INDIANAPOLIS -
Surprise of the Day:
The roof was open. When I got in my car Saturday night leaving Indysportsnation headquarters (2:00 AM) I had to defrost my windshield. I thought at the time, 'There is no way the Lucas Oil Stadium roof is going to be open on Sunday.' Call me shocked. The Lucas Oil Stadium window was closed, preventing the winds from playing too big a role in the game, but this might be the first time fans had to wear jackets while watching a Colts home game in Indianapolis. The temperature at game-time was a cool, crisp 49 degrees.
Another positive aspect of the roof being open, because it is November, the shadows don't create near the same problems on the TV broadcast as they did early in the season. The view from both the press box and living room is similar to the one we used to see at Old Texas Stadium during Cowboys games. The sun was shining on the field only from the 15-yard line through the end zone on the north end of the field. By the time the second quarter started, the entire field was in the same frame of light, however those fans sitting in the north end of the stadium likely got a bit of a sun tan while watching the game in their heavy clothing.
Wayne Steps Up:
I will admit after watching Reggie Wayne both during and after the Rams game last week, I thought he would likely miss a couple of weeks of action. He suffered a groin injury in the first half, tried to return and was limping after a third quarter deep route. He was in no mood to talk after the game, and I figured with a groin injury, the team would exercise caution. However, Reggie returned to the practice field at the end of the week and took his usual starting spot. Peyton Manning didn't exactly allow 'Reg to relax in this one. He had 7 receptions for 78 yards....in the first half. After the game, Wayne admitted that early in the week, he wasn't so sure he'd be playing. "Tuesday, I didn't think I was going to play. Wednesday, I didn't think I was going to play. We just stayed on treatment, it seemed like, around the clock. I was able to come out today and make some things happen."
Wayne made something happened during a beautiful diving grab on the first play of the fourth quarter on a halfback pass from Joseph Addai to give the Colts their first lead of the game. It was an epic game for Wayne, 12 receptions, 147 yards, and a TD. What groin injury?
See: Colts Edge 49ers 18-14
The other big injury from the Rams game, running back Donald Brown's shoulder sprain. While he told us he would be good to go this week, it appears team officials had another idea. Brown was in street clothes for this one, hoping the rookie from UCONN can completely heal before taking another hit. Brown said this shoulder is something he dealt with while in college, it makes since to keep him out of the lineup until the injury fully heals. Games in January are likely more important than those in early November. Joseph Addai took most of the snaps, but still didn't produce earth-shattering results (expect for that pretty TD toss) Addai's tally: 62 yards rushing. Back-up running back Chad Simpson carried once for minus-one yard.
Big Play Powers:
With the game creeping closer to the 4th quarter, and the Lucas Oil Stadium crowd getting a bit restless, a couple of rookies contributed to a big momentum-changing play. San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree caught a pass in the flat, made Bob Sanders miss, and went down close to the mid-field. However, as he was going down, but before a knee or elbow hit the turf, the ball popped out, and Colts cornerback Jarraud Powers scooped it up. "I just felt the ball right by my arm and I hear Lacey (Jacob) in my ear saying, go-go-go. I picked it up and tried to get what I could get, but it was a key play."
While the Colts were unable to convert the turnover into points, it did stop a San Francisco drive and give the Colts the lead in the field position battle. (they would score on the next drive) Powers, a third-round pick from Auburn, has been a key contributor to the injury-riddled Colts defensive backfield this season and did indeed come up with a key play in this low-scoring game.
Open-Field Tackling Issues:
The Colts defense has been just impressive as the offense during this perfect start to the regular season. However, starting with Frank Gore's 64-yard first quarter TD run, and a few other times throughout the game, Indianapolis defenders whiffed on tackling attempts. It can't be easy to bring a ball carrier down every time you have an opportunity, but the misses were rather glaring and more plentiful Sunday than I remember. Tyjaun Hagler, Clint Session, Gary Brackett, and Bob Sanders all had memorable misses.
