I'll take an ugly victory over the prettiest loss any day of the season.  This wasn't wonderful on defense and was downright UGLY on offense.

Here we go:

1) Arguably Peyton's worst game since early last season.  His passes were off and seemed to float a bit.  I am not going to blame O-line problems completely for his throws.  This was just an off game for Peyton.  Gaudy yardage numbers (which will help if Peyton wants to make a run at Marino's season record), but his first game in 11 games without a TD pass.  If I told you that Peyton would have over 300 yards and we would be +2 in the turnover margin, you'd bet we won in a blowout.  That's it...no more skipping practice on Fridays!

2) Addai had a rough day.  20 for 62 yards.  Often times I am rough on Joe...but there were only a couple of instances where I felt he missed the hole.  Mostly the run blocking was bad...almost as bad as the pass blocking.

3) While passing wasn't perfect, there were a few cases of the dropsies.  My attention is focused at the two drops by Baskett.  Thrown to twice (good passes) and dropped both times.  Garcon with a couple of drops...but turned things around in the second half..and a bit of butter fingers from Dallas.  But Dallas ended strong with some tough catches at the end.

4) The major bright spot was Reggie Wayne.  Strained groin and all.  12 catches for 147 and a TD.

5) O-line = Oh boy.  Major protection issues.  Pollak was the epitome of horrible!  Almost got Peyton killed out there.  Gotta give the 49ers credit though...even Dallas Clark had some trouble blocking.  And one of those sacks was on Peyton holding the ball too long.

6) Defense had two really bad drives, but otherwise played fairly solid.  Gore had 13 carries for 91 yards...but look at the stats closer.  Take out the 64 yard braindead tackling run and Gore had 12 carries for 27 yards.  The drive at the end of the first half or a TD was a bad one.

7) Pass defense seemed a little soft at times.  But they came up when needed.  Bob Sanders with a "look what I found" INT and Bethea should've had a second one.  Powers with the forced fumble and heads-up recovery.

8) Still liking McAfee puting.  And when the 49ers player makes a braindead move like fielding the punt inside the 5 yard line it also helps out.

9) Not liking Selva returning punts.  Who would've thought he'd make us want T.J. Rushing back.

10) Stover was 4 for 4 on FGs.  Nice.  The final three had me holding my breath a little though.

Alright...we gotta be able to win these bad/ugly games.  Today was a learning moment.  We survived and got the clunker hopefully out of our system.  We welcome the Texans (who are really playing well) to our house.  Let's be prepared!!!

GO COLTS!!!

I thought the defense had a great day overall. We've been making some of the same points in different threads.

Agree defense wasn't that bad.  With the exception of that one long rund (and I know it can't be thrown out) the defense did a pretty good job. 

 We won the turnover battle. 

Freeney kept his streak alive. 

Manning had a bad day (yeah but he was over 300 yards passing).

Bob Sanders isn't all the way back but an int. sure helps the swagger factor.

The Colts had the bobbles today...but they won.

I'm not buying that Addai sets Brown up for success; I'm convinced that Addai doen't like contact.

I would have never dreamed it; Addai one TD pass Manning no TD passes in the same game.

I thought Muir played a great game but I'll watch the game on the DVR after I watch the race.

The crowd at Lucas must have all been hung over from a Halloween party because it was fairly calm today.

Ya the Crowd freaking sucked today. So many people sitting there like they were in a movie theatre.

GET ON YOUR FEET!

I agree Muir had a very good game

Fili played better this week

The Colts 2 best corners were on the field today (Lacey and Powers)

Special teams coverage was solid as it has been all year

Reggie had a very good game

Collie was solid minus the one drop

Diem has been solid this year

Ok, now the bad:

Mike Pollack has no business playing in the NFL

Hank Baskett has no business playing in the NFL

Hayden continues with his "I got paid and I don't need to play" injuries  By the way Smith was picking on him all game.

Haglar is now going through his annual injuries

Pass rush was non-existent

Peyton was just off today

Jamie Silva has the moves of the Zombies I watched on TV last night

Caldwell was outcoached for the 1st time

How was Caldwell outcoached?

