Polian show

I miss being able to hear it online (thanks a million, Florio).  But Johnny O gives us a two part recap.

* A late-game failure to convert 3rd- and 4th-and 1: :It’s something we need to improve. We needed to end the game in that situation. The fact that we converted some short yardage previously doesn’t negate the fact that we needed to end the game in that situation. . . . It’s a question largely of getting movement on the line of scrimmage, of getting it blocked properly, making sure the back enters with a full head of steam. I will say this: Donald (Brown) ran really hard. I thought he had made it from where I was seated. Then, on the tape I thought  he had made it, but from ground level (Colts Head Coach) Jim (Caldwell) said he wasn’t so sure. That may have been the look the referee had. I’ll tell you this: We didn’t get a lot of push. As a result, there were were a lot of people screening the linesman out. I thought Donald was going to come out of the back end to be very truthful with you, but the nose tackle came crashing down. If it was short, it was short by less than it was marked, but so what? The bottom line is you have to come out the back end and you have to convert that, so that’s something we have to be better at.”

*RBs Donald Brown and Joseph Addai: “They both had some runs that were very good that show you what they’re capable of, and then we had some that weren’t so good – mainly, because we didn’t get them blocked up as well as we should have – or, in some cases, it probably should have gone in a different direction. By and large, we’ll be fine with that. We’ll get it corrected. There’s no need to worry about it. The gratifying thing, the thing that’s exciting, is we won in the kicking game and we won on defense. We won pretty decisively on defense against a really good opponent that has banged us around quite a bit in years past.”

I agree with Polian.  I thought for sure he had that first down.  I was surprised he came up short, and half expected a review.

* On rookie CB Jerraud Powers’ first NFL start Sunday: Jerraud Powers looked like he had been in the league for about 10 years. He handled himself well, but that’s the way he has been since Day One. He’s a little like (Colts safety) Antoine Bethea. There’s a saying about rookies. People ask, ‘Is the game too big for them?’ In the case of Antoine and Jerraud, the game never has been too big for them. They have been phenomenal. He looked very, very at home and comfortable. If he had made the interception on that play down by the goal line, it would have been the play of the day.”