IndyStar The Colts have no idea what they're doing

[oaklandhater]

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports...ing/645793001/

The Colts have no idea what they're doing by Gregg Doyel,

LOS ANGELES – The Indianapolis Colts stink, and not just the players on the field for that 46-9 loss Sunday to the Los Angeles Rams in their 2017 NFL opener. The whole damn franchise stinks, starting with the owner and oozing downhill, as this sort of excrement tends to do.

The front office stinks. The coaching staff. The scouting department. The players? Bless their hearts, yes. The players stink, too.

A loss like this, it goes looking for people to blame and it does not go wanting. The difficulty is deciding where to start. Quarterback Scott Tolzien was terrible, but you don’t start there. Tolzien has been something less than an NFL quarterback for years, and he stayed in character Sunday from his first pass of the game: an interception the Rams returned for a touchdown. He threw a second pick-six, and flirted with a third and a fourth, before being benched for Jacoby Brissett.

Tolzien’s amateurish play Sunday – quarterback rating: 33.8 – was as predictable, if not as uncommon, as a lunar eclipse. Where were General Manager Chris Ballard and coach Chuck Pagano looking this summer when they chose Tolzien over Stephen Morris? Directly into the sun.

OK, that’s not the real answer. The real answer is even dumber.

While Morris was fabulous for a second consecutive year of preseason games, Ballard said last week that the job went to Tolzien because he was better than Morris in offseason OTAs and again in the early practices of training camp. And Pagano on Sunday said he “would never second-guess” that decision, because Chuck Pagano is nothing if not reliably prone to say things that sound blatantly untrue.

No, this loss wasn’t Tolzien’s fault, though he did try to take the blame for it. To his credit, he acknowledged that football “is a team effort, but I certainly want to own this” defeat. To Pagano’s credit, he accepted blame for this loss on multiple occasions, even as he referred to the Rams as "the 49ers." To the credit of star receiver T.Y. Hilton, who fumbled his first catch of the season as he was diving to avoid contact – read that again – he tried to take the blame as well, saying: “I fumbled. It started with me.”

Tolzien’s amateurish play Sunday – quarterback rating: 33.8 – was as predictable, if not as uncommon, as a lunar eclipse. Where were General Manager Chris Ballard and coach Chuck Pagano looking this summer when they chose Tolzien over Stephen Morris? Directly into the sun.

OK, that’s not the real answer. The real answer is even dumber.

While Morris was fabulous for a second consecutive year of preseason games, Ballard said last week that the job went to Tolzien because he was better than Morris in offseason OTAs and again in the early practices of training camp. And Pagano on Sunday said he “would never second-guess” that decision, because Chuck Pagano is nothing if not reliably prone to say things that sound blatantly untrue.

No, this loss wasn’t Tolzien’s fault, though he did try to take the blame for it. To his credit, he acknowledged that football “is a team effort, but I certainly want to own this” defeat. To Pagano’s credit, he accepted blame for this loss on multiple occasions, even as he referred to the Rams as "the 49ers." To the credit of star receiver T.Y. Hilton, who fumbled his first catch of the season as he was diving to avoid contact – read that again – he tried to take the blame as well, saying: “I fumbled. It started with me.”

Colts QBs Scott Tolzien and Jacoby Brissett talk to the media after the team's 46-9 loss to the Rams. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Who’s right? They’re all right. A loss like this, a loss in need of a mercy rule given that one team belonged in Little League, it’s too heavy for any single set of shoulders. It falls on offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, who called two goal-line rushes, power running plays, with his power back – Robert Turbin – on the sideline. And after those two carries by home-run threat Marlon Mack resulted in a loss of 1 yard, Chud put in Turbin … and called for Tolzien to throw it. Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who delivered the pick-six on the Colts’ first pass of the game, might’ve had another had he hung onto this amateurish toss by Tolzien.

