I guess the short answer is to say yes, but it is going to be a lot harder than I expected. When you get outclassed like we were against the Ravens, plenty had to go wrong. Starting with the defense, I think the play of the LBs stuck out to me as the biggest weakness. That void in the intermediate middle, didn’t look improved with players who were supposed to be better in coverage. Walley looked bad chasing guys over the middle, but shouldn’t there have been some interior support? I’m not letting
him off the hook, as he did not look as advertised in our first real look at him.
Your pass defense has a hard time looking good, when one player can rack up 150 receiving yards before halftime and the run defense wont shine when you give up 144 rushing yards, even if it is to a first ballot HOFer. I don’t think Carlies had a stat? ADG was consistently in the wrong place. The bottom line is that they gave up over 500 yards. How long before Boettcher is a starter?
On offense, the two turnovers stand out. You likely were not going to match scores with them, but the Ravens lived on the Colts side of the field. The INT was on the second play of a drive and the fumble was on the first play. This put us well behind in field possession and time of possession. Being behind dictated what we were trying to do and although JT put up good numbers and stopped the Ravens from pinning their ears back, we were too far behind to catch up in that manner.
Is there anything to be optimistic about? I’ll try. The pass rush looked better. Maybe they didn’t get home as often as you would hope, but unless we were in a total coverage package, Jackson was being moved off his spot. It was actually his escape act on their second drive that made me think that it might not be our day. You know the play, two Colts allow him to simply duck the rush and pick up a first down, when the sack would have taken them out of FG range and given us the chance to stay in the game. It was a pretty big momentum swing and Jackson may have been the only QB to be able to pull it off.
Keenan Allen seamlessly produced Pittman plays. I’m not sure that Dulin couldn’t have did the same, but Allen looked like a true pro out there, even as a willing blocker. I know that is not much on the good news side, but that is what happens when you get whooped.
Some quick hits:
I think Jones played well enough to win under better circumstances, but we can’t be a team that plays catch up.
Pitch count. If Pierce is not ready to go, is a pitch count the answer? Maybe it is, but he did not appear to get a lot of separation.
McGowen will not remain RB2 if he can’t pick up the free rusher with more authority.
4th and 6. Down big, you opt for a 59 yard FG?
Allen. Allen? C.J. Allen?
Still no sense of urgency.
I’ll get a better feeling as last week fades a bit, but for now, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
