The Rules of Pacers Digest
Hello everyone,
Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.
A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.
Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.
Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.
Rule #1
Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:
"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"
"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"
"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"
"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"
"He/she is just delusional"
"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"
"I'm going to take a moment to point and
/ laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"
"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good?"
In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.
We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.
Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.
That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.
A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.
There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.
Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.
In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.
Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.
If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!
All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.
Rule #2
If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.
The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.
The right places to do so are:
A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.
B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.
If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.
Rule #3
If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.
When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:
A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.
B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.
To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!
Rule #4
Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.
Rule #5
When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.
An example:
If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:
http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star
Rule #6
We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.
The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.
Rule #7
Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.
It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).
We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).
However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.
Rule #8
We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.
Rule #9
Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.
Rule #10
We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.
Rule #11
Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.
A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.
Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.
Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.
Rule #1
Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:
"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"
"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"
"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"
"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"
"He/she is just delusional"
"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"
"I'm going to take a moment to point and
/ laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*""Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good?
"In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.
We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.
Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.
That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.
A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.
There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.
Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.
In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.
Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.
If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!
All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.
Rule #2
If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.
The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.
The right places to do so are:
A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.
B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.
If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.
Rule #3
If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.
When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:
A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.
B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.
To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!
Rule #4
Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.
Rule #5
When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.
An example:
If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:
http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star
Rule #6
We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.
The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.
Rule #7
Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.
It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).
We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).
However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.
Rule #8
We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.
Rule #9
Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.
Rule #10
We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.
Rule #11
Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained. -
Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
Aren't you one?Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained. -
Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
When someone helps them out it'll go back to Colts. Thanks!Comment
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Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
Article #1.
Colts' focus should be on Super Bowl, not 16-0
Insider
Green
By Jeremy Green
ESPN Insider
Archive
Decisions, decisions, decisions. That is what could be facing the Indianapolis Colts as they head toward the end of the season. With five games to play, the Colts are sitting pretty at 11-0. The way they are playing right now, home-field advantage is almost a lock.
Tony Dungy
Tony Dungy could have some difficult decisions to make down the stretch.
What are they playing for then? Well, they are playing to keep themselves in sync. You want to make sure no bad habits creep into your game down the stretch. You want to keep that same rhythm on both sides of the ball that has lifted you to a perfect start. It is a good time to work some younger players onto the field a little more in certain situations. You never know if that young player may have to step onto the field and make a play in the postseason. Oh yeah, did I mention you are also playing for perfection? That is right, perfection.
With five weeks remaining in the regular season, the Colts have a chance to do something no team in history has ever done. Yes, the 1972 Dolphins went undefeated. However, they played only a 14-game regular season. The Colts have a chance to run the table and go 16-0.
At what price, though? As the Colts near the end of their season, 16-0 should not even be entering their thought process. They should have one goal on their minds, and that is to become Super Bowl champions.
As I sit here and think of reasons the Colts should play their starters late in the season if they have home field locked up, I can come up with only one: so we can stop hearing about the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
Yes, you know the guys from down in South Florida who pop a champagne bottle every time the last undefeated team loses. The ones who forget to mention that while, yes, they were a very good team, they were not the greatest of all time. The ones who never mention that the combined record of the teams they beat during the 1972 regular season was a whopping 51-86-3. Yes, those are the guys -- the 1972 Dolphins. They may have been perfect in '72, but their attitude about it since has gotten pretty obnoxious. Like a pest, you just ignore them and move on.
Let me set the scene. It is late December and the year is 2038. I'm trying to picture Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James sitting around on a Sunday afternoon planning a party to pop a bottle of champagne when the last of the undefeated NFL teams loses, but I just can't see those guys doing that.
No, records were made to be broken. But Super Bowl rings are forever. Once you get that, nobody can take it away from you, which is why the '72 Dolphins still get camera time. If they hadn't won the Super Bowl that year, would they be talked about in the same way? Would anyone really care about the 16-0 Colts if they lost in the postseason because one of their star players was injured late in the year in a meaningless game?
No, they wouldn't. They would instead be remembered in history as the team that lost in the postseason because they were crazy enough to play their starters in a regular-season finale that was much ado about nothing.
The last time I checked, you get a ring for winning the Super Bowl no matter what your regular-season record is. Yes, even if the Colts finish 15-1 and run the table in the postseason, they will get that elusive Super Bowl ring.
For the sake of the Colts, their franchise and their fans, I actually hope they lose before that season finale. I don't want to see head coach Tony Dungy put in a position where he has to choose. He and this team are too good for that.
Jeremy Green has been an NFL scout for 10 years. Most recently, he was director of pro personnel for the Cleveland Browns.Comment
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Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
and Article #2.
