Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Colts Season Opener 2008

Well, I think I'm finally a few days removed enough to talk about the Colts losing to the Bears last Sunday. It sure was disappointing. Here's what I took from it.

The Good

1) Lucas Oil Stadium.


It looks awesome at night. And apparently, everything works. In a night where not a lot of good things happened for the Colts, at least their new home is cool. Here's a sweet video I found of the opening ceremony with some helicopters that flew over the top.



2) The Colts picked a good time to lose. I know every game counts, but this game isn't as important as many others will be. It's early enough that we can get some things fixed and get some experience for our newer players (the O-line). And it's not like a devastating blow to our momentum heading into the playoffs or anything.

3) Chargers lose their game and Patriots lose their season.


Of course, the Patriots will probably end up making the playoffs and being awesome. I seriously don't like seeing Brady go down like that. Any time that happens just sucks. Even if I do hate the Patriots.

4) Dwight Freeney. He looked like his old self, which is a really good sign.

I think that's it for the good.

The Bad

1) Losing for the first time in September (or October), after 21 in a row. Yep, the Colts won't go at least 7-0 for the first time since 2004. At least they didn't go 18-0 in a season, then lose the Super Bowl.

2) Colts run defense. Reminds me of the 2006 Colts, except they've been combined with an average offense. The Colts made Forte look like a stud and that 50-yard run on third and long was devastating. Speaking of third down...

3) 10 of 16 third down conversions. By the Bears. That's terrible. A few were pretty long third downs too. The Colts have got to do a better job getting the other team off the field.

4) 53 yards rushing. By the Colts. Enough said.

5) Colts Offensive line. They just got outplayed. The silver lining here is that they didn't play terribly and they're still getting used to their positions.

6) Jeff Saturday. This goes along with #5, but it sure hurts not having Saturday. I'm sure Jamey Richard will improve and he did a decent job. But I bet we win this game if Saturday was playing.

7) Red zone touchdowns. First two times we get into the red zone, we settle for field goals. We've got to get touchdowns dangit.

The Ugly

1) Too many Bears fans. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like there were a lot of Bears fans in the crowd. I couldn't believe the noise out there when our offense was on the field. What's up with that?

2) Opening kickoff. Instead of kicking to Hester and blowing him up, we do a weak little "squib kick" (or whatever it's called). They get the ball on like the 40 and it sends the message that we're scared. I guess it may have been a good idea, given what happened at the Super Bowl, but still.

3) Harrison's fumble. He's been back two games since his injury and fumbled both times. Before that, he averaged like a fumble every 10 years.

4) Going for it on 4th and 1. This was a pretty bad call. I guess if we make it, it changes everything, but given how much time was left and how we couldn't run for shat against the Bears, that makes it a bad call. Oh well.

5) Having to watch a game with a Bears fan. This is still one of the most annoying things in the planet. I've said all I need to say about it here. Nothing's changed.

Well, that's all I can think of and this post is getting long. All in all, it's great to be watching football again. I sure hope this game was just a fluke and not a sign of the future. We'll find out this week against Minnesota. Dangit, I'd hate to go through a season of sucking. I'm sure eventually we'll probably have to deal with it, but I'm not ready yet. C'mon Colts! Be good, dangit! GO HORSE!

9 comments:

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Arthur said...

Thanks for spamming my blog.

Unfortunately, I get way too excited over comments to actually delete your comment. Luckily for me, you didn't actually create a link and I doubt anyone will go to your site. So thanks for the comment!

Brian said...

Why would you go to a Colts party and cheer for the other team? Why? I just can't possibly fathom the answer to that question.

I think what it means is the person is not a true fan of football. If they were, they'd go watch the game with other like-minded fans - not a bunch of people rooting against your team. Who would want to watch a game with 20 people rooting against your team and no one rooting for them?

It just blows my mind.

I can't comment on the game quite yet because I'm still in shock.

Arthur said...

Dude, I totally agree and have no answer for that. The only reason I could ever think up where you might do that is if you're in a small town and you have no other way to watch the game. Even then, I would keep my mouth shut the entire time and secretly rejoice.

Anonymous said...

Check it: http://jesseknoll.com/blog/?p=89".

You probably already knew about that, but I just found out. Wow.

Arthur said...

Yeah, I heard about Johnson and Jesse makes a good point about the integrity of our management.

It definitely sucks that he's gone though. Our defense needs help. I bet he'll get picked up by the Patriots or Titans or something.

Anonymous said...

in the good, you forgot to say how the special teams stepped up and embarrassed a cocky devin hester. that might have been the only good part of the game. GO COLTS!!!!

Arthur said...

Good call Scruff. That was seriously like the only highlight of the game.

Anonymous said...

I had a dream last night that the Colts got smeared in a very embarassing loss to the Vikings...however, it was some team that was different but similar to the Vikings. The Colts were trying to come back late, and Courtney Roby returned a punt for a touchdown, but it was called back due to an illegal block in the back penalty.

Also, whoever Pittsburgh played, the score showed on the TV and they won the game something like 45-0; but it was abbreviated PC instead of PIT.

Hopefully, EVERYTHING in that dream is false and won't come true.

I am still waiting to be convinced that the Colts are anything like their old self. Ever since the last regular season game last year, they have not been a good team.

Come on, Colts!