Total Titans questions about the Colts
Thanks to Deshawn Zombie of 18 to 88, a new and excellent addition to MVN, for being kind enough to answer my questions about the Colts. My questions for him are in bold. I found his replies very interesting, and think you will agree with me.
1. Peyton Manning-great in the comeback against the Texans and the game against the Ravens, not so great against the Packers. Is he still recovering from his knee injury, is it general offensive malaise, or is Father Time beginning to call?
The fact that this question is being asked at all shows the laziness of the national press. Manning's play has been pretty solid from week one. The problem with the Colts is the offensive line. Three different rookies have seen considerable time, and starting Left Tackle Tony Ugoh has been hampered with injuries. Now, Joseph Addai is out. All this means that 1. the Colts can't run the ball at all 2. they can't pass protect either. Add to that the fact that Manning and the WRs haven't quite been in synch due to the lack of preseason AND the fact that Colts WR have had an alarming number of drops (6 just against the Bears), and the sum total is an offense that suffers. People reduce football down to: team wins-the QB is great! team loses-the QB sucks! Manning didn't have a good game against the Pack, but the reason has a lot more to do with the guys playing in front of him than with him. He's still making all the same tight throws he used to, but the level of play around him has been painful. It's too complicated to explain all that in a sound bite age, however, so talking heads go for the easy angle: Manning's hurt! Manning's old! It does a disservice to the public.
2. The Colts gave up their first round draft pick this year to move up last year and take Tony Ugoh. I thought he looked fairly promising as a rookie, but now Charlie Johnson, who was lousy last year, is starting at LT. What's going on with Ugoh, and how will Johnson fare against Kyle Vanden Bosch?
I wish I knew what was up with Ugoh. He played very well (when healthy) his rookie year. He did fail miserably on the goal line drive against San Diego, getting beat twice by Sean Merriman leading to the Colts loss. He got hurt, and then disappeared completely. The rumor initially was that he fell out of favor with the coaching staff because he didn't seem to want to stay on the field. Just this week, quotes coming from him and others indicate that he's only just now getting healthy and should play some on Monday.
3. Green Bay seemed to have a lot of success playing physical coverage against the Colts receivers last week. If the Titans do the same thing, how will the Colts try to free up their receivers?
You can only play the Colts physical if the following components are in place: 1. The refs have to let you. Since no one really knows what constitutes PI in the NFL, it's a crap shoot. 2. It has to be windy (30 MPH in GB) so that you don't fear the deep ball 3. You have to have no fear of the run game since locking up the WRs keeps DBs from helping on the stretch plays. The Colts can try little tricks like stacking the WRs, but ultimately if 1, 2 and 3 are all working, the Colts will struggle on offense. It's been that way for almost 10 years now. Watch the tape of the NE Playoff games from 03 and 04. Refs let contact go, windy weather, Colts couldn't run. That's the formula for beating Indy.
4. My crystal ball sees the Titans running the ball between the tackles a lot, and successfully. Do you have any reason to think I'm wrong?
Jeff Fisher is one of my favorite coaches in the NFL. He's freaking brilliant and plays to win. He's waaaaaay to smart not to just run up the middle. The Colts are very good on lateral runs. I laugh when teams run stretches and tosses and sweeps against Indy. They fail miserably because the Colts are too fast. If you just run up the middle over and over, you'll kill the Colts.
5. What's one thing about the Colts you want Titans fans to know about that they might not?
I want Titans fans to realize how severe the injuries have been for Indy. On defense they've lost 2 tackles, a starting LB, corner, and safety. That's 5 of the projected 11 starters missing for one reason or another. On offense they've lost games by three different linemen, TEs, and RBs. This team isn't just nicked up, they are a walking MASH unit. Almost of all the players are expected to return, however. The Colts at the end of the year will be a really great team, the only question is if they will be too far behind in the standings for it to matter. Don't listen to all the lazy explanations for the Colts up and down year. The MNF guys will talk a lot of nonsense about Manning, or Dungy leaving, or his schedule or a dozen other things that have nothing to do with is actually going on. If the 22 starters that were supposed to play were out there, this would be a much better club. That's not an excuse, you are what you are. Right now, the Colts are very average. Later, they won't be. What team shows up on Monday is anyone's guess.
