Just rewatched the first half

[Sun Tzu 7]

So I watched the first half again and really focused on our starting offense and have the following Observations:

As everyone knows we had problems blocking. On running plays the O-line was never able to really generate a solid push. They were not going backwards but they were not knocking people off the ball.

On passing plays Baker played better that I originally thought. He wasn't dominating his man by any means but he was able to re-direct his man and make him go wide. The real issue we had was with their DTs... specifically #93. Jax moved him around a lot and we really were not able to handle him one on one. So on passing plays if Baker managed to redirect his man wide #93 was coming through the middle and Matt wasn't able to step up in the pocket. Some times he had to scramble, some times he had to get rid of the ball quickly, other times he got flushed into Bakers guy.

Jax does a lot of the same things we do defensively. They rotate their DL and run some of the same coverages. The main difference is that they seem to tackle better.

We were very vanilla offensively and ran things we've seen 100 times before... Based on what I saw if we were to gameplan for this game I would think we would do something similar to how we played Baltimore last year.

Again, these were just some observations I had...

[Captain Insano]

I see we still have that qb rollout play that rarely gets anything other than ryan throwing it out of bounds...haha

[delaigle]

How did Hawley look at center?

Was this his first playing time at center with the ones?

[West Sider]

How did Hawley look at center?

Was this his first playing time at center with the ones?

I just re-watched Hawley in the first half. He stuggled with a few plays (both run and pass), but thought he played well overall. From what I see Blalock didn't play too well.

From what I see Blalock didn't play too well.

Edited August 20, 2011 by West Sider

[Sun Tzu 7]

How did Hawley look at center?

Was this his first playing time at center with the ones?

He didn't look that bad. He was playing until the whistle with a little bit of nastiness.

He also had some trouble when he had to take #93 one on one but almost everyone did. He's probably not ready to start but he might be in a year or two.

[Sun Tzu 7]

Can someone explain something to me. On one hand I hear ppl say its preseason, There is no game planning. We're just trying new things. Then I'll read that we are just running basic plays and things that we have done a million times..WHICH IS IT??????? To be honest. I think superbowl teams look the part even in preseason. Thats why New England looks the part

It's preseason. We ran basic stuff that we've run before.

Look at it this way, the stuff we ran teams already have plenty of film on. We're not showing them anything they haven't seen before.

For example we didn't do anything special about #93 but when we play them for real we'll be doing different specific things to account for him. We'll double team him... Run directly at him... Etc

[Sun Tzu 7]

I just re-watched Hawley in the first half. He stuggled with a few plays (both run and pass), but thought he played well overall. From what I see Blalock didn't play too well.

From what I see Blalock didn't play too well.

Yeah, Blalock had some issues one on one with the DTs. 93 was beating him like a drum

[maxatlanta]

As everyone knows we had problems blocking. On running plays the O-line was never able to really generate a solid push. They were not going backwards but they were not knocking people off the ball.

On passing plays Baker played better that I originally thought. He wasn't dominating his man by any means but he was able to re-direct his man and make him go wide. The real issue we had was with their DTs... specifically #93. Jax moved him around a lot and we really were not able to handle him one on one. So on passing plays if Baker managed to redirect his man wide #93 was coming through the middle and Matt wasn't able to step up in the pocket. Some times he had to scramble, some times he had to get rid of the ball quickly, other times he got flushed into Bakers guy.

That is totally Baker's MO. It seems like he is always just managing to prevent his guy from getting by.

I am disappointed in our OL, but I also wonder how much of a difference it made having Hawley at C. McClure calls protections and he's been praised for it by Ryan and the coaching staff. It's not good when your C, LG, and LT look like they are just barely hanging on like that.

[Radical]

To be honest. I think superbowl teams look the part even in preseason. Thats why New England looks the part

Yeah, tell that to the 2008 Detroit Lions. Preseason monsters they were.

It's like you people want the preseason to mean something. No matter how many times you people get an encyclopedia of evidence shoved down your throats about how preseason is absolutely useless when trying to determine how good a team is, you people just keep coming back with more.

[Sleepy27]

I thought preseason is for trying new plays..new schemes..even if we arent going to use them in the future..Isn't preseason for trying new plays in game time situation.

Don't listen to that dude, Their were people screaming that same thing last preseason ..... and we ran the exact same plays we did from last preseason last year in the reg season.

When you see someone use the terms "vanilla playcalling" or phrase "not showing our hand" it's an excuse.

[pzummo]

Can someone explain something to me. On one hand I hear ppl say its preseason, There is no game planning. We're just trying new things. Then I'll read that we are just running basic plays and things that we have done a million times..WHICH IS IT??????? To be honest. I think superbowl teams look the part even in preseason. Thats why New England looks the part

You can believe whatever you want. It doesn't make it true. Colt McCoy has looked great. Do you think that will carry over to the regular season when teams gameplan against him? Vick has looked horrendous. Do you think that will carry over when his coaches gameplan towards his strengths?

The fact is that Indy has lost a ridiculous number of Preseason games in a row. If you go by the Preseason, they would be bottom feeders. The fact is that many of the bottom feeders actually look pretty good during the Preseason and don't once the regular season starts.

The major difference between the preseason and regular season is gameplanning. Coaches welcome adversity in the Preseason because they know what they need to fix or compensate for when the regular season rolls around. They also know what they have in their players by them having to go through that adversity.

Do you really think when the regular season comes around Roddy won't be getting 7 passes per game, Tony getting 4, and Turner getting his 20? Do you really think featuring Julio, HD, Meier, Snelling, and Quizz without gameplanning will have similar results to when we gameplan featuring Roddy, Gonzo, Julio, and Turner?

