Colts Iggles Preseason Game #2
Woot! Football season is finally here. FINALLY.
I love baseball, but damn if it gets old around August of every year. I’ll go back to baseball in about a month, just to see if my beloved White Sox can limp their way into playoff contention. For now though, there are fantasy football projections to pour over and Notre Dame analysis to sift through over at Blue-Gray Sky.
Speaking as someone who grew up watching the game passionately, and playing the game passionately into my college years, there’s nothing like next fall and the anticipation of another season. I can still taste the freshly cut grass, hear the pads popping, and feel the sweat pouring off my heaving and exhausted body. IMHO, it is the only sport that truly reaches the limits of human pain and endurance. I admire the athletes in the NFL, but only because I know the physical and mental discipline one needs to achieve that level of success is extraordinarily rare. Yes, some of them hit the genetic lottery, but so did many others that failed to reach that level. NFL players are masters of their craft, no different than the workaholic CEO or world renowned artist.
Okay, enough of the hyperbole. On to the actual subject. Last night, in case you missed it, the Colts WON a preseason game. This is shocking because they’re only won four preseason games in the past four years.
My main concern going into this year is the offensive line. Without a stable, strong offensive line, Peyton Manning is meat. See last week’s game in which our starting right tackle (subsequently CUT) was burned on three consecutive passing plays, all leading to sacks. The Colts are done without Manning. Whether injured or on his back all day, they can’t win without his arm. After the third sack, I looked at my friends nervously and wondered if we could cut the guy fast enough. Of course then I realized that if *this guy* is starting, how bad is *his* backup?
Of course the toreador of a tackle was cut, Ryan Diem got healthy, and suddenly a week later we have something that resembles a starting offensive line. They played pretty well last night, although I’m not sold on Charlie Johnson as a starting left tackle. Nothing against CJ, he seems like a nice guy and played very well off the bench in the ‘06 Super Bowl, but he shouldn’t be starting. He allowed a sack & strip of Peyton last night, and didn’t exactly inspire confidence. So clearly, we’re going to have depth issues on the offensive line this year. I’m not sure what’s going on with Tony Ugoh, as he’s been moved around like a military family the past few weeks. Starting LT last year/preseason game 1, then filling in at RG, then second string LT, and I’m pretty sure I saw him holding on extra points last night. This shuffling CANNOT be good for his confidence.
Overall I thought the offense looked great. We ran a nice double-bunch package with two splits & two receivers shadowing each other. That was a neat wrinkle on the trips-bunch that we saw last year. The double-bunch formation worked well last night, as Reggie Wayne was able to get free and make an easy catch. The running game looked pretty good. Joe Addai is showing a burst that we didn’t see last year. Maybe it’s the fact that the line is a year older & wiser, or maybe it’s that his backup, Donald Brown, is a freaking STUD. It wouldn’t surprise me if Brown was starting by the end of the year, but clearly Addai isn’t going to give up his starting position without a fight. Between Brown pushing Addai and the line improving over last year, I can see the Colts averaging between 90 and 105 YPG rushing, FAR better than the 75-80 they were averaging last year. This is the kind of running game the Colts will need if they want to reach the Super Bowl again.
The deifense looked pretty good, too. I like our new DC, Larry Coyer. The man likes to blitz. I love blitzes, and as anybody who’s ever played defense can tell you, blitzing is FUN. It energizes the defense and absolutely punishes the opposing offense, whether it works or not. I’ve never been a fan of the bend-but-don’t-break defense the Colts have employed in recent years, so this new attacking defense is a breath of fresh air. It confuses the offense, and in particular the offensive line. It keeps opposing linemen just a bit off balance; just a step slow in their blocking reads. This in turn allows the defensive linemen to penetrate, or a linebacker to roam free. These are the key ingredients to stopping the opposing team’s running game.
I liked what I saw last night. The 2009 Colts (the entire organization, in fact, and not just the players) have apparently dedicated themselves to getting better at running the ball and conversely, stopping the run. They are a very deep, young, and talented team. Barring injuries or a continuation of last year’s offensve line woes, the smart money is on the Colts getting back to the Super Bowl.
