Well here we are again. Another week talking about a Colts loss. But this Sunday the Colts are facing off against a team that is trending in the right direction. Another divisional rival team in the Tennessee Titans. In the past it might be safe to say that the Colts have a great chance to win this game. This year’s Colts are more of a question mark. The talent level of the roster, the coaching staff, you name it, the fans are questioning it and with good reason. They haven’t shown anything that gives hope to a sudden rise in the level of play.
Upsetting the Balance
After an embarrassing primetime loss to the Texans, defensive coordinator Ted Monachino knows that loss hurt but is upbeat about how his defense is responding “Disappointed in Sunday, not discouraged in any way.
Learned a lot about ourselves as a defense and as a football team” and, as if to inspire confidence in the process, “we’re going to continue to apply those things every day and every play like we’ve done.” continuing to play “like we’ve done” does not seem like a good plan to me. Doing the opposite of what you have been doing would probably be a better game plan but I am far from an NFL coach. However I have to commend Monachino’s honesty. When asked about where he see’s this defense’s level of play “We’re nowhere near where we need to be. We haven’t played winning football often enough. We’ve had flashes of really good play in several games. (We’ve) gone stretches where we’ve played well. Put together a number of three and outs in a row. But the 60-minute idea is, you have to start fast, you’ve got to be able to maintain momentum throughout the course of a game and you have to finish like you’ve never finished and we haven’t been able to do that.” Honesty is great. It makes me think that at least one person on staff is watching the same game that everyone else is. Someone is trying to improve and not seemingly bashing their head against the wall trying to pawn off their ideas of what should work, instead of adapting situationally.
Since every opposing offenses rushes like no tomorrow on the Colts so far this season. The Colts are facing possibly the most talented running back that they have seen yet this season in Demarco Murray. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is another weapon when it comes to making plays with his legs. The Colts will need to work to contain him and the running game if they hope to have a shot at winning this matchup. Monachino is aware of the damage Mariota can cause “You have to understand where he can cause you stress. You have to try and build things in a way that you can control him as best you can. Any time you’ve got a quarterback that has the potential to run it, it becomes a little bit like old school option football and we’ve got to be assignment sound. We’ve got to play with great discipline and eyes and focus for 60 minutes.” That is something the Colts have not been able to accomplish.
Youth Movement
The Colts are banged up all over the place. The pass catching crew has not been immune to the rash of injuries. Donte Moncrief is still week to week. Dwayne Allen is out for some time. Phillip Dorsett is nursing a foot and hammy injury. That leaves the field wide open for some untested talent to show what they can do. Offensive Coordinator Rob Chudzinski doesn’t know exactly who is going to step up. “It’s always a challenge but that’s part of it, part of the things you have to deal with and work through. Some of the guys have been here and some haven’t been here for so long. Really assessing them at this point is important as well as working them into the mix. I feel like those guys have done a great job preparing so far for these couple of days. We’ve had some good practices out there. Our expectations don’t change with those different faces.” But some of the faces are not entirely new “Jack Doyle and Erik Swoope and some guys were playing receiver in certain situations and kind of had to rework all of our short yardage and our third downs and two-minute and all those types of things.” says Chudzinski “Guys like Jack and Erik that come in and are able to do those things to help us win and have that kind of flexibility and that kind of understanding of the big picture and being able to get thrown into something that they may not have done before really gives you a chance.” At least Andrew Luck has some time getting up to speed with a few of the targets he will have out on the field Sunday. At least Luck will have T.Y. oh yeah, he was on the injury report too.
The Colts have had some games to remember during the Pagano era. Hopefully they can produce some more of those as the season wears on. I am not holding my breath for a miracle but I am hoping for something that won’t cause a depression every time I tune into a game. The Colts have surprised in the past but they also were winning more and had more talent during those times so who knows what we will be put through as Colts fans. Remaining completely optimistic I say the Colts get some traction and win a close one in Nashville 21-20. Luck to Hilton game winning TD. *crosses fingers*
The mailbag this week was especially good and will lift your spirits. Have faith in our writing staff even if your faith in the Colts has been shaken.
All quotes courtesy of the Indianapolis Colts PR department
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