My observations from the Colts campfire

1. Kenny Pickett is growing by the week

2. George Pickens continues to show that he's WR1

3. Diontae Johnson continues to show why he is not

4. Good strong running from Benny Snell and Anthony MacFarland

5. Dan Moore was a turnstile in the first half, but a brick wall in the 2nd

6. Alex Highsmith was clutch down the stretch

7. The offsides on cam Sutton on the colts fg was total bs..... He got back before the ball was snapped

8. Offense started to get away from the formula in the 2nd half again, but turned it around well

9. Kickoff coverage units better get into the film room

10. Good day overall by Presley Harvin

 

And that was Kenny’s first career 4th quarter comeback. Hopefully, the first of many!

 

Nice job by Snell to step up in Najee's absence, even though most Steelers fans wanted him released before the season .
Props to Pickett for no turnovers for the third consecutive game.

 

Pickens had a couple of head scratcher drops where his hands were high and he was coming down on the ball. Maybe should have had his hands under the ball. He switched out the white gloves in the first half for yellow gloves in the second. Lol

 

Can we give some credit on this site to coaches?
Other than the 2nd and 6 4th quarter pass call which resulted in a sack, I thought Canada called a pretty good game.
Picket’s designed run up the middle to set up the first TD was excellent.
The blocking still leaves something to be desired but we are a few draft picks on the Oline away from having a decent offense.

IMO, we have a good QB to build upon, good RB’s, a good TE, 1 potentially very good WR. That’s not bad for a rebuild.
We need help on the Oline and all 3 levels on defense need 1 more impact player. But we are getting better.

MT continues to show why all but the Chiefs, Pats, Rams and 49ers would snatch him up in a heartbeat.
But he’s not good enough for the Steelers? Laughable.

 

I'll add one. Jeff Saturday has no business being a head coach. His late game clock management was worse than Tomlin's. They seemed to make good adjustments at halftime but 1st half was bad. Taylor should have had more touches in the 1st half.

 

I'd prefer we didn't have so many because we are leading big in the 4th qtr. Yes, if we do get behind, I'm with you on this. JMO>

 

- Canada called a good game and used those gadget plays wisely

- DJ needs to work on his awareness during 3rd downs.

- Nice run blocking by the oline

- Our clock management is still atrocious

- special teams have work to do

- 3rd quarter adjustments need work

 

All this because of 1 game against a really bad team? Maybe wait until we win a couple in a row at least? If we lose next week to a bad team in ATL, will you be one of those to want to get rid of Tomlin? JMO>

 

Tomlin supporters are feasting on scraps, LOL

 

DJ = very good route receiver
DJ = crap YAC receiver

I take back all the bad things I’ve said about Benny Snell… for now

 

RBBC. It should always be RBBC.

 

Agreed overall, the colts are an average team but we’re getting better on offense. Concerned about watt though - he looks like he’s playing hurt. So I think we’re going to have a tough time with some more potent offenses in the next few weeks

 

My biggest gripe about this game was the halftime adjustments or lack thereof. This game shouldn't have needed a 4th Q comeback. Second biggest gripe is getting FG's instead of TD's. That long pass to Pickens hurt, even though Pickens could have caught it. Pickens had a couple of drops that just hurt tonight. Then there's DJ and whenever he gets a chance to get YAC he either runs parallel or backyards. He just seems to be trying too hard out there. He's playing far from relaxed and confident. 3Q defense was rough. They gave up play after play to 80 and 11. They made 80 look like Tony Gonzalez out there. Run defense looked shaky at times, well most of the 2nd half, but made the plays when they finally needed to. Not sure why the Colts didn't use Taylor more in the 1st half though. Kenny did miss about 3 throws and took a sack that took them outta fg range, but for the most part I thought Kenny played well.

For the 3rd week in a row the run game was solid. Even McFarland looked solid when running with the rock. Snell had a hell of a ballgame tonight. Pickett has gone three games without an INT. I'd like to see him get some TD passes.

