I love getting articles from readers. I especially like articles with good statistical research, great writing, or a meticulous viewing of game tape. Today’s offering comes courtesy of 18to88 reader Kasey_Junk.
To distract myself from Colts blogosphere hysteria after the severe beating this week, and to perhaps make myself a better fan, I decided to do an in depth analysis of 1 series that seemed to define the tone of this debacle. I would watch every play (using a DVR and the broadcast camera angels) in the series and chart exactly what each run defender (D-Lineman, Linebackers, and any DBs pulled into run support) did on each play, and what the Houston offense did that was so successful against them. My hope was that this would provide me with some hint as to what went wrong.
Picking the series was easy. At the start of the 3rd Quarter the Texans led the Colts 13 to 10. The Colts were dominating the time of possession battle and while not devastating on defense, they were credible. I was most worried about Peyton Manning’s protection as it had been pretty bad in the first half. I was not worried at all about the Texans having a historic running day. On the first drive of the 3rd quarter the Texans went 67 yards and scored a touchdown. They held the ball for almost 8 minutes and 15 plays (13 of them rushing). This series tired out the defense and set the tone for the rest of the second half.
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