More Grades: Colts Report Card From CBS Sports
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Evan Hilbert of CBSSports.com gives his postgame unit-by-unit grades of the Colts after their big win over the Packers. In pleasant contrast to what we saw in weeks 1 and 3, almost everyone earned high marks, from the coaches to the defense to Donald Brown:
Running back Donald Brown was solid, too, behind a seriously banged up offensive line, and quarterback Andrew Luck got settled in the second half, as well, passing for a total of 362 yards and two touchdowns.
Sunday's comeback was a classic game that, while the players are going back to work to focus on the Jets, the fans can enjoy all week long. So, enjoy the win, and click on some post-game grades from Evan Hilbert.
If you'd like to know why I think Hilbert isn't off base complimenting Donald Brown, get this: Through 4 games, Donald Brown has 60 carries for 239 yards and is averaging an even 4.0 yards per carry. His Green Bay counterpart, Cedric Benson, who many refer to as a solid running back, has, through 5 games, 71 carries for 248 yards and averages 3.5 yards per rush, with a slightly lower career average ypc than Brown (3.8 to Brown's 4.1). I don't mean to say that Brown is great (he isn't, really), or that Benson is lousy (he's not). But we as Colts fans are awfully rough on a guy who, as Kyle Rodriguez pointed out, can make a 3 yard gain after getting hit 3 yards deep in the backfield. He's a decent blitz blocker (No, not as good as Edgerrin James, but Edge was one of the best ever at stone-walling a linebackers), and a pretty good running back who can be explosive in the open field. We, as fans who were hoping for another Polian-era star when Brown arrived, tend to watch and wait for his mistakes. It's a new era. Let's give this young man a chance. Speed backs struggle when the offensive line struggles, and, as we can see with Benson, so do some of the stronger running backs. (Stats from pro-football-reference.com)
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I also do not believe Brown is some fantastically awesome back. But he is not deserving of all of the hate he tends to get from the fanbase and the other Colts blog which shall not be named. In their minds, if he doesn't run for 100 yards every week, he's a bust. But yeah, if you look at YPA, you can see more clearly.
I mean, he sucks and he's only better than the sorriest of sorry backs in the league such as:
DeMarco Murray: 3.9 YPA
Trent Richardson: 3.7 YPA
Darren McFadden: 3.5 YPA
Steven Jackson: 3.5 YPA
Chris Johnson: 2.9 YPA
Oh, and he's tied with the totally worthless Arian Foster (4.0 YPA). If we were smart, we'd dump him and start Delone Carter. He's proved that he can lead us to the promised land.
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@buymymonkey @bradicus18 as long as he keeps reading this blog. Bardicus is awesome.
@bradicus18 @buymymonkey Thanks. Yeah, I used "dugan5150" on everything for a long time (still on ps3 network with that name). But 12 years ago, nobody used their real name on the internet. What kind of blog are you starting, Bradicus?
@buymymonkey @MarcusDugan Bwhahahahaha! Thanks fellas! A thousand points to both of you!
I have plans to start a blog in the not so distant future. Alas, it will not be a Colts blog. This one is quite good. :)
@MarcusDugan I will have to try the iPhone thing. Perhaps I should let go of a user name from high school. Problem is that I use it for everything but professional e-mail.
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Dangit. Bradicus. Not bardicus. You should see the things the iPhone tries to turn that name into.
