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Lots of mixed emotions on this one. On one hand we've had enormous success against Andrew luck. But the problem with that is past results is no guarantee of future performance, That and the fact that the Colts looked nothing like the team we played over 2 months ago.
I originally feared the Bronco's more. Mostly because because of what I thought of their defensive line up. I actually would rather have faced Manning in the cold of Foxboro than Luck,. Manning is done. Even with the best set of skill players in the league, The Denver offense has become predictable and easily defendable by a competent D. The Colts showed exactly how that can be done. We would have done the same.
The Broncos went all in and got 2 #1 seeds out of the deal. But I don't see how they can keep this team together, and if its worth the expense to bring them all back only to be QB'd by someone as limited as Manning seemed to be at the end of the season. Elway bet and lost. He did a great job in putting this team together, and the team did reasonable well. How he will be ultimately judged as a GM is how he rebuilds it. BB is the master of building on the fly. Elway will get his chance to show what he can do.
Alright some quick opening thoughts on Indy just to start the discussion
1. Just like I said earlier, It's important we don't adopt a Felger-like attitude that this game is a walk over. This is a team that just scored 24 points ON THE ROAD against one of the top D's in the the league. A team that had a secondary that might have been better than ours, and a DL who had 2 elite pass rushers, which we currently don't have. Well if the Colts OL can shut down Ware and Miller, what can we hope for for Ninko and Jones. Just think about that before we all start ordering the food for your superbowl party. Because this might just be the tougher match up when you consider the difference of where they are at the QB position.
2. This could be called the Jones boys bowl where Chandler's brother Arthur will be joining him in Foxboro. Don't dismiss the importance of Arthur's return to the Colt line up to their resurgence of their defense at the end of the season, He is a big body that they needed badly and didn't have (IIRC) when the Colts and Pats last met.
3. Toler and Davis both have been playing very well. Brady feasted on the soft underbelly of the Ravens' secondary while he dodged the bullets of their DL. The pass rush might not be as dangerous this week, but the secondary will be much more dangerous and difficult to decode, There will be much more press man, especially in passing situations. The Colts aren't likely to allow the Pats all that cushion for most of this game like the Ravens did,.
4. On offense Luck has upped his game since his last meeting with the Pats. He is a lot less careless with the ball. His 2 picks yesterday were more like punts than critical and costly errors. Once again, Luck presents (much like Rodgers) that most difficult of problems for the Pats D, and elite thrower, who can hurt you with his legs.
If the Pats pass rush was anemic going after the relatively sedentary Joe Flacco, what are we likely to expect against a guy who we cannot afford to come at full speed.
5. Luck also showed he doesn't have the Manning kryptonite of playing outside in the cold. He was very efficient on the road, outdoors, in the cold on Sunday. Playing in Foxboro will be hard for him, but no tougher than Denver was,
6. On the plus side, the Colts don't seem to have much of a run threat, However I would opine that Forsett wasn't the main reason for that poor effort in the run game, it was the OL (with 2 unknown rookies) blowing gaping holes in the Pats defensive front that lead to all that yardage, If that kind of blocking occurs again, the Colts have the guys who can take advantage of it, just like we did with Gray.
7. Now lets take a look at us. We have a few injury issues to deal with, Its very unlikely we will see Stork back for this game. That will leave us with Josh Kline as our likely RG and Wendy as the C., The Colts aren't known for their rush, but somehow the did enough against one of the best pass protecting OL's in the league to move Peyton off his mark fairly consistently, and sack him twice..
We also have to deal with Browner's injury. He SAYS he's OK, but he was seen visibly limping in the locker room. We are going to need Browner's size this week. (more on that later.) So the Pats have 2 serious injury issues to deal with.
8. The Colt D kind of reminds me of our D back in 2011, even though it actually is a lot better personnel wise,. Outside of Davis and Toler, its kind of a no-name D that has bad stats, but is coming together and playing much better at the end of the season, It's easy to dismiss them as mediocre, but that would be a mistake,
9 Defensive strategy - Here are the questions. Who does Revis cover. How do you attack Allen and Fleener. How can you take TY out of the game,. A bigger question, how much press man can you actually afford to play, Here;'s the problem with playing a lot of press man. The Colts biggest run threat is Luck. When you play press man, you REALLY open up field to him gashing the Pats on the ground (this will also be the key question if we get to Seattle) Another big question should be how do we create pressure when we need it, Its pretty clear we can't do it consistently one on one,
These are question that should frame our discussion of defensive strategy this week. I think I have some answers but that will come later. To start, assuming Browner is back, maybe this this week to put him on one the TE's, especially if Reggie truly is done as it seems, Put Ryan/Arrington on him and allow Browner to go after one of the bigger receivers
10. Offensive strategy, Clearly the run game will have to play a bigger part in this game plan, Personally, I'd rather see us use more versatile formations than simply come out in a formation that screams run, or one that screams pass. I'm still lobbying for Josh to create an effective run scheme out of the shot gun. I know we've done it before,
Well its been 17 games, but maybe THIS will be Tim Wright's coming out party.
