Worst 5-0 team ever?

[CaptainHook]

Well, I've been thinking about this post for a few weeks now. The Colts defense is god-awful. Horrible. Horrendous.

 

They simply cannot stop the run against anyone. They are bad, and I don't see how they can get better.

 

Last year, despite their ranking, they were truly an average / slightly-above average defense. Then they let David Thornton go to Tennessee.

 

Now Corey Simon is out for the year.

 

Bob Sanders is hurt, had arthroscopic knee surgery, and should be back after the bye. We'll see.

 

They are undersized. They are not tackling well. They can't stop a draw play to save their lives. Especially if it's out of shotgun formation.

 

Peyton Manning has willed this team to 5 wins over average (at best) opponents. They haven't faced a balanced team all year. When they do (after the week 6 bye) the losses will start piling up. Washington, Denver, and New England will run all over these guys. Plus, they have the passing game to go along with it. The only reason the Colts are winning right now is that they can bring their safeties up to help with the run because David Carr, Byron Leftwich, and Vince Young are not very good. They lucked out against Jax and had a punt return, or they probably would have lost. Manning had to pull two fourth quarter miracle drives to beat the Jets. Vince Young ran about 8 different plays all day, yet the Colts couldn't figure it out, trailed 10-0 at the half, and held on to win by 1 at home. They have been outplayed statistically in 4 of their 5 wins, but have still won. It won't last.

 

I'm not sure they are even a play-off team. Thank goodness we're in the AFC South.

 

If the Colts make the play-offs, it'll be one and done again.

 

If ANY of your runningbacks are facing the Colts, start 'em.

[Menudo]

Well, I've been thinking about this post for a few weeks now. The Colts defense is god-awful. Horrible. Horrendous.

 

They simply cannot stop the run against anyone. They are bad, and I don't see how they can get better.

 

Last year, despite their ranking, they were truly an average / slightly-above average defense. Then they let David Thornton go to Tennessee.

 

Now Corey Simon is out for the year.

 

Bob Sanders is hurt, had arthroscopic knee surgery, and should be back after the bye. We'll see.

 

They are undersized. They are not tackling well. They can't stop a draw play to save their lives. Especially if it's out of shotgun formation.

 

Peyton Manning has willed this team to 5 wins over average (at best) opponents. They haven't faced a balanced team all year. When they do (after the week 6 bye) the losses will start piling up. Washington, Denver, and New England will run all over these guys. Plus, they have the passing game to go along with it. The only reason the Colts are winning right now is that they can bring their safeties up to help with the run because David Carr, Byron Leftwich, and Vince Young are not very good. They lucked out against Jax and had a punt return, or they probably would have lost. Manning had to pull two fourth quarter miracle drives to beat the Jets. Vince Young ran about 8 different plays all day, yet the Colts couldn't figure it out, trailed 10-0 at the half, and held on to win by 1 at home. They have been outplayed statistically in 4 of their 5 wins, but have still won. It won't last.

 

I'm not sure they are even a play-off team. Thank goodness we're in the AFC South.

 

If the Colts make the play-offs, it'll be one and done again.

 

If ANY of your runningbacks are facing the Colts, start 'em.

 

 

Well Hook, I admire you for seeing through the fog, but, the fact is, despite all of this, they are undefeated, which has to say something.

 

Look at this way, for years, they have dominated the regular season and struggled in the post-season, maybe this year, they don't look quite as good in the regular season, but, turn it up in the post-season....

[Retrograde assault]

Manning might be the next Marino, big numbers across the board and no ring.

[CaptainHook]

Manning might be the next Marino, big numbers across the board and no ring.

 

It's a shame really. They should have a better defense built around him by now. They can play the pass well. That's what they are designed to do. Play with a lead. But they can't stop the run for anything.

 

This is the worst defense under Dungy yet. Very disappointed. Thought they'd be much better this year.

[Ziachild007]

If ANY of your runningbacks are facing the Colts and they don't play for the Texans, start 'em.

 

 

Fixed.

[Rockerbraves]

If the Colts don't win the Superbowl this year I think their opportunity to do so may be gone for awhile. Teams that finish high go low in the draft and as time goes on this has to effect the team's overall talent especially as the veterans age.

[CaptainHook]

Offensively their talent is locked up for a while. Manning, Harrison, Wayne, and Addai all have a lot of years left on their deals.

 

Defensively, they just keep getting smaller and smaller.

