Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I sure have. I just don’t have the spare time to write these posts at the rate I once did. Here we are, though, with a roundtable that was due out a day or two ago, and I’m delighted with everyone’s contributions.
The Roundtable is exactly what it sounds like: a bunch of guys answering the same questions. This week, we’re looking at what kind of offensive strategy to expect, players to watch tomorrow, and having some fun with thinking like Chuck Pagano, applying his unique perspective to off the wall, non-football things (Chuck makes a pizza, Chuck on cartoons, and the like). I could’ve left everything else out for that one, so be sure you get to it. When you finish, make sure you check out This week’s Why the Colts will Score Morepiece by Jeff Gerbig.
2. Pick a player we should watch for, besides Andrew Luck, to have a big performance against the Broncos.
Casey Burks: I think Phillip Dorsett will have another big game. I expect Chris Harris to be lined up with Hilton and Aqib Talib will cover Moncrief most of the time. I think Moncrief will also have a solid game against Talib. Bradley Roby really struggled in week one against the Panthers and I think that will continue against Dorsett this week.
Marcus: Well, I ‘m not picking anyone on defense to have a surprise performance this week. They’re all hurt, it seems. Actually, I would’ve picked Dorsett too, so I am going to go defense. I have a feeling about Erik Walden this week. I saw him get into excellent position and whiff a few times last week. If he does the same thing this week and brings his guy down, and this may be a big IF with the way things have started, I think Mr. Edge Setter is going to have a good game. And if Robert Mathis manages to get to the quarterback a tenth of a second sooner this week, it’s going to be a fun game.
Jerald Pierce: The RBs. With the performance the TEs put up last week, there’s no way Denver is going to allow them to dominate. The run game will still be sketchy, but Gore and Ferguson catching the ball in the flat should be wide open all game with all of the other weapons that Denver has to respect more.
2. You’re Chuck Pagano. What is the most Pagano-y thing you can say about any or all of the following:
a. making a fancy pizza
b. Pokemon Go
c. any children’s cartoon
Marcus: a. Pagano on fancy pizzas: “Chud and I have been working and working on the pizzas. He’s the first one in, last one out. He’s been a little hurt, got a knee, but he’s champing at the bit to get back in there. A big thing to remember on pizzas is the edge. Gotta set that edge. Sometimes the results don’t look good on paper, but you have to see, like I do, the contributions Chud’s made to our pizzas that don’t show up in the reviews. I don’t want to make excuses, but he’s still learning the cookbook. Lots of new terminology in there.
b. Chuck on Pokemon Go: “We got a lotta guys, guys who love Pokemons, guys who’d run through a wall for Pokemons. We got guys who need to work on their tackling, though. Too many Pokemons, you don’t get ‘em down, they slip out there, gain big chunks. Gotta watch the tape, figure out how to fix that.”
c. Pags on children’s cartoons: “I always liked the one with the coyote chasing the road runner. That coyote has grit. He sticks to the process, trusts the process. If he keeps choppin,’ keeps grindin,’ never changes his approach, one day he’s gonna hoist that road runner trophy. Again, the way to success is when you’re failing at something, keep doing it the same way forever, no matter the circumstance, like that coyote. You’ll be an 800-pound safe, a rolling ball of successful butcher knives.”
Jerald Pierce: Actual quotes straight from Pagsy himself:
a. (on making a fancy pizza): “We’ll prepare like we always do. No doubt about it. There are a lot of things that go into that. You do it in a controlled environment. We came out with a ton of energy and executed well. Those add up. That part of it was great and it’ll only get better.”
b. (on Pokemon Go): “You deal with it. Certainly don’t want to lose. You don’t ever want to lose. We got off to a great start. If we pick things up and communicate, it was a solid performance. We gave up a foolish play. I watch it again and I keep re-living it in my mind. They came out. A lot of bang-bang plays and a lot of things that happen really, really fast. So that’s on all of us. It’s a violent and physical game that we coach and play.”
c. (on cartoons in general…rough childhood for him apparently): “I thought they were really good other than a few moments. We can’t talk to them. So you try to do the best you can to try to simulate it. It is not there. It’s tough.”