This loss also falls on defensive coordinator Ted Monachino, who either chose converted safety T.J. Green to start and play most of the game at cornerback – or yielded that decision to Pagano, when what Monachino should have done was offer to resign before letting someone as lousy as T.J. Green undermine his defense.

And make no mistake: T.J. Green is lousy. Moved from safety midway through the preseason because all he'd consistently done there since last season was miss tackles and deliver cheap shots, Green missed a tackle early in the second quarter when Rams running back Todd Gurley was fighting for extra yardage near the goal line. With Gurley’s entire body as a target, Green went for a cheap shot – he targeted Gurley’s head – but glanced off Gurley’s helmet, allowing the Rams running back to fall forward, into the end zone for a touchdown.

Oh, and Green was in coverage on Rams receiver Cooper Kupp’s 18-yard TD catch that gave the Rams a 24-3 lead. At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Kupp ran the 40-yard dash in 4.62 seconds. Green ran it in 4.34 seconds. On the touchdown in question, Kupp was wide open because he was running away from Green.

Don’t ask me to explain that. Still can’t believe I saw it.

Can’t believe what happened on the Colts’ second series, either, after Tolzien completed a short pass to Marlon Mack and Mack sprinted toward the end zone. When 5-8, 190-pound Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner approached near the goal line, he nudged the 5-11, 210-pound Mack pushed out of bounds. It was a soft play by Mack, a play the Colts have become famous for in recent years as their blowout losses have mounted – and then it became something much worse.

Because Chuck Pagano didn’t challenge the official ruling that Mack was pushed out of bounds before reaching the end zone.

No, Pagano was too busy hurrying his next play onto the field – a power rush that Chudzinski gave to speed back Marlon Mack, who had just demonstrated that power is not his thing. With the Rams unable to substitute, Pagano was looking for a personnel mismatch, and he found one: His personnel was outmatched.

Pagano outsmarted himself, the only NFL coach I’ve ever seen him outsmart, and afterward said that whole sequence was on him.

And it was. But other sequences were on the defense, which put almost no pressure on Rams quarterback Jared Goff (career-best 117.9 quarterback rating) and allowed multiple Rams receivers to run wide open. The defense has been completely remade from the Colts’ 2016 opener, literally 11 new starters, which means that’s on the general manger who put the unit together. And his name isn’t Ryan Grigson.

The Colts offensive line, meanwhile, allowed four sacks and nine quarterback hits in a game where they attempted just 21 passes. It was this past week when Pagano had decided “I’ve never felt better about an offensive line,” but again, that’s what he does: He says things that simply don’t sound honest. Pushed on that piece of Pollyanna a few days ago, Pagano doubled down:

“Never felt better,” he said again. “You guys can write it. You can put it on the record and hold it to me.”

Done. And now let's move on and remember what Colts owner Jim Irsay had said this summer about the biggest problem of the Andrew Luck era: his lack of protection.

“I’m telling you,” Irsay said in June, “the offensive line is fixed.”

I'm telling you something else: The people who run this team, from the owner on down, have no idea what they’re seeing, saying or doing.

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

Why did they knowingly roll into the season with Scott Tolzien as the starter?

He's Tyler Palko bad

Paganos breathtaking stupidity would be my guess. He was fielding questions about why Tolzien was the starter after the 1st preseason game when Stephen Morris completely outplayed him. He gave some bullshit answer about OTA's and how they practiced. It was just good old fashioned stubbornness and ego.

I'm actually curious if he has the balls to trot Tolzien back out there after the train wreck that was the Rams game. I pray that he won't but I've learned to never underestimate his profound stupidity.

I'll say this, if he does, I hope Jim Irsay fires him at halftime like his dad was prone to doing.

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by Cave Johnson

Uh, none of those signings sound like a particularly great use of resources and cap space.

Not Grigson-level bad, but still bad.

I don't disagree, but Hankins and Sheard were two of the better free agents available.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by RealSNR

Oh hey. Look what time it is!

