Hello, Colts fans. Welcome to a victorious edition of the mailbag. Read that again, as you never know if it will be the last time. The boys managed to eek out a victory over the Bears last Sunday, meaning 50% off Papa Johns for those of us who live in Indiana. Read that again as well, as you never know if it will be the last time. I’m not sure how to explain the game, other than to say it was like dropping a valuable into a sewer. Yeah, you ended up finding it, but you had to crawl through a bunch of crap to get there.
Let’s see what’s on your minds…
Q: When do we start the movements #ReggieForCoach and #PeytonForGM ? – Stueber’s Inn via Twitter
Good question. I’d really like to see both of them involved with the team in some capacity. Reggie strikes me as someone who will grow comfortable being in a media role, so I’m not sure he’ll ever really come back. Peyton strikes me as someone who will only settle for a John Elway-type role, which also seems to rule out a day-to-day involvement with the Colts.
Unless they continue to suck. Then all bets are off.
Q: Luck, Pagano, and Grigson have been with the Colts since 2012. How would you grade each of their performances thus far? – Nick via text
I’ll grade Luck as a B. He can do some amazing things out there, and he can do some things that leave you wondering if it’s the first time he’s ever picked up a football. Sometimes I wish we could trade him to Green Bay or Dallas for a couple of games just to see what he could do with a legitimately good offensive line.
The other two are trickier than they may seem at first glance. It’s not always been clear cut who is deciding what, and don’t forget Jim Irsay has also been known to throw his $0.02 in at times. For instance, no matter who was hired as coach and GM, the Colts were going to draft Luck. That is 100% Irsay.
Grigson, I’ll give a D. I was tempted to grade him lower, but I’m nice, and not everything he has touched has turned to complete dust. Vontae Davis, Mike Adams, Kendall Langford, TY Hilton, Dwayne Allen, Donte Moncrief, Jack Mewhort, Henry Anderson, Clayton Geathers, Jack Doyle. Quan Bray. Hell, you can even put Coby Fleener (right to let him walk, though) and Jerrell Freeman (dead wrong to let him walk) in here too. Some things have worked out, and the potential is there for more with people like Phillip Dorsett, Ryan Kelly, TJ Green, Joe Haeg, and Josh Ferguson.
Many have not panned out. I’m not even sure I could list them all. I’m not really sure I even want to try. You name it – trades, draft, or free agency – and Grigson has whiffed at it hard at some point. Talent evaluation is an inexact science – you will miss on players – and I don’t think it’s really fair to say “well, he could’ve drafted so and so instead” because that game can be played to death with any number of players on every team, but Grigson’s mistakes stick out like a sore thumb. It’s one thing to miss players and quite another to have an entire draft class no longer with your team three years later. That has to be nearly impossible to pull off. I could go on and on here, but I still need to cover the Pagano part of the question.
Charles David Pagano. I’ll give him a C-. As a motivational speaker and manipulator of the media, he’s a solid A, but that kind of stuff doesn’t win football games. The players love him and that’s great, but I’m not sure how many football games that wins either. Chuck also walked into a situation (willingly, to be fair) where he was thrust into working with a GM who most likely never would’ve even called him when the Colts were looking to hire a coach in 2012. In other words, Pagano was Jim Irsay’s choice. After Bruce Arians left following the 2012 season, the team brought in Pep Hamilton – who was not Pagano’s choice – to replace him. Chuck also had to endure Grigson forcing him to play a struggling Trent Richardson, something which is wrong on many levels. Chuck’s had to endure a mess.
He’s also part of the mess. The same players who talk so lovingly of him consistently come out unprepared to play. These same players commit mental mistake after mental mistake – especially on defense, Pagano’s forte – which also suggests lack of preparation. His clock management skills are awful. He’s not good at challenging calls. He doesn’t know how to properly utilize the talent he has on offense. After 2015, Chuck won the battle against Grigson. He got his way, and was able to move his guys into coaching positions. What’s changed? Well, the pass rush has managed to go from bad to horrible. A fairly stout 2015 rush defense is now looking weak. Fans now struggle to watch the team.
I have to move on before I start feeling ill,
Except….
Q: Do you think the coaching staff will go back to the style of play from when the Colts cleaned house (2012)? – Jodi via text
Nope, those days are over. They ended when Bruce Arians left to take the job in Arizona. In some ways the Colts became victims of the success they had with Arians coaching while Pagano was ill. It really left them in a no win situation. Can you imagine the PR hit they’d have taken if they’d decided to fire Pagano after his first season, a season where battling cancer limited him to five games? I don’t care what anyone says now, they (meaning media) would’ve hammered Irsay to no end. Would Arians have even accepted the job? After all, he and Pagano are longtime friends. Arians had never been a head coach before, and you can’t stand in a guy’s way when opportunity finally comes calling. It was just an unfortunate series of circumstances all the way around. Arians has had more success than failure in Arizona. Would he be having success in Indy or would he have fallen victim to Grigson’s roster moves as well? Unfortunately, we can’t say for sure.
