Coffee with the Colts: Wrapping up the Indianapolis Colts' 18-17 loss to the Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts S Melvin Bullitt (AP Photo)

Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser takes a next-day look at the Indianapolis Colts' 18-17 loss to the Detroit Lions Saturday in Detroit . . .

THE QUICK LEAD . . .

Jim Caldwell didn't care Saturday afternoon that a slew of players, particularly core defensive players, didn't play in an 18-17 loss to the Detroit Lions. He didn't care that a few more barely played.

The Colts didn't play well enough, Caldwell said.

And for that, he said there is no excuse.

The Colts, who use the preseason game as a dry-run for the regular season opener, were outgained by more than 200 yards in the first half of the loss to the Lions at Ford Field Saturday. And although more than half of the Colts' core defensive players were out or played sparingly, Caldwell -- in his first season as the Colts' head coach -- didn't like a lot of what he saw.

""We certainly don't use that as an excuse," Caldwell said. "Our standards are high. Regardless of who goes in there and plays for us, we expect them to play as well as anyone else who would take the field for us - whether they be a starter or not. For the most part, we just didn't get it done, didn't perform well enough, didn't execute well enough and that first half was all Detroit."

QUICK NOTES . . .

1) Colts QB Peyton Manning liked what he saw from the offense at the beginning of each half. The Colts drove for touchdowns on their half-opening possessions, touchdown drives that covered 80 and 86 yards, respectively. "Both drives at the beginning of both halves were quality," said Manning, who completed 12 of 15 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. "With a 1 o'clock game, which is what the regular season is going to be, but a little new for the preseason, you worry about coming out a little sluggish. I thought offensively, we came out, had a good drive, took it down the field, spread the ball around to some different guys and got it in the endzone. Dallas [Clark] made some nice plays. It really felt like on the two drives where we did not get points, it was more us than them. I'm not taking credit away from them, but it was more us self-destructing and cause for a couple punts. We did have a good drive at the beginning of the second half. Not many possessions, so that's just something that you've got to deal with and when the Colts' offense has the ball, you've got to score."

2) Colts CB Marlin Jackson said he liked a lot of what happened in his first action since a season-ending knee injury last November. Jackson didn't start, but played extensively in the first half. "It was important from the standpoint of just tackling," Jackson said. "It's different. it's more than just seeing things in practice and then when you get out there in a live situation and they are really running and they are coming at you, and you really have to read the play. So it was good just from that standpoint to get out there, I knew that I would be able to move fine because I move good in practice, but it's difficult dealing with tendinitis, but you know I felt good out there."

3) Manning said a lack of opportunities was no excuse for a few unproductive drives in the first half on Saturday. The Colts had just two non-half-ending possessions after the first touchdown drive and produced eight and five yards. "It's up to us when we get it to stay on the field; if we're on the sidelines for a long time, not to go three-and-out and come right back off, stay on the field," Manning said ."I thought that the two times we punted tonight I thought that we had 3rd-and-5s, it'd be one thing if you had 3rd-and-12s, 3rd-and-15s, but we had reasonable third-down yardages and we just didn't convert."

THREE QUICK THOUGHTS . . .

1) The Colts' offense looks regular-season ready. Yes, WR Anthony Gonzalez dropped a pass that would have been a huge gain, and there were a couple of miscues that kept the team out of the end zone. But that's what preseason is for. You can't not like what you're seeing from the running game, and the passing offense doesn't appear to me to be out of synch. Are the Colts going to be as productive offensively in Week 1 as they will be in Week 8. Probably not, but when I look at the Colts' offense in preseason I look for an energy and a quick-tempo -- that feeling they have somethimes during the regular season when first downs and touchdowns seem inevitable -- and there have been times that has been there in the preseason. That's what makes what the Colts did last season remarkable. They entered the season with none of that and still recovered from a 3-4 start to win nine consecutive games.

2) I'm just not one that's panicking about the Colts' defense. I'm not saying it is looking like a Super Bowl unit yet, and I don't doubt that they were unhappy about the performance Saturday. The Lions moved easily at times and did real damage on third down, which is where the Colts are most focused on improving this season. But while the Colts always say injuries are no excuse the reality is in the NFL injuries are a major, major factor. DE Dwight Freeney played sparingly, as did DT Antonio Johnson and S Antoine Bethea. MLB Gary Brackett, S Bob Sanders, DE Raheem Brock, DE Robert Mathis, DE Ed Johnson and CB Kelvin Hayden did not play. That's nine core players not in the lineup. Take into account that I doubt you're seeing much of the real scheme yet, and I just don't think there has been much to judge.

