ORIGINAL: Zim
ORIGINAL: bigbuckOO
ORIGINAL: Zim
I was on the Colts message board and some people are just dellusional. They keep spouting how much improved the Indy run stop has been since the return of Bob Sanders, but the stats do not indicate that at all. They gave up 4.1 YPC in the regular season and in the last 2 playoff games gave up...............4.1 YPC. Benson & Jones are averaging............4.1 YPC. The only difference is Indy's opponents only tried to run the ball 20 & 24 times compared to the Bears 34 & 46.
Go figure.
Bears will be bringing a steady diet of Benson/Jones and Turner will not give up on the run like Balt. & NE.
Should be a good game hinging in turnovers.
Im sure my friends at colts.com would be glad to know they are delusional now
You are a little off however. To suggest that Indys run defense has not improved is wrong. In the reg season they gave up over 5 YPC, not 4.1. In fact, they were one of the worst in the history of the league in that area. In the playoffs they are at 3.6 YPC which is actually better then Chicagos. Teams arent running as much on them becuase they arent having success,especially on first down. Larry Johnson couldnt do it and Jamal Lewis couldnt do it. NE did have better luck but still nothing like the reg season.
I look for Indy to bring an extra guy in the box( probably Bob Sanders), and bring another defensive back up closer to the LOS versus the Bears. It will be similar to how we played the Ravens and Chiefs. Stop the run first and then tee off on the QB. It will ultimately come down to Grossman making plays, just like it did in the KC and Baltimore game. Chicagos offense is not the Patriots offense, Grossman certainly isnt Brady so i dont think Indy has as much to look for versus them. Grossman didnt play well a few weeks back becuase "it was new years eve" as he said, so i can only imagine what the Superbowl will do to him.
The regular season stat is I think the 2nd half of the season. However, I am definitely not off on the playoff stat. I said the last 2 games, not all the playoffs. The Chiefs suck and backed into the playoffs. That average is exactly 4.1, which is nothing spectacular. That is what Benson & Jones average. I don't see the matchup resulting in less than 4.1 yards per carry. Nothing leads me to believe this.
The Cheifs sucked enough to make the playoffs in the AFC and almost win Larry Johnson a rushing title. Im not saying they were a great team by any means, but if they were so bad and Larry Johnson was so easy to hold under 40 yards rushing, why didnt more teams do it? All i heard in the media leading up to that game was he was gonna rip off 300 yards on them. I heard the same crap about Jamal Lewis and i heard the same stuff about Maroney and Dillon. The Colts havent gave up a 100 yard rushing game at all in the playoffs. Average it up however you want, teams have not got it done by running the football. Again, the attempts have been low becuase they arent having success. They may get a nice run on a 3rd and long draw play which helps there average, but in the grand scheme of the game it hasnt had any impact. The Colts have been winning 1st and second down and it's putting teams into passing downs and thats where Freeney and Mathis come into play. Im not gonna disagree with you that Chicagos RB's may average 4.1 YPC, but if there only carrying the ball 15 times it wont do them any good. If the Bears arent having success on the early downs, those attempts will be low. I can say with a great deal of certainty that the Colts will put this game into Grossmans hands. There gonna concentrate on shutting the run down and will likely do a decent job of it. The only way they get out of that gameplan is if Rex starts making plays through the air. If he does this, the running game will be a factor, if not, it wont.