Sports

[teganslaw]

I listened to the game on Westwood One through my laptop. The quarterbacks were bad, but have some respect for the defenses. They played lights out!

This game wasn't one of the worst because of the ending. Teams can't be winning for long with no touchdowns, though have to admit that both teams defenses rocked. 

I didn't like all the injuries. At least the Colts have ten days rest. Matt Ryan suddenly came to life at the end; too bad he didn't play like that throughout the game. Russell Wilson hasn't "ccoked" all season, it's more like he "microwaves." 

[gardenman]

Well, the good news for the Colts is they're officially in first place in the AFC South right now. I don't think anyone who watched last night's game expects that to last for long, but for now, they're in first place. The Colts have a better path going forward also. They have some good younger players and aren't married to a horrible QB contract. (It's not a great one, but it's a whole lot better than Russell Wilson's.)

They need to build some stability. Build an offensive identity. Figure out something they do well and then keep doing it. The o-line is clearly not good at pass protection. It might be time to do what Nick Sirianni did last year and throw away the passing playbook and just go run heavy. You can find run-blocking o-linemen on the street. They may be horrible at pass protection, but how much worse could they be than what they've got now? 

This is a good time to adapt while the season is still not lost. Find plays your guys can run and run well and focus on them. Teams have focused on just one play and executed it well in the past and won. The old Green Bay Sweep being a prime example. It was Vince Lombardi's signature play. Everyone knew Green Bay would run it, but few could stop it. Find something, anything, your guys can do well, consistently, and use it. It may be boring. It may be predictable. But if it works, do it.

The Colts have a legitimate excuse for things going south. Nick Sirianni raided the coaching staff in 2021 when he left and then Matt Eberflus did in 2022 when he left. Neither one took the less effective coaches when they left. They took the guys they knew were good. That handcuffed Frank Reich a bit. Needing to replace key members of your staff each year isn't easy. Having a new QB each year also isn't easy. 

The Colts have the Jaguars and Titans coming up. If the Colt defense can get the pressure on Trevor Lawrence that the Eagles did and force turnovers, that's a winnable game. The Titans are a bit more of a handful. They're a team that does one thing and does it well. Hand the ball to Derrick Henry and watch him run. It's gotten them to the playoffs. Then the Commanders who seem to be in a bit of a freefall right now. Steal two wins in those three games (not impossible) and things will be okay-ish. The Patriots and Raiders are up next and neither looks all that impressive this year. Maybe two more wins there if the Colts can focus on one aspect and perform well.

The Eagles, Steelers, Cowboys, Vikings, Chargers, stretch is not ideal. Eke out a win over the Steelers, maybe the Vikings. Then finish with the Giants and Texans. Likely two winnable games.

Eight and nine wins might just win the AFC South this year. You never know. There's a path to eight or nine wins for the Colts. Now, getting into the playoffs and going far in the playoffs are a whole different story. This Colts team is not competitive with the Bills or Chiefs. Probably not the Dolphins, Browns, or Bengals either. But you never know. Stranger things have happened.

The Jaguars have a tough schedule run of the Chiefs, Ravens, Lions, Titans, and Cowboys where they could slip quite bit. The Titans have some pretty tough games on their schedule also. Despite how bad the Colts looked last night, all hope shouldn't be lost. I'd be stunned if they made the AFC championship or Super Bowl, but a playoff spot is still in reach with some minor adjustments.

[gardenman]

The Eagles have three guys out for Sunday's game and one guy doubtful. Slot corner Avonte Maddox is still out with his ankle. Kicker Jake Elliott is out with a bad leg but should be back next week. And Patrick Johnson didn't clear the concussion protocol in time for the game. Offensive tackle Jordan Mailata is doubtful with the shoulder injury he got trying to make a tackle.

Nick Sirianni is beating himself up over not teaching his offensive guys well enough how to make a tackle to avoid injury. They went over it early in camp but had not repeated the lessons since then. Suffice to say they're repeating those lessons now.

Cameron Dicker, known as "Dicker the Kicker" in college will be the replacement kicker. He's been in several pro camps but never kicked in a live regular-season game. Players who know him say he'll be great, but we'll have to see. Kickers and punters are typically guys you can bring in off the street and plop into a game without a lot of trouble. How much can you trust them in a critical situation? Eh, that's the tricky part. You might see the Eagles going for it on fourth and under five more than normal in scoring territory where a field goal would be more typical. He's a dual-threat kicker/punter which gives him some more versatility. He was in camp with the Rams and Ravens. (Like anyone could beat out Justin Tucker.) We'll see how he does. I suspect the Eagles might keep him around since they aren't madly in love with their current punter.  Dicker is likely getting a chance to get in a few punts while here also to see how he does with those.

If Mailata goes from doubtful to out, Jack Driscoll will probably start in his place. Left tackle Andre Dillard had his 21-day practice window opened this week and practiced with the team but hasn't been activated from IR yet, so he probably won't get the start. Driscoll played okay when called upon last week. He can play every o-line position in a pinch, though he's best at right guard and right tackle. If the Eagles don't activate Dillard, I'd expect them to bring up one of the two tackles from the practice squad as a reserve. Josh Sill can also fill in at tackle, but he's an undrafted rookie and you might want a bit more experience there.

