So do you feel better about the Colt's divisional chances now?

[krunk]

Had to get a good laugh reading over the Texans Forums.  Somebody said "Did somebody sneak a letterman jacket on the plane or something?"

 

I remember that Letterman Jacket game when Kubiak was there.  They went to New England and got Smoked just like yesterday.

[krunk]

7 hours ago, JPFolks said:

After watching the complete annihilation of the Texans tonight by the Patriots, and realizing that with a win this week at worst we'll be 1 game behind in our division after a 0-2 start, I wonder if anyone is feeling a little better about at least winning our division.  Sure, it's not anything to be too excited about, as we look like the same old AFC South, but it was the first chance I had to see this supposed Juggernaut Houston offense and as bad as we have played the Patriots, I don't believe we ever got whooped that badly, shut out by a 3rd team rookie QB making his first start with 4 days notice.  

 

Of course, for the pessimists out there, there's plenty to talk about as well, such as New England winning their 5th Super Bowl with Tom Brady which sure looks more likely than not at this time.  They are simply better coached (and drafted) than anyone else.  They had their second best player Gronk only playing a handful of plays and several other key starters out in addition to Brady and currently have the best record in Football.  The NFC looks down this year (I mean, Seattle, Arizona, Green Bay, Carolina all look worse than last year and the Viking lost their starting QB AND their HOF Running Back but still might be the best team in the NFC. Cincy and Pittsburgh in the AFC looked discombobulated at times, but I expect both to fight it out for a first round bye in the end but New England sure looks like a huge favorite and even something like losing their starting (or in their case their first 2 QB's) didn't seem to phase them at all.  

 

Yeah, I know, it's only week 2.... but New England had to put everyone on alert in the league that an angry Brady coming back against Cleveland is just going to be hoping on an already rollin' train.  If we can win the next 5 games (all should be winnable) we may be able to compete with everyone once we get our guys back each week over that stretch and be ready for a much tougher final 9 games.  San Diego may be the toughest game in that stretch and historically we play awful against them, but I feel much better seeing Houston humiliated and their confidence sunk.   

 

What do you guys think? 

Here's a quote from one of the Texans forum posters as I read along:

 

"Point #4-OB is gonna have to tone it down with Miller. Miller just hasn't been very effective running the ball much at all, and if he keeps going at this rate he's just gonna get hurt bad. A lot of it is shoddy protection, but it's becoming more and more evident that he just isn't used to this workload. I'm confident he will get better, but until then we can't be pounding it with him as often as we have been."

 

I remember we had a discussion about Lamar Miller a while back.  He's nothing close to Arian Foster in terms of what he can do for that offense.

 

So far he's averaged 3.6 yards a carry through 3 games. 21 to 28 carries a game. Don't get me wrong because I think he's got some talent.  Doesn't show up when you need him to though.

 

Gores YPC is higher than him right now and he'd probably get more yards if we gave him 20 plus carries.  Not that I'm suggesting that in any way.
 

[Gavin]

To add onto what I said above no I don't feel better.

 

-The Texans loss does not give us a pass rush.

-The Texans loss does not help our non existent run game

-The Texans loss does not heal Moncrief

-The Texans loss does not give us more athletic coverage ILB's

-The Texans loss doesn't get David Parry off the field on pass rush snaps and McGill/Ridgeway on the field along with Kerr.....Parry has been on the field for 42 pass rush snaps

[Malakai432]

I'll feel more comfortable if they beat San Diego this Sunday.  I don't think last nights game vs the Patriots will be any representation on how the Texans will play the Colts.  I do think the division is a wash though, it's mediocre at best. 

[deedub75]

1 hour ago, Jim H. said:

In the midst of watching some of last night's game, I realized it's not the Patriots I despise...it's Brady.

 

Watching that game makes me despise Grigson and Pagano.

