I know a ton of people are bitching and moaning about playing the Colts. And sure the Colts are a better team than the Chiefs, and the Colts have a far better chance of being us than the Chiefs could ever dream of. That said this works out better for us. 1) The Chiefs are a far more physical and healthy team than the Colts. Yeah the Colts got Mathis and Freeney, but theyre also devastated by injuries. Playing against the Colts our defense is going to be primarily focused on playing the pass and coverage, where as the Chiefs would pound the ball so you expect it to be a far more physical game where players would get more banged up and a greater chance at being worn out/injured for the Pats. 2) Our preparation. If we played the Chiefs our game plan would be built around entirely stopping a ground and pound physical run team. Then wed immediately have to change directions and focus on a completely 100% different team. At least now were playing possibly the most similar team in the league to the Patriots. So everything from our gameplan against the Colts should be applicable two weeks in a row. For a team without a playoff bye week this definitely should help. 3) Morale/Confidence This team stopped alot of these guys from getting to the superbowl last year. Defeating these guys in their house is a huge boost to morale everyone would be fired way up, it gives Sanchez a huge confidence boost, our defense confidence and this could give us the kind of lift we need to beat the Pats. Taking out one of the best QBs of all time on his turf after him sending us packing it doesnt get much better than that. Where beating the Chiefs really doesnt do shit for anyone on our team, hard to get fired up about beating a team who just got shit on by the Raiders. 4) Whether we belong in the playoffs and our draft position. Lets be honest the Chiefs are the closet thing to a "gimme" in the afc (at least compared to the other teams), where as we actually have to show up to play the Colts. If we can't beat the Colts, then no way we could of gone into New England and then a healthy Balt/Pitt and won. So at least this way the only way we hurt our draft stock is if our playoff ambitions are legit and our team is actually going to show up and play. And if our teams not gonna show up then it would be better to lose now than later. The only REAL negative though is that New England is going to preparing to play a run heavy team. Its impossible for them to play Indy next week, which means its either the Jets/Chiefs/Ravens for them so id expect them to be completely focusing on stopping the the run.
Don't understand your thought process. IND is a much tougher out for the Jets than KC would be - even if this isn't the same Colts of old. At the end of the day, we want the best chance of winning - KC gives us that.
1) The Colts run defense is playing stellar the past few games. That's our bread and butter. 2) Rex's achilles heel in defensive game planning is Peyton Manning and he admits getting repeatedly stopped by him in the playoffs. 3) Moral/Confidence. Manning and the Colts beat us last year and we had a better defense last year. They get the moral and confidence booster knowing how to beat us in the playoffs. 4) If we do manage to beat the Colts we're going to get beat up doing it. We may limp into a game playing the Pats.
No it isn't because the Chiefs are straight garbage. Who can seriously prefer the Colts over KC? I mean, really.
ESPN radio said we are the favorites against the Colts. As we should be. We are the better team. The only playoff team the Colts beat was the Chiefs. Couldn't beat the Eagles, Patriots, and hell got smashed by the Chargers. It should be close, but I feel its going to be us winning. Or at least I hope.
1) Stellar ? The Colts last few games Over 4.5 YPC to Raiders (McFadden got hurt I think), vs Jags with no MJD, 111 yards by CJ2k, 100 yards by Dallas's 3rd string HB, 103 yards by SD 2nd string HB, 96 yards by Jarvis-Greene. Almost 100 yards by McCoy , man that defense is on FIRE. Though you have to give credit where its due, they did shut down the Bengals 7 weeks ago If thats stellar I hope theyre stellar against us too then. 2) If Rex cant beat Peyton why do you think hell be able to beat Brady? 3) All it took was us using what a 6th string CB, and having NO halfbacks at all, not to mention Clark killing us. I guess well just have to cross our fingers that they dont keep throwing it to whoever Lito is covering again. 4) The Colts are far less physical than the Chiefs, our defense will absolutely 100% positively be healthier after playing the Colts than the Chiefs. This is fact
Didnt the JETS prepare for this very moment during the off-season? NBC is acting as if Rex didnt know he had to get through Manning during the playoffs. I would rather them face KC but im sure the JETS can beat the Colts.