 

Gilbert Gardner is replacing David Thornton this year. Gardner sucks.

 

They moved Robert Mathis to a starting defensive end, instead of a pass-play specialist. He is too small. The DT's are too small. The whole line gets blown off the ball at the snap. I'm sick of hearing about "gaps" and all that other horsecrap from Dungy and Polian. This defense is TOO SMALL.

[cdrudge]

Defensively, they just keep getting smaller and smaller.

With so many of the offensive stars locked up for a few more years at least, maybe the Colts can use some of those early round picks to pick up some real defensive players.

 

It really was embarassing we couldn't do any more then what we could today. Jacksonville was a challenge, but the Jags are an underranked team that I don't think a lot of people give as much credit as they deserve. The Jets are bouncing back and we were in their house, so that presented a little more of a challenge. But I don't think you could excuse today in any way. Titans are one of the worst if not the worst team in the league. They don't have a passing game. There rushing game doesn't have much direction. And it looked like they walked right through us from the portion of the game I was able to catch.

 

I hope after the bye the Colts come back with a new direction and can at least stop the run. But I'm not putting money on it.

[Jimmy Neutron]

The Colts have not been impressive this year, but you can't overlook the fact that they are winning. Ugly wins count too.

 

I don't own Manning in any leagues, but I do have both Marvin and Reggie in several - I wish their offense would get clicking.

[Bill Swerski]

Well Hook, I admire you for seeing through the fog, but, the fact is, despite all of this, they are undefeated, which has to say something.

 

Yeah, it says that their offense does a brilliant job of executing the passing game.

 

I agree with Hook in that their defensive line is way too small. I'm sure that they didn't foresee Simon being sidelined for the year, but still... they need more than him to stop the run. They're absolutley getting blown off of the freaking line of scrimmage.

 

Dungy and Meeks need to go at the end of the season. They got close to putting together a solid defensive unit last year... until that D put them down 14-0 in the first quarter of the playoff game. The Colts need a defense that can help win a 9-6 game in January in Pittsburgh or Foxboro. That's what Dungy was brought in to do, but now we're right back to the Mora-era defenses.

[LooGie]

Manning might be the next Marino, big numbers across the board and no ring.

 

I would bet ANYTHING Manning gets ring. He has single handedly won 2 games this season. He's a CLUTCH QB (like we all didn't know) but it's never been more apparent than in this season. He's done exactly what he has to to win. but they do look semi-sloppy. . Post season will not be kind to them, as it never is to a team with bad D.

 

It's a shame really. They should have a better defense built around him by now. They can play the pass well. That's what they are designed to do. Play with a lead. But they can't stop the run for anything.

 

This is the worst defense under Dungy yet. Very disappointed. Thought they'd be much better this year.

 

I know it hurts to see (and post) the shortcomings of your team, but dont forget, last year the offense started real slow too. Who's to say the D won't pick it up? I wouldn't write them off just yet. And last year was a terrible fluke with Duny's boy and a bad coaching descision to sit them for the last 2 games after a terrible beating from the chargers. They'll get a ring, I have no doubt.

 

The Colts have not been impressive this year, but you can't overlook the fact that they are winning. Ugly wins count too.

 

 

I feel the same way about CAR. They are barely winning games, the offense is NOT converting 3rd downs. Foster is picking it up the last few games. BUT ugly wins are still wins. And they teach almost as much about a teams a loss. Hopefully Dungy will see the shortcomings without having to get a loss.

[Puddy]

Wow. Fans calling for coaches heads when the team is 5-0. Is this the bizarro NFL

[URLACHERisGOD]

They've beat the Giants and they've beat Jacksonville. Two very tough teams to get through. Almost makes you wonder if when they play teams like the Jets and the Titans if Dungy just says "No need for practice this week fellas. Peyton, you just go out there and do what you do." It's like a game of playground football with these "easy" teams.

[jjpro11]

last year was supposed to be "the" year. all the pieces seemed to be in place. they finally got their defense to come around and actually became one of the best in the league and the offense was one of the best ever. its hard to imagine them winning it this year without james on offense and simon on defense. then again, everybody jumped ship on the steelers last year saying 2004 was supposed to be the magical year. so you never know.. be happy your not 1-3 and play in a crap division.

[cdrudge]

Wow. Fans calling for coaches heads when the team is 5-0. Is this the bizarro NFL

 

I don't see anyone calling for Dungy's head. I don't even thing that it's Dungy's fault or even individual players or other coachs. I think it's a fault on the team as a whole. Their defense just isn't there and the offense has had trouble clicking much the last two games.