"Nobody can account for a missed tackle. No matter what your scheme is, if you miss a tackle, you can't account for that," acknowleged Session after the game. The difference between a 5-yard gain and a 50-yard gain is often a miss like that. If you take away Gore's big gainer, the Colts held the 49ers to 49 yards rushing, but one play can make a difference.
See: 49ers Look To Stop Colts' Manning
Where's the protection?
Peyton Manning's special start to the season can partially be attributed to the great protection up front. Manning had been sacked just twice in the first six games of the season. Sunday afternoon, #18 went down three times in the backfield. This is certainly not reason to push the panic button, but it will be interesting to see if teams take a look at what San Francisco did at times with their pass rush and find a wrinkle that works against the Colts. The NFL is often called a copy-cat league and you can bet AFC South teams might look at the 49ers game film from Sunday.
SSimilar role for In-State QB's:
Last year Ball State's Nate Davis and Purdue's Curtis Painter were on local highlights shows nearly every weekend. Both were racking up big numbers as starting quarterback for in-state Division One teams. They shared the field Sunday in similar, less glamorous, albeit more lucrative roles. Both are dressed for this NFL game, but not expected to sniff the field. They are technically inactive, but could play in an emergency role if both of the teams' other quarterbacks are injured. While neither Davis nor Painter are throwing touchdown passes, they are gaining valuable experience and cashing NFL paychecks. Perhaps one day in the future, Davis and Painter will represent as a starting quarterback in the NFL.
See: Cliffs Notes For The Colts Week 8
Now things get interesting:
The Colts have five games in November, and it could be argued the 49ers were the easiest opponent of the bunch. Next week 5-3 Houston comes to town, and the Patriots follow. Then, the Colts travel to Baltimore, before a turkey weekend trip to Houston. The Texans are in position to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and have played well against the Colts in recent years. I think the Colts will lose at least one of their next four, but a 3-2 month and 9-2 record heading to December would be nothing to be ashamed of and would still put the Colts in position to earn a bye the first weekend of the playoffs. If the Colts sweep November, look out, 16-0 could be a real possibility.
The roof was open. When I got in my car Saturday night leaving Indysportsnation headquarters (2:00 AM) I had to defrost my windshield. I thought at the time, 'There is no way the Lucas Oil Stadium roof is going to be open on Sunday.' Call me shocked. The Lucas Oil Stadium window was closed, preventing the winds from playing too big a role in the game, but this might be the first time fans had to wear jackets while watching a Colts home game in Indianapolis. The temperature at game-time was a cool, crisp 49 degrees.
Another positive aspect of the roof being open, because it is November, the shadows don't create near the same problems on the TV broadcast as they did early in the season. The view from both the press box and living room is similar to the one we used to see at Old Texas Stadium during Cowboys games. The sun was shining on the field only from the 15-yard line through the end zone on the north end of the field. By the time the second quarter started, the entire field was in the same frame of light, however those fans sitting in the north end of the stadium likely got a bit of a sun tan while watching the game in their heavy clothing.
Wayne Steps Up:
I will admit after watching Reggie Wayne both during and after the Rams game last week, I thought he would likely miss a couple of weeks of action. He suffered a groin injury in the first half, tried to return and was limping after a third quarter deep route. He was in no mood to talk after the game, and I figured with a groin injury, the team would exercise caution. However, Reggie returned to the practice field at the end of the week and took his usual starting spot. Peyton Manning didn't exactly allow 'Reg to relax in this one. He had 7 receptions for 78 yards....in the first half. After the game, Wayne admitted that early in the week, he wasn't so sure he'd be playing. "Tuesday, I didn't think I was going to play. Wednesday, I didn't think I was going to play. We just stayed on treatment, it seemed like, around the clock. I was able to come out today and make some things happen."
Wayne made something happened during a beautiful diving grab on the first play of the fourth quarter on a halfback pass from Joseph Addai to give the Colts their first lead of the game. It was an epic game for Wayne, 12 receptions, 147 yards, and a TD. What groin injury?
