Game plan per opponent, eh?

[txtx]

Totally agree. From Cal McNair down to Toro[/QUOTE

Even Watt had a sloppy penalty to aid the Colts' first drive. But Daniels punted well (he had to). He's been a fantastic replacement for the former best punter in the NFL. And Coutee played great. Lamar Miller had a 3.6 avg till O'Brien took the ball away from him at the half. Reid was playing with intensity till he got hurt. Brandon Dunn made a great INT. Remember the olden days when Clowney used to set the edge like a brick wall? Maybe the new, weaker but "amazing athlete" Clowney should be moved to tight end, so he can circle away from contact there. And he'd be the lightest TE on the roster.

 

[Earl34]

Imagine if they raised the 2018 AFC South banner at the Colts game next year.
This is what the Colts players would look like as it went up-

If they did that, Hilton should give the clown mask to Cal McNair and it would be well deserved.

 

[ColeThornton]

If they did that, Hilton should give the clown mask to Cal McNair and it would be well deserved.

Wouldn't it be something if they drew the Colts for their first home game and put off raising the banner till there second one. LOL I bet that would be the first time that ever happened. Cal better put in a call to the league to make sure it doesn't happen.

 

[NitroGSXR]

Mixed bag. I like the draft picks. Much higher on the TEs than most around here. Total whiff in free agency other than Honey Badger, who I also seem to like more than most. Certainly need to see another couple offseasons and remain hopeful. Nobody hits on everything.

I wouldn’t call him a total whiff on FA though. Colvin was bad but everyone else has to be affected by poor coaching or injuries. Kelemente regressed under Devlin. Wouldn’t be fair to lay that on Gaine.

Both Honey Badger and DT said they want to come back. DT’s probably done but Honey Badger isn’t. He loves the coaches here yet Midget really struggled to keep our secondary formidable. I’d be interested in seeing how Gaine handles that.

 

[infantrycak]

I wouldn’t call him a total whiff on FA though. Colvin was bad but everyone else has to be affected by poor coaching or injuries. Kelemente regressed under Devlin. Wouldn’t be fair to lay that on Gaine.

Both Honey Badger and DT said they want to come back. DT’s probably done but Honey Badger isn’t. He loves the coaches here yet Midget really struggled to keep our secondary formidable. I’d be interested in seeing how Gaine handles that.

Fair enough. Maybe OB/coaching 30%, Gaine 10%.

 

[TheKDog]

Don't worry, O'Brien will revamp the offense for next season.

 

[Mangler]

Don't worry, O'Brien will revamp the offense for next season.

Can’t wait to see this disaster...

 

[xtruroyaltyx]

Don't worry, O'Brien will revamp the offense for next season.

I thought that was the plan this past off-season

 

[banned1976]

Mixed bag. I like the draft picks. Much higher on the TEs than most around here. Total whiff in free agency other than Honey Badger, who I also seem to like more than most. Certainly need to see another couple offseasons and remain hopeful. Nobody hits on everything.

Someone (I think it was pdstat) on Twitter wrote Arron Colvin was a healthy 18 million $ scratch on Saturday. That absolutely is on Gaine. True or not, Colvin was a big time disappointment all season and a miss by Gaine. That hurt.

 

[JB]

Someone (I think it was pdstat) on Twitter wrote Arron Colvin was a healthy 18 million $ scratch on Saturday. That absolutely is on Gaine. True or not, Colvin was a big time disappointment all season and a miss by Gaine. That hurt.

OB differs

 

[Uncle Rico]

Whatever the gameplan was supposed to be (offense or defense) or whatever it COULD have been, it doesn't matter when the players aren't prepared for the higher intensity of the playoffs. This was a choke, and I feel more troubled by it a day after. And it was a "complementary football" choke between the offense and defense (Daniels & special teams were good).

That's the head coach being a great reactor to adversity in the season (a lot of the adversity of his own making) and a poor attacker. O'Brien has never much forced adversity on our opponents that they have to respond to. He just doesn't seem to have that strike-first mindset. RAC has done that well himself. Tom Brady was a red-faced crybaby in the first half of the playoff game two years ago due to RAC.