After receiving his initial response, I also posed the following question:
If I can, a little follow-up on Peyton. I remember stories in the Tennessee papers a couple years ago that, in practice, neither McNair nor Volek could run the stretch play as fast as Peyton could, and that's obviously been the staple of the Colts' offense for a years, both on running plays and for play-action. I remember Week 1, though, the Colts were using the toss-pitch for the outside run-fine for the outside run, but it allows the defenses to flow in that direction with a freedom that play-action off a stretch look wouldn't allow. How has Peyton looked on the stretch lately-can he still run it with the same speed he used to?
The Colts ran the stretch very effectively against Jacksonville in week three. That was a month ago. The problem is that the stretch works left and right. On the right side, Ryan Diem has had an awful season, and the Colts clearly miss Jake Scott, at least right now, and his replacement, rookie Mike Pollack...was hurt and missed the first three games. Running left, the Colts have had Ugoh out, AND Ryan Lilja, the left guard has missed the whole season. Don't forget that Addai is hurt too, and missed the Packer game. In the two TE set, the Colts have three rookies as the #2 TE alongside Clark. The problem is that...they've all been hurt. All three have missed games, and obviously practice time.
Thanks again to Deshawn for his very interesting answers.
1. Peyton Manning-great in the comeback against the Texans and the game against the Ravens, not so great against the Packers. Is he still recovering from his knee injury, is it general offensive malaise, or is Father Time beginning to call?
The fact that this question is being asked at all shows the laziness of the national press. Manning's play has been pretty solid from week one. The problem with the Colts is the offensive line. Three different rookies have seen considerable time, and starting Left Tackle Tony Ugoh has been hampered with injuries. Now, Joseph Addai is out. All this means that 1. the Colts can't run the ball at all 2. they can't pass protect either. Add to that the fact that Manning and the WRs haven't quite been in synch due to the lack of preseason AND the fact that Colts WR have had an alarming number of drops (6 just against the Bears), and the sum total is an offense that suffers. People reduce football down to: team wins-the QB is great! team loses-the QB sucks! Manning didn't have a good game against the Pack, but the reason has a lot more to do with the guys playing in front of him than with him. He's still making all the same tight throws he used to, but the level of play around him has been painful. It's too complicated to explain all that in a sound bite age, however, so talking heads go for the easy angle: Manning's hurt! Manning's old! It does a disservice to the public.
2. The Colts gave up their first round draft pick this year to move up last year and take Tony Ugoh. I thought he looked fairly promising as a rookie, but now Charlie Johnson, who was lousy last year, is starting at LT. What's going on with Ugoh, and how will Johnson fare against Kyle Vanden Bosch?
I wish I knew what was up with Ugoh. He played very well (when healthy) his rookie year. He did fail miserably on the goal line drive against San Diego, getting beat twice by Sean Merriman leading to the Colts loss. He got hurt, and then disappeared completely. The rumor initially was that he fell out of favor with the coaching staff because he didn't seem to want to stay on the field. Just this week, quotes coming from him and others indicate that he's only just now getting healthy and should play some on Monday.
His replacement Charlie Johnson is terrible. God
awful terrible. He's an adequate run blocker sometimes, but is NOT a
left tackle. Mario Williams destroyed him on the rare occasions when
Charlie actually identified the fact that he was supposed to block him
at all. The Colts protect him a lot by leaving a TE (Gijon Robinson
who missed last week's Packers game) in to block. They also say nice
things about him to the press because he's 'versatile' which is another
way of saying he can suck just as well at several spots in the line.
He's bad. Really freaking bad, and has been killing the Colts for a
year now. Kyle Vanden Bosch should have 3 sacks on Monday.
3. Green Bay seemed to have a lot of success playing physical coverage against the Colts receivers last week. If the Titans do the same thing, how will the Colts try to free up their receivers?