[krunk]

I feel better about the Colts chances when we solve the Colt Related issues that hold us back.  I'm not worried about the teams we play.  Enemy is in our own camp and we have to subdue him.  Don't think everything will be solved this year, but we are capable of solving most of the execution related issues.

[OLD FAN MAN]

3 hours ago, bravo4460 said:

Sometimes I feel like we worry about other teams in the division too much. We shouldn't hope for the other teams to be bad just so the Colts can win. We should worry about the Colts getting better and actually winning a game. The rest of the division doesn't matter if the Colts continue to get out coached and out played every game. I usually try and be positive but the Colts have shown nothing that says they can squeeze into the playoffs or win the division. 

 

If the Colts played the Patriots instead of the Texans the result would have been the exact same, maybe worse. The Texans actually have a defense.

 

Thanks to good coaching though, the Patriots had a great game plan going into the game and it was obvious that they had the advantage.

 

I do however agree that once everyone one the defense is healthy for the Colts, (If that's even possible at this point) then the Colts could possibly turn things around. They have to prove it first. 

I agree, good post

[OffensivelyPC]

The bottom line is, we're not a super bowl caliber team.  Doesn't really matter if we win the division or not.  

[MacDee1975]

1 hour ago, OffensivelyPC said:

The bottom line is, we're not a super bowl caliber team.  Doesn't really matter if we win the division or not.  

 

This is exactly right.  

 

Does winning a garbage division, whether your the Texans, Colts or Jags, really mean anything if you are far below the best teams in the conference?

[Steamboat_Shaun]

What the Texans did last night was so much worse than anything the Colts have the past 2 games. We went to Denver, with our scrub 2nd string defense, and actually hung in there until 1:49 or something like that. The Texans have JJ Watt, Clowney, and Wilfork, were going against a 3rd stringer, and they were a complete non-factor. The Texans were NEVER in that game last night, and proved on national television that they're pretenders.

 

That 3rd stringer looked OK vs the Texans D, and I think Luck just might throw for 500 yards against them. Just use the same strategy as New England used: double team Watt & Clowney, and let Kelly or Mewhort single Wilfork.

[JPFolks]

8 hours ago, HungarianColtsFan said:

 

I'm obviously biased, but Hungary is a great place, and Budapest has developed a lot in past few years.

Budapest had a very similar look and vibe and personality as Chicago where I lived previously.  We also found no shortage of people who spoke fluent English.  We were ill unfortunately (got some food poisoning) so we sat at our balcony between the Key Bridge and the Parliament building facing towards it with the Danube between us. I have a photo of me with my feet up on the balcony rail looking at the Parliament building while watching the Colts play on my laptop.  

[HungarianColtsFan]

46 minutes ago, JPFolks said:

Budapest had a very similar look and vibe and personality as Chicago where I lived previously.  We also found no shortage of people who spoke fluent English.  We were ill unfortunately (got some food poisoning) so we sat at our balcony between the Key Bridge and the Parliament building facing towards it with the Danube between us. I have a photo of me with my feet up on the balcony rail looking at the Parliament building while watching the Colts play on my laptop.  

 

 

That must have been a game to remember!

[jbaron04]

13 hours ago, zibby43 said:

High-quality (not to mention very reasonable) post.

 

I agree that there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic.  I'm anxious to see how the Colts' defense performs once it becomes fully healthy.  Anderson, Davis, Green and Geathers will make the defense a much better tackling one.   P. Robinson is still an unknown quantity at this point.  I have a feeling that Farley will make an impact on defense, albeit in a reserve role, by the end of the season.  The arrow is pointing up on that kid and it speaks volumes that he was retained over Guy. 

 

Still worried about the pass rush and our LBs in coverage.

 

It seems that a lot of teams in the league are going smaller, faster, and more athletic on defense (something the Colts used to be in the Polian, 4-3, Tampa 2 days), whereas the Colts are stuck with bigger, heavier, and less athletic personnel (a line of thinking that has already fallen out of favor in the NFL with the league becoming one dominated by elite WRs and pass-catching RBs).