Seahawks offer toughest test
Insider
Green
By Jeremy Green
ESPN Insider
Archive
As December approaches, the majority of the talk usually centers on the teams competing for playoff berths. However, this season there is another story grabbing headlines. After their absolute dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night, the Indianapolis Colts are the NFL's biggest story.
The Colts moved to 11-0 this past week and, after the way Indianapolis handled Pittsburgh, many are wondering whether this team can be beaten.
The Colts have won a multitude of ways. They have won by running over their opponents and by torching them through the air. They have won in blowouts and pulled out some close encounters. They have won with defense (Jacksonville and Pittsburgh) and won some shootouts (Cincinnati and St. Louis). They have taken care of power teams and finesse teams. It really doesn't seem to matter what opponents do, Indianapolis seems to be able to counter it.
So what is the best way to beat the Colts? It used to be power, but that no longer is the case. In the game I saw this past Monday night, Pittsburgh's supposed power should have been a big factor in its favor. Yet it was the Colts who dominated the line of scrimmage, making Pittsburgh look like a finesse team.
Two teams offered some clues as to how to contend with this juggernaut. The Cincinnati Bengals offense did whatever it wanted to the Colts. The problem was that the defense failed to hold up its end.
However, the Bengals proved that if you can protect your quarterback against Indy's speedy front four pass rushers, you can expose a secondary that doesn't cover very well across the board. We learned that if you can establish the run early and use play action, the Colts' safeties will bite hard on the run and hang their corners out to dry. We learned that if you have good offensive balance, you can keep their defense off-balance.
Jacksonville has given us the defensive blueprint. You need to have an excellent front seven. You need to be able to pressure with your front four and cover in the back seven. Dropping seven allows a defense to take away a lot of the underneath crossing routes the Colts love to run. You also can't be scared or intimidated. It was the Jaguars' defense that was laying the wood on that Sunday back in early September.
Jacksonville stymied Indianapolis all day. The problem was that its offense managed only a meager three points in the first meeting
There is the blueprint for the Colts' remaining five opponents. Do any of them have the goods to get the job done?
Tennessee Titans (3-8) -- This franchise is suffering through one of its worst seasons in recent memory. The Titans have overhauled the offense and the defense and have numerous young players at key positions.
Steve McNair
The Colts must respect the presence of Steve McNair.
One constant remains, though, and that is veteran QB Steve McNair. Any time McNair is on the field, you have a chance. He is one of the toughest and most competitive quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. McNair's biggest problem is the lack of offensive weapons around him. The Titans boast numerous talented receivers, but they do not strike fear into the heart of anyone.
The Titans don't have the offensive weapons to go up and down the field with the Colts, so their best bet would be to use more of a ball-control style of attack. The problem here is that the running game has been extremely inconsistent. Running backs Chris Brown and Travis Henry give the Titans a nice one-two punch at the position, but the offensive line does not open up holes consistently and the team struggles to sustain drives.
Defensively? Forget about it. Young corners Pacman Jones, Renaldo Hill and Andre Woolfolk do not have the ability to match up with the trio of Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley. The Titans rank 20th in overall pass defense and 26th in yards allowed per pass attempt. Those numbers will only get worse after this game.
Jacksonville Jaguars (8-3) -- Other than the New England Patriots, nobody has given the Colts as much trouble as the Jaguars. Sure, Indy has won two of the last three, but the three games have been decided by a combined 17 points. Jacksonville knows how to throw a scare into the Colts, but can it close the deal?
The one thing that gives the Jaguars a chance is their defense. They are ranked No. 3 in total defense, and their numbers should only improve when they play in Cleveland this weekend. Their defense is getting better every week, especially vs. the run, always important when playing the Colts.
So why has Jacksonville had so much success against Indianapolis? The Jags have an excellent front seven. As with the Colts, the Jaguars get great sack production and pressure from their front four. This allows them to drop seven into coverage and take away Indy's underneath crossing routes.
To beat the Colts, you can't show any fear on the defensive side of the ball and you must exude confidence. Jacksonville fits this profile. Cornerback Rashean Mathis is physical and won't back down on the outside, allowing the Jags to take away half of the field to a certain extent.
Defensively, they have the personnel to get it done. Offensively, though, it is a different story. With QB Byron Leftwich (ankle) out, they will have to turn to their backup quarterback against the Colts. RB Fred Taylor should be back from his ankle injury. This will give them a solid 1-2 punch with Greg Jones.
The biggest issue the Jags have in beating the Colts is their lack of big-play ability offensively. Look for Indianapolis to go to its hurry-up offense and jump on Jacksonville early. That could put this game away, as the Jags will have to go away from the run and they simply lack the weapons in the passing game to make up the difference, should they fall behind.
