Posts tagged Statistics
NFL Rookie Defensive Tackles: What to Really Expect
Jun 1st
Each off-season, fans gets excited about the opportunity for their teams to restock and retool talent at positions of need. For as long as most Colts fans can remember, one of those positions is defensive tackle. As a result, when the draft and free agency opportunities come and go, fans clamor for their favorite players and hope that tremendous improvement will be made in whichever area they identify as needing the biggest upgrade.
Over the last four off-seasons, the Colts have added four defensive tackles via the draft, one undrafted free agent, and have three players on the roster signed from waivers or free agency. This means no defensive tackle on the team has more than three full years of experience with the Colts, which partially explains the reason fans will continue to clamor for more options — none of the defensive tackles on the team have really proved themselves to be stalwarts on the defensive line.
How should fans change their lens in reviewing and evaluating the play of defensive tackles entering the league or spending their first seasons with the Colts? What should they really expect? More >
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“Coltzilla Dead” Pronouncements Premature
May 30th
It has come to our attention that one of our colleagues in the Colts blogosphere has taken shots at Coltzilla regarding a lack of steady content recently. In fact, in the latest comment, it was suggested that Coltzilla is “dead.” As the site’s founder and editor I think it is worthwhile to address any of our readers’ concerns about the current and future health of Coltzilla.
Our readers should know that Coltzilla upholds a standard of reporting and analysis that we hope best serves Colts fans. We do not engage in long-winded or repetitive rants regarding rather mundane occurrences in the Colts front office, draft strategies, private practices, or minor surgeries to players. More >
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Introducing: Coltzilla Stats & Draft Board
Mar 23rd
Anyone who frequents Coltzilla — and is rather perceptive — will notice two additions to the Coltzilla navigation bar. We have added two new pages, “Stats” and “Draft Room.” You will have noticed the flood of draft profiles recently, and with the draft still fast approaching, those posts will continue to come out regularly as writers here work to cover as many of the prospects we have marked as potential grabs for the Colts. You can view all those profiles through the link to the splash page and sort by position.
The Coltzilla stat page is rather near and dear to my heart, though. While I do some of the profiles for prospects and players, I have spent most of my time working on the “Game Stat” series over this past year. Those of you who remember those posts will also remember that they grew over the year, and that has been a major factor in the delay in getting this data finalized. Now, though, enough of the information has been collected that we can start bringing all of the statistics for the 2010 season to our readers. This section will be a work in progress, so while there is a lot of information there, more will be added over the coming weeks and months. After the jump, I’ll talk a little about the vision for “Game Stats” and some of the work that will be done to improve the data. More >
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Colts Flying Under the Radar: Introduction
Feb 7th
With the Super Bowl over, fans will turn to the off-season. To relieve Colts withdraw, writers at Coltzilla, will bring you content on issues ranging from current personnel, draft prospects, roster additions, and the progression of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
I would like to introduce “Flying Under the Radar,” which will be my attempt to utilize my experiences from watching the game film in great detail for the statistics collected in “Game Stats,” to highlight a number of players who were not as hyped as their performance warrants. Players like Jacob Tamme, Pat Angerer, and Jerraud Powers have received considerable, and well deserved praise. This series will turn the spotlight on players who have either shown great promise, or who have been marginalized or looked down upon for one reason or another.
In some cases, such as with Jerry Hughes, the player simply did not receive considerable playing time. In others, such as with Philip Wheeler, roster decisions help cover up what had been an impressive and consistent year. Even others, like Blair White, played most of the year and had a strong season, but were replacing stellar performers like Austin Collie and could not hope to step out of that shadow.
Keep an eye out for this series during the off season.
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2010 Colts Defensive Tackles are Overlooked and Underrated
Dec 1st
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Eric Foster sacks Donovan McNabb. (Nick Wass | AP Photo)
The Colts defensive tackles are one of the most overlooked and underrated units in the league. First-year starter Fili Moala is having a solid year and showing signs of a bright future. Second-year starter Daniel Muir has had some struggles but has also made some big plays. For a second week in a row, Mookie Johnson made big plays — he stuffed a run and was in on a sack. Eric Foster is having the best year of his career and offers a legitimate pass rush threat and penetration from the defensive tackle spot.
