LOL LMAO What a mangling in the first half. Wow. What I came away with: 1. Way to go Mario - I was clearly one of the most concerned with his preseason, but yesterday went along way to calming down those concerns. Yes, it was Collins, a crummy line, a team forced into from-behind-passing, and the two sacks came when Clark was trying to stop him. BUT. If teams are going to use their tackle and even double with a guard....that's still a major plus since it stretches out the line and makes things even easier for Watt & Friends. 2. Hopefully Walter's okay. 3. Very much enjoyed the James Casey Experience. Nice blocking, nice catching out of the backfield. 4. When Schaub's hitting, he's hitting. And 70% complete tells you how often he's hitting. But lord, when bad Schaub rears his head....let's hope those 2 INTs will be a season high. 5. Surprised at Daniels' lack of involvement. 6. What I love about Tate - like Foster, he's got a great nose for where to make his cuts. Slaton still has that issue where a pile has some sort of magnetic pull. Tate had one run where he just weaved with the blocks perfectly. Nice dynamic duo in the making. 7. It's not like we have much experience, but (results aside) I felt that the 4th quarter was worrisome in how Kubiak handled it. Indy 112 yards to our 27. Still need to sustain drives to ice an opponent. Collins couldn't hurt us even when he warmed up, but real offenses could, would, and will. 8. There are soft spots to the D. Thankfully the Colts couldn't take advantage. Going forward, it'll be critical that our ILBs react like supermen to screens. 9. With the 5th preseason game in the books, things start to get real with two road games. Go out there with swagger and grab at least one. Don't fall asleep on Bush this year. RBs bouncing to the outside are a serious danger to this D.
Collins missed some throws he's probably not going to miss later in the year... but even if he had connected on all of them, the Texans are still winning in a rout. I can't remember watching an NFL game that was that lopsided. It was like an early season D1/D2 game. It's going to be *very* interesting to watch what happens to the Colts this year. They'll get better as Collins settles in, I think - but that looks like a team that has no confidence in its head coach. They looked absolutely overwhelmed. I'll give them a mulligan for now but if they're still getting stomped like that 4-5 weeks from now.... Caldwell's not going to be back.
That is kind of what I was hinting at in the 4th about how it bothered me. It was like the team mailed it in. I initially thought that that is part of the reason why we're not a playoff team. Yes, I was concerned, because we've showed problems like this in the past, but at the same time, with Kerry Collins leading a mentally down Colts offense, we were in no danger. I think part of what Kubiak and Phillips were doing is just trying not to put certain things on film. We went to what seemed like a prevent defense. We only rushed four for pretty much the fourth quarter, it seemed. I'm fine with that. My biggest issues, like I said, are that we saw very little-to no Slaton or Vickers. Those guys should have been given a chance in the garbage minutes, in my opinion. As far as Bush goes...I think he is the only way the Dolphins can beat us. I think they gotta get Bush going in the outside runs and screens early, and if they do that, there is a chance they can open our defense right up. Hopefully that doesn't happen.
Peyton being out not only destroys their offense, but it exposes their defense even more because they no longer have 14 play, 87 yard, 9 minute possessions. That team is terrible on so many levels...Collins will improve, but that defense isnt getting any better. Jax and Tenn will also be able to run over them as well. Reading the Colts message boards yesterday was more entertaining than watching the first half. If Peyton is out for the season, the Colts will end up with a top 5 pick.
Regarding the 4th quarter: Yes, we mailed it in. But, I have no problems with that at all. After the Schaub INT (which was on a drive of domination), we didnt attempt another pass the rest of the game. We already had a couple injuries, so there was no reason to keep the pedal on the gas. The Texans did nothing wrong there...and Im fine with how it was handled. I wanted Tate to get that 100 yards, so I would have kept him in until he reached that point. As far as the basic packages that were run on offense and defense...thats exactly what you want. The game is in hand, there is no reason to show tape material to teams we are facing in the future. Keep it basic, rush 4 passers, and just wait until the game ends.
