This is for all of you who said that the receiving corps was just fine after I said that they would have problems this season if Wayne or Gonzo got hurt. I TOLD YOU SO!!! Gonzo went down, and Garcon and Collie were virtually invisible, just as I feared. This exactly why I have been saying all off-season that the Colts needed to add another veteran presence at wide receiver for depth. NFL.com is reporting that Anthony Gonzalez will be out 2-6 weeks, and I can tell you right now that the Colts cannot afford to have a one-man show for the first half of the season. Reggie Wayne is not going to catch 10 balls for 160 yards every week, and someone will have to pick up the slack. I'd bet money that the Colts will end up signing a veteran wide receiver tomorrow. I really hate being right about this...
I hate to tell YOU I told you so, but the wide receiving corps had 15 receptions for 201 yards. Most of them were by Wayne, but I'll take that any day. Not a lot of receiving corps can do that well with a starting receiver out... Plus, no matter what we do personnel-wise in the next week, we're in pretty good shape with two-TE sets. Tamme and Gijon can both be productive in the passing game.
Reggie Wayne (1 receiver, in case you're doing the math), had 10 catches for 162 yards. That means that the other receivers (2, in case you're still doing the math) combined for 5 catches for 39 yards. You've just made my case for me. You said "most of them were by Wayne, but I'll take that any day." I will too, but he is certainly not going to give you that every day. As for Garcon and Collie stepping up, I'll believe it when I see it. Today was a golden opportunity for them to do just that, but neither one looked particularly impressive. It's gonna be a long six weeks.
Cam, I'm with you. I wondered about the same thing, but probably to a lesser degree. If the Colts are pro-active, they'll bring aboard someone like former NY Giant David Tyree, former Titan Justin McCareins or current Eagle Reggie Brown, whom Philly would love to unload. If not, the Colts will wait, as they typically do, until opponents absolutely punish Reggie Wayne with double-teams. Then they'll be convinced that another wideout is needed. "Hmmm"... you say. Someone like, um.....Marvin Harrison? Maybe both sides will have a change of heart and next week will find #88 out on the flanks.
I swear I thought I just saw a flying pig pass my window........
No, I didn't make your case for you, you made my case for me. All those passes that went to Wayne may have gone elsewhere if Wayne wasn't open. If they double-team Reggie in the next game, Collie or Garcon (or even Dallas, Gijon, and Tamme) will get the ball. I'll be officially worried if we can't pass the ball effectively. So far the record shows that we had a (pretty much) worst case scenario today (losing a starter in the 1st quarter) and we still passed the ball well. Now, if you want to carry this forward and say, "What will happen if Gonzo is out long-term and more receivers are hurt?", then sure I'll be worried. But as of now I'm more worried that we didn't take care of the ball and it dang near caused us to lose the game. At the end of the day, though, I can't help but notice that everything has gone perfectly so far - the Colts already have a 1 game lead on the rest of the division!
If Wayne can carry the team like he did in todays game then why not let him? I felt like they had a good game passing today even without gonzales. We will be fine barring another injury to one of our recievers, especially wayne.
I could just as easily turn that statement and say that all those passes that went to Wayne may have gone elsewhere if someone else was open . The other two wide receivers, about whom I was worried, did almost nothing today. This was the perfect opportunity for those two guys to really establish themselves by getting open and making some big plays, but they didn't, and that worries me. My concerns are not, nor have they ever been, about the passing game as a whole, but rather about the lack of depth at the wide receiver position specifically. I'm still not sure why so many people haven't understood that. The running backs are great at catching passes out of the backfield, and the tight ends are also good options. But, as Kappa already pointed out, Reggie Wayne cannot be expected to continue carrying the passing game as he did today. If he is to be the only deep threat, teams will pound him with double teams and attempt to make him a non-factor. Some will succeed. I expect to see Taj Smith activated from the practice squad tomorrow, but I would much prefer to see someone with some actual game experience join the Colts.
Look, Peyton is going to throw the ball to the open receiver. And you absolutely have to admit that the definition of a receiver being open for Peyton, is different for almost any other QB in the league. If Reggie and another receiver were open, even Gonzo or Dallas, the ball would probably still go Reggie's direction. This was Collie's 1st pro game that counted, and Garcon is essentially a rookie as well. Dallas only caught 4 balls, and he was targeted only a couple of times more than that. As far as Reggie being double teamed, what do you think he has dealt with the past 2 seasons? What, Collie dropped one and Garcon didn't drop any? Collie also made a good play to get the 1st down. Sure, it really sucks that Gonzo went down early, but I'm more concerned that Peyton overthrew his receiver a few times. It's waaaaaay too early to start saying the sky is falling.
