Stampede Blue
Some will point to the Colts returning to their winning ways to being as easy as returning home to face a less imposing opponent than the Rams in their building. The Raiders invade Lucas Oil Stadium this week, sporting a 1 – 3 record after falling short to the Bears at home on Sunday. Yes, these guys are not exactly the Rams, but this year has been proof of a longstanding norm in the NFL, that “Any given Sunday” is not just the name of a mediocre movie. We only have to go back two years to relive the affects of the Raiders ruining our season. A loss to them would not ruin this season, but it would certainly bring a whole lot more doubt to the building and to Colts Nation.
So, what do we need to clean up to make sure that we wake up next Monday with a 4 – 1 record? It may look different from your seat, but I have a few things that I think need fixed/tweaked, or maybe even completely abandoned. I’ll start with the defense, since that seems to need the most attention.
I’m waiting for a little of that “Mad Scientist” confusion to appear. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take what I am seeing seven days a week, compared to Gus’s looks. Our intermediate middle is still way too soft. I don’t think either Franklin or Bachie are what Lou would say were perfect fits for what he wants to do with his linebackers. I think he’d like to put better pass defenders out there, but to be honest, we have also given up enough 10 yard runs that you need to keep some meat in there, or risk being run out of the building. It has me wondering if Grove and Buck are losing some of the ground game battles that they have generally won in the past.
Teams have been picking on Xavier Howard. It would be happening to any #2 CB, given the way that Ward is playing, but when you have a guy that spent most of the Denver game hearing his name called for a penalty and most of the Rams game eating Nacua’s dust, I don’t see opposing offenses changing their tactics. Sometimes, rust adds a little character, but other times it shows that something has worn out. I wouldn’t kick him to the curb in case the rust just needs knocked off, but I believe I’d have him knock it off during practice. He is the closest to my abandon designation.
In my best Ben Stein voice, “Kwitty, Kwitty?” I don’t think his production is worthy of his snap counts. We have better options opposite Latu, don’t we? I think we need to send him to the cafeteria and weight room to add 25 pounds and turn him into a rotational interior guy. He’s going to be cheap enough if this is his production level and we need to restock our 30 something IDLs....