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

In addition to using the wrong techniques, I think a lot of the injuries are just due to over training...Tendons and muscles are like rubber bands wound so tight that the slightest movement can lead ACLs and MCLs to "snap".....JMHO!!!!  But I wonder why the league hasn't checked into this as a player safety issue.....?????

Here's Washington's injury report: 

Washington will be without 4 players. WR Jahan Dotson is the key player. TE Logan Thomas, a new addition to the injury report on Friday is now listed  as questionable. They re-signed Logan Thomas---that guy is ALWAYS hurt! 🙄)

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

I suspect there have been studies done at the NFL and college levels. I'm just not sure they've ever been able to find a single smoking gun cause. Women tend to tear their ACL more than men and some breeds of dogs (Labs and Goldens) tear their ACLs a lot.

The Sam Cosmi injury on your report had me curious. I had to look it up. It says "finger" on the report, but he had thumb surgery. I've seen offensive linemen break a finger or even the smaller bone in their forearm and not come out. A broken thumb right after surgery is a bit more understandable. It's not uncommon to see an o-lineman with his fingers taped/cast into a ball to protect an injured hand/finger, so a guy being out with a "finger" got my attention. It's not like they're supposed to be grabbing anything anyway, so a guy being out with a finger was confusing. Being out after surgery is a lot more reasonable.

It's not going to be fun for Wentz with his o-line and receivers all getting dinged. 

[yellowrose]

LETS GO COWBOYS!!!

If Rush and team can pull off this win we just may really have that

Romo/Dak part two story, and if we lose the headline may be Thank you

Rush, but time for Dak to return.

Another game I will have to copy and watch for my TNF viewing  (Tuesday Night Football), but I don't mind.  Stress free way to enjoy a win.....and if we lose,

just delete.  Never happened. 

Happy Weekend everyone.  Enjoy your games, and good luck

to most of you.  

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

After being optimistic this year, the the Washington fans mood as turned ugly---

There's a growing sentiment and a lot of the fans want Wentz benched (is it his fault the line is AWFUL and has led to all those sacks?).....and they said Heinicke and Howell are more mobile and that might open up the offense more....But they dont have the skills and knowledge that Wentz has ...🙄  Yes, Wentz has made some mistakes, but he's still better than the backups...JMHO

And they want to jettison Rivera and company after this season, they said he has had 3 years....BUT he has had to deal with COVID and no training camp, OTAs etc etc, and thats not really giving him a fair chance to turn the team around. And yes some teams have improved, BUT its more difficult to turn a team around if you are near .500 and arent going to get the upper tier in the draft like the bottom feeders do. So that makes it more difficult to build through the draft, so you have to wise in signing FAs. I just wish Rivera and the GM Mayhew would expand their view of FAs rather than just sign another PANTHER!!!!  

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

@Spurt 

I suspect there have been studies done at the NFL and college levels. I'm just not sure they've ever been able to find a single smoking gun cause. Women tend to tear their ACL more than men and some breeds of dogs (Labs and Goldens) tear their ACLs a lot.

The Sam Cosmi injury on your report had me curious. I had to look it up. It says "finger" on the report, but he had thumb surgery. I've seen offensive linemen break a finger or even the smaller bone in their forearm and not come out. A broken thumb right after surgery is a bit more understandable. It's not uncommon to see an o-lineman with his fingers taped/cast into a ball to protect an injured hand/finger, so a guy being out with a "finger" got my attention. It's not like they're supposed to be grabbing anything anyway, so a guy being out with a finger was confusing. Being out after surgery is a lot more reasonable.

It's not going to be fun for Wentz with his o-line and receivers all getting dinged. 

---

@gardenman 

As far as Cosmi, first they said he injured his "hand", then it changed to "thumb", the recent report said he underwent surgery on his THUMB and is without a timeline for his return.....I dont know why they changed it to "finger"...its a puzzle...

Well thank God Brian Robinson is close to coming back, we really could use him....

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Yeah, the mood of the Commanders' fanbase isn't great. After the Colts/Broncos game the Hogs Haven site tweeted out that it was like watching the Commanders play themselves in a game.

If it's any help, some in the Colts fanbase now think they were better off with Wentz and wouldn't mind him coming back. For twelve weeks last year he was a top-five rated QB and Matt Ryan hasn't played up to that level. 

If you're going to rebuild, it helps to crash badly first for a few years to build talent through the draft, then jump back up. The Jags and Dolphins are good examples of that approach.

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Yep, my Spurs are tanking this year, thats what ya gotta do and thats how we got Tim, Manu, and Tony....and 5 championships!😁

Well in another poll 65% would rather have Wentz than Russell Wilson or Matt Ryan...of course that's not saying much 😉 @teganslaw at least Rayan showed some life at the end of the Colts/Broncos game....

Rivera said if there's no improvement he will make a MAJOR CHANGE, but its not at the QB spot 🤔