We actually won a preseason game on the road. It is a rare feat that we Colts fans may never see again in our lifetimes. 2006 was the last time when we beat the Saints. We went 5 non-home games winless until winning this one. Of course, that wasn’t a true road game. The Saints were playing in Alabama I believe because of Katrina. The last time we beat a team in their stadium in the preseason was against the Chargers in 2004. Now we’ve won a road preseason games. Here are the 4 best players in the game:
4. Curtis Johnson: Let’s ignore his offsides penalties and chalk those up to rookie mistakes and nerves. Johnson was phenomenal. When the Colts signed him, I thought he was going to be a one dimensional pass rusher who at best would be a strong third down pass rush specialist. However, he’s better than any Colts defensive end at stopping the run then I’ve seen this preseason. He is definitely a raw prospect, but he could be another Polian gem.
3. Brannon Condren: Sure, his two picks were off of deflections, but he made great adjustments to come up with them. He only was credited with one tackle, but he was hitting hard in the secondary. He’ll make the roster for sure now.
2. Jamie Silva: This is a bit surprising, but for those of you who got to watch the game, you should understand. Jamie Silva was all over the place. On a third down play, he made a ridiculously athletic play to tip the ball away. Silva was also hitting like Bob Sanders, and he was keeping receivers from getting any space.
1. Kelvin Hayden: Hayden had the only touchdown of the game. He picked off Matt Ryan and returned it to the house to score the difference maker. However, one of the most important stats was his 4 tackles, which led the team. The QBs were playing well, but he was hitting the receivers hard and not giving up any extra yards.
The offense was terrible in this game. Sure, they got 325 yards, but they were 0 and 5 in the redzone. I have no idea why they were passing so much in the redzone. With the inexperienced quarterbacks, it was a bad idea by Moore to not use someone like Mike Hart or Dominic Rhodes to pound it into the endzone. We should have won this game in a blowout. Instead, some bad decision making cost the offense some points.
There were way too many penalties in this game. 13 penalties for 94 yards. That’s also not counting all of the declined offsides. The defensive line was clearly trying to get a jump, but they looked too jumpy and would go offsides. It is amazing that with all of the offsides, the Falcons could only score 9 points.
Updated Projected Roster
QB
Peyton Manning
Jim Sorgi
RB
Joseph Addai
Dominic Rhodes
Mike Hart
H-B
Gijon Robinson
WR
Reggie Wayne
Marvin Harrison
Anthony Gonzalez
Roy Hall
Pierre Garcon
TE
Dallas Clark
Jacob Tamme
Tom Santi
LT
Tony Ugoh
Michael Toudouze
LG
Ryan Lilja
Jamey Richard
C
Jeff Saturday
Steve Justice
RG
Mike Pollak
Charlie Johnson
RT
Ryan Diem
Dan Federkiel
LE
Raheem Brock
Robert Mathis
Curtis Johnson
RE
Dwight Freeney
Marcus Howard
Jeff Charleston
NT
Ed Johnson
Collin Ferrell
UT
Keyunta Dawson
Eric Foster
Darrell Reid
SAM
Clint Session
Tyjuan Hagler
MIKE
Gary Brackett
Philip Wheeler
WILL
Freddie Keiaho
Kyle Shotwell
CB
Marlin Jackson
Kelvin Hayden
Dante Hughes
Tim Jennings
TJ Rushing
FS
Antoine Bethea
Matt Giordano
SS
Bob Sanders
Brannon Condren
K
Adam Vinatieri
P
Hunter Smith
LS
Justin Snow
Practice Squad
RB Chad Simpson
WR Onrea Jones
WR Sam Giguere
DL Ben Ishola
DL Joe Bradley
LB Jordan Senn
DB Jamie Silva
DB Brandon Foster
5 To Keep In Touch With
WR Devin Aromashodu
OL Corey Hilliard
DL Josh Thomas
LB Ramon Guzman
DB Keiwan Ratliff