Even with the guys you named that is not a feared DL, nor a very good DL. The Patriots are without their second best DLmen in Wright, and Brace saw more time than Deaderick, Love and Pryor. Admit, the DL is a cause for concern.

Warren, Wilfork, Love, Deaderick are all healthy and with two weeks off, fresh as a daisy. Again, the NY Jets only scored three point against the Patriots defense in Foxboro, MA this season without Mike Wright on the active list for the game. Get your facts straight before spewing your garbage on the Pats Fans message board.

So you are saying that because the Patriots allowed 27 less points to the Bills in the 2nd game of the year against them, that shows how much they improved? :bricks: Wow.

Those are the facts. Get your facts straight before spewing your garbage on the Pats Fans message board.

Why is Matt Flynn a backup then? Passer rating is an overrated stat. He gained 40 yards in the last 2 minutes when it mattered most, right?

Passer rating is the most accurate statistic to measure a quarterback's productivity. Why don't you do some research for a change? Look up Aaron Rodgers career quarterback rating and compare it to Mark Sanchez as well as Matt Flynn. Get your facts straight before spewing your garbage on the Pats Fans message board.

Not saying hes great, but you said Matt Flynn is better than Sanchez which is a moronic statement.

Why don't you do some research for a change? Look up Mark Sanchez quarterback rating for the year as well as the Indianapolis Colts playoff game. Get your facts straight before spewing your garbage on the Pats Fans message board.

So because of that you think the Patriots will real off 38+ points? You have an interesting way of predicting the future.

The New England Patriots have scored at least 31 points in their last 8 games. Get your facts straight before spewing your garbage on the Pats Fans message board.

 

[VJCPatriot]

It's no secret that the Colts defense is fairly weak compared to their offensive unit. The only thing they do really well on defense is rush the passer. Their run defense and secondary are pretty weak in comparison. The way the Colts have won is to get up early on opponents and force them to play catch up. Once you've got the opponents into a catch up/passing mode, it's easy to call defensive plays and let your two all-pro defensive ends pin their ears back and get after the QB.

The difference this year is that the Colts offense hasn't been quite as elite as usual. Therefore they aren't getting big leads early in as many games and the offense has thus failed to mask the weaknesses of their defense as well as before. You might say that the Colts are in decline. But you need to account for the fact that they got hit with a lot of injuries to skill players.

If anything the Colt's offensive line needs the most fixing. They drafted a few guys that turned into busts and failed to add any talent to the offensive line this season -

2007. Tony Ugoh. 2nd round pick. Released by the team. Nuff said.
2008. Mike Pollak. 2nd round pick. Has reportedly been benched numerous times and at times been outplayed by UDFAs like Linkenbach.
2009. No offensive lineman selected before round 7.
2010. 4th round OG Jacques McClendon. Barely got on the field logging snaps in only 4 games.

Now examine the rest of their OL depth chart.
Indianapolis Colts 2010 Depth Chart - Offense - ESPN

LT C. Johnson 6th round pick
LG K. Devan UDFA
C J. Saturday UDFA - good player but he's 35 now.
RG M. Pollak 2nd round pick - he's still got a job but will he be in the doghouse again?
RT R. Diem 4th round pick - probably their best tackle, too bad he doesn't protect the blindside.

When the Colts offense is dominant. Then their defense becomes that much better and is well suited to playing with the lead. If I were Peyton Manning I'd be on Polians phone and asking, no BEGGING for some real offensive linemen to be drafted to protect him.

 

[ATippett56]

32nd ranked special teams, 26th ranked defense and 7th ranked offense.

The Jets barely escaped with the W if not for a Colts meltdown at the end.

Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: Jets 17, Colts 16: Ten things we learned

5. But credit New York’s Offensive Hogs, who were the story of the game. The Jets came out in the second half with two monster drives totaling 27 plays, almost all of them on the ground. Each ended with a 1-yard scoring run by LT. On the second TD, he ran through a massive hole, the kind which you rarely see so close to the end zone.

At the end of the day, New York's sixth-ranked Offensive Hogs beat up Indy's 28th ranked Defensive Hogs.

9. Indy will apparently never make an effort to rebuild its Defensive Hogs. The Colts organization, and its fans, have been married to one-trick ponies Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis for years.

They’re certainly sack-masters. Freeney boasts 34 in the last three years, and 10 here in 2010. Mathis has taken down 31 quarterbacks in the last three years, including 11 here in 2010.

But the fact of the matter is the two players are vastly undersized for the position and Indy’s Defensive Hogs have been a weak link for years. The 2010 season was no exception: No. 28 on our Defensive Hog Index, 25th against the run (4.57 YPA) and, despite Freeney’s and Mathis’s presence, the team struggled to force opponents into Negative Pass Plays (31st).