3) The roster moves this week likely won't be too eventful -- with the obvious exception of the players involved. The Colts must release five players, but 75 will remain entering the final preseason game Thursday against Cincinnati. Too hard to predict the five that will get released this week, but it would be surprising if any move the needle. A few veterans appear in danger of not making the final 53-man roster: CB Dante Hughes, CB Michael Coe, OL Steve Justice. It's also going to be intriguing how the Colts handle the defensive line. There are going to be surprises there.

QUICK LINKS . . .

1) Here's Colts beat reporter Mike Chappell's story in the Indianapolis Star. He writes that Colts QB Peyton Manning wouldn't blame the Colts' defense for a lack of opportunities for the offense Sunday.

2) Chappell writes that DT ED Johnson understood "the bigger picture" Saturday. The Colts opted not to play Johnson because the third preseason game is a dry run for the regular-season opener, a game Johnson will not play because of a suspension.

3) BigBlueShoe at Stampede Blue writes that because the Colts don't care about the preseason, the Lions game is hard to analyze -- harder than most third preseason games. Agreed.

4) Here's one to ESPN AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky's "Three and Out: Colts" from Sunday morning. I agree with his take on Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell, and he seems to like the Colts' approach on defense. I agree and as I wrote here already, a lot of the problems Saturday against the Lions were because half the starting lineupwas out. He's also right on when he writes that the loss of WR Marvin Harrison won't hurt the Colts offensively.

5) The Detroit Free-Press writes that Manning always seems to play well against the Lions.

6) A link to Indy Star columnist Bob Kravitz, who writes about what the Colts know and don't know -- and what they're not sure they know -- with one preseason game remaining. Notable is that he writes that Charlie Johnson apparently has won the left tackle job over Tony Ugoh, although Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell cautions to not read too much into Ugoh playing extensively on the right side Sarurday. "I couldn't tell you if it's still open or not,'' Ugoh told Kravitz. "I'm playing where they tell me to play. If it's the right side, I'll work hard and get used to that. It's a whole different thing, going from left to right. It's like learning a new language.''

READ INDY FOOTBALL REPORT EDITOR JOHN OEHSER'S PREGAME COVERAGE OF LIONS-COLTS HERE . . .

QUICK QUOTES . . .

1) QB Peyton Manning: "I've gotten to know (Lions QB) Matthew (Stafford) since last year when he came down to our football camp in Louisiana. I just shook his hand and wished him luck. I saw (Lions QB) Daunte (Culpepper) as well. Daunte and I have known each other for a long time. I know they have a quarterback race going on, but both of them looked good tonight and I think the race is going to go down to the wire."

2) Head Coach Jim Caldwell: "It was a tale of two halves. The first half, I thought Detroit did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage. They ran the ball well, they were able to keep the ball for an extended period of time - I think we only had 15, 16 snaps from an offensive standpoint in the first half. In the second half, I thought we did a little bit better; I thought we did the things that typically you expect from our team. IT came down to a big third-down stop and a turnover and those are the kinds of things that separate you from wins and losses in this league. We certainly want to give Detroit all the credit in the world; they did a nice job and certainly gave us a lot of problems in that first half."

3) Tight end Dallas Clark: "We definitely had some chances. We capitalized on some chances they gave us. It's a credit to them, but it's also things that we need to work on. That's what preseason is for and the good thing about that is that you get another chance to get it corrected before the season starts."

MAGNIFICENT SEVENS

Magnificent Seven I: Seven training camp thoughts and observations

Magnificent Seven II: On the Colts' defensive tackle position and WR Reggie Wayne

Magnificent Seven III: On the Colts' running backs and offensive line

Magnificent Seven IV: On the Colts' offense, OG Ryan Lilja and WR Anthony Gonzalez

EXAMINER SERIES: TWENTY QUESTIONS WITH THE COLTS . . .

1) Will Jim Sorgi be the backup quarterback?

2) Will Special Teams be Special?

3) Who will be the Colts' breakout player in 2009?

4) Will loss of former Head Coach Tony Dungy hurt in 2009?

5) What will defense look like in 2009?

6) Will DT Ed Johnson impact the defense in 2009?