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Exposed by the GB debacle?
I waited a full day to simmer down before writing this hoping I would come to some other conclusion, but nothing's changed my mindset since the game. I think it's too easy and immature to simply say "I am pissed the Colts lost", but that's not really what's got my goat. Several things bothered me about the game but one glaring game changing issue really has my questioning the Colts coaching staff.
But first, let's cover some of the most obvious, smaller issues:
•1) Did the ref's get shiny new whistles and they were just dieing to use them? Did Ron Winters just finish reading the Walt Coleman Guide of Officiating. 21 penalties for 180 yards? Are you friggin kidding me? If the NFL decided to use that game as an example to set the tone of the league, perhaps they ought to slip a note to the teams. I was waiting for "Personal Foul, Colts, uhmmmm, just because, automatic first down."
•2) Tim Jennings. Does he play any decent defense other then spotting the WR 10 yards cushion then jumping on quick slants? He constantly get's burned downfield and/or in man coverage and when he does, he cost the team 10-15 yards in penalties to cover up his mistakes. I, for one, am tired of the Tim Jennings experiment. That boy needs to ride the pine and learn to appreciate his job and what's required to play for this team. He's quickly becoming a thug with his personal fouls. Something the team can't be happy with right now.
•3) Peyton had plenty of time in the pocket to throw downfield Sunday, but why didn't he? The WR's, all of sudden, couldn't get off their defenders and create any separation at all. Wasn't GB the team with the banged up secondary? They manned up and shut down our WR's all game. Come on guys, stop hand fighting, and bust off the line into your routes.
•4) Finally, my main complaint .... We were severely out coached on both sides of the ball. It's easy to say "well, we played sloppy and not our normal style..." and "you got to hand it to GB, they clearly outplayed us...". Uh-uh, not acceptable. Really, we just needed a few breaks to go our way and that game is turned around. The coaches refused to change their game plan to put us in a position to get those breaks.
•a) Offense - their secondary was playing lights out. Our opportunities to throw downfield were very selective. So, why did we continue to line-up in 3 & 4(Clark) WR sets? Adding more receivers to the mix isn't going to solve the problem. If the passing game isn't working, how about we try to use the running game to open it up. Why didn't we switch to a big 2-TE set, use the WR streaking downfield as decoys, and run the ball? In a 2-TE set, that usually puts a LB on Clark where we can create a mismatch to pass too. But wait, we did run the ball .... Really? Running in a 2-TE set is much different then 3-WR set. We kept trying to use the pass to set up the run, when we should have switched and did the opposite.
•b) Defense - my biggest beef. Did anybody happen to notice that Rodger's shoulder was ailing? He's not going to throw anything deep with any kind of precision. So, why in the hell were our LB's playing 10 yards deep on every play? I've heard people comment about the lack of our pass rush, but how are we suppose to get to Rodgers when he's dumping the ball off underneath our coverage in 2 seconds time? It was the Dink & Dunk show of all times and we simply would not change our coverage. We let a RB or TE slip out uncovered for short little passes and then gain 6-7 yards while our LB's came running up from centerfield. It just pisses me off that we didn't deploy at least one spy to cover any person slipping out. Many times, that person is Bob Sanders and it's very apparent that we can't stop any decent offense without him. I hear that we deploy a bend don't break defense. Why do you think that is? It's because we give so much cushion that we allow teams to march right down the field and only when the playing field get's smaller do we become defensively efficient.
So there you have it folks. Don't blame Peyton... he didn't have much to work with and Tom Moore is the one sending out the formation sets. Don't blame Bob for being hurt too often... it happens. I blame you, Tony Dungy. As our head coach, you have to recognize these things and make necessary adjustments during the game. We can't continue to sit back chanting "Do what we do" when it isn't happening. Make the adjustments. If we don't change "what we do" then GB just showed the rest of the league how to dink & dunk on the Colts and their way to a victory. I fear we've just been exposed!
- i agree almost to the letter. especially about our WRs not getting any seperation. isn't the passing game our strongest point? what the stuff, man? seriously.
- It's because we didn't have Mike Hart.
:)
You hit all the keys, G. All I'd add is that we need to FINALLY think about fixing the middle of the D. It's obviously not getting teams off the field, and that's the weak, two schlubs and Brackett shaped gooey center.
- Good article gsmack. Beings how I'm incredibly immature about all I can offer is,"I'm pissed off the Colt's lost". But I do have a serious question for some of you more astute fellers. What in the hell is it about Bob that makes an entire 11 man squad so much better defending the run? I know he brings more enthusiasm but if Bob is the only one who can bring that type of infectious intensity then we have some serious leadership problems (or lack of). We do seem to be pretty lackidasical on both sides of the ball.
gmccane - To gmccane:
To answer your question about why Bob is such a key to this defense, you only have to look to one of his many mentioned nicknames … "the eraser". Bob is typically the man that steps up into gaps when our other defenders are being blocked. He’s the one to get back when our other DB’s get burned in coverage. He’s the one that roams the field and helps all other defensive positions when they fail, thus erasing their mistakes or lack of effort. It’s not necessarily enthusiasm, intensity, or leadership, but many times just lack of talent at the other positions. In our gap style defense, every gap must be accounted for and many times big plays are the result of just one person getting blocked out. That’s where Bob Sanders erases the problem. He comes flying in and makes the stop. Typically, a LB should step up and plug that hole, but they are generally too busy dancing in centerfield with an offensive lineman.
With that said, I still didn’t answer why Bob Sanders, which comes too one simple thing…. Talent. He is one of a handful in the NFL to have the most complete, all around talent. Let’s look at some of those and how they translate to the field.
-Knack for where the ball is at all times. It just amazes me still how such a small guy in this game of giants has the ability to sniff out where the ball is at. He has this sixth sense of exactly where the ball carrier is going and is many time the first one to meet him at the line.
-Explosive Speed & Quickness. He is clearly the fastest player on this team and near the top in the NFL. But, I am not just talking about running a 40. He is also extremely quick. His ability to quickly react and adjust to play action fakes allows him to roam the field. He can still cover downfield even after lining up close to the line to sniff out a running play.
-Powerful hitting. Bob learned very young that you are usually on the receiving end or the delivering end of a hit and how much more fun it is to deliver. For his size, he’s probably the perfect proportion for getting leverage on people and delivering a serious pop. Because of the intensity of his hitting, he can easily bring down powerful backs twice his size.
-Uncanny Ability to Out-Maneuver Blockers. Notice I didn’t say "avoid" blockers. Usually when you avoid a block, you end up taking yourself out of a gap or a play. That’s not what he does. He uses his speed & quickness to slip by blockers and can man up on an OL when necessary.
I could go on, but I think you get the point here. And for those of you who say he’s hurt too often and too fragile…. Just look at his counterparts around the league. Rodney Harrison, Troy Palamalu, Roy Williams all endure frequent injury problems. It’s the nature of the position and those special players to throw themselves into those situations.
It’s this intensity and this talent that this defense thrives and feeds off of. Without him out there, it’s a roll of the dice which team shows up on Sunday.
- Thanks for the response g . The guy is a complete anomaly.
You know though that does make you question the whole defensive philosophy . And I know some of you have made a case for that for years . I guess for folks like me it was harder to see because we've had such a potent offense (and it still is) and we just simply outscored most teams. Does anyone think this is a wake-up call to being an almost exclusively cover 2 D?
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