Colts offensive line

[CaptainHook]

Howard Mudd couldn't believe his eyes then, and still shakes his head about it now. It was seven months ago today, and his vaunted Indianapolis Colts offensive line, arguably the best pass-protection unit in the league over the past half-dozen seasons, produced an inexplicable, astoundingly untimely what-was-that?

It yielded five sacks -- tying the most against Peyton Manning in his 137-game career -- and countless pressures. There were Pittsburgh Steelers everywhere, swarming, smothering, celebrating as veteran Colts linemen looked at each other, confused. It all added up to a 21-18 playoff loss that buried a dream Colts season head-first in the turf.

"We stunk the joint up," Mudd said simply. "We were awful."

All this time later, the question is still begged. How could a line that was so good throughout the regular season -- nine sacks in the first 12 games, 20 in the regular season -- have flat-lined when things counted most?

Were the Colts rusty from having clinched home-field advantage after 13 games and easing up for the final three? Was it that nasty 3-4 scheme -- three linemen, four linebackers -- that always seems to discombobulate the Manning-led Colts?

"I cannot explain it. It defies reason," Mudd said. "You can take three years' worth of bad games and put them together and that's about what we performed like, except we did it all in one game."

Trouble came from everywhere. Steelers end Kimo von Oelhoffen helped collapse the middle of Manning's protection. Linebackers Joey Porter and James Farrior flew around guards Jake Scott and Ryan Lilja, who were frequently asked to peel off and pick them up.

"We busted plays. We got confused," Mudd said. "We sort of, kind of knew what we were doing, then we didn't. It was just horrible.

"Personally it took me a long time to get over that. You know, 'How do I resolve that?' "

The remedy hasn't been wholesale personnel changes -- in fact, none.

The starters remain Tarik Glenn at left tackle, Lilja at left guard, Jeff Saturday at center, Scott at right guard and Ryan Diem at right tackle, with Dylan Gandy back as the primary backup at all three interior positions (unless he unseats Lilja).

Instead, the Colts have looked inward. They've focused on improving the techniques that helped make them the league's best but failed them against the Steelers.

"Any professional athlete will tell you that if you don't have a good game, obviously you've got to critique it and learn from it," Glenn said.

"But you can't dwell on it.''

Saturday didn't blink when a recent conversation turned to the loss to Pittsburgh.

"You hate to be part of the reason you don't get it done," he said. "We didn't do what we normally do. We didn't keep them off the quarterback as well as we had in the past.

"They were a good team and got on a roll and did some things to us that we just didn't answer."

Defenses featuring 3-4 fronts, in which it's easier to disguise blitzes, have been especially problematic to Manning and the Colts. That's the base defense of New England, which bounced the Colts from the playoffs in 2003 and '04, and San Diego, which ended Indy's hopes of an undefeated season with four sacks in a 26-17 victory last December in the RCA Dome.

Yet the Colts steadfastly deny they struggle more against a 3-4 than a 4-3, instead pointing to the pass rushers and overall defensive personnel employed by the Patriots, Chargers and Steelers. Indeed, the Colts did a reasonably good job of fending off Pittsburgh's pass rush in their 26-7 regular-season win.

Nonetheless, Saturday expects the "copy cat'' nature of the NFL to come into play.

"Teams are going to look at (Pittsburgh and San Diego) and say, 'Let's try to do the same thing,' " he said. "If they see somebody they think stopped you for a week, they're going to come out and try to do some of the very same things.''

Take your best shot, replied Mudd. And that includes the Steelers, should they meet again this postseason.

"I'm very respectful of the Pittsburgh Steelers," Mudd said. "They won. They are the champions and I respect them. But the Pittsburgh Steelers did not beat the Colts. The Colts beat the Colts.

"Let's go play again. Right now."

 

from Indy Star

 

Good article up to the last paragraph quoting Mudd. I hate that crap. The Steelers beat us fair and square. I hate when players/coaches say, "we beat ourselves".

[Bill Swerski]

But the Pittsburgh Steelers did not beat the Colts. The Colts beat the Colts.

"Let's go play again. Right now."

 

from Indy Star

 

Good article up to the last paragraph quoting Mudd. I hate that crap. The Steelers beat us fair and square. I hate when players/coaches say, "we beat ourselves".

 

 

Agreed. Indy's O-line was physically over-powered by the Steelers D.

 

That game was also a great example of very good coaching and disciplined players beating mediocre coaching and undisciplined players. On the first drive, Ron Meeks took way too long to realize that PIT wasn't going to feature the run early and to make the proper adjustments. Touchdown, Steelers! On PIT's second drive, the Colts D gave up the 45-yd bomb to Ward and Sanders was flagged for a 15-yd facemask. Touchdown, Steelers! Meanwhile, the offense was inexplicably trying to run the stretch play against a 3-4, the pass protection was awful, and the passing game was completely out of sync. When they were finally got the running game going in the second quarter, Tarik Glenn gets flagged for a false start on 3rd and goal from the 1, taking a TD away. In the second half, the Colts offense finally made the necessary adjustments in the passing game and crossed the stripe twice. Then after the Colts get two HUGE gifts in the 4th quarter, Peyton tries to hit Reggie in the enzdone on 3rd and 2 on the PIT 28 with a timeout left and PIT's D in nickel coverage. I'm sure that Peyton has all the confidence in the world that he'll complete that pass, but either Dungy or Moore has to step in at that point and say, "We're running on this play." Not to mention that Peyton should've known better in the first place. And then of course, Vandershank completely bites it on a makeable 46-yarder in the Dome.

 

The Colts looked completely unprepared on both sides of the ball. And the blame for that ultimately comes down on the coaching staff. I appreciate what Dungy has done, but I really think that the Colts would've represented in at least one SB by now if they would've had a disciplinarian like Parcells or Cowher on the sideline.

[Big Score 1]

Yet the Colts steadfastly deny they struggle more against a 3-4 than a 4-3, instead pointing to the pass rushers and overall defensive personnel employed by the Patriots, Chargers and Steelers.

So basically they're saying it's not the 3 - 4 defensive scheme that beats them, it's the fact that they're going up against better players than they are, which beats them.

 

Makes sense to me.