For the record, in my opinion, bottom feeders tend to look pretty decent in the Preseason because they feature their better players more against defenses that are not scheming against them. That doesn't mean the starters being on the field like every team does. It means those teams are targeting their best players more because they are still working on establishing chemistry.

[vel]

Don't listen to that dude, Their were people screaming that same thing last preseason ..... and we ran the exact same plays we did from last preseason last year in the reg season.

When you see someone use the terms "vanilla playcalling" or phrase "not showing our hand" it's an excuse.

Did we have Julio, a healthy HD, and Rodgers? Not to mention the addition of Weems and a healthy Meier. I don't recall any play going for 76 yards last year.

Last year our hands were tied to Roddy and Gonzo. So far through two games, they have what 2 catches combined?

[nomak]

McClure being out didn't help matters in the middle. Really, just take a breath. This team has one of the best records over the past 3 years for a reason and during those 3 years this team was and is still young. However, I expect a huge leap this year with no less than a playoff win. I want a superbowl, but another year with no playoff win will drive me crazy.

[Radical]

Don't listen to that dude, Their were people screaming that same thing last preseason ..... and we ran the exact same plays we did from last preseason last year in the reg season.

When you see someone use the terms "vanilla playcalling" or phrase "not showing our hand" it's an excuse.

So excuses are undeniable facts repeated by coaches, former players, and even Roddy White just recently?

Ryan's numbers from last year's preseason:

24/45(53.3%) for 213 yards(4.7 YPA) with 1 TD and 1 INT.

Ryan's numbers from last season:

357/571(62.5%) for 3705 yards(6.5 YPA) with 28 TDs and 9 INTs.

We were 5th in scoring offense last year.

Keep telling yourself that preseason means something. Don't choke on that stupid you keep spewing.

[bighurt]

Preseason is good for individual match ups, then teams scheme to exploit those weakness or strengths. I think missing McClure last night lead to some protection issues, also Johnson got some time in place of Renolds. On one pressure from the Jags DT, Johnson got pushed into Ryan's face and Ryan was flushed to Baker's side leading to Baker's man put pressure on Ryan.

[JSouthGeorgia]

I was at the game ( north end 4th row behind the goalposts). Heres my observations from the game.

- Garard tried to pick on Grimes early, Grimes plays his man tight, came up with an interception on a long throw to the end zone, Garard and the resy of J-ville QB's avoided grimes after that.

- J Ville Qb's did us a huge favor in targeting Franks last night because he was totally exposed as too green to help us this year. If Robinson goes down , and its up to OWens or Franks to fill the gap, we better hop like **** our pass rush is improved because the corners opposite Grimes will be toast.

- it almost seemed like this week Ryan went out of his way to avoid throwing to Julio , because he had his man beat most of the game but the ball just didnt come his way. Dont know whats up with that , other than an attempt to get others started ?

- Turner cant run east and west, but 22 is the real deal , he may not have top end speed , but he disappears behind the linemen and reappear in the second level. Runs hard and is very hard to locate, never seems to take a hard hit.

- The new punter is going to be a good one, great hang time ( the seems to disappear it goes so high).

- I dont know if this is par for a preseason game or a cause to worry , but the intensity didnt seem to be there . I would have thought someone, a rookie trying to impress would have brought it, but for whatever the reason I didnt see that certain fire .

- Ryan didnt look bad, but wasnt sharp, I would have liked to see Redman playing with some first teamers , he came in in the second half and started fine, but faded as the rest of the subs were worked in.

- Byrant looked great in warmup and made 2 good kicks .

Thanks

[TrueFalcon84]

How did Hawley look at center?

Was this his first playing time at center with the ones?

HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TrueFalcon84]

That is totally Baker's MO. It seems like he is always just managing to prevent his guy from getting by.

I am disappointed in our OL, but I also wonder how much of a difference it made having Hawley at C. McClure calls protections and he's been praised for it by Ryan and the coaching staff. It's not good when your C, LG, and LT look like they are just barely hanging on like that.

Baker has never been great but the issues last night started with Hawley. He was definitely out matched

[kiwifalcon]

You can believe whatever you want. It doesn't make it true. Colt McCoy has looked great. Do you think that will carry over to the regular season when teams gameplan against him? Vick has looked horrendous. Do you think that will carry over when his coaches gameplan towards his strengths?

The fact is that Indy has lost a ridiculous number of Preseason games in a row. If you go by the Preseason, they would be bottom feeders. The fact is that many of the bottom feeders actually look pretty good during the Preseason and don't once the regular season starts.

The major difference between the preseason and regular season is gameplanning. Coaches welcome adversity in the Preseason because they know what they need to fix or compensate for when the regular season rolls around. They also know what they have in their players by them having to go through that adversity.

Do you really think when the regular season comes around Roddy won't be getting 7 passes per game, Tony getting 4, and Turner getting his 20? Do you really think featuring Julio, HD, Meier, Snelling, and Quizz without gameplanning will have similar results to when we gameplan featuring Roddy, Gonzo, Julio, and Turner?

For the record, in my opinion, bottom feeders tend to look pretty decent in the Preseason because they feature their better players more against defenses that are not scheming against them. That doesn't mean the starters being on the field like every team does. It means those teams are targeting their best players more because they are still working on establishing chemistry.

Best post in this thread thanks it took awhile but I knew someone would talk sense and SPELL IT OUT to the Naysayers.

Thank you.