Manning's First Drive & Then Some...

***LA Rammer*** · -08-11-2006

Manning pretty much had his way. He exposed a big issue which we know about, our secondary. I'm glad we didn't stop him on that third down conversion, would have given false impressions. Our run defense is a start. I hate how they pulled Manning out after one, ONE drive! I wanted our defense to get a real idea of what to look for and this team would have given us a good berometer to begin with.

As for the offensive side, Steven Jackson looked sensational, hope he can get more blocking then 1000 yards are going to be a sinch.

Blocking... man if we don't have protection there is going to be trouble. If the blocking was there we would have scored on the openning drive and then pulled Bulger, to even the insult.

Overall, if we can work on that secondary and our offensive line I say we can go deep into the playoffs! Oh and special teams, that offside kick was an insult, they were making a point. :mask:

***RamsFan16*** · -08-11-2006

If you watch that play over (THe TD) it was Chillar that got beat, the rest looked impressive but him.

***rammiser*** · -08-11-2006

Manning was 3-5 for 50 yds and a td and his long pass to Wayne was Atogwe's fault not Browns. That was a zone and Atogwe was late getting over there. If Manning had his way with our starters then Bulger and Jackson had their way with the Colts d. Last time I checked injuries arent an excuse. Brown cant cover short and deep at the same time. You guys have to look at the defensive effort with a different eye in the pre-season. Yeah the Colts scored a td on their first drive but what I saw was Manning getting pressure from the middle of our defensive line. Yeah the middle, sure he still completed his passes but its freaking Peyton Manning. Not every qb will escape that pressure up the middle. That was against their starters too. I noticed besides the blitzing our defense has a more aggressive feel to it. Like our guys finally want to hit someone and make a tackle.

Anyone here not impressed with Hill is crazy. The guy made one mistake and was there everytime the ball was thrown his way. He did drop a sure td but it's the first game.

Jackson was on fire and looks as if he will take advantage of his carries. I like the combination of Fisher and Williams too.

There was a few line break downs from Barrons side of the ball but for the most part Bulger was protected. Bulger needs to learn to throw the ball away instead of taking hits.

Not too impressed with Byrd at te, he dropped a pass he should have caught and looked lost at times while blocking. The two young rookies te's could be the ones that end up getting our qb hurt.

Not sure I like Atogwe starting wouldnt mind seeing someone else get a shot. He seems a tad slow, I dont know if he's reacting slow or if he's slow footed.

I'll take Coakley over Chillar any day. I just dont think Chillar brings anything to the table.

Adeyanju and Wroten will bring youth and enthusiasm to our interior line and de spot,watch out Hargrove. I liked how both of them looked.

It's pre-season and Manning probably would have drove down the field on whatever team they played, thats what he does. What we need to look for and what the coaches want to see is improvement. I mean no one was horribly beaten by the pass were they? Last year vs the seahawks Joe Jurevicious must have been invisable because he was wide open all the time. I thought our young corners were in positions to make sure tackles and not give up huge play after huge play. Like I said Manning's pass to Wayne goes on Atogwe not Brown.

Overall I liked the effort and I like seeing us win pre-season games. For the young guys maybe winning even in pre-season helps their confidence.

**ImJohnWayne** · -08-11-2006

Im not putting this out there as an excuse... We all know what Manning does to a defense...

On the first series the Rams new communication equipment failed and was down for the Colts first drive. I dont know what kind of impact that had if any, but they repaired it in time for the Colts 2nd offensive series.

This according to a sideline report during the game that i heard on KLOU here in STL.

In any case, i think we all agree that the secondary is definatly the area that needs the most improvement. Although, if the d-line plays like this every game they seem more than capable of picking up the slack... at least for now.

**HUbison** · -08-11-2006

If not for the zone confusion between Brown and Atogwe, that series could have very easily ended in 3 or even 0. That one mistake gave up more than half of the yards on the drive.

Just goes to show you, one mistake is all it takes to make a series go bad.

***RamsFan4ever*** · -08-11-2006

I dont blame the starting defence giving up a TD. We had a new defence that was playing together for the first time against 1 of the Best Offences in the league. But Hopefully OJ can read the play better next time and Chillar and Brown

***big-foot33*** · -08-11-2006

Actually on that zone play I would put the blame on brown. in cover 2 zone the corner has to be aggrasive on the receiver so he doesnt have a free release. Though Atogwe did take a bad angle to the ball.

***ram3057*** · -08-11-2006

Overall I liked the effort and I like seeing us win pre-season games. For the young guys maybe winning even in pre-season helps their confidence.

Winning games - even in the pre-season - will build confidence. The team needs to build on this confidence by keeping that winning attitude.

I like the way the Defense looked, and even though I have never really cared for Haslett, his demeanor - always looks pissed off - showed up in the way that the D played.

Great first effort.

GO RAMS !!

***jjigga3000*** · -08-11-2006

Man some of you Kats are rediculous. Our secondary is not bad. That score was more miscues than anything. And it was more because the team was caught of guard by a onside kick than anything. Lack of mental preparedness. With the execption of Chillar, and Otagwe, The D did fine. our D will be fine. It's a whole lot better than last years

***coy bacon*** · -08-11-2006

Originally Posted by jjigga3000

Lack of mental preparedness.

I agree wif dat and den sum.

It made me sick to see what the Colts did on the opening KO. IMHO the team was not ready to play. I didn't see any fire. Linehan's expression depicted uncertainty. Dungy came with a game face. He sucker punched and schooled Linehan on that first series. It was just a series of groans for me. As far as I'm concerned we lost to Indy, 2nd and 3rd string be damned.

Little Mac lives in St. Louis.

***RAM-BO*** · -08-12-2006

Originally Posted by LA Rammer

Manning pretty much had his way.

I stopped reading right there. Manning pretty much has his way with every team.

***MadForPlaid*** · -08-13-2006

Originally Posted by RAM-BO

I stopped reading right there. Manning pretty much has his way with every team.

Except for when Merriman and Chargers ruined his Colts' undefeated season last year!!

***rammiser*** · -08-13-2006

Originally Posted by coy bacon

I agree wif dat and den sum.

It made me sick to see what the Colts did on the opening KO. IMHO the team was not ready to play. I didn't see any fire. Linehan's expression depicted uncertainty. Dungy came with a game face. He sucker punched and schooled Linehan on that first series. It was just a series of groans for me. As far as I'm concerned we lost to Indy, 2nd and 3rd string be damned.

Little Mac lives in St. Louis.

You have got to be kidding me. If we lost to their 2nd and 3rd string wouldnt we have lost the game? I saw fire in the coaches and the players, unlike last year when they were like zombies on the field. Calling that onside kick a sucker punch is an understatement, I would call it a low blow. You say not prepaired I say rediculous. No one has probably ever done that. Guess what though now the team knows anything can happen. I think the look you saw on Linehans face wasnt uncertainty it was amazement. He and the rest of the football audience couldnt believe a team would waste that in pre-season!