See: Colts Edge 49ers 18-14
The other big injury from the Rams game, running back Donald Brown's shoulder sprain. While he told us he would be good to go this week, it appears team officials had another idea. Brown was in street clothes for this one, hoping the rookie from UCONN can completely heal before taking another hit. Brown said this shoulder is something he dealt with while in college, it makes since to keep him out of the lineup until the injury fully heals. Games in January are likely more important than those in early November. Joseph Addai took most of the snaps, but still didn't produce earth-shattering results (expect for that pretty TD toss) Addai's tally: 62 yards rushing. Back-up running back Chad Simpson carried once for minus-one yard.
Big Play Powers:
With the game creeping closer to the 4th quarter, and the Lucas Oil Stadium crowd getting a bit restless, a couple of rookies contributed to a big momentum-changing play. San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree caught a pass in the flat, made Bob Sanders miss, and went down close to the mid-field. However, as he was going down, but before a knee or elbow hit the turf, the ball popped out, and Colts cornerback Jarraud Powers scooped it up. "I just felt the ball right by my arm and I hear Lacey (Jacob) in my ear saying, go-go-go. I picked it up and tried to get what I could get, but it was a key play."
While the Colts were unable to convert the turnover into points, it did stop a San Francisco drive and give the Colts the lead in the field position battle. (they would score on the next drive) Powers, a third-round pick from Auburn, has been a key contributor to the injury-riddled Colts defensive backfield this season and did indeed come up with a key play in this low-scoring game.
Open-Field Tackling Issues:
The Colts defense has been just impressive as the offense during this perfect start to the regular season. However, starting with Frank Gore's 64-yard first quarter TD run, and a few other times throughout the game, Indianapolis defenders whiffed on tackling attempts. It can't be easy to bring a ball carrier down every time you have an opportunity, but the misses were rather glaring and more plentiful Sunday than I remember. Tyjaun Hagler, Clint Session, Gary Brackett, and Bob Sanders all had memorable misses.
"Nobody can account for a missed tackle. No matter what your scheme is, if you miss a tackle, you can't account for that," acknowleged Session after the game. The difference between a 5-yard gain and a 50-yard gain is often a miss like that. If you take away Gore's big gainer, the Colts held the 49ers to 49 yards rushing, but one play can make a difference.
See: 49ers Look To Stop Colts' Manning
Where's the protection?
Peyton Manning's special start to the season can partially be attributed to the great protection up front. Manning had been sacked just twice in the first six games of the season. Sunday afternoon, #18 went down three times in the backfield. This is certainly not reason to push the panic button, but it will be interesting to see if teams take a look at what San Francisco did at times with their pass rush and find a wrinkle that works against the Colts. The NFL is often called a copy-cat league and you can bet AFC South teams might look at the 49ers game film from Sunday.
SSimilar role for In-State QB's:
Last year Ball State's Nate Davis and Purdue's Curtis Painter were on local highlights shows nearly every weekend. Both were racking up big numbers as starting quarterback for in-state Division One teams. They shared the field Sunday in similar, less glamorous, albeit more lucrative roles. Both are dressed for this NFL game, but not expected to sniff the field. They are technically inactive, but could play in an emergency role if both of the teams' other quarterbacks are injured. While neither Davis nor Painter are throwing touchdown passes, they are gaining valuable experience and cashing NFL paychecks. Perhaps one day in the future, Davis and Painter will represent as a starting quarterback in the NFL.
See: Cliffs Notes For The Colts Week 8
Now things get interesting:
The Colts have five games in November, and it could be argued the 49ers were the easiest opponent of the bunch. Next week 5-3 Houston comes to town, and the Patriots follow. Then, the Colts travel to Baltimore, before a turkey weekend trip to Houston. The Texans are in position to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and have played well against the Colts in recent years. I think the Colts will lose at least one of their next four, but a 3-2 month and 9-2 record heading to December would be nothing to be ashamed of and would still put the Colts in position to earn a bye the first weekend of the playoffs. If the Colts sweep November, look out, 16-0 could be a real possibility.