I think Canada is doing better at being committed to the run game. But at the same time, that's a bit too simplistic. Hearing the Colts player scream "that's the exact same play," or something to that extent was embarrassing. He needs more plays in his arsenal or eventually this is all going to get busted up fairly quickly. Teams are too good at scouting and watching film for the same plays to be called over and over. Glad he's at least mixing things up and having a balanced attack, but there's still a lot of progress to be made with the play design. A major factor in his offense that I've grown to hate is the 1 read/check down approach he has. We accused Ben, Mitch and Kenny for these check-downs. I think Canada needs to allow his QB's to go to further options downfield before doing the checkdowns. It could be designed this way due to the offensive line. But because of this approach Kenny is missing players open downfield. Like Pickett had a ton of time on that Harris throw and if he waited for Pickens to get out of his break, he could've hit Pickens on a slant that could've gotten decent YAC. Ben was 6.3 yards per attempt, Mitch was 5.7 yards per attempt and now Pickett is just 6.2 yards per attempt.

 

1. Nice job by McFarland and Snell...kudos to the oline for create the holes
2. Harris has been more banged up than he's letting on...the three backups and 2021 Harris have looked better
3. Keep giving Pickens looks...with development his ceiling is top-end WR1
4. Play calling was better, but still several duds (long drop on 3rd down at edge of FG range after Pierre's int that resulted in a sack, e.g.)
5. Pickett continues to show development
6. Jonathon Taylor is a beast of a RB
7. Highsmith made some good plays in key moments, and just missed having a few more
8. Wright continues to do well...and he found out banks in Indy were still open at 9pm
9. Jelani Woods is your Samje Perine Steam of the Week
10. Did not see how earlier Fitzpatrick was flagged for PI while at the end Sutton was not

 

I thought KP had a very nice road game even though the stats were not gaudy. Gave us a chance to win and the running game was solid. Dionte man what a terrible season for him still sitting at 0 TDs. Defense played well although to be fair the Colts offense might be worse than ours as a whole. Matt Ryan looks like he is 64 years old out there.

 

10. I really hate it when they only show one angle, or two angles that are so similar that it doesn't matter. If you look at a shot straight down the sideline, Sutton was actually in perfect position, as the ball was thrown about two feet inside of him. The receiver had to try to go over him to make the catch, so he's the one who initiated the contact.
But yeah, the one on Fitz was a head scratcher.

 

Half time adjustments are a myth. Teams have 11 or 12 minutes to get off the field, use the bathroom, meet with trainer etc, and get back on the field. Teams make adjustments incrementally throughout the game. They aren’t in the locker room breaking down film. There are no big rah rah speeches by the coaches. That is the stuff of movie legends

 

Yep, I listen to a ton of NFL Radio and all the former coaches say the same thing. Adjustments are made throughout the game.

 

Please scrap those screens to tight end Gentry, they never work. Other then that much better play calling last night.

 

Even with a couple of three-and-outs early in the third quarter, the Steelers still held a significant advantage in time of possession last night, 34:22 to 25:38. The defensive struggles weren't a matter of being tired. The Colts made adjustments as the game went on and the defense didn't have many answers. They held on because Indy's offense sucks.

 

Regarding 9, I think at least part of it is Wright hitting line drives. The coverage has gotten worse since he took over.

Highsmith made some huge plays late, but where was he the first three quarters?

Moore sucks. I'd have to look if they gave him more help in the second half.

Pickens made some great plays, but those drops really hurt.

 

If Pickens can make the standard catches the way he makes trick catches he could be a major factor.

 

The recent drops are a bit troubling. That hadn't been a problem previously.

 

It seemed to me that Austin was putting too much faith in the standard 4 man rush, even when it wasn't getting to Ryan. I only recall one safety blitz, and that ended up in a sack. The rush seemed very predictable otherwise.