2010 Film Review: Week 3, Colts at Broncos
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="607" caption="Justin Tryon comes up with a huge turnover on special teams"]
Tryon[/caption]
In Week Three of the 2010 NFL season, the Colts were coming off of a big win over the Giants. The Giants game had been a huge turnaround from week one, when the Colts couldn't stop the run to save their lives. The Giants game was a complete game, dominating on both sides of the ball.
Now the Colts traveled to Denver, hoping to take their momentum with them. Colts fans watched, hoping that Week Two was a better indicator of what was to come than Week One.
After a pair of punts, the Colts drew first blood, driving to the Broncos 20 yard line before being stopped. The drive consisted largely of two passes, a second and long completion to Dallas Clark for a first down, and a 30 yard toss to Reggie Wayne. Ironically, those two would be pretty quiet for the rest of the game. Adam Vinatieri's 38-yard field goal was perfect, and the Colts led 3-0.
After the defense forced another punt, the Colts received the ball back at their own 15. They couldn't do much with it, and punted it after gaining only one first down. On the punt, Denver return man Trevor Cox muffed the ball, and Colts' CB Justin Tryon was in perfect position to recover it, after doing a great job of gunning down the returner.
Even with the great field position though, getting the ball back on Denver's 15, the offense couldn't get any farther, and took another mid range field goal from Adam Vinatieri to lead 6-0.
On the next Denver drive, the Broncos were moving into Colts territory when Jacob Lacey made a great read on a pass by Kyle Orton and intercepted it, returning it to the Denver 30 yard line.
Given another short field, Manning engineered a touchdown drive with his second crack at it, ending with a 5-yard pass to Austin Collie.
The Broncos would score a field goal before halftime, and then scored a touchdown after coming out of the locker room in the second half. The ten unanswered points left the Broncos down only 13-10.
After a pair of three-and-outs Manning led the team on a 79-yard drive, ending with a nine-yard touchdown pass to undrafted rookie Blair White.
The game was the Colts, and while the Broncos would add another field goal late in the third quarter, the Colts responded with another long drive ending with a touchdown pass, this one to Austin Collie.
What I noticed on the rewatch:
Tryon[/caption]
In Week Three of the 2010 NFL season, the Colts were coming off of a big win over the Giants. The Giants game had been a huge turnaround from week one, when the Colts couldn't stop the run to save their lives. The Giants game was a complete game, dominating on both sides of the ball.
Now the Colts traveled to Denver, hoping to take their momentum with them. Colts fans watched, hoping that Week Two was a better indicator of what was to come than Week One.
After a pair of punts, the Colts drew first blood, driving to the Broncos 20 yard line before being stopped. The drive consisted largely of two passes, a second and long completion to Dallas Clark for a first down, and a 30 yard toss to Reggie Wayne. Ironically, those two would be pretty quiet for the rest of the game. Adam Vinatieri's 38-yard field goal was perfect, and the Colts led 3-0.
After the defense forced another punt, the Colts received the ball back at their own 15. They couldn't do much with it, and punted it after gaining only one first down. On the punt, Denver return man Trevor Cox muffed the ball, and Colts' CB Justin Tryon was in perfect position to recover it, after doing a great job of gunning down the returner.
Even with the great field position though, getting the ball back on Denver's 15, the offense couldn't get any farther, and took another mid range field goal from Adam Vinatieri to lead 6-0.
On the next Denver drive, the Broncos were moving into Colts territory when Jacob Lacey made a great read on a pass by Kyle Orton and intercepted it, returning it to the Denver 30 yard line.
Given another short field, Manning engineered a touchdown drive with his second crack at it, ending with a 5-yard pass to Austin Collie.
The Broncos would score a field goal before halftime, and then scored a touchdown after coming out of the locker room in the second half. The ten unanswered points left the Broncos down only 13-10.
After a pair of three-and-outs Manning led the team on a 79-yard drive, ending with a nine-yard touchdown pass to undrafted rookie Blair White.