Of course its a game we "should" win, but its certainly one that we CAN lose, especially if we come out as flat and uninspired as we did against Baltimore. The Colts are in a perfect position, They are playing with house money, while we will be universally expected to win. Kind of like us in the 2001 Superbowl. The long they stay in the game, the more confident they will become. The longer they stay in the game, the tighter WE will become. A fast start will ameliorate at lot of this, but that might he easier said than done,
......and so it begins,
I originally feared the Bronco's more. Mostly because because of what I thought of their defensive line up. I actually would rather have faced Manning in the cold of Foxboro than Luck,. Manning is done. Even with the best set of skill players in the league, The Denver offense has become predictable and easily defendable by a competent D. The Colts showed exactly how that can be done. We would have done the same.
The Broncos went all in and got 2 #1 seeds out of the deal. But I don't see how they can keep this team together, and if its worth the expense to bring them all back only to be QB'd by someone as limited as Manning seemed to be at the end of the season. Elway bet and lost. He did a great job in putting this team together, and the team did reasonable well. How he will be ultimately judged as a GM is how he rebuilds it. BB is the master of building on the fly. Elway will get his chance to show what he can do.
Alright some quick opening thoughts on Indy just to start the discussion
1. Just like I said earlier, It's important we don't adopt a Felger-like attitude that this game is a walk over. This is a team that just scored 24 points ON THE ROAD against one of the top D's in the the league. A team that had a secondary that might have been better than ours, and a DL who had 2 elite pass rushers, which we currently don't have. Well if the Colts OL can shut down Ware and Miller, what can we hope for for Ninko and Jones. Just think about that before we all start ordering the food for your superbowl party. Because this might just be the tougher match up when you consider the difference of where they are at the QB position.
2. This could be called the Jones boys bowl where Chandler's brother Arthur will be joining him in Foxboro. Don't dismiss the importance of Arthur's return to the Colt line up to their resurgence of their defense at the end of the season, He is a big body that they needed badly and didn't have (IIRC) when the Colts and Pats last met.
3. Toler and Davis both have been playing very well. Brady feasted on the soft underbelly of the Ravens' secondary while he dodged the bullets of their DL. The pass rush might not be as dangerous this week, but the secondary will be much more dangerous and difficult to decode, There will be much more press man, especially in passing situations. The Colts aren't likely to allow the Pats all that cushion for most of this game like the Ravens did,.
4. On offense Luck has upped his game since his last meeting with the Pats. He is a lot less careless with the ball. His 2 picks yesterday were more like punts than critical and costly errors. Once again, Luck presents (much like Rodgers) that most difficult of problems for the Pats D, and elite thrower, who can hurt you with his legs.
If the Pats pass rush was anemic going after the relatively sedentary Joe Flacco, what are we likely to expect against a guy who we cannot afford to come at full speed.
5. Luck also showed he doesn't have the Manning kryptonite of playing outside in the cold. He was very efficient on the road, outdoors, in the cold on Sunday. Playing in Foxboro will be hard for him, but no tougher than Denver was,
6. On the plus side, the Colts don't seem to have much of a run threat, However I would opine that Forsett wasn't the main reason for that poor effort in the run game, it was the OL (with 2 unknown rookies) blowing gaping holes in the Pats defensive front that lead to all that yardage, If that kind of blocking occurs again, the Colts have the guys who can take advantage of it, just like we did with Gray.
7. Now lets take a look at us. We have a few injury issues to deal with, Its very unlikely we will see Stork back for this game. That will leave us with Josh Kline as our likely RG and Wendy as the C., The Colts aren't known for their rush, but somehow the did enough against one of the best pass protecting OL's in the league to move Peyton off his mark fairly consistently, and sack him twice..
We also have to deal with Browner's injury. He SAYS he's OK, but he was seen visibly limping in the locker room. We are going to need Browner's size this week. (more on that later.) So the Pats have 2 serious injury issues to deal with.
8. The Colt D kind of reminds me of our D back in 2011, even though it actually is a lot better personnel wise,. Outside of Davis and Toler, its kind of a no-name D that has bad stats, but is coming together and playing much better at the end of the season, It's easy to dismiss them as mediocre, but that would be a mistake,
9 Defensive strategy - Here are the questions. Who does Revis cover. How do you attack Allen and Fleener. How can you take TY out of the game,. A bigger question, how much press man can you actually afford to play, Here;'s the problem with playing a lot of press man. The Colts biggest run threat is Luck. When you play press man, you REALLY open up field to him gashing the Pats on the ground (this will also be the key question if we get to Seattle) Another big question should be how do we create pressure when we need it, Its pretty clear we can't do it consistently one on one,
These are question that should frame our discussion of defensive strategy this week. I think I have some answers but that will come later. To start, assuming Browner is back, maybe this this week to put him on one the TE's, especially if Reggie truly is done as it seems, Put Ryan/Arrington on him and allow Browner to go after one of the bigger receivers
10. Offensive strategy, Clearly the run game will have to play a bigger part in this game plan, Personally, I'd rather see us use more versatile formations than simply come out in a formation that screams run, or one that screams pass. I'm still lobbying for Josh to create an effective run scheme out of the shot gun. I know we've done it before,
Well its been 17 games, but maybe THIS will be Tim Wright's coming out party.
Of course its a game we "should" win, but its certainly one that we CAN lose, especially if we come out as flat and uninspired as we did against Baltimore. The Colts are in a perfect position, They are playing with house money, while we will be universally expected to win. Kind of like us in the 2001 Superbowl. The long they stay in the game, the more confident they will become. The longer they stay in the game, the tighter WE will become. A fast start will ameliorate at lot of this, but that might he easier said than done,
......and so it begins,