Nope, Jacksonville doesn't have the goods. Colts roll on to 13-0.
San Diego Chargers (7-4) -- The Chargers likely will be riding a six-game winning streak coming into this game, beating Oakland and Miami at home. They will come in with a lot of confidence. The Chargers know they can win here. The last team to truly give the Colts a scare in the RCA Dome was San Diego, in Week 16 of last season.
The Chargers will need balance on offense. Drew Brees needs to throw it 30-35 times, and LaDainian Tomlinson needs to carry it 25-30 times. San Diego will need to spread tight end Antonio Gates wide and get him the ball quickly to beat the front four pressure Indy can bring. L.T. also must be involved heavily in the passing game.
If these things happen, the Chargers will be in this game. To finish the job, they need one receiver to step up on the outside and put pressure on the Cover 2 scheme the Colts employ. Keenan McCardell or Eric Parker must rise to the occasion and have a big day.
San Diego will score points, but what about the defense? The Chargers boast the second-ranked run defense, which is important. They have the front seven to slow down Edgerrin James, but will this be enough?
Not if they don't start playing better in the secondary. Corners Quentin Jammer, Drayton Florence, Sammy Davis and Jamar Fletcher are going to have to play the games of their lives. All are capable and talented, but all also have failed to meet expectations.
Having the 26th-ranked pass defense and and being ranked 29th in interceptions doesn't bode well when you are facing the Colts.
Seattle Seahawks (9-2) -- With only two games left in the season by then, there is the potential that both Indy and Seattle will have No. 1 seeds locked up. Provided Seattle is playing hard still, this team gets it done. In fact, the Seahawks represent the remaining opponents' best chance for knocking off the Colts.
Shaun Alexander
Shaun Alexander could give the Colts' defense significant problems.
Seattle has the best offensive line of Indy's remaining opponents. The Seahawks can protect the QB and blow open holes in the running game. They have excellent offensive balance and an underrated defense
In Shaun Alexander, Seattle also has a man who has a great chance to be the league's MVP. The key will be staying patient. If the Seahawks can stay in the game with their defense, Alexander has a chance to carry 30-plus times and be the difference maker. He is running much more physically this season, and his ability to grind out yards and first downs could keep that explosive Indy offense on the sidelines.
That said, you know you are going to have to score points to beat the Colts. Seattle's passing offense has been on the decline of late. WR Joe Jurevicius has been the offseason signing of the year, but he doesn't give you that consistent big-play element. For Seattle to win, it will need to get Darrell Jackson back. Jackson should be healed from his knee injury for this game, which would give QB Matt Hasselbeck another option in the passing game.
Defensively, the Seahawks get little respect. They are ranked 26th in total defense. They have played with big leads at times, though, and opponents have piled up meaningless fourth quarter statistics. Seattle's defensive front is ranked fourth in the NFL in sacks. The Seahawks have the guys up front to rattle QB Peyton Manning in the pocket, potentially.
Seattle might not have a lot of big-name players on defense, but the unit is steady and doesn't make a lot of mental errors. This alone will keep the team in the game.
When you have two evenly matched teams going head-to-head, there has to be a deciding factor. It might be the special teams, where Seattle has had numerous issues with penalties. You need to be sound on special teams to beat the Colts.
Arizona Cardinals (3-8) -- If the Colts arrive at this game 15-0, Tony Dungy will face a difficult decision. Do you rest the starters and play the backups, or go for the record? Of course, these are the Cardinals, so he might be able to accomplish both.
Arizona likely will come in somewhere around 5-10 or 6-9, with a pretty soft schedule coming up. Despite the record, the Cardinals will have one huge factor in their favor. They can throw the ball all over the field.
They boast the third-ranked pass offense, and they will employ a lot of shotgun formations to keep immobile Kurt Warner away from the Indy pass rush. If he gets time, with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin as targets, Warner will pick apart a suspect Indy secondary.
Defensively, the Cardinals haven't been able to stop anyone on a consistent basis. If Manning and Co. play, this will be a shootout. Arizona will be loose and playing with nothing to lose. If the Colts want to put their name in the record books, they will need to play their key offensive starters to get it done.
Jeremy Green has been an NFL scout for 10 years. Most recently, he was director of pro personnel for the Cleveland Browns.Comment
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Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
Originally posted by btowncolt
You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?
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Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
Yes - Peyton gets so rattled
The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.Comment
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Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
"Warner will pick apart a suspect Indy secondary"
That is all I heard before the pitt game... how "suspect" the Indy D was.Comment
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Re: Insider request? You better believe it!
Me thinks the Cards great passing stats may have more to do with them falling behind in almost every game.Comment
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