 

Size is great on the DL, and Anderson is plenty athletic, but the LBs are slow and lumbering.  And we are still desperately lacking explosive pass rushers that can play with burst and good lean.

 

Finally . . . I'm sold on Will Fuller.  But I'm not sold on Brock Osweiler. 

I feel at times like we was ahead of the curve and also behind.  Like we had small fast guys when everyone was playing big. Now we big but every one else is fast lol 

[jbaron04]

5 hours ago, OffensivelyPC said:

The bottom line is, we're not a super bowl caliber team.  Doesn't really matter if we win the division or not.  

We need to get a high draft pick to get some defensive game wreckers 

[csmopar]

14 hours ago, ColtsBTM12 said:

When I first looked at our schedule when it was released, I quickly thought to myself that we needed to get off to a fast start (5-2 or better) within the first 7 games because they are all winnable and like you said the final 9 are much tougher. These next few games will be huge and I truly believe they will define our season. Even with the division up for grabs, if we don't get hot right now I just don't see us making the playoffs because things get much tougher past week 7. We can't afford to be 3-4 or worse going into a stretch of games that includes KC, GB, Pit, NY, and Minn.

The only game in there that worries me is the steelers. 

 

Green Bay looks off, Minnesota lost their QB and RB, KC and NY aren't exactly scary either 

[ColtsBTM12]

6 minutes ago, csmopar said:

The only game in there that worries me is the steelers. 

 

Green Bay looks off, Minnesota lost their QB and RB, KC and NY aren't exactly scary either 

Yeah but we don't have the benefit of the doubt either. The way the Colts have looked these first two games I would be scared of any team.

[csmopar]

8 minutes ago, ColtsBTM12 said:

Yeah but we don't have the benefit of the doubt either. The way the Colts have looked these first two games I would be scared of any team.

Granted but I also think we're better when healthy for sure. Getting a healthy secondary is really gonna help more than most think. Yes, we're 0 and 2 but we also lost 2 very tight games, and that's with practice squad players on Defense.  We were 2 very dumb coaching calls away from being 2 and 0 with that defense. So I'm confident. Now if we lose sunday, then I'll start to really get nervous

[ColtsBTM12]

1 minute ago, csmopar said:

Granted but I also think we're better when healthy for sure. Getting a healthy secondary is really gonna help more than most think. Yes, we're 2 and 0, but we also lost 2 very tight games, and that's with practice squad players on Defense.  We were 2 very dumb coaching calls away from being 2 and 0 with that defense. So I'm confident. Now if we lose sunday, then I'll start to really get nervous

The defense will hopefully be better when we get guys back, but it'll take time for those guys to comeback and return to form. And the way people are continuing to drop like flies, it really could take some time .Due to injuries, I don't know if we will ever get a true glimpse of the potential of our defense this season. But yeah, we need to win on Sunday. I won't be too confident or optimistic until we get that first win.

[IinD]

Our division is terrible so if we can get a .500 record or better, we'll win the division. Not saying much, but at least we'll have a 17 game.

 

I really hate our division honestly. To many bad teams (so far).

[NewColtsFan]

 

I try not to read too much into what a team does in the first two weeks of a season.

 

We've started 0-2 the last 3 years in a row....   and in 2014 the Colts still went all the way to the AFC Championship game.

 

That said.....

 

I feel somewhat better that Texas has yet to put it altogether yet...

 

I feel somewhat better than J'Ville has yet to put it altogether yet...

 

I'm a little concerned that Tennessee is better than we all think......

 

But,  the sooner we get healthy,  the better we'll be and we should at least be competitive the rest of the way.

 

At least, that's my hope.

 

[IndyTrav]

4 hours ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

What the Texans did last night was so much worse than anything the Colts have the past 2 games. We went to Denver, with our scrub 2nd string defense, and actually hung in there until 1:49 or something like that. The Texans have JJ Watt, Clowney, and Wilfork, were going against a 3rd stringer, and they were a complete non-factor. The Texans were NEVER in that game last night, and proved on national television that they're pretenders.

