Colts Roundtable: Sadness, Chuck Pagano, and Keys to the Titans Game

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We’re going to talk about keys to scoring more than the [fill in crappy AFC South team name] and about how Chuck Pagano’s unwavering optimism actually makes us quite sad.  A coach whose team continues to make the same mistakes while he praises them and makes excuses, in my opinion, is the beginning of a culture of losing.  But enough of that. Let’s get to the questions:

Chuck Pagano is encouraged that his team, a group known to play well for one to two quarters per game, has, after just over four years, (supposedly) figured out how to put in as many as…three quarters of good football.  How sad does this make you feel?

 

Josh Baker: I am the most sad.

Marcus Lee Dugan: I am growing somewhat indifferent. I mean, they did play well for stretches, but they seemed poised to give the game away at any moment all night. If that’s what Pagano and Grigson call three quarters of football, I’m just running out of crap to give about it.  That doesn’t mean I won’t be watching them against the Titans tomorrow afternoon, but if they start to sputter and fall on their faces against another terrible AFC South team, I’ll just check twitter for updates.  At least that’s my plan…

Lou Pin: I’d take three quarters. You win a lot of games by coming out stronger in three of four quarters, something the Colts haven’t done once this season (even against Houston). The problem now is putting results to promises, something Pagano has shown virtually no ability to do.

Ben Rathe: I don’t accept the premise that the Colts have yet mastered playing 3 quarters of quality football. The Colts have managed sporadic patches of good play, but nothing more than that. Even before the 4th quarter collapse against the Texans, it wasn’t like the Colts were playing lights out, and the same issues were showing up. Luck threw a terrible INT in the second quarter and left crucial points on the field, a horrible 4th & 1 in the 3rd left more points on the board and the Colts were still getting gashed in the run game all the way from the 2nd quarter onwards. It was the same issues that we have consistently seen from this team over the time that Pagano has coached it, so it doesn’t fill me with a huge amount of confidence that Pagano regards this as some sort of success.

 

Nate Dunlevy: I don’t know. I had a bunch of thoughts, and almost got them down on paper, but then I just sorta stopped. What were we talking about again?

Greg Doyle had an interesting piece arguing that Pagano shouldn’t be fired because everyone on his staff was a failed head coach and not really compete to run the team. Of course, that’s a hard position for me to disagree with because I freaked out over some of the coaching staff hires already.

The reality for Colts fans is pretty bleak right now. There’s no dumping this regime mid-stream. The only hope is to root hard for Michigan to win a national title and hope Harbaugh is willing to come back.

There are also a lot of memes around about Manning taking over the team right now. Those are funny, and I doubt he’s ready or interested at a sub-ownership level, but what this team needs is a John Elway-like figure. Peyton wouldn’t necessary want to be or even excel at being a GM, but as Team President who oversees the whole process, I bet he would be successful.

Right now, it feels like the Colts lack that layer between Irsay and Grigson that would ensure things are done correctly. I don’t trust that Jim is in the right frame of mind to function well there.

Nate Wilson: It makes me very sad. But not as sad as it makes me to see Irsay backing Pagano and company. Both are easier dilusion or just can’t comprehend what is going on. I like Pagano the guy. His players seem to love him too but he just isn’t a good coach.

I think Chuck knows he’s probably safe till the end of the year so maybe by saying he’s ‘encouraged’ by the team is his way of trying to motivate his players? Obviously we don’t know what he’s thinking and frankly I’d be scared to know sometimes. But blindly continuing what you are doing and thinking that it is working when it clearly is not, will not help your team. At some point you have to admit there is a problem and address it. I haven’t seen that happen from the coaches, GM or the owner for that matter.

All that to say, there is a way the Colts can “finish strong” this year. It starts with an immediate and serious search to find someone to run the team from the top down. That can happen now. That new person can fire whoever he likes at the end of the season, but it’s clear a new level of organizational leadership is necessary.

Where have you gone, Bill Polian? Colts Nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Woo. Woo. Woo.

What’s that you say, fiery red-head? Jimmy fired you and now hope is gone away. Hey. Hey. Hey.

 

DJ Glander: I just want to know what his initial dream or goal was back in 2012, and know whether or not the monster that he (Pagano) thought of is the “monster” that we see now on the field, because I’m not sure it is what we, as fans, expected to see 4 years into the Luck era. Though, we are accustomed to winning, so I blame Peyton Manning for giving us the mentality that “if we don’t win every week, we flat out suck!!!” Because of this, I am a sad fan of a sad team with a sad record of 2-4. Sad, Sad, Sad.

 

Is there a specific key or matchup to win that you feel is paramount for the Colts to score more than the Titans this week?   

 

Lou: Run blocking vs. Tennessee’s defensive line. By far. Indy’s defense falls apart whenever they’re forced to play for long stretches of time, and Tennessee’s run game will probably kill them regardless. But if the Colts counter with a competent run game of their own it’ll give the defense a significant rest.

Ben: The Colts have to find a way to stop the Titans pass rush. The Titans rank 5th in the NFL with 18 sacks so far, against a Colts team that has given up a league leading 23. Jurrell Casey is one of the most underrated players in the entire league and the thought of him lining up across from Denzelle Good is giving me nightmares already, so I can’t imagine how Andrew Luck feels. Now I am not holding out much hope for the Colts to have suddenly mastered pass protection in the week since the Texans game. So the key for me is to establish, and properly commit to, the run game. Frank Gore is running tremendous well, so I’d like to see the Colts lead off with a gameplan that emphasised him from the start. Try and keep the defense on their heels and then hopefully give Luck more time to throw when he does drop back. The obvious challenge is that Gore is not of the age where you can hand him the ball 30 times a game, so that requires the Colts to mix in Robert Turbin (who has carried the ball just 12 times all year) and properly commit to running the football.

Saying that, running a gameplan like that often relies on a defense keeping a game close. Given the Colts are giving up 117 yards per game to opposing running backs, and the Titans possess the third best running attack my entire gameplan may be moot. What a time to be alive.

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Josh: Head coaches. Colts lose.

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Nate Wilson: I haven’t really seen anything of the Titans yet this season but they looked like a balanced team from what I’ve seen. How well they can contain Mariota will be a key in this matchup. They need to not let him extend plays with his legs and try to get some sort of pass rush to disrupt his timing.

On offense the wide receivers need to play well. Hilton obviously needs to continue his high level but outside of hook luck does not have many options. Chester Rodgers seems to have some rapport with him but he will need to be consistent in catching the ball for Luck to have full confidence in him.

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