Hayden hasn't been right, all year. He's clearly hurt and rusty, when he plays.

Hank looked like a Baskett case, out there...

Pass Rush WAS surprisingly weak, but Freeney and Mathis DID record 2 HUGE sacks.

D.Free looks less than 100%...

Niners played a very fine defensive game...they get paid, too.

I wouldn't put this ALL on the Offense.

My take is that this was a classic 2008 Colts victory - it just happened to take place in 2009.  This club does whatever it has to do to win - period.  Apparently Addai has been practicing the halfback option for several years.  Addai hit it all 5 times in practice on Thurs - he was told by Manning to sell the run first if it was ever used in a game.  Opportunity knocked and Addai throws the TD.

So the AFC's only unbeaten team will just regroup for a tough game against Houston - we lucked out a bit with Daniels getting lost for year.  I think we needed a grind out win like this and we'll have a few more before the regular season ends.

djgreyhound wrote:

My take is that this was a classic 2008 Colts victory - it just happened to take place in 2009.

Actually, I felt this had a feel of some of the games during the 2006 Superbowl year.  That season, even though we were undefeated at this same point, we weren't blowing teams out like previous years.  We were finding ways to win.  This game felt a little like that.

Chipper, I thought Freeney was held all day.  I clearly seen four rap up holds on him from the upper deck. Its criminal how Freeney never gets the call. LT's shouldn't be allowed to hold him like that. I don't care if it slows the game down or not.

Peyton was WAY off today almost all day. One of his worst games I've witnessed from him since he first returned from his knee injury. The 3-4 teams almost always give him fits - especially those with good, big pass rushers and LB's with speed. The OL was having a helluva time with the rush and much was due to the new "blueprint" our opponents may utilize - no down lineman most of the game.

Bravo to Reggie and Dallas for excellent work. Collie did well also. Garcon - he's still learning and is pretty good on YAC, but scares me because he looks like he's ready to get the ball stripped from him nearly every time.

Hank Baskett HAS TO GO ! TODAY ! 

I'm not too enthralled with Stover either.

D was great today minus the sloppy tackling display on the Gore TD.  SF did a helluva job on the OLine, for the most part, after their LOT starter went out - but great work by our guys to keep bringing it.

I think Silva will be much, much better than TJ once he gets used to catching the ball again. His first drop was due to the sun (but why the heck he just didn't get out of the way and let it come down is beyond me) and he should get better. At least he goes FORWARD and doesn't fair catch it on the 3.

No big knocks from me on the passing D from me. Alex Smith has a cannon and he has two to three solid targets in Crabtree, Davis and Bruce. Gore running gives him the ground game to open it up - but our secondary did a decent job keeping nearly everything underneath.

McAfee is fantastic!

jersey73 wrote:

 

djgreyhound wrote:

My take is that this was a classic 2008 Colts victory - it just happened to take place in 2009.

Actually, I felt this had a feel of some of the games during the 2006 Superbowl year.  That season, even though we were undefeated at this same point, we weren't blowing teams out like previous years.  We were finding ways to win.  This game felt a little like that.

Yes, I can see some similaries, but I found most of our 2008 wins much "uglier".  I'd like to think of the 2006 wins as Fran Drescher-type wins while the 2008 wins were more of the Rosie O'Donnell variety.

excellent post and perspective Hawk. have always enjoyed your perspective .....

HawkeyeColt wrote: It becomes more and more obvious each and every game that the Colts have a big problem at RG. At least two drives came to an end because of Pollak's play. Once he let Willis run right past him to hit Addai in the backfield and then he was knocked straight on his butt by McDonald on the sack of Peyton.

DeVan doesn't seem to miss his assignments as much, but does provide much push either. Whether it is looking at Ugoh at guard or moving Saturday over to guard the Colts need to figure this position out.

It is nice that Peyton can be off and the defense and special teams wins a ball game. Once upon a time that would have never happened.

Looking forward to Gonzo's return. One, because Baskett doesn't belong out there and two Garcon' routes still need some work.