Nate Wilson: Pagano on pizza:
It’s hard to cut the pepperoni with a bowling ball of butchers knives, but that’s where the grit comes in. Sometimes you’ve just got to keep chopping wood until you get the crust just right. Lickety split you’re gonna have a great pizza. “Hey Grigsy, run me over some of that pizza sauce. I would say ‘pass’ but that words not in my vocabulations”
DJ Glander: “You know, I absolutely love pizza, but I would much rather have a big ol’ bowl of grits!”
Jeff Gerbig: Chuck probably loves Bob the Builder. “Can we Build The Monster? YES WE CAN!” That’s all I’ve got
- Now, back to actual analysis: The Colts got back into the game last week by being aggressive on offense and using their best assets (Healthy Andrew Luck and a bunch of fast wide receivers…and Jack Doyle). Do you expect them to come out of the gate that way this week, or is Pagano going to do what he’s always done?
Nate Dunlevy: If I felt Pagano understood winning football, I wouldn’t be so negative. My biggest concern with the retention of Chud as OC was that it signaled that Chuck was going to get his way when it came to how to win football games. I expect they will play more “Chuck ball” for 30 minutes, get down by 17 points and then have to scramble back. Just call it a hunch, but I feel I’ve read this script before.
Jerald Pierce: Pagano is going to Pagano. They’re going to come out just as flat as ever. At one point in his press conference he said they’d establish the run “when it’s available,” which sounds much better than forcing the run down the other team’s throat. But I think that’s more of a tease than anything. If they come out slinging the ball around and scoring points, I’m just going to assume Luck is calling his own shot at this point and just calling audibles to whatever play he likes best.
Casey Burks: Nope. I expect them to be the conservative offense they normally are at the beginning of games under Pagano. It’s been like this for years and I don’t think it will change now. I hope I’m wrong.
Ryan Kennedy: I have absolutely zero faith that this offense will come out of the gates aggressive. That would mean that Chuck Pagano has learned from his mistakes, something he has repeatedly failed to do during his tenure in Indianapolis. I’m sure the offense will run the same ineffective, nonsensical plays they did last week (and every other week) until Pagano is literally forced to open up the play book and let Andrew Luck do his thing. Did I mention the Colts have started 45% of their games under Chuck Pagano down at least two scores? 45%!
If I ever decide to go on a crime spree, I want Pagano to be my fall guy. You could literally point a gun at this man’s head and he would not change his story.
Too many times I’ve thought that Pagano would change his ways and the offense would be aggressive, and too many times my hopes have been dashed like Trent Richardson running up the middle. The only thing dumber than Pagano refusing to change his philosophy is believing that one day he’ll get it right.
Gerb: I can’t pretend to have any clue how they plan on attacking Denver’s defense, but none of it will matter if the offensive line doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain. Imagine this scenario: Colts win the toss and defer to the 2nd half. Denver takes the ball and Kubiak’s offense is in full effect: The cut-back runs, the screens, the QB bootleg, and they put together a 6-7 minute drive resulting in a TD. Now it’s the Colts turn. Do you run a quick tempo and try to air it out in order to catch them off guard? It’s 3rd and 5 and Luck misses an open Moncrief because Von Miller was in the backfield in .05 seconds. 3 and out. You’re putting a banged up, sub-par defense immediately back out there in the thin air. Bad scenario. You want to be aggressive, but you don’t want to be dumb, either. Cautionary-aggressive? Is that a thing? Spread out their defense, then run it up the middle. The middle, not outside. Unleash Josh Ferguson in the passing game. Remember when Boom Herron had like 70 catches in the playoff game against Denver a couple of years ago? The middle of the field was wide open for the short routes that day. I suspect that will be the case this week as well. Let Ferguson have his shot. The TE’ should be able to have some success as well. Soften them up, then go vertical. I don’t believe Hilton (who is apparently hurt, btw), Moncrief and Dorsett can beat the Denver corners off the line in press coverage right off the bat, so lull them to sleep then hit them with the home run. Or run the ball 40 times. I have no idea.
