Now that hurts
The 44-17 debacle in Jacksonville has no easy answers. The Colts' run defense has been atrocious all season. Everyone knew that. The Jags simply decided to go where no team had gone before: An all-out running attack with no second thought to getting fancy with the passing game. Why stop running if the Colts aren't going to stop you?
We should have seen this coming. The Colts have been dead last in run defense all season. Super Bowl-bound teams do not finish dead last in run defense. In fact, they're usually in the Top 5-10 in run defense. But, because the Colts kept winning, it was too easy to marginalize the glaring problems on defense.
Here's how I saw the loss, which I forced myself to watch to the bitter end:
Passing offense: It's hard to blame Peyton Manning when he hits his receivers in the hands and they don't make the play. On the other hand, Manning looked unusually panicked and forced several passes, including the interception that erased any last shred of Colts momentum.
Running offense: After losing three of four and two in a row, I think it's OK to start Joseph Addai and run him early and often. It's the Colts who need to control the clock now, in order to keep their defense off the field.
Pass defense: Not much to defend against the Jags.
Run defense: No.
Special teams: Did anyone see where Maurice Jones-Drew went?
Coaching: Unable to figure out how to stop the bleeding.
Are things as bad as they seem? Maybe. Maybe not. The Colts' confidence will be at an all-time low heading into the Monday Night Football appearance against the red-hot Bengals. It could, and probably should, mark the first time in a long time that the Colts have been underdogs at home. This season looks like it's headed for an ugly, disastrous finish.
The good news: They won't have to deal with the pressure of being Super Bowl favorites anymore.
posted by Reggie Hayes at 8:46 AM
2 Comments:
Reggie,
Not sure if you check the comments, but here goes:
I think you are 100% wrong about running the ball and controlling the clock. We should be in the hurry up all game. Keeping our defense off the field doesn't solve anything. We need to lengthen the game, and give our offense as many drives as possible. Playing ball control offense plays into our opponents' hands--they want to shorten the game as well.
1:21 PM, December 11, 2006
Chris, I was being sarcastic with that comment. I agree with you on the offense needing to produce as much as possible. In fact, I wrote a column on that topic last week. They had too many punts at Jacksonville, obviously. Clearly, this team is not suited defensively to regularly win low-scoring games.
7:36 AM, December 12, 2006
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