I hate playing a 10-6 team on their home field while we are 11-5 Good thing we are a pretty good road team
Hey guys, Colts fan from NY here - love Rex and your team as long as they're not playing the Colts and will root for them if they beat the Colts to beat our common enemy in NE. Since I can't start a new thread, let me offer my thoughts from the Colts point of view, on the up-coming match-up - feel free to add your thoughts. I'll only comment on players ON the roster and try to minimize the bitching and moaning over injuries. I don't care how much people say injuries aren't an excuse, that's just bullshit - you lose your best players and then lose their backups, you WILL see a drop-off in production. QB - Manning is having a down year, and despite playing behind a horrible O-line, overcoming injuries by playing with street-free agents on offense and bad WR play, he is making horrible decisions, making poor throws, not trusting his protection and seeing ghosts out there. Many of his INTs have been his fault (not counting ones that result from miscommunication with his receivers) and after a year where he led 7 4th Q comebacks he has 0 for this season and for all intents and purposes, having a "down year" - but when you still get the #3 seed with all the adversity this team has faced, that says alot for how great Peyton Manning is. Problem is, in years past, Colts lost one or two pieces on offense and Manning kept them rolling but he can only cover up for short-comings of talent on offense so far before the camel's back breaks ...not having Collie, Clark and Gonzalez is really hurting this team (see section on WRs) and forcing Manning to work to the strengths of who's on the roster ..which I'm not sure what it is. It's bullshit that Manning can make ANY receiver off the street look like a HoF-er ...he can exploit talent but end of the day, just because you sprinkle sugar on dogshit doesn't change the fact it's crap. You can tell he's been frustrated this year and has had to force it into tight windows / make contested throws all year. Best way to beat Manning in my opinion is to play man-coverage and blitz - make his receivers beat you ..you play zone and 3-man rush he'll find the soft spot and kill you with death by a thousand cuts. However, on any given day, Manning can snap out of his funk, make unbelievable plays and remind you why he is the greatest QB of this decade - problem is, those moments are mixed in with poor decisions and throws this year. If it's worth anything, he seems to have Rex's number throughout his career and hasn't lost to a Rex D since 2001. Best way to beat Manning aside from man-coverage is to take away his greatest strength, which is his ability to make pre-snap reads by playing amoeba defense and having your D audible into the "real" alignment just before the play-clock winds down to take advantage of Manning's tendency to let the clock drain before he gets a play-off. WRs - horrible ...Reggie Wayne making it to the Pro Bowl was a joke and more a life-time achievement award than based on his play this season. Despite a career high in receptions, he struggles against man-coverage and doesn't get open deep anymore and is really a glorified posession receiver at this point and leads the team in drops. Garcon, despite burning you guys last year is maddening as hell ..he'll drop routine, easy passes then make a freak one-handed catch. He is an unreliable receiver who makes you shit yourself on 3rd downs and struggles to get separation. He is meant to take the lid off of a D and beat them up-top but he is constantly blanketed, dropping balls, or running a crappy route - he is one of the worst route runners I've ever seen. He does seem to have "intangibles" however, and once he actually gets the ball in his hands (rare) he is capable of making things happen. Blair White - UDFA rookie and a poor man's Austin Collie. Without Dallas Clark and Collie, the primary threat down the seam is Blair White and Tamme, but these guys are nowhere near as good. White's game-speed is far slower than Collies' despite supposedly having a better 40 time. He's a rookie I know, but he has had several miscommunications with Manning and struggles to get separation (notice a trend here?) TEs - Don't let Jacob Tamme's statistics fool you, anyone who knows football and watches the Colts know that Tamme's value in numbers nowhere approaches the effect Dallas Clark has on opposing Ds in terms of opening things up for other players. Tamme is a slow, lumbering white guy down the seam who doesn't adjust well to the ball and can't make tough catches - but he does have good hands and hauls in the passes you expect him to. He is a classic example of someone being good because of Manning - can't wait for some sucker to trade for him expecting him to be a #1 TE Brody Eldridge is a blocking TE who comes in on our "power" packages, and if he catches a pass it's because he was the last option - Gijon Robinson is arguably the worst football player I've ever seen, and how he has a spot on the roster is anyone's guess. O-line - ironically, this much-maligned unit has survived the rash of injuries. Our tackles are average at best, our interior line play is awful and our center is aging. Polian needs to be held accountable for the quality of this O-line since he called them out after the Superbowl, cut one of our best linemen in the off-season, drafted garbage to replace them and has seen the unit regress over last year. They pass-block OK (but not good) but are soft as shit and get blown off the line on running plays. One of the reasons Manning's YPA is down this year is due to having to get