Archives for November 2006

‘”It’s a very painful loss, to come in here and be that close and not to take it at the end,” coach Dick Jauron said. “The guys played awfully hard. We played close to the kind of game that we needed to play, I thought, to win it. We just didn’t play right up to where we needed to be to win it.”‘

‘Wide right. Two of the most dreaded words in the Buffalo sports lexicon.’

‘On Sunday, Buffalo’s defensive scheme was super, with a combination of press coverage and Cover 2 zone implemented masterfully by often-maligned cornerbacks Nate Clements and Terrence McGee, taking away the big play. Manning’s longest throw went just 23 yards and Marvin Harrison, who could go to Canton just on the statistics he’s mounted up against Buffalo, was held to two catches for 21 yards. But Manning patiently moved his team with throws to his running backs and tight ends while Dominic Rhodes and rookie Joseph Addai fueled a running game that finished with 148 yards.’

‘Bills QB J.P. Losman: Another week, another head-shaking lack of productivity. He completed eight passes. Manning completed eight on Indy’s two touchdown drives. Once again, Losman was pressured all day. The question is, whatever happened to this kid’s supposed athleticism? Why doesn’t he scramble out of trouble like we were told he could when he was drafted in the first round?’

‘Once again, J.P. Losman had horrible protection, so on many plays he didn’t have a chance to do anything. But when plays were available, he was typically unproductive.’

‘Offensively, the Bills stayed mostly on the ground, with Anthony Thomas rushing for 109 yards filling in for injured Willis McGahee. J.P. Losman completed only eight passes for 83 yards, clearly told to avoid turnovers at all costs. Buffalo instead played for turnovers, which they got – including a fumble returned for a touchdown by cornerback Terrence McGee. Notably, the rabid fans who made it on to the Bills post-game call-in show were mostly forgiving of Lindell, but as usual were calling for Losman’s head. There are indications that the coaching staff has lost confidence in his abilities as well – the Bills were awful in the red zone, actually netting a loss of eight yards on 11 plays. Still, a one-point loss to the best team in the NFL is a step up for a team headed nowhere.’

Two in a row at 9-0 (Indianapolis Star)

A pretty, ugly game (Indianapolis Star)

Ground game still doubling up (Indianapolis Star)

So what if it’s ugly? Just admire the record (Indianapolis Star)

Quarterly report (Indianapolis Star)

Bob Kravitz’s report card (Indianapolis Star)

Photo gallery 1 (Indianapolis Star)

Photo gallery 2 (Indianapolis Star)

Two-back attack working for Colts (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)

Ugly, yes, but let’s enjoy win (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)

Team support keeps Colts, Bears winning (Fort Wayne News Sentinel)

Colts edge Bills (Terre Haute Tribune Star)

Message to Colts fans: Team isn’t worried (Muncie Star Press)

Different approach, same result: Colts win (Northwest Indiana Times)

Freeney finally finds QB (Northwest Indiana Times)

Tough road to history (Colts.com)

The sack is back (Colts.com)

Overcoming obstacles (Colts.com)

Colts win 17-16 (Colts.com)

Game photos (Colts.com)

‘Another poor performance from Losman could lead to the dawning of the Craig Nall era. And when Nall’s supposed to be the savior, the QB situation couldn’t possibly be worse.’

‘”We tried to reduce the time they had the ball and when they had the ball, we tried to bleed them for everything we could,” coach Dick Jauron said. “We just didn’t do it well enough.”‘

‘Defensive line coach Bill Kollar wants his ends to take tight angles off the edge as pass rushers. To drill home the point in practice, he has linemen get down in their stances and then run around a large hoop. Their goal is to stay as close to the hoop as possible. This creates a low center of gravity and improves footwork and technique.’

‘In 51/2 seasons with the Bills, after twice being cut in training camp by the Seahawks, the one-time NCAA Division II national champion hurdler has averaged nearly 44 yards per punt with a net of almost 37. Of his 425 career kicks, only one has been blocked. And he’s done it playing half his games at “The Ralph” where even on nice days a stiff wind blows off Lake Erie from the scoreboard end.’

‘J.P. Losman didn’t make too many plays but that is hard when you only throw it 13 times in a game. He did complete nine of them for 83 yards, hitting only two different receivers. He was sacked four times. Grade D: Didn’t really have too many chances though.’

‘The Bills did many good things in giving a scare to the undefeated Colts. They made two big turnovers on defense and the special teams did a solid job in all facets including a successful fake punt, good returns and coverage along with great punts once again from Brian Moorman. It would be almost a feel good loss except for the fact that the offense is getting worse and worse each week as they could do nothing in this game besides some good running from Thomas.’

‘Trailing 17-16 with 6:27 to play Rian Lindell, who had missed just one attempt the entire season, pushed a 41-yard attempt wide right as the Colts killed the last six minutes on the clock to pull out the win and remain undefeated.’