Is it time to worry for Indy?

[Tbo24]

Way too early for me to be worried. I give kudos to the Texans for coming out and punching us in the mouth repeatedly. The only thing that is worrying me is the terrible oline play and our horrid run defense (typical). Yeah we lost Sanders AGAIN, but so what? Melvin Bullit has proved time and time again that hes more than capable of filling in for Sanders. Im amazed that with all the pressure Peyton was facing, he was still able to pass for 433 yards and 3 TDs.

All they have to do is study the film, learn from their mistakes, and for the love of god give Peyton just a little more time in the pocket and they'll be the Colts that we know.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tbo24

Way too early for me to be worried. I give kudos to the Texans for coming out and punching us in the mouth repeatedly. The only thing that is worrying me is the terrible oline play and our horrid run defense (typical). Yeah we lost Sanders AGAIN, but so what? Melvin Bullit has proved time and time again that hes more than capable of filling in for Sanders. Im amazed that with all the pressure Peyton was facing, he was still able to pass for 433 yards and 3 TDs. All they have to do is study the film, learn from their mistakes, and for the love of god give Peyton just a little more time in the pocket and they'll be the Colts that we know.

Yeah I wasn't surprised with the run d after Sanders went down. I don't see it being great this year but practicing with the expectation that Sanders will be out will get them back to last year's level. The oline is a bigger issue. How healthy is Saturday? He was out all preseason right? Was anyone else out?

[Tbo24]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

Yeah I wasn't surprised with the run d after Sanders went down. I don't see it being great this year but practicing with the expectation that Sanders will be out will get them back to last year's level. The oline is a bigger issue. How healthy is Saturday? He was out all preseason right? Was anyone else out?

Im pretty sure he was out all of the preseason. I forgot what the injury was, but I know hes back a little earlier than expected so he can't be even close to 100%. I don't think hes too much of a factor though..hes getting pretty old. The loss of Howard Mudd as our oline coach, a combination of a few new faces, and some of our oline have changed to spots that theyre not used to..thats why I think our line struggled and will continue to do so . Not to discredit what the Texans did to us in that game. They absolutely deserved to win that game.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tbo24

Im pretty sure he was out all of the preseason. I forgot what the injury was, but I know hes back a little earlier than expected so he can't be even close to 100%. I don't think hes too much of a factor though..hes getting pretty old. The loss of Howard Mudd as our oline coach, a combination of a few new faces, and some of our oline have changed to spots that theyre not used to..thats why I think our line struggled and will continue to do so . Not to discredit what the Texans did to us in that game. They absolutely deserved to win that game.

No doubt, and Saturday wouldn't ever have to block super Mario... something nobody seemed to be able to do. But the center is right up there with the left tackle (which isn't far from the QB in terms of importance). If he were 100% that would certainly help. Not sure if it'd be enough to off set the other things you mentioned but they probably all just need more time. It reminds me of last year with Peyton coming off of surgery. They just weathered the storm for a while.

[lonewolf371]

Quote: Originally Posted by z Revis

I definitely wouldn't consider Manning old. For most players, 34 is gettin up there. But for an all time great QB who never gets hit and has never even been injured, he's still got a lot of effective years left.

Old = above 30, or the point where your physical skills start to decline. Being old and being bad are two different things. I also see him playing well into his late 30s, but he's reached the point where he doesn't get better each year.

[kingkilla56]

is it time to worry? They lost a game...a game. Come back at the end of the season when they have a playoff spot locked.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by lonewolf371

Old = above 30, or the point where your physical skills start to decline. Being old and being bad are two different things. I also see him playing well into his late 30s, but he's reached the point where he doesn't get better each year.

Why does their age matter if they're still the best in the game? They don't appear to be getting any worse either.

[lonewolf371]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yeah...THAT Guy

Why does their age matter if they're still the best in the game? They don't appear to be getting any worse either.

Never said their age did matter too much. Older players generally compensate for declining physical skills with increasing mental skills. I think there's usually an age where the player just drops off, where physical skills have declined too much. For some positions, like running back, that's a lot earlier. Obviously for quarterbacks, you can play a long time without being hit by the age bug.

That being said, nine of the past ten Super Bowls were won by teams with quarterbacks around age 30 or younger. Just an interesting stat, only outlier was Brad Johnson.