rid of the ball, on average, in 1.7 seconds and not having time to let routes develop downfield by our slow receivers. RBs - Donald Brown is a waste of a 1st round pick - no clue in pass protection and whenever he's back in shotgun I get scared of Manning get Romo'd. He has some home-run ability and pass-catching ability, but he lacks decisiveness and vision to run behind this shitty line Addai is quite possibly the most underrated and one of the most important players in our offense. He is a complete back who runs hard (he struggles to get 2-3 yards after having to fight to get past the line of scrimmage on so many plays that go off-tackle) but will never post big individual numbers due to our style of offense and crappy O-line. He is one of the best pass-protecting RBs in the league and the drop-off between him and others is significant in terms of technique and recognition. Not a home-run threat however. Rhodes is over-the-hill but brings a spark and runs hard ...he's a good relief back but wears down quickly and not a homerun threat. D-line - we are ranked something like 15-16th in sacks ..makes sense since we only have half a pass-rush ...our DEs are great, but they sell-out against the pass too much and can be taken out of the play alot plus our interior line generates zero pass rush hence opposing QBs usually just have to step-up in the pocket. Larry Coyer is also a horrible D coordinator and will often waste our DEs on fruitless stunts that negate their strength. Freeney is all speed and leverage ..asking him to loop around (something they do ALOT) is just retarded. Behind Mathis and Freeney is no-one and because Coyer is an old saggy piece of shit who plays our DBs 10-15 yards off the receivers, we can make Kerry Collins and David Garrard look like HoF-ers. The DTs have gotten alot better against the run but they still lack the ability to collapse the pocket. You guys, with the best center in football and a strong interior line, won't have to worry about the pocket collapsing anytime soon. However, they have gotten ALOT better at stopping the run - don't believe me, look at our last 3 games against Tennessee, Oakland and Jacksonville. Trust me, we've been stopping the run just fine of late, it's our pass D that currently sucks due to injuries and the fact we sell out against the run. LBers - very very average group that's been injury riddled. Not sure how much of a boost Session coming back gives us owing to rust and injury. They over-pursue alot and lose containment alot due to the mentality of swarming to the ball ..they bite hard on misdirection plays alot too. CBs - the weak-link due to injury ...Jerraud Powers is our best CB and he's on IR, Justin Tryon was signed off the Foreskin's practise squad and played good coverage ..Hayden is our most expensive corner but he is incredibly overrated yet always gets a free-pass. Lacey is master of the 10-yard cusion but will occasionally make a play. Our CBs aren't good in man-coverage and to make things worse, often play 10-yards off a receiver, even on 3rd and 4th or 3rd and 3rd. We have one of the worst 3rd down Ds in the league. They tackle well though ..if it wasn't for them, all those 15 yard gains would be 40 yarders *eyeroll*. They struggle against big physical receivers and someone like Holmes looks like a nightmare. Safeties - walking wounded. Antoine Bethea is a Pro Bowl snub and the only person holding our secondary together - he reminds me of a productive Kerry Rhodes. Aaron Francisco might be the worst strong safety in the league and how he has a job is beyond me - he'll whiff, take poor angles and just outright sucks, but in fairness, we were scraping the bottom of the barrel at this spot due to injury "Special teams" - we have one of the worst coverage in the league and are dead last in average starting field position, that's all you need to know. Our projected return-men are on IR and Rhodes is a horrible return-man ..getting back to the 20 on kick-offs is a miracle. Pat McAfee looked like Scifres at one point, but since his little naked swim in the canal during the bye-week has played like crap. Vinatieri is luckily having an amazing, quiet season and only missed 1 FG over 40 yards at home for his Colts career. His kicks today were dead center from 48 yards out - this guy still has it.
If this team is gonna win the superbowl, might as well do it the right way. REVENGE TOUR 2011 colts pats afc north
I don't view the Colts (or any playoff opponent) as a blessing but as a challenge, especially on the road as an underdog. And the Jets should be up to the challenge.
The Colts are a team on the decline, getting older, and plagued by injuries. They are lucky to be in the playoffs, much less a division winner. They are a fitting warmup for the Pats and whoever else stands in the way of this Jets SuperBowl run.
This team was built to beat the Colts-Patriots. It worked against the Patriots the first time, very well. The Patriots completely changed their offense. We didn't adapt well. But the Colts game should be similar to the Patriots game week 2. Similar offense, teams, everything. This is when Cromartie and Revis are going to make their money. They don't have to deal with any big time recievers. They better play well.
You are a chode. The Colts held Chris Johnson to 39 yards today. Did I say 39 yards? For Chris Johnson? yeah. McFadden was held to 45 yards. MJD was held to 46 yards. Those are the past 3 games for the Colts and what I was referring to. We all know the Colts run defense hasn't been great over the season, but the past FEW games, yes its been stellar. Now, go back to being a fanboi with blinders on.