 

As Neutron pointed out above, a win is a win. It doesn't matter if you win by 1 point or 100 points. Now fantasy points wise, that's a whole 'nother story. I had Manning last year and I passed on him this year. He drove me nuts last year with huge games followed by mediocre games. Leinart, going against one of the best pass defenses in the league, had a better day yesterday then what Manning had against the Titans.

[The Vatican Hitsquad]

I would bet ANYTHING Manning gets ring. He has single handedly won 2 games this season. He's a CLUTCH QB (like we all didn't know) but it's never been more apparent than in this season. He's done exactly what he has to to win.

 

This is what get's me about Manning-bashers. The guy is Gold, Jerry, Gold. I would wager if anything he will win a ring. The same crap was said about Elway for years too.

[cre8tiff]

Despite this, Manning is still #2 in my league for scoring.

 

Wish I had foregone Brady and picked up Eli in another league though

[Bronco Billy]

That was eye-opening yesterday. IND is in trouble in regard to any title hopes. To play what is most probably one of the two worst teams in the NFL this year to a near draw at home does not bode well. What is even worse is that while compiling their 5-0 record against teams with a cumulative record of 8-15, they rank in the bottom three in the league in every important rush D category except rush TDs allowed, where they are the 6th worst in the league. They have compiled these extremely poor rush D stats against teams that, with the exception of JAX, are in the bottom half of the league in rushing offense.

 

Despite all the changes in the game over all these decades, the fact remains that teams that are successful in the playoffs stop the run effectively.

 

With Manning at QB, I'm really surprised that IND focuses so much on putting O receiving talent around him. Manning is the type of QB who ought to be able to make very average WRs & TEs much better, which should allow IND to focus on bringing in talent in other areas of weakness - like their run D. Instead IND continues to sacrifice its D in an effort to keep tons of offensive weapons around Manning. That's a recipe for gaudy regular season records & early playoff exits year after year.

[msaint]

As a Peyton/Marvin owner I'd normally be salivating over a weak Colts defense, because that would mean more need for the passing game to roll each game.....but from what I've seen Peyton just looks out of sync with his WRs, lots of passes bouncing off fingertips or coming up short. I can't complain THAT much 'cause I'm 4-1 even without a helluva lot from these guys, but still, I hope they get their act together on the bye week and start pitching in.

[Puddy]

Dungy and Meeks need to go at the end of the season.

 

 

 

I don't see anyone calling for Dungy's head.

 

[Caveman_Nick]

You might be right in your assessment, but IF the colts do figure themselves out a bit then the way they have reached 5-0 will help them in the long run.

 

It's been a while since the Colts had to struggle. They will probably gain some much needed toughness from it.

[Bill Swerski]

Wow. Fans calling for coaches heads when the team is 5-0. Is this the bizarro NFL

 

 

I don't know if you've been watching the games or not, but they're VERY lucky to be 5-0 right now. Their defense has been horrible in all games except for the HOU matchup and their offense has had trouble scoring over the past two weeks.

 

With Manning at QB, I'm really surprised that IND focuses so much on putting O receiving talent around him. Manning is the type of QB who ought to be able to make very average WRs & TEs much better, which should allow IND to focus on bringing in talent in other areas of weakness - like their run D. Instead IND continues to sacrifice its D in an effort to keep tons of offensive weapons around Manning. That's a recipe for gaudy regular season records & early playoff exits year after year.

 

 

The idea that the Colts spend all of their resources on offense at the expense of their defense is more of an urban myth than anything. The Colts paid Corey Simon a ton of money after he was cut by the Eagles last summer. They're also going to pony up a bunch of money for Freeney (and they passed on re-signing Edge earlier this year so that they could do so). With the exception of Addai back in April, the Colts have used the vast majority of their draft picks from the past few years on defensive players (Doss, Sanders, David, June, Mathis... and Freeney, if you want to go back further), many of whom have turned into very good players.

 

Marvin Harrison is a future HOFer, has amazing chemistry with his future HOF QB, and will be productive into his mid/late 30's because he's a great route-runner, so getting rid of him wasn't an option. Reggie Wayne is a very good possession receiver and was re-signed at a reasonable salary because (1) they have no talent below him on the depth chart and (2) Marvin isn't going to be able to continue beating double-coverage forever. Re-signing those guys was the right thing to do.