It's time for a much-heralded QB draft class next spring as proclaimed by draft gurus.

Oh... that sucks you were really bad this year, Colts! Bummer, man! Well, here's the #1 overall pick. I'll bet a TON of teams would pay a lot to get their hands on that. Well isn't that just splendid for you!

Oh, you had the #1 overall in 2012? That featured a pretty good QB, didn't it?

And 1998?

Well, I guess you're just lucky!

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

And 1983.

and 1990


http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...9&postcount=74

[Hoopsdoc]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

and 1990


http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...9&postcount=74

In 92, they had the 1st AND 2nd picks in the draft. They drafted Steve Emtmann and Quentin Coryatt, both of whom were massive busts. Well, Emtmann was good, just could never stay healthy.

That was the year I became a fan. I was 14.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_NFL_Draft

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

Paganos breathtaking stupidity would be my guess. He was fielding questions about why Tolzien was the starter after the 1st preseason game when Stephen Morris completely outplayed him. He gave some bullshit answer about OTA's and how they practiced. It was just good old fashioned stubbornness and ego.

I'm actually curious if he has the balls to trot Tolzien back out there after the train wreck that was the Rams game. I pray that he won't but I've learned to never underestimate his profound stupidity.

I'll say this, if he does, I hope Jim Irsay fires him at halftime like his dad was prone to doing.

I'd say there is a good chance he still has Tolzien start he said on Monday that Tolzien is still going to split reps during Practice this week.

#Colts will divide up the first-team QB reps this week between Scott Tolzien and Jacoby Brissett.

— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) September 13, 2017

[oaklandhater]

"Andrew Luck is the most valuable player in the NFL."

5 lessons learned from Week 1 according to @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/9l9INb3raT

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) September 12, 2017

"Andrew Luck is the most valuable player in the NFL."

[notorious]

Good ol' Cowherd.

Saying something outrageous just to get more attention and ratings.


He has been wrong about so many things it's impossible to keep track.


Still entertaining enough to listen to while I work , though.

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by notorious

Good ol' Cowherd.

Saying something outrageous just to get more attention and ratings.


He has been wrong about so many things it's impossible to keep track.


Still entertaining enough to listen to while I work , though.

He's half right

Luck is pretty much the most Important player in the nfl the Colts are a bottom of the basement team with out him.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by oaklandhater

He's half right

Luck is pretty much the most Important player in the nfl the Colts are a bottom of the basement team with out him.

I agree that Luck is very important, but the way the team is constructed right now he is the difference between 2-14 and 7-9.

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by notorious

I agree that Luck is very important, but the way the team is constructed right now he is the difference between 2-14 and 7-9.

I agree either way they are not a serious contender for the playoffs even in the AFC south.


that being said I can't think of one player in the NFL who's team goes to a straight dumpster fire with out one player.

Even with out brady the pats would still in all likely hood make the playoffs.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by oaklandhater

I agree either way they are not a serious contender for the playoffs even in the AFC south.


that being said I can't think of one player in the NFL who's team goes to a straight dumpster fire with out one player.

Even with out brady the pats would still in all likely hood make the playoffs.

Teams that go straight into the dumpster without one player are almost always teams that have piss poor coaching.

[GloucesterChief]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

In 92, they had the 1st AND 2nd picks in the draft. They drafted Steve Emtmann and Quentin Coryatt, both of whom were massive busts. Well, Emtmann was good, just could never stay healthy.

That was the year I became a fan. I was 14.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_NFL_Draft

Steve Emtmann was not good without roids you mean.

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by milkman

Teams that go straight into the dumpster without one player are almost always teams that have piss poor coaching.

Couldn't agree more

It's why I fully expect Irsay to toss everything he has at Shaw or harbaugh

[RunKC]

https://mobile.twitter.com/NFLRT/sta...99313449961472


Not sure how valid this is, but there's a rumor that Luck is requesting a trade. This would be both hillarious and scary because we know he'd probably end up in Denver if this happened.