Article: The Water Cooler: Week 8

[Andy Freeland]

Calvin Johnson said that he doesn't want to be traded, that he wants to "win in Detroit". I know those words but that sentence makes no sense (apologies to biggie and darvon).

[Rich Gapinski]

Calvin Johnson said that he doesn't want to be traded, that he wants to "win in Detroit". I know those words but that sentence makes no sense (apologies to biggie and darvon).

Maybe he meant that he wants them to trade for Billy Winn.

[Patrick Sullivan]

The Lions have already activated George Winn. What more could CJ want?

[Nancy]

Colts fire Pep Hamilton, Chudzinski will take over as OC. Of course, that won't do much since Ryan Grigson has ignored both lines for three years.

And, yes, I am revelling in the freefall of the Colts.

Well, Bradshaw and Gore can take weeks 9-14 off. Chud will remember he has running backs with about 2 games left. And Amy, I'd like to chastise you for your revelry, but I'm still snickering over XLII so I got no room to talk.

Hamilton needed to be gone. There are a lot of problems with the Colts, and I'm sure he's a fine coach but that offense is a mess. The offensive line is a big part of it, but the scheme is a disaster as well. I doubt Chud will be the OC next season, though it could happen. He could also be the next head coach. I'm thinking Grigson will go after the season as well, and that will put everything up in the air. What a mess.

[Rich Gapinski]

The Lions have already activated George Winn. What more could CJ want?

They have one Winn. He wants at least two. Duh.

[iwatt]

In a ranking of coaches least favored by camera closeups during games, the rankings are definitely :

1) Caldwelbot Mk2, who keeps blinking slowly as his team gets flagged.
2) Chuck Pagano who seems not to believe what the hell is happening
3) Jim Tomsula, who seems to be wondering were to take your mother out on her first date after her divorce.

Last year's leader in the clubhouse wasnTrestman, who seemed unable to stop staring into the flaming wreckage of the once proud franchise he was leading into the worst stretch of defensive perfomance in 90+ years of history.

[Nancy]

In a ranking of coaches least favored by camera closeups during games, the rankings are definitely :

1) Caldwelbot Mk2, who keeps blinking slowly as his team gets flagged.
2) Chuck Pagano who seems not to believe what the hell is happening
3) Jim Tomsula, who seems to be wondering were to take your mother out on her first date after her divorce.

Last year's leader in the clubhouse wasnTrestman, who seemed unable to stop staring into the flaming wreckage of the once proud franchise he was leading into the worst stretch of defensive perfomance in 90+ years of history.

Can you blame him?

[iwatt]

Can you blame him?

Every team there is a team that get's overhyped in July. It's up to the coach to keep things controled. But th dysfunction isn't only on Pagano. IIRC, before the season started there wer rumours that if he didn't make the superbowl they were firing him.

In my mind the biggest resposnibility for the Colts woes start with Grigson (trades too many picks for veterans), then Irsay (his drug issues have left some power vaccum in the organization), then Pagano (he is the HC after all).

We have all seen a QB have a bad year. We've seen 3 great years by Luck, and one bad one this year. His emchanics seem off, and it all seems to point to health issues.

The Colts need an OL. The Steelers and Packers went through this. As udneniably good as Ben and Rodgers are at making up for bad OL (remember the Packers 2010 OL couldn't run block, and 2008s Steelers were a disaster at everything), at some point the hits start piling up. The Steelers invested heavily in the OL until they have a solid to good one, and the Packers have done the same. I think the Colts are in the same position these teams were in before (really good QB who could make up for bad OL).