The game was the Colts, and while the Broncos would add another field goal late in the third quarter, the Colts responded with another long drive ending with a touchdown pass, this one to Austin Collie.
What I noticed on the rewatch:
- The Colts' secondary was getting picked apart by Kyle Orton, who finished with over 400 yards passing on the day. This soft zone getting picked apart by quick, short passes is exactly what I was talking about earlier this week. 10 yard comeback routes really were killing the CB's on the outside, who were giving a big enough cushion to get beat there every time. However, the defense really stiffened up in the redzone allowing only one touchdown and two field goals on a day where the offense had over 500 total yards.
- Speaking of redzone defense, the Colts had a great goal line stand midway through the second quarter. Denver had four tries from the one-and-a-half yard line, but were stopped on three run plays and a single fade route. Eric Foster and Antonio Johnson got great pushes on each of the running plays, and Gary Brackett and Philip Wheeler each made solid tackles on the ball carrier.
- The offensive line looked different with Jeff Linkenbach starting in Charlie Johnson's place. Link gave up a few pressures, but largely did a solid job at left tackle. The line did a good job of pass blocking all day, but the run blocking was horrendous, and only totaled 40 yards at the end of the game. I watched Pollak specifically, who was ok in the run game, but not near as good as he was in Week Two. In pass blocking, he was better than Diem or Richard (still terrible) were, but this was the first week where I noticed him get beat on the inside a couple of times. Still, he was solid for the better part of the game. Jeff Saturday was awful run blocking this game, as he was for most of the season.
- After being targeted a few times early, Wayne and Clark were fairly quiet for most of the game. Denver put a lot of attention on those two, which is partly why others could have big games.
- If we're talking about wideouts with big games, Austin Collie had his coming out party in Week Three, with 12 receptions for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was all over the field, and showed great vision after the catch as well. It's nice to see this kind of talent again, I only pray it comes back this season without any repercussions.
- Blair White also had a very good game, with Manning showing a lot of confidence in the young receiver. He showed himself to be a good possession receiver, running good routes and showing reliable hands. His savvy move on Cox for his touchdown was a veteran move. He does lack the physical gifts other receivers have, and doesn't use his body well to shield defenders, but he's solid depth at the fifth receiver position. I hope he stays on the roster this season.
- The DT tandem of Daniel Muir and Fili Moala continues to surprise me, passing the eye test as the Colts' best pair in the middle. Mookie looks like he's getting pushed back every play, until they got into that goal line stand mode.
- Kelvin Hayden and Jacob Lacey both had good games making tackles, and Lacey with his interception. Jerraud Powers was struggling for the majority of the game, missing a few tackles and getting beat on short routes, as well as getting beat deep on the Broncos' only TD (to be fair, Bullitt was sucked up and didn't give Powers help over the top). But, Powers really picked up his game in the fourth quarter, and was a key part of the Colts limiting the Broncos in the final minutes.
- Stunts on the defensive line never work. Never. I hate when they're called.
- Even with Anthony Gonzalez and Pierre Garcon hurt, Manning was brilliant, orchestrating the offense to perfection when they needed points.
- Addai really does thrive on getting positive yards after contact. He just knows how to move and fall forward. I'm very glad we resigned him.
- Scary moment: When Antoine Bethea landed on his head early in the game trying to make a play, and took a minute to get up. Head/Neck injuries are always scary, but when it's a key guy like Bethea, it just adds to the moment.
- Best play of the game: Manning's perfect throw to Wayne down the left sideline for a 31 yard gain. Peyton threw the ball right behind Champ Bailey's head, right into Wayne's arms. Wayne played it perfectly too, not reaching up for it until it was right there. Bailey never even knew it was coming, and Manning zipped it right behind his ear.
- Interesting moment: I watched Daniel Muir leap-frog his blocker on a PAT attempt by the Broncos. He was nowhere near blocking the kick, but it was quite amusing to see him push the linemen down and swing his leg up and over him.