Oh, come on. They opened the 4Q at the Indy 10 and promptly threw a pick. Tate then fumbled on the offense's ensuing first play. Back-to-back TOs. They didn't hit the field again until there was 9:17 left in the game, at which point, I'm sure, Kubiak's primary concern was not getting anyone hurt. And having said that, they held it for 7:00 of that final 9:17 with Tate (our 3rd string RB, btw) running a total of 7 times for 30 yards, a 4.3 yd/carry clip. After that: knee-downs. That's more than adequate. I can't think of one single thing to be critical of from yesterday's game. Everyone's worries were addressed: 17 1Q points, 34 1st half points; Mario Williams had two sacks; the defense forced punts and turnovers; the secondary made plays and were in much better position to succeed.... I suspect they'll have an equally easy time with Henne and Miami next week, which is exactly what this defense needs. They should ride into NO completely bought into Wade's system with confidence running at an all-time high. It's all good, right now.
I thought we looked great (duh!) but I wish it was a closer game so that we would have a better idea of the kind of team we have. We packed it in at halftime (as any team would do up 37-0) so I'm sure not going to complain about that. Looks like we finally have 3 backs who were taylor made for this zone block scheme. Ward and Tate were really making the right reads and cutting back right when they were supposed to. Running parallel until they see a hole, then BAM - 10 yard gain. That scheme is really a thing of beauty when the RB's know how to run it. One game, but yeah.......Mario looked like a beast. LOL at the colts trying to block him with a TE... Really looking forward to the game next week. I felt like this game was almost another preseason game. The colts were not a good barometer at all. Feels weird saying that, but it's true.
That's likely because their real head coach/OC just had neck surgery the other day. I like Tony Dungy and I'm sure Jim Caldwell knows his stuff...but neither of those guys are where they are w/o Peyton Manning.
They've done an astoundingly terrible job building that team the past 5 years and while I suggested it would *eventually* come back to haunt them... that day of reckoning may be much sooner that I thought. The other thing I didn't consider was Jim Caldwell. He looks like he's in over his head. They're not a 10-win team without Manning - but there's no way they should be a 3-win team, either - which is exactly what they looked like yesterday. I still think they'll stablize a bit and be better but... oh, man- that was bad yesterday. Most lopsided NFL game I can rememeber.
Dungy had an impressive resume before Peyton. Peyton's achilles heel before Dungy was that he always had to do too much. Dungy pieced together a good defense and a respectable running game. If anything, Peyton owes as much to Dungy as vice versa. Jim Caldwell, on the other hand, ain't crap without #18.
I disagree. That is *exactly* what the defense needed. New players, new system, shortened offseason... they needed a lay-up and I hope Henne next week is another one. They'll get all the testing they need in week 3. They looked good and if Foster misses more time, we should be OK with them. But... Foster's on another planet. Those BAM - 10 yard gains will be 20+ yard gains when he gets healthy.
I say sit Foster next week. Miami is playing Ohio State the night before the game, and that field is already garbage with the baseball infield on it... don't want to risk it.
Agreed. Tony Dungy did ALOT for the colts What you see on Defense is the final momentum he set in motion beginning to fade. Tony Dungy's Tampa 2 was the signature defense of the league for several years Rocket River Manning is great and all . . but denigrating Tony Dungy is just plain silly!
Nothing new to add in terms of it being a nice 1-0 start to the season. We looked good, a fair amount of question marks were answered and we slaughtered the Colts (which likely would have happened with Manning, albeit not to the tune of 34-7). Week 2 against Miami will be interesting, but again an entirely winnable game. As others have said, we'll have to see how the secondary and linebacking core react to rb's that can break it to the outside. Miami couldn't run the ball the entire pre-season, but they'll be better than the junk they put up with those games. All in all, hard to complain. I've seen the complaints in this thread and they aren't without merit but it's hard to really complain about a game like this. I wish they would have gone for the throat in the 2nd half, but that's about it. I will say this in closing, I won't believe we're truly a playoff team until we're in the playoffs. We beat the Colts last year don't forget too and started what 4-2? We all know how that ended. At this point, I'm a cautious optimist as the entire city of Houston should be
How serious is Foster's hamstring injury thought to be? Didn't he battle through that injury last season too?
How is this possible? I was told by a guy that absolutely knows everything about football that the rest of the NFL COMPLETELY figured out the ZBS two seasons ago! Just they way they've figured out "Coach Fix-It's" 3-4 scheme.
