Well, we won. Game 5 for the Colts was not exactly a display of "shock-and-awe", but then again, the Chiefs are a much improved team. I still think they are a bit young and won't be a major factor in the long term this year, but they played the Colts perfectly. For all you Blue fans out there panicking about the year, remember this - Games like the one against the Chiefs are the kind of games that good teams find a way to win. And the Colts found a way to win. Whew.
This is actually a great game to learn some lessons about football, and maybe next time you see the "Manning Face" you'll be able to explain to your friends what's going on. The Chiefs found a way to handcuff Peyton Manning, some by strategy, and also because they had the right athletes to pull it off.
Let's start with the beginning of the game. First of all, the Chiefs opened with an onside kick. It's a trick play, yes, and in most circles would be thought of as ridiculous. However, it was a strong signal that the Chiefs were calling the shots, not the Colts. From the opening kickoff, it was apparent to everyone in Lucas Oil Stadium that the Colts game plan (that they worked on all week) was second to the Chiefs game plan. Even though the trick play didn't work, and gave the Colts possession of the ball in great field position, the first punch had been thrown, and it was a big one. That call to start the game said, "you may be better than us, but we're going down swinging."
After the Colts recovered the onside kick and began their first drive, it was basically the Joseph Addai show. Lots of running plays, methodically moving the ball downfield. At first this may have seemed like the Colts just made some decisions to quit using Peyton Manning, and let Joe Addai take over the team. Don't let the fairweather Colts fans fool you. There was much more to the story than that. The Colts sputtered in the red zone (anytime you're inside the 20 yard line looking to score) and ending up kicking a field goal rather than coming away with the touchdown. Obviously everyone in Indy would have rather had a touchdown, but Peyton looked like somebody stole his bike. It's because he already knew what the rest of us would see throughout the game.
Peyton had seen in the opening drive what sort of defense the Chiefs were working out of, and he didn't like it. At all. There are many different formations that a defense can use, and out of those formations, you can run all sorts of plays to pressure the quarterback, or drop back and defend against a long pass. Sometimes the defense lines up and plays "man to man" where each of the receivers is covered by a specific defender. Other times the defense lines up the same way and then as the play starts, they all move to cover "zones" and cover a certain part of the field. None of this bothers Peyton, and he usually finds ways to make the defense overthink everything they're doing. Then they line up for the next play, and Boom! Peyton to Dallas Clark for the touchdown. Peyton is the master at reading defenses.
So why was Manning so upset after only the first series? He didn't get hit, sacked or throw a single pass, but you could tell that he was already frustrated. It's because the Chiefs showed their card, and it was a card that most teams can't or won't ever play. Kansas City was lining up with 3 and sometimes only 2 men rushing the quarterback, with everyone else dropping back to cover the pass. OK, big deal right? Let me put it this way, if Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, and Joseph Addai all ran routes to catch a pass, EVERY one of them would be DOUBLE COVERED. Yep. Two defenders on each guy. Manning saw this and knew that the Chiefs were not going to even let him play football. They wanted the rest of the Colts to beat them. OK, you say, why doesn't everyone in the NFL do that to every team in the NFL? If I was a defensive coach I'd double-team every receiver too! Well, because the antidote to that defensive strategy is good old fashioned running the football. Just like defenses can mix up zone and man-to-man coverages of the pass routes, offenses can mix up their play calling between runs and passes.
Running the football is original football. It's the stuff the old school guys like. Passing is for show-offs, but handing off and running is for classic, hard-nosed teams, or so the theory goes. But there is some element of truth to the fact that if you can run the ball, you can't be stopped. Follow me for a second here... If you are confident that your team can block, open up holes (running lanes) and your running back can gain 4 yards on each play, then your team is virtually unstoppable. Seriously. On first down, 4 yards. Second down, 4 yards. On third and 2, 4 more yards and now you've got another first down. It's low risk. No sacks, no interceptions. No receivers dropping passes. It takes time off the clock while you're team has the ball, which means the other team can't score. If you can run the ball well, you're unstoppable. This is why every time you turn on the game, the announcers are saying that such and such a team needs to "establish the run". What they mean is that even though the NFL has become more passing-oriented, you still have to prove that you can run. If you can't, teams will do what the Chiefs did to Peyton. They'll drop almost every single guy back to cover the pass and make the offense choose running plays, even if they don't want to. From the look on Peyton's face on Sunday, he wanted to pass, but was smart enough to know that he wasn't going to get the chance to.
So let's go back to Colts-Chiefs for a moment. That first drive was perfect. Forget what Petyon wanted to do, look at what he did. He handed the ball to Joe Addai. Again, and again and again. And Joe Addai had a nice drive and got us in scoring position before the drive died. Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal and we're up 3-0. Smart football by Peyton, but he knew that the Colts aren't built to run all day. And he's right.
By the time the game was in full swing, the Chiefs had started showing that same formation, but with every player on alert to stop the run. So basically, in order to make the smart choice, Peyton would call a play that wasn't a pass play, because he saw how many defenders would be allotted to pass coverage. But once he changed to a running play, the outcome was out of his hands. Just what the Chiefs wanted. They were willing to give the Colts a huge advantage on run plays, in order to make Peyton Manning choose to be a bystander. Some teams that are built to run the football would have taken that defense and rammed it down the Chiefs throats. If Chris Johnson of the Titans saw that defense, he'd run for 50 yards each play and score a touchdown. Then the Chiefs would change their defense pretty quickly. But that's not what the Colts are built for. Their offensive line is built to block on passing plays, not really to open up holes for run plays. So, all in all, it's the Colts' weakness.
The Chiefs have several outstanding defensive players that allow them to do some pretty exotic formations, like the one they threw at Peyton. Just like any sport, the strategy is only good if the athletes can actually perform the task. If I was a basketball coach, I'd tell my players to dunk over someone every time, because it's nearly impossible to miss. But of course, that's impossible for an athlete to do. You have to find the balance. The Chiefs had several cornerbacks that were skilled in pass coverage and had incredible speed to help cover different Colts receivers. They also had a lineman (Tamba Hali) that was able to get pressure on Peyton Manning and force him to make quick throws when the Colts did try and pass. Most teams rush 5,6, or sometimes even 7 men to try and force a quarterback to make a fast decision. KC was getting this result with 2 or 3 men, because they were just plain better up front. No offense, but Ryan Diem got worked. He was matched up with a really good defensive end and got burned most of the day. So Peyton knew this, he was rushing his throws, and all of his receivers were double-covered. You have to run the football. So the Colts did. Not very well, but that's what they tried to do all day long.
I started this post by saying games like this one are games that good teams find a way to win. In this game, Kansas City went completely overboard to make sure that the Colts had to run the ball to beat them. Even with Joe Addai injured late in the game, a backup running back named Mike Hart came in and sparked the team to a long drive and a touchdown. Good teams find a way to win, even if it's ugly. That's what the Colts did all last year, and it was good to see them pull it out again on Sunday.
Next up, the Redskins, with a bad run defense. I doubt they'll do the same thing to Peyton, because they don't trust themselves to stop the Colts run nearly as much as the Chiefs did. It's all about using your strengths and covering your weaknesses. Our strength is Peyton and Co. Although we may try to "establish the run" look for the Colts to throw it around more next week.
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