You can only play the Colts physical if the following components are in place: 1. The refs have to let you. Since no one really knows what constitutes PI in the NFL, it's a crap shoot. 2. It has to be windy (30 MPH in GB) so that you don't fear the deep ball 3. You have to have no fear of the run game since locking up the WRs keeps DBs from helping on the stretch plays. The Colts can try little tricks like stacking the WRs, but ultimately if 1, 2 and 3 are all working, the Colts will struggle on offense. It's been that way for almost 10 years now. Watch the tape of the NE Playoff games from 03 and 04. Refs let contact go, windy weather, Colts couldn't run. That's the formula for beating Indy.
4. My crystal ball sees the Titans running the ball between the tackles a lot, and successfully. Do you have any reason to think I'm wrong?
Jeff Fisher is one of my favorite coaches in the NFL. He's freaking brilliant and plays to win. He's waaaaaay to smart not to just run up the middle. The Colts are very good on lateral runs. I laugh when teams run stretches and tosses and sweeps against Indy. They fail miserably because the Colts are too fast. If you just run up the middle over and over, you'll kill the Colts.
5. What's one thing about the Colts you want Titans fans to know about that they might not?
I want Titans fans to realize how severe the injuries have been for Indy. On defense they've lost 2 tackles, a starting LB, corner, and safety. That's 5 of the projected 11 starters missing for one reason or another. On offense they've lost games by three different linemen, TEs, and RBs. This team isn't just nicked up, they are a walking MASH unit. Almost of all the players are expected to return, however. The Colts at the end of the year will be a really great team, the only question is if they will be too far behind in the standings for it to matter. Don't listen to all the lazy explanations for the Colts up and down year. The MNF guys will talk a lot of nonsense about Manning, or Dungy leaving, or his schedule or a dozen other things that have nothing to do with is actually going on. If the 22 starters that were supposed to play were out there, this would be a much better club. That's not an excuse, you are what you are. Right now, the Colts are very average. Later, they won't be. What team shows up on Monday is anyone's guess.
After receiving his initial response, I also posed the following question:
If I can, a little follow-up on Peyton. I remember stories in the Tennessee papers a couple years ago that, in practice, neither McNair nor Volek could run the stretch play as fast as Peyton could, and that's obviously been the staple of the Colts' offense for a years, both on running plays and for play-action. I remember Week 1, though, the Colts were using the toss-pitch for the outside run-fine for the outside run, but it allows the defenses to flow in that direction with a freedom that play-action off a stretch look wouldn't allow. How has Peyton looked on the stretch lately-can he still run it with the same speed he used to?
The Colts ran the stretch very effectively against Jacksonville in week three. That was a month ago. The problem is that the stretch works left and right. On the right side, Ryan Diem has had an awful season, and the Colts clearly miss Jake Scott, at least right now, and his replacement, rookie Mike Pollack...was hurt and missed the first three games. Running left, the Colts have had Ugoh out, AND Ryan Lilja, the left guard has missed the whole season. Don't forget that Addai is hurt too, and missed the Packer game. In the two TE set, the Colts have three rookies as the #2 TE alongside Clark. The problem is that...they've all been hurt. All three have missed games, and obviously practice time.
The Colts have, as usual, a super young team. When injuries mount and players miss practice the results show.
Yeah,
Manning's knee shelved the stretch play...for two games. Since then,
the entire run offense has been stuck in neutral thanks to a myriad of
line injuries. Of the Colts projected starting line, here's how many
games they've missed:
Saturday-2 games
Ugoh-4 1/2 games
Pollack-3 games
Lilja-6 games
Only
Ryan Diem has played every game. There's no mystery why this offense
has looked bad. Manning's limitations and lack of rhythm with the WRs
has hurt a little, but not nearly as much as the fact that the line is
constantly in flux. Addai's injury merely took a bad situation and
made it that much worse. The Colts third string RB, Mike Hart, blew
his knee out as well. So now they are down to just one dependable back.
So either Dom Rhodes stays on the field for every play, or there are
just key plays where they run a practice squad back onto the field to
spell Dom. That makes it hard to get teams to take the run game
seriously.
Thanks again to Deshawn for his very interesting answers.