And O'Brien himself reacted badly to the adversity of this game, desperately going for it twice on 4th down in the first half? It's like when he desperately went for it on 4th down in the Eagles game instead of kicking a FG. Then we lose by 2.

Those games were beyond O'Brien, as was the KC playoff "game." He's won the AFC South 3 out of 5 years with mostly trash QBs.* But he's not mentally/emotionally able to juggle coaching and play calling. Kubiak and McCarthy are available (for now), and I think they'd be fantastic with Watson, but I see O'Brien as too delicate to hire a possible competitor to his own job.

*All AFC South teams were in the top 12 in defensive yardage allowed in 2018. So to win 11 games and the division IS an accomplishment. One of the top two divisions this year, IMO.

It all boils down to being able to beat great teams. How many 'great' teams has Bill OBrien beaten or made into a signature moment of coaching? Great! You can beat up on the scrubs of the league, have some mediocre to above average regular seasons but what about the playoffs? "But Obrien has never had a QB" .. The man has run through more QBs than our 'dear' President has run through porn stars .. "But the offensive line is so bad" .. OBrien has been here 5 years! Most of them with his hand picked guy in Devlin .. they just keep missing on picks/free agents or are just too incompetent to actually coach these guys up. "well the linemen are just not that good" .. then stop signing and drafting below average linemen - the head coach is a huge part in that process.

Schematically not being able to expose a relic of a defensive coverage in the Tampa 2 just shows how antiquated and out of date your passing sets are IMO. Hopkins was hurt Saturday, he should have played the rest of the game in the slot and just ran out and caught 8 yard passes until you make them modify the coverage. OBrien kept dialing up long winded passes that were running right into the teeth of the defense. His rhythm for calling plays .. 1st down pass - ineffective .. then he runs it - for what? Balance? Thats just horrible game theory. Like you said his bad feel for when to go for it, when not to. His atrocious use of the review system (probably the worst coach in the NFL when it comes to reviews). 4th and 1 before the half and you go empty set throwing into the end zone? WTF? There was a play late in the game when there was a highly questionable spot of the ball when Indy had the ball and we needed a stop - not saying that they would have won the challenge, but you never know it was a critical point in the game and I just feel that being on top of those situations is what a good coach does.

Watson **** the bed in his first playoff game, no doubt about it. Bill OBrien **** the bed AGAIN - in his 4th.

 

[JB]

It all boils down to being able to beat great teams. How many 'great' teams has Bill OBrien beaten or made into a signature moment of coaching? Great! You can beat up on the scrubs of the league, have some mediocre to above average regular seasons but what about the playoffs? "But Obrien has never had a QB" .. The man has run through more QBs than our 'dear' President has run through porn stars .. "But the offensive line is so bad" .. OBrien has been here 5 years! Most of them with his hand picked guy in Devlin .. they just keep missing on picks/free agents or are just too incompetent to actually coach these guys up. "well the linemen are just not that good" .. then stop signing and drafting below average linemen - the head coach is a huge part in that process.

Schematically not being able to expose a relic of a defensive coverage in the Tampa 2 just shows how antiquated and out of date your passing sets are IMO. Hopkins was hurt Saturday, he should have played the rest of the game in the slot and just ran out and caught 8 yard passes until you make them modify the coverage. OBrien kept dialing up long winded passes that were running right into the teeth of the defense. His rhythm for calling plays .. 1st down pass - ineffective .. then he runs it - for what? Balance? Thats just horrible game theory. Like you said his bad feel for when to go for it, when not to. His atrocious use of the review system (probably the worst coach in the NFL when it comes to reviews). 4th and 1 before the half and you go empty set throwing into the end zone? WTF? There was a play late in the game when there was a highly questionable spot of the ball when Indy had the ball and we needed a stop - not saying that they would have won the challenge, but you never know it was a critical point in the game and I just feel that being on top of those situations is what a good coach does.

Watson **** the bed in his first playoff game, no doubt about it. Bill OBrien **** the bed AGAIN - in his 4th.

OB agrees