The point is, most Colts fans and most NFL talking heads don’t ever hear or talk about the Colts defensive tackles because they’re rarely a problem. Our linebackers, corners, and defensive ends have been more inconsistent than our defensive tackles. With Aaron Francisco thrust into a starting role, it’s fair to say the safeties are also a bigger weakness right now. More >
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Breaking Down the Colts Defense v. the Chargers
Nov 30th
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Antonio Johnson and Antoine Bethea sack Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers. (AJ Mast | AP Photo)
As Colts fans continue to react to an extremely disappointing home loss that keeps Indianapolis in a tie with Jacksonville for first place in the AFC South, one common opinion is that the Colts defense played poorly against the Chargers. Granted, most fans agree that the offense failed to get anything going and may have been primarily responsible for letting the game get away, but they still argue that the defense did not do enough to stop the Chargers and showed another example of how bad the unit is in 2010.
While statistics are not my favorite form of displaying a perspective or making an argument, the statistical breakdown of how the defense fared against the number one offense in the NFL is so telling and difficult to argue with that I think it will do a better job than complex explanations of where individual players did things right. More >
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After Review: Texans v. Colts
Nov 3rd
Jacob Tamme's first NFL touchdown against the Texans on Monday night. (AJ Mast | AP Photo)
The Indianapolis Colts won convincingly against the visiting Houston Texans. The surprising part of the victory is that it was without key players like Joseph Addai, Jerraud Powers, Dallas Clark, and Austin Collie. During the course of the game, rookie tight end Brody Eldridge left the game due to injury, first-time starting running back Mike Hart hurt his ankle in the fourth quarter, and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez took a hard hit on the sideline, which kept him from finishing the game.
The game had major contributions from players like Hart, who ran for 84 yards on 12 carries (7.0 yards per carry) and caught all three of the passes his way for an additional 19 yards. He had the best game of his career and was on pace to break the 100-yard rushing mark. Cornerback Justin Tryon got his first start with the Colts for Jerraud Powers. Pat Angerer started his first game at strong-side linebacker in place of Philip Wheeler. Jacob Tamme got his first career start for the injured Dallas Clark and managed 64 yards on 6 receptions, out of 9 targets, and his first NFL touchdown. Even rookie Jerry Hughes saw his first action, got his first NFL tackle, and a quarterback hurry. More >
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Game Stats: Colts v. Redskins
Oct 27th
Despite a dominating offensive performance, four fumbles kept the game close. The offensive line, as a whole, had its best statistical game this year. Garçon had his best game of the year. Like last year, he has gone on stretches of poor games, only to bust out with a highlight reel performance in Washington. He did have a pair of inexplicable drops, but they were his only drops of the game. Austin Collie was superb, as has become the norm for him.
The mistakes in the passing game were fairly balanced. The receivers had a few drops, Manning had a few over/under-throws, and there were quite a few passes defended. While Manning didn’t get his 70% completion percentage, 65.8% is still good.
Defensively, linebacker Clint Session’s statistics are not representative of his overall play. Fellow outside linebacker Philip Wheeler’s performance in relation to his statistics is the opposite, as he had a solid game. Rookie middle linebacker Pat Angerer did an exceptional job even though the prime-time game was his NFL starting debut. More on those stories after the jump. More >
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Colts Cut Kick Returner Kenny Moore, Swap Practice Squad Running Backs
Oct 19th
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Colts new practice squad running back Josh Vaughan during a 2010 preseason game with Carolina.
(Rob Carr | AP Photo)
Rotoworld reports that Kenny Moore, the Colts kick and punt returner who fumbled twice – one of which resulted in a turnover – in Sunday’s contest against the Washington Redskins, has been released. NFL.com indicates that Indianapolis also parted ways with practice squad running back Brandon Minor, and replaced him with running back Josh Vaughan.
Vaughan is a beastly rusher compared to a typical Colts back. When one considers that recent addition Andre Brown is an inch taller and ten pounds heavier than Joseph Addai, the knowledge that Vaughan is eight pounds heavier still (6-feet 232 pounds) puts him into perspective. More >
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