Cam, how can you say Garcon and Collie did nothing? They caught five passes between the two of them. Both of Collie's were for first downs (on the same route). I don't think that five catches by wideouts who aren't the #1 is a notably low total. I think it's plenty when the #1 snags ten and the team throws a lot to RBs and TEs. I think you're being a bit of an alarmist. Sure, everyone's a little concerned about depth when the team only keeps four WRs and one gets hurt. I suspect we may see Taj Smith hit the active roster this week...
I think I heard on Football America (NBC) that the Colts had 6.6 million under the salary cap. Did I hear correctly? I say lets give Garcon and Collie a chance next week and see whats happens. I actually liked what I saw today. If they don't produce soon, then possibly see whats out there and spend a little money (Marvin Harrison)?
The first game I checked was the Miami/Atlanta game (since we're playing Miami next week), and Miami had six receptions from non-#1 WRs, and Atlanta had four...
OCF, I just checked coltscap.net, and according to their chart that was last updated 5/16/09, they had $7,868,010 in cap space. That's counting all the guys that got cut on the final roster, and none of the draft picks. So, $6.6mil sounds reasonable.
My question is, if Marvin was willing to play for the amount of money the Colts would be willing to pay him, why isn't he on another team's roster? I mean he's already counting $6.4mil against their cap this year because he has guaranteed money in his pocket. I'd also go so far as to say that there are teams out there who'd pay him a couple of mil for one season. If he'd play for that, why isn't he playing?
I don't think Peyton had a whole lot of confidence in his O-line for most of the games. He lined up in shotgun a lot and he was also doing a lot of 3-5 step drops. Now, unless you have an earpiece in and are able to know the plays and routes of the receivers, you have no idea who the main receiver or hot route is. So, please explain to me how now is any different than when Marvin was the main receiver here before Wayne got here. EG Green??? Jerome Pathon was ok, but seriously was the depth better than what they potentially have now? I can easily say that they have better talent now than they have ever had. Some of you guys are expecting WAY to much early on. Let them get some time in and I'm sure they will be more than reliable.
I think its just stupid to go out and grab one of these older veterans when they are going to take a few weeks and yet hinder the learning and experience that our guys should be getting. Those guys were cut for a reason.....
You are talking about one game here. Peyton went to Wayne because he could. As others noted, Peyton will go to the open guy. His number one is Wayne though so he will go to him 1st every time if open. You are crowing way too soon.
There are other problems I see. The running game is still not where it needs to be but again it is the first game. Lets see what they do in the next game.
I think its just stupid to go out and grab one of these older veterans when they are going to take a few weeks and yet hinder the learning and experience that our guys should be getting. Those guys were cut for a reason.....Excellent point Bleeds. By the time they could bring somebody in, and he get on the same page with Manning, hopefully Gonzo will be back. Collie and Garcon may be inexperienced, but Peyton has spent a whole lot of time with them. As the old saying goes, if you have high expectations of people, they tend to rise up and meet them. Does anybody have higher expectations than Peyton does?
I don't think Peyton had a whole lot of confidence in his O-line for most of the games.
Good point Bleeds. Could say I told you so about the OL but again it is one game. Lets wait and see what happens next week. I thought Collie did pretty good for his 1st game.
I didn't see anything from Peyton to indicate he didn't have confidence in his O-line. He didn't play from the shotgun any more than normal, and he's always had a quick release. 3-5 steps is absolutely SOP for him. As a matter of fact, the O-line did a very good job in pass protection. Still need to work on the run blocking though.
I thought this was an interesting game for the Colts, far from perfect for sure but we didn`t see the nightmare that I had feared with Charlie Johnson playing LT. We won`t know for sure about Anthony Gonzalez for a few days still so you don`t know he could be back next week or out for the season.
I don`t think the Colts will sign a veteran Wideout a week of practice and Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie will be more visible.
The running game did look kind of weak and that in my opinion was the biggest issue of the day, the new defense looked good.
