Tony Dungy walk into the room....
Thanks for joining us today.
Takes a sip of water
I would like to discuss this game, and then answer any question you may have. I Will break it down by quarters and express my feelings.
I was pleased with our overall performance, but there are some things we need to work on, and I will get to that!
1st Quarter
Indy 7 - Philly 0
Our new acquisition, Ahman Green was slow to start. The Eagles were tough on the run all day and we expected them to be. Although Ahman did have a TD in the first quarter, he did not have many yards.
Peyton on the other hand, was red hot; not converting on one pass attempt. The M&M&M's here(Moulds, McCareins, and Manning) hooked up frequently. We were able to pass the ball all day, cause I am thinking Philly's game plan was to stop the run, and that they did.
The defense was more than words can express. They did a great job. Everyone on defense. The LB were stopping the run effectively behing the line of scrimmage and the DL was stopping McNabb from running and the DB's were knocking down passes.
Vandy missed a 55 yard FG on the opening drive.
2nd Quarter
Indy 14 - Philly 7
The key phrase for the day comes more to light in this quarter, and that "
Three & Out. Philly was unable to get the first downs they needed and their punter stayed on the field longer than their offense. I give great credit to our defense for stopping them.
Peyton almost threw for 3 Int's this quarter. We were still unable to run, but Peyton was lucky and didn't throw any INT's and was able to hit Moulds and McCareins quick and often. Picking up first downs after 1st downs.
It was this quarter in which Ian Gold picked off McNabb was ran untouchable for 30 yards into the endzone for our 2nd score of the game. It seemed like Philly could not move the ball at all. Like there was a wall just over the LoS.
Philly did get "Lucky" once, with a muffed fumble by Tim Carter on a punt and it allowed Donte Nicholson to score on a fluke of a play. This built their confidence back up and it's not 14-7 going into half.
3rd Quarter
Indy 24 - Philly 7
Philly was 1/10 on 3rd down conversions. This really helped us out this game.
Our offense was again, moving the ball. JR Russell scored on a long pass play that spread the lead to 21-7 in our favor. A FG would end out the 3rd quarter.
Our defense remained strong and kept Philly's punter on the field.
4th Quarter
Indy 30 - Philly 22
The word for the 4th quarter is "conditioning". Can you say "conditioning" boys & girls? Seemed like we could do nothing right as Philly trounced all over us. We couldn't stop them.
Peyton made all the calls, and continued to pass near and in the Red Zone. I really wanted to pound the ball to keep the clock moving, but I trust Manning, and he called the shots.
With 5:30 left in the game, was when Philly scored one of their two TD's in the quarter. It was Westbrook run to the right. Ian Gold had been stopping him all day, but this time we had called the wrong play and they went in untouched. McNabb also started to run. Right up the gut. It seemed as if our defense just got off the field and left their offense out there to do whatever and they were taken advantage.
Final Comments
What seemed like was gonan be an easy win for us, almost turned into a disaster at the end. being up 20 last in the 4th wasn't good enough. This is a lesson learned for our future games. I had flash backs of Tennessee a couple years back when they scored three times on us in 3 minutes to beat us. I actually had a feeling that it was happening again.
On offense, I am pleased with our passing game. Our receivers and Peyton are pretty much gelled. They are ticking together. Ahman will need to tweaking with this offense, but I am sure he'll get his in due time. Obviously we can't keep up this passing effort every game.
On defense, I was very pleased overall with our performance. We were strong the first three quarters, yet fell apart in the last quarter. We just need to work on conditioning. There is 32 minutes of football, not 24 and these guys know it.
I am very upset with our special teams. Even Vandy missed a 55 yard FG to start the season. He missed one FG all year last year, and now he starts out missing the very first one. Tim Carter muffed punt return allowed them to score. This is some we also need to work on.
I will now take any questions....
Linear Mode