Another thing about Arians: The media need to stop giving Pagano’s career record credit for the 9-3 mark the Colts had with Arians running the show. It badly distorts the truth.
As for the current offense…maybe it’s because I expected the absolute worst (Frank Gore trying to carry it 30 times a game), but for the most part I’ve been fine with Rob Chudzinski’s play calls this season. What I haven’t liked is when they mysteriously go conservative for seemingly no reason at all. Attack, or at least stick to what’s working, guys. It’s not that difficult.
Q: What happened to the quick slants the Colts used to run to perfection with Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne? – Ken via Twitter
Well, let’s see. Marvin, Reggie, and Peyton all retired? Seriously, I know what Ken’s getting at here. The current offense isn’t built as much on the slant routes. If there’s a receiver on the roster who in my opinion fits this type of route better than the others, it’s Moncrief, but he can’t catch anything while he’s sitting on the sidelines nursing an injury. Another issue is Luck. He is capable of making the throw on the quick slant, but so much of its success is predicated on getting rid of the ball quickly, and that has not always been something he’s good at.
I still say you’ll see it more when Moncrief returns.
Q: Should we give up on this season? Get a good draft pick? – Amy Louise via Facebook
Had they lost to Chicago I’d probably answer yes. Instead, a win this Sunday puts them into first place. It’s crazy, really. The team is a few plays from being 5-0, and a few plays from being 0-5. I think only the Chargers have it worse. They’re 1-4, but have had the lead in the 4th quarter of every game, and, if broken down by minutes played, have actually led more than they’ve trailed. I don’t know how Philip Rivers hasn’t went on a 10 state killing spree by now.
Anyway, Sunday is to me a defining moment for this season. If they win, it could give them the oomph needed to get on a run and get to the playoffs. A loss essentially puts them three games behind. If I had faith in Ryan Grigson’s ability to score on a draft pick, I’d be more inclined to say “give up” if they lose Sunday. Since I don’t, I’m putting my hopes in a win which could get them rolling.
Is a playoff berth and the number 22 pick in the draft really worse than a .500 season and the number 20 pick? I guess we’ll find out.
Q: Why don’t the Colts use a reverse with Phillip Dorsett’s speed to help open up the run game and keep defenses on toes? – Ken via Twitter
Excellent question. They did give the ball to Quan Bray for a run against the Bears, but it wasn’t a reverse. I’m not sure why they haven’t tried it with Dorsett. As with any play, you need the blockers to do their jobs selling it, and I’m not sure the Colts have that on a consistent basis.
Watch the left guard here, #68. He pulls and wipes out his man, leading to an easy TD. If the Colts had anyone who could block like this, I’d say hell yeah, bring on the trickery.
He's in again!
Cameron Artis-Payne's second TD of the night. #TBvsCAR https://t.co/gVv5aikoHD
— NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2016
Q: Can we trade you punters? Ours blows and unlike the Colts we have a chance at the playoffs – C the Tea Lizard Packers fan via Twitter
Absolutely not. Get your grubby paws off Patrick Vincent McAfee, aka Pat McAfee, aka Boomstick, aka the best punter in the NFL. You would adore him though, I have gotten the sense from my Packer friends on social media that they’re not happy with the current punter, whose name I’m not bothering to look up. It’s so bad they’ve temporarily forgotten Dom Capers’ defense will eventually cost them a playoff game.
In all seriousness though, a punter like McAfee is a tremendous weapon. When McAfee was a rookie, there was a certain ESPN writer who hosted a weekly AFC South chat session on the site. A lot of times these chat sessions were pretty fun. One day – very early in the season, if not even prior to the first game – I made the comment to said chat host that I felt McAfee was going to be a difference maker for the Colts. The response was somewhere along the lines of “LOL. A punter? Really?” but I was right then and I’m right now.
C, you can have Pat McAfee as your punter when you pry him from my cold, dead hand.
Q: Although I hate the Patriots, they went 3-1 with their 2nd and 3rd string QB’s. This makes me wonder: Is Brady a great QB, or is he just a replacement level QB? – Nick via text
Sometimes the planets align and the right person submits the right question at the right time.
Brady is good, there’s not much debate about it. Denver’s vaunted defense beat the living tar out of him in the AFCCG, yet there he was at the end, still with a chance to win the game.
I absolutely loved the fact New England went 3-1 without him, though. It forever placed the final nail in the coffin of the “Brady vs. Manning” debate. Go on Tommy, take your rings handed to you by Vinatieri and Pete Carroll.
Take them and kneel at the throne of Peyton Manning.
See you soon, Colts fans.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
