Colts-Dolphins Open Thread
Here's your open thread for the Colts and Dolphins.
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Nate Dunlevy, Greg Cowan, Todd Smith, Kyle Rodriguez, Scott Kacsmar, Luke Dunlevy, Laura Calloway, Brent Fatig, Lou Pin, Josh Boeke, and Marcus Dugan
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I'll be on with Jersey Johnny at noon today on WIBC and at about 8:00 on 1070 the Fan.
We'll have post-game coverage here on CA, but also check out Todd, Kyle and me at Bleacher Report today as well.
So the inevitable mass of injuries after today's game: Mathis, Powers, Satele, Justice, Brown. And a short week coming up. Sheesh.
Now that we're seriously back in the playoff hunt, you know our old nemesis is still out there - the Chargers. They're getting better (I think). I'll have to start hating them again now that we're thinking we can sneak a wildcard.
@smonroe by the way. could you ever have imagined a year ago from today that we'd be saying "now that we're seriously back in the playoff hunt?" With the young core on offense and the absurd amount of cap space this coming offseason... exciting time to be a Colts fan. Gonna have to get me a Luck jersey... think my Addai one is a little dated.
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@smonroe Oh, that's no big deal at all. Intelligent conversation is made of well defended positions. It forces honesty, too.
Seriously, there's nothing to apologize for. I was in your boat with Dungy when he was coaching. And to a lesser degree with Caldwell (although I lost much faith in him during Manning's last season).
What a kick ass run at the end there. Between this and last week, Ballard's redeemed himself for his earlier performances.
That said, I'd rather have had him go down sooner. Fumble risk. But whatever, he didn't lose it, that's all that counts. Still an awesome play on his part.
That said, that was pure luck combined with execution missteps by Miami. That wasn't a Colts recovery due to good coaching, it was the Colts getting the ball back because Miami screwed up. It was Colts getting possessoin **in spite of** Arians.
It worked out for Indy, but Arians damn near torpedoed it. He should be criticized, but even now, as I write this, the coach is getting praised.
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@AJ_ Honestly, while I won't hesitate to admit that Arians can seriously screw things up in a hurry, his plays allowed Luck to throw for a ridiculous amount against a very good defense. You can't just ignore the fact that he DOES call some good plays. Hilton missed the drop TD (before his actual TD) and there were several other drops throughout the game that should have been caught. Most of the game, he calls pretty good plays, but yeah, he can screw it up at the end. However, we're 5-3 (!!!) with an INTERIM head coach, and Arians is officially 4-1. I will take that to the bank with how terrible this team really is.
@TheGreatMisdirect Yes, this. The team has performed in spite of the bad coaching, so it's not all doom and gloom. Rather, it's a demand that a professional meets the standard expected out of a professional. That's all.
Arians needs to coach better. Period, end of story. He's done great in motivating people, but his in-game management is terrible. That needs to change, otherwise it'll hamper the team.
@AJ_ Oh, I completely understand/agree, trust me. He keeps getting bailed out like this and he thinks he's actually doing the right thing, when he's not. Don't forget, we missed two FGs, where we potentially could've gone for it on 4th down. If we get one of those two, maybe we get another 7 or an actual 3, as opposed to a miss.
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@AJ_ his game management leaves something to be desired. but the team plays hard EVERY play. so he does deserve some credit there (as does Pagano).
@zgs1288 I don't argue that. Pagano, Manusky, and Arians has gone a long way towards making them play hard.
But that doesn't change his game management. That's what I'm criticizing. Arian's motivational abilities do not change the fact that his game management is demonstraby bad.
@AJ_ gotta unleash the TEs once Fleener is back. Those two have superstar written all over them.
@zgs1288 What's painful is that Arians *HAS* talked about holding the plays back. Not because of Luck, but because of the rest of the team. I'm hoping that a lot of this that's aggravating me will go away as the team gains experience.
I can hope.
@AJ_ no argument there. the play-calling is getting better on the whole, but the under-5-minutes-in-the-4th-quarter-with-a-lead playcalling has been a killer
@AJ_ and we didnt screw up? there were a few TD's we left with dropped passes and dumb penalties, not to mention the bogus non offensive pass interference on the dolphins
@RobertItoh @AJ_ You want a perfect game from a bunch of guys who probably couldn't make a lot of teams. You guys need to get real.
@smonroe @RobertItoh It's not the players I'm faulting. It's the coach who isn't coaching up to NFL potential.
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@AJ_ Jeez. Look at the players he has to work with. Everyone is a better coach than the one we have.
@smonroe That doesn't chnage the 12 seconds he left on the clock at the half, nor does it change the fact that he took the ball out of Luck's hands at the end *AND* gave it back to Miami. My point was that he was trusting a depleted defense, but not a perfectly healthy QB who's been rolling?
I'm not criticising his or Pagano's development of the players. I'm criticizing Arian's in-game play calling. And I believe I'm on firm ground there. His decisionmaking is torpedoing the Colts chances, and they're winning despite him, not because of him.
That had better be an offensive hold. Because Freeney was wrestled to the fuckin' ground on that play.
