Some will point to the Colts returning to their winning ways to being as easy as returning home to face a less imposing opponent than the Rams in their building. The Raiders invade Lucas Oil Stadium this
week, sporting a 1 – 3 record after falling short to the Bears at home on Sunday. Yes, these guys are not exactly the Rams, but this year has been proof of a longstanding norm in the NFL, that “Any given Sunday” is not just the name of a mediocre movie. We only have to go back two years to relive the affects of the Raiders ruining our season. A loss to them would not ruin this season, but it would certainly bring a whole lot more doubt to the building and to Colts Nation.
So, what do we need to clean up to make sure that we wake up next Monday with a 4 – 1 record? It may look different from your seat, but I have a few things that I think need fixed/tweaked, or maybe even completely abandoned. I’ll start with the defense, since that seems to need the most attention.
I’m waiting for a little of that “Mad Scientist” confusion to appear. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take what I am seeing seven days a week, compared to Gus’s looks. Our intermediate middle is still way too soft. I don’t think either Franklin or Bachie are what Lou would say were perfect fits for what he wants to do with his linebackers. I think he’d like to put better pass defenders out there, but to be honest, we have also given up enough 10 yard runs that you need to keep some meat in there, or risk being run out of the building. It has me wondering if Grove and Buck are losing some of the ground game battles that they have generally won in the past.
Teams have been picking on Xavier Howard. It would be happening to any #2 CB, given the way that Ward is playing, but when you have a guy that spent most of the Denver game hearing his name called for a penalty and most of the Rams game eating Nacua’s dust, I don’t see opposing offenses changing their tactics. Sometimes, rust adds a little character, but other times it shows that something has worn out. I wouldn’t kick him to the curb in case the rust just needs knocked off, but I believe I’d have him knock it off during practice. He is the closest to my abandon designation.
In my best Ben Stein voice, “Kwitty, Kwitty?” I don’t think his production is worthy of his snap counts. We have better options opposite Latu, don’t we? I think we need to send him to the cafeteria and weight room to add 25 pounds and turn him into a rotational interior guy. He’s going to be cheap enough if this is his production level and we need to restock our 30 something IDLs. I guess you could have him lose 30 and become a LB?
I’m not as down on the pass rush as some, but there is obvious room for improvement. The deficiency doesn’t seem from lack of sending extra players, which is a departure from Bradley’s philosophy. However, even though there is “some” pressure, we are not getting home as often good defensive team’s often do. I mentioned in a different post that I don’t think our pass rush has the instructions to get to the QB “however possible”. I think we keep our lane integrity and try to stay in the face of the QB. It’s my guess that this is the reason we don’t reach the target as often as desired.
On offense, I think we just need to get our RG and deep threat back. The trouble with seeing Goncalves’ replacement struggle to keep the continuity, is that it is going to happen, no matter what OL might have to miss time. Unless you feel that Travis, Pinter, and Tucker could grow into roles quickly, I think it would almost always spell trouble against the better defensive teams. When considering trades, I don’t think you can dismiss a versatile offensive lineman.
If I was nitpicking, I might suggest that Jones use his legs a little more. Maybe not so much with designed runs, but if you can burn a pass rush with your legs every once in a while, you can slow them down or force them to use a spy. I have always loved the QB draw from about the 10 yard line. Now that teams respect that he will sneak on short yardage, it opens up other plays. I think that philosophy would work if defenses respected that he might take off from the pocket.
I trust the brain trust to make the proper adjustments, even if we don’t see them as quickly as we would like. I can hear the grumbling now, but you’ll get your chance in the comments.
By the way, the results of the poll on “Who deserves the most credit for the Colts success”, went overwhelmingly to Daniel Jones. It would have been a nice close competition among the other candidates, but “Other” was second in voting. This included those who wanted to make it all of the above, or for Steichen, even though he is playing the same role as last year and was excluded for that reason.