 

The problem with the Colts D is, as Hook pointed out earlier, that Dungy likes small, quick players on the D-line and at LB. It's not a matter of them not spending money on defense, but spending it on the wrong players.

[Puddy]

I don't know if you've been watching the games or not, but they're VERY lucky to be 5-0 right now. Their defense has been horrible in all games except for the HOU matchup and their offense has had trouble scoring over the past two weeks.

 

 

I guess it's a completely different perspective from a fan of a team that hasn't sniffed the playoffs in a while. If the Lions were 5-0 right now, Marinelli could run for governor and win regardless how certain aspects of the game is deficient.

 

I guess if you are saying that Dungy has taken the Colts as far as he can and someone else must get them over the hump, I could see that. Happened to Rick Carlisle with the Pistons.

[Bill Swerski]

I guess if you are saying that Dungy has taken the Colts as far as he can and someone else must get them over the hump, I could see that. Happened to Rick Carlisle with the Pistons.

 

 

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. I really like Dungy as a person, but I have two major problems with him as a head coach. The first is that his defensive front sevens have too much emphasis on speed and not enough on size/strength. Dungy likes soft Cover 2 defenses that are built to stop the big play... but can't control the line of scrimmage. That's not going to win a tight game in January in Foxboro (as we saw in the '04 playoffs when Dillon ran all over the Colts D in the second quarter). That's part of his fundamental philosophy and probably isn't going to change any time soon.

 

The second general problem is the way that he runs the team. There is a general lack of preparedness with reagrd to both himself and his staff and a lack of intensity/authority on his part, resulting in a lack of discipline in his players. Last year's playoff game against PIT is a great example of this. Dungy and Meeks weren't prepared for PIT going through the air early in the game, didn't make the necessary adjustments in time, and went down 14-0 right off the bat. On the second scoring drive, Bob Sanders committed a personal foul facemask penalty on Hines Ward that moved PIT from the Indy 39 to the Indy 16. Manning was hurried all game because Howard Mudd and Tom Moore didn't game-plan properly to protect against PIT's zone blitzes. When the Colts were finally able to run the ball in the second half (part of the problem being them running the stretch play against a 3-4), Tarik Glenn committed a stupid false start penalty (lack of discipline) on 3rd-and-goal at the PIT 1, which forced them to settle for a FG. In the second half, the Colts offense woke up (despite Manning getting knocked on his ass on every other play) and their defense played reasonably well against a conservatively-playing PIT offense. After the refs gave Indy a gift on the Polamalu INT and Bettis inexplicably fumbled on the goal line, the Colts were in position to win the game. But Manning stubbornly audibled into passing plays on short-yardage situations, rather than giving the ball to Edge and getting Vanderjagt into a better position to kick a game-tying FG. Manning typically makes good decisions with play-calling on the line, but Dungy HAS to step up and reign him in a situation like that. And then, of course, Vanderjagt shanks the 47-yd FG attempt. This isn't the first time that he's choked in a game-winning situation before, but nobody bothered to address that problem until it cost them their best chance to win a SB since the Unitas era. But the game shouldn't have even been that close. Dick LeBeau single-handedly out-coached the Colts' staff. It was as if they didn't even prepare for the game. And in the post-game interview, Dungy didn't even look disappointed. That REALLY pissed me off. I understand that he lost his son a few weeks prior to that game, but still... he has a reponsibility to give a crap about winning.

 

And that's basically why I want Dungy out of Indy. He's a nice guy, but that team has waaay too much talent to have not won the AFC in '03, '04, or '05.

[FishFreak]

Dungy is a good coach but is just missing that something to get his teams to the promised land. I mean how eye-popping was it when Gruden took over the Bucs, improved the O a little bit and won a Super Bowl with essentially Dungy's players. Combine Dungy with Manning's playoff performances and I'm pretty sure those two won't win a SB together.

 

If I were a Colt fan, I'd be worried but quite happy being 5-0. You gotta expect the Colt running game to improve as the year wears on and just pray they learn how to stop the run. If stopping the run is a personnel problem with guys undersized then that's going to be tough to fix. Keep in mind the Colts have a ton of money invested on the offensive side of the ball so I'm not sure if they can shore up their defensive weaknesses. Also, isn't Freeney looking for a big contract? I'm assuming they are near the cap so how do they fill their defensive needs going forward? Manning might need to re-structure that mammoth deal he has. All these big contracts were going to eventually catch up with the Colts balance and depth at some point.