Muir played a nice game as did Powers.

I found Bethea's play to be a bit inconsistent today compared to his recent play.

The DL looked good at times. There were some plays where they got no pressure/run stop and then they made some nice plays.

LB play was mediocre as usual, IMO.

Hayden and Sanders are overpaid. Jennings needs to be cut.

Addai needs to learn how to run fast and hit an emerging hole. He did this maybe one time today and he got 13 yards from it.

Manning was off, no doubt. He underthrew, then overthrew, etc.

The OL play was not good, particularly Pollak, he was just god awful.

Chipperchop wrote:

How was Caldwell outcoached?

 

The 9ers were begging the Colts to run up the middle and the Colts refused to do it. Now, clearly you can't run up the middle to the right because Pollack is getting blown up every play but they could run left. They could have tried Hart or Simpson left while the 9ers were standing straight up on the line. They SHOULD get 4 yards a carry doing that.

ryta1203 wrote:

 

Hayden and Sanders are overpaid. Jennings needs to be cut.

 

LOL wtf did Jennings do? I think i only seen him on the field maybe 3 times and the ONLY real time i noticed him was when he was diving at a bad ball for an INT.

Sanders isnt making much this year.

Hayden doesnt seem healthy.

And you cant hit a hole if there isnt one. Did you also notice on his 13 yard run that the Oline was actually blocking upfield? I did.

IronPony1965 wrote:

 

ryta1203 wrote:

 

Hayden and Sanders are overpaid. Jennings needs to be cut.

 

LOL wtf did Jennings do? I think i only seen him on the field maybe 3 times and the ONLY real time i noticed him was when he was diving at a bad ball for an INT.

Sanders isnt making much this year.

 

Hayden doesnt seem healthy.

 

And you cant hit a hole if there isnt one. Did you also notice on his 13 yard run that the Oline was actually blocking upfield? I did.

The other two plays were where Jennings' WR caught first downs. Go look at the tape.

There was even one play where the Crowd starting cheering because the hole was SO BIG they thought it was going to be a HUGE run... it wasn't. Go look at the tape.

Yes, Sanders isn't making much THIS year.

It's the NFL, is anyone ever "healthy"?

I agree that the OL play sucks for the most part, but I honestly believe Brown would have had a better than a 3.1 ypc, JMO.

HawkeyeColt wrote: It becomes more and more obvious each and every game that the Colts have a big problem at RG. At least two drives came to an end because of Pollak's play. Once he let Willis run right past him to hit Addai in the backfield and then he was knocked straight on his butt by McDonald on the sack of Peyton.

DeVan doesn't seem to miss his assignments as much, but does provide much push either. Whether it is looking at Ugoh at guard or moving Saturday over to guard the Colts need to figure this position out.

It is nice that Peyton can be off and the defense and special teams wins a ball game. Once upon a time that would have never happened.

Looking forward to Gonzo's return. One, because Baskett doesn't belong out there and two Garcon' routes still need some work.

Muir played a nice game as did Powers.

I found Bethea's play to be a bit inconsistent today compared to his recent play.

I agree with all this.

When you think about it, we really played poorly today, and to come away with a win in a game you come out flat and don't execute is really a good thing.

most teams walk off the field with a loss after playing that way, we didn't.

YAY!

Hayden's a very good cb.  Give him time to come back a bit.

Addai did miss, or was slow to, several holes today.  It is getting tiresome.

We went to the prevent defense it seemed at the end of the first half.  Didn't work, and we didn't do it again.  Coyer seems much better at adjusting.

Silva is a below-average returner, always will be.  But he didn't lose a fumble.

Hawk's right about Garcon's and even Collie's route running.  We're expecting a lot from the rookies and we need to get Gonzo back (yes I know Garcon isn't a rookie, but you know what I mean).

The 3-4 wasn't the problem today, as I thought the line did all right picking up blitzers and Addai was especially good in pass protection today.  A couple of rough spots, but the coverage must have been giving Manning fits moreso than the pass rush, imo.