DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE ENCOURAGING, PIERRE GARCON AND MONDAY QUOTES
'THERE WERE A LOT OF GOOD THINGS THAT WERE DONE'While Colts defensive backs Jerraud Powers and Kelvin Hayden said the team would not accept a silver lining in Sunday's 34-16 loss to San Diego, Head Coach Jim Caldwell was complimentary of the defense on Monday.
"Our defense played hard, played tough and made that team kick five field goals, and that's a pretty high-powered offense," Caldwell said. "There were a lot of good things that were done. Our guys hustled and played extremely hard."
Defensively, Indianapolis held the NFL's No. 1-ranked offense to zero third-down conversions on eight attempts, limited it to one touchdown in five red zone opportunities and allowed only 301 yards to a team that entered Sunday averaging 418.2 yards per game.
The Colts also did not give up a touchdown pass to Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who is tied for the league lead with 23.
And while those numbers are impressive, Colts defenders said Monday said that was not enough, and that two statistics matter most: points allowed and wins.
"We played decent, but if we could have forced some turnovers or changed the game in that manner, maybe the situation would have been a lot different than what it was," Powers said. "That defense we played had some turnovers and we needed some. We held them to field goals, and I think they are number one in the league in offense. It still wasn't enough. We still could have done a lot more to give our team a better chance by making more plays to give us a better opportunity to win."
GARCON CONTINUES TO IMPROVE
Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon is starting to round into form after battling through some early-season adversity that kept him out of two games.
And despite missing those two contests, Garcon is on pace to surpass last year's total of 47 receptions.
Currently, Garcon has 38 receptions, including five in each of his last three games, for 478 yards and a touchdown.
"I think he caught the ball and ran with it well," Caldwell said of Garcon's performance against San Diego. "He had an explosive play there where he certainly almost took it in and took down deep in the red zone. I think he played better.
"He'd been having some up and down weeks because of injuries and things of that nature. I think you are starting to see that he is practicing more consistently. Therefore, I think that you can see his play is improving consistently as well."
MONDAY QUOTES
"We try to get to the root of the cause. We don't necessarily try to sugarcoat things. We have to be able to deal with them directly and solve the problem. I think that's the big thing. It's not all the same thing. It's not all the same exact situation that occurs that causes them. Those are the things that we have to address."-Colts Coach Jim Caldwell on what he focuses in on when trying to correct mistakes after a game.
"It is very important. It is tough to win a game in general with turnovers. Without them, it is a very tough deal. We have to find a way to get some turnovers (consistently). We just have to get on the same page and get this thing going."-Colts defensive back Kelvin Hayden on the importance of the Colts defense creating turnovers.
"Anytime you lose a game, and especially when you are used to winning and how this organization is, it's going to be tough. Nobody is pointing fingers at anybody, and all of the older guys are coming to the younger guys and letting us know that we just have to keep working, so that's what we are going to do."-Colts rookie running back Javarris James on the veteran players and how they are responding.
"It's tough. Like I said, we are going to go in and watch film and make corrections, and after that is over, we just basically have to put it behind us and go on to the next week. If we spend this week dwelling about the San Diego game, we will probably lose this game coming up. We have to just put this one behind us and focus on the task at hand, which is winning our division and getting back to football. We have another great opportunity playing Dallas, who seems like they are turning the curve a little bit. It will be another tough opponent and another fun game, and we will be ready for them."-Colts defensive back Jerraud Powers on how he shakes off a tough loss.