The unit forced just one sack Saturday night (by DT Daniel Muir), rarely pressured Sanchez and were manhandled for large stretches of the game by New York’s offensive line. The organization seems to have a self-destructive aversion to fixing what’s been a long-term problem on the defensive front and giving it the muscle to battle well in the postseason.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

CHFF is on track with the Freeney Mathis defensive hogs analysis. You can see why BJGE's running style and Woodhead's changeup has helped the Pats attack the Colts' D more effectively than recent past seasons.

The way to beat the Colts has been effectively demonstrated and going forward I no longer see them as the automatic pre season major threat for the AFCCG.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Cold, Hard Football Facts.com: Jets 17, Colts 16: Ten things we learned

I do put some stock in CHFF's quantitative analysis and index-based rankings.

I wish there was a way to quantify the Pats defensive hog index during weeks 9-16. My assumption is that it's helluva lot better than 19.3.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

You're demanding others be objective, but your post contains speculation and interpretation that you aren't being objective about ("The Colts had a down year due to injuries. Nothing more. Nothing less. They will be back to 12-4 next year and they'll have any non-homer Pats fans biting their nails and squirming in their seat if we play them in the playoffs next season."), and you ignore some pretty important issues that the Colts have going forward:

Reggie Wayne will turn 33 during the next season
Manning will turn 35 in March
Clark will turn 32 in June

That's the 3 best players on the offense, all at the back end of, or beyond, the "prime" years at their respective positions.

Caldwell hasn't demonstrated any ability to weather rough patches

The defense has gone from 1st to 7th to 8th to 23rd in points allowed over the past 4 seasons.


There's more, but that's a pretty good start. PWP is just speculating on the future, but there's certainly an objective argument that can be made on his side of the issue.

Mathis and Freeney can't be spring chickens anymore.

Besides, how are these small, fast teams going to handle 18 games?

 

[SanAngeloState]

Everytime they show his face on TV during a football game......I keep thinking that the look on his face says: "Uh-oh, now theyre going to find out that I really don't know what the hell is going on".

that's what I think too, very well put!

How to get a gig liket hat for 5M per year. Just crazy. I like when he does the slow deliberate double blink thing.

 

[Rexorcism]

If the Colts Defense lost the game, the Jets Defense won it. If Cromartie doesn't have yet another brain lapse, Peyton doesn't get into the end zone. Its encouraging to see Rex adjust to a suitable game plan instead of BLITZ BLITZ BLITZ BLITZ. Of course the Colts were down major weapons but the Jets D did its job and then some.

If Rex can give the D a gameplan to make the Pats O misfire for a few drives AND if the Jets offense can play keep away with those long drives then the Jets can take one.

But, if the Jets get in an early hole like last time I think this game is over.

 

[ATippett56]

Of course the Colts were down major weapons but the Jets D did its job and then some.

The Colts were decimated on offense.

Peyton Manning was without the following offensive players against the Jets:

Dallas Clark
Anthony Gonzalez
Austin Collie
Donald Brown
Ryan Diem

How many offensive players were out for the Jets against the Colts?

 

[ATippett56]

If Rex can give the D a gameplan to make the Pats O misfire for a few drives AND if the Jets offense can play keep away with those long drives then the Jets can take one.

More like wishful thinking on your part.

The New England Patriots have a far superior run defense compared to the Indianapolis Colts.

NFL Stats: by Team Category

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

that's what I think too, very well put!

How to get a gig liket hat for 5M per year. Just crazy. I like when he does the slow deliberate double blink thing.

Seriously...Between him and Wade ("What just happened?") Phillips....we could have a remake of "Dumb and Dumber".

 

[ATippett56]

Seriously...Between him and Wade ("What just happened?") Phillips....we could have a remake of "Dumb and Dumber".

Wade Phillips is the new defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans. Do these NFL organizations ever learn?

 

[Kontradiction]

Didn't the Pats only beat the Colts by 3 @ the razor in a game where Peyton turned it over 5 times?

Manning might as well be in the division with us still. He knows the Pats extremely well, better (probably) than he knows some of his own opponents in the AFC South. That familiarity definitely accounts for something. The Jets, do to all of their years of being a sh!tty football team, don't have nearly the same level of familiarity with the Colts.

 

[patchick]

2007. Tony Ugoh. 2nd round pick. Released by the team. Nuff said.
2008. Mike Pollak. 2nd round pick. Has reportedly been benched numerous times and at times been outplayed by UDFAs like Linkenbach.
2009. No offensive lineman selected before round 7.
2010. 4th round OG Jacques McClendon. Barely got on the field logging snaps in only 4 games.

And remember that they actually spent a first on Ugoh.

I think the Colts' long draft drought is the big story here. They've failed dismally at restocking. McCourty, Gronkowski and Mayo are head and shoulders above anybody the Colts have drafted in years, and they don't even have much to compare to the deep next tier of Patriots' youth. Think of it this way: what players aged, say 28 and under on the Colts' roster would be valuable in trade?