Comments for Five and Out at http://18to88.com , comment 1 to 8 out of 8 comments http://18to88.com Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:58:45 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2401 By the way. We can hate the Brady rule, but when Pollack allowed that ugly sack, it should have been a 15 yard penalty against SF. - Attila Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:55:18 +0100 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2400 Not related to this topic - but the ESPN "Scouts Inc" preview is up. Unfortunately - it was Jeremy Green - who came up with this gem: 7. Expect the Colts to focus on pressuring the pocket: The Texans are averaging just 3.3 yards per carry on the ground, the second-lowest average in the NFL, and their ground game won't be helped by having their top tight end out for the year. Houston will need to pass the ball if it wants to move the chains and get the ball into the end zone. Look for [b]Indy defensive coordinator Ron Meeks[/b] to bring the occasional blitz in order to pressure QB Matt Schaub into some bad throws. I mean - seriously? How are you a "scout" when you don't know who the new D Coordinator is? - djcolts Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:34:25 +0100 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2399 its no wonder Manning got sacked three times. The line (especially pollak) need to do a far better job of protecting 18. That has to be the worst "block" I have ever seen. BTW, great write up. Since I couldn't see the game live, now I understand why the offense wasn't able to put up more TD's - Robert I Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:18:09 +0100 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2398 But I think his pass pro problem is his footwear. Say his shoes are 12 inches long. What he needs are ones that are about 30 inches long, with the extra 18 inches being steel plates projecting off the back--the soles/steel prongs would be one piece so guys cannot push him over like that--the steel prong would hit the turf and he's stay upright for enough time for 18 to get the ball off. Might require super high-tops like loggers boots to keep them from being torqued off his feet. Would this make walking difficult? You bet! Run blocking? Probably! Will it cause discrimination and embarrassment among his peers? Surely! He might even lacerate his own kidneys while stretching or taking a seat on the bench. But is it worth it to protect the most valuable player in the NFL? Without a doubt! He was upright on his heels and could have been pushed over by a 5-7 175 punk such as myself. Sheesh, that clip is going into the learning library for my kids. Oehser has a nice series of links to Polian's radio show (an excellent read BTW that supports some of what I said abot the roof) and BP mentions technique problems with the sacks. Yes, it's fair to call that a technique problem. They're taught from about age 8 onward about not standing upright and blocking from their heels! - Bob M Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:08:08 +0100 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2397 Now that was a bull rush. The "block" was even worse than the left guard in the San Diego game who got driven 10 yards backward (out of the tv picture) by a Charger who then turned left and pulled 18 down. - sb Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:21:05 +0100 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2396 Ineptness in the running game is one thing, but if PM's jersey starts to get dirty, then that is something else. However, as we all know the Colts develop young players, and they don't give up quickly if the guy has trouble. I suspect it would take a spectacular kick in the teeth in this weak area by one the Colts foes in the next few weeks for the Colts to shake up the starting lineup on the OL. Not unlike the Gilbert Gardner situation and the 375 yard Jacksonville game. If the Colts get smacked in what should have been a winnable ball game because of giving up consistent pass rush up the gut, then we will have some interesting personnel decisions going on. - Dave_H Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:15:49 +0100 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2395 My long string of trips now over, I have a chance to comment again. Only caught the 2nd half of the game while on the road, but clearly Pollack is a problem. Devan probably isn't much better. Is Ugoh so bad that he can't be considered even a potential at guard? He didn't play that horrible at LT a couple weeks ago. In the 2nd half we seemed to be running the ball better, particularly in that last drive. From the above stats it appears as though the Colts only ran the ball twice. Albiet for zero yards... but is perhaps Manning looking to throw too often? I know it has to be hard for him to trust the running game right now, but it has been much better this year it seems than it was last year. Generally speaking when we've needed to run it we've been successful. Maybe not so much this past weekend but we haven't been that awful this year. - Westside-Rob Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:49:37 +0100 http://18to88.com/2009-archives/november/five-and-out.html#comment-2394 [quote]Pollack is swallowed alive. Good Lord. Awful, awful, awful. Watch the play through the link. Not good.[/quote] Polian in his show said that, when the line "got run over by power rushers", he thinks it's due to "not executing (their) techniques correctly". That's somewhat of an understatement; Pollak basically stood straight up and was falling backwards from the instant the ball was snapped. "Technique fail" may be an accurate description of what happened there, but I think the failure was more of a mental one than anything else. Pollak was simply not prepared for the bull rush he got. And that caused him to be on his heels from the get-go on that play. I'm not sure what's wrong there, but something's not clicking with him this year. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is (and no, I'm not being sarcastic; I honestly don't know what's not clicking). He sometimes plays like he's confused, or a heartbeat behind. And that calls into question whether he actually understands the offense or not. Which brings up an issue: The whole rationalization behind drafting Pollak as a guard when he played center in college was supposedly because someone smart enough and attuned enough in college to grasping the entire line's play would be smart enough to grasp the guard responsibilities in Indianapolis's offense. To be blunt, we're not seeing that. I'm really at a loss. The '08 interior line draft is being somewhat salvaged by the fact that Richard is backing up the left guard spot, but if Pollak doesn't show forward progress, that'll be 2 out of 3 interior linemen from that draft who've ended up being disappointing. - A.J. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:45:41 +0100