 

That 3rd stringer looked OK vs the Texans D, and I think Luck just might throw for 500 yards against them. Just use the same strategy as New England used: double team Watt & Clowney, and let Kelly or Mewhort single Wilfork.

 

I completely disagree with this. 

 

Houston, on a short week, plays IN New England against a team that they have zero ability to game plan for....

 

Meanwhile Bill and his staff have 3years worth of tape on the Texans, and intimate knowledge of nearly all of the Houston coaches....

 

This is a game you look back on and think to yourself "no duh" that happened. 

[AZColt11]

I think the division is still possible if they can win this weekend.  However, what's the end-game?  And can the Colts of THIS year get there?  I don't think so.  But I suppose we've seen stranger things in this league.  

[Hoose]

I don't fear the second half of the schedule as much as others. Yes, its going to be tough, but this team is going to get healthy, and with a healthy Defensive line and backfield, they can hold their own. This team will evolve and improve through the season. 

I think the O-line will get better as both Ryan and Good gain more experience, and with Haeg evolving into the go to backup. 

 

Honestly, its the offensive scheme that has me worried; Chud has to step it up in San Diego. Use the passing game to set up the run. Utilize short passes to the WRs, TEs and RBs. Protect Luck by getting the ball out sooner. Do that and the team has an excellent chance to win Sunday. And once they get one under their belt, they will be off and running. 

 

[Hoose]

47 minutes ago, Hoose said:

I don't fear the second half of the schedule as much as others. Yes, its going to be tough, but this team is going to get healthy, and with a healthy Defensive line and backfield, they can hold their own. This team will evolve and improve through the season. 

I think the O-line will get better as both Ryan and Good gain more experience, and with Haeg evolving into the go to backup. 

 

Honestly, its the offensive scheme that has me worried; Chud has to step it up in San Diego. Use the passing game to set up the run. Utilize short passes to the WRs, TEs and RBs. Protect Luck by getting the ball out sooner. Do that and the team has an excellent chance to win Sunday. And once they get one under their belt, they will be off and running. 

 

So yes, I think they can stil win it. But it's not Houston Who will be the toughest rival: it's the Jags. 

[#12.]

12 hours ago, OffensivelyPC said:

The bottom line is, we're not a super bowl caliber team. 

 

No way.

 

So, the AFC South leader, probable winner was blown out by the Patriots?  What's new?

 

Can we actually win a game before we start creating threads like this?

 

No, can we win a quarter, can we get a lead in a game before we start creating threads like this?

 

 

 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

I have got a few games/predictions wrong this season so far but I still firmly believe the best Houston will go is 9-7 and I said the Jags would be crap and they are 0-2 so far. Titans got a nice win over the Lions but they still aren't a threat to win the Division IMO. A win on Sunday would be huge and build momentum so we will see. I think we have as good a chance as anyone of winning the Division.

[compuls1v3]

21 hours ago, JPFolks said:

After watching the complete annihilation of the Texans tonight by the Patriots, and realizing that with a win this week at worst we'll be 1 game behind in our division after a 0-2 start, I wonder if anyone is feeling a little better about at least winning our division.  Sure, it's not anything to be too excited about, as we look like the same old AFC South, but it was the first chance I had to see this supposed Juggernaut Houston offense and as bad as we have played the Patriots, I don't believe we ever got whooped that badly, shut out by a 3rd team rookie QB making his first start with 4 days notice.  

 

Of course, for the pessimists out there, there's plenty to talk about as well, such as New England winning their 5th Super Bowl with Tom Brady which sure looks more likely than not at this time.  They are simply better coached (and drafted) than anyone else.  They had their second best player Gronk only playing a handful of plays and several other key starters out in addition to Brady and currently have the best record in Football.  The NFC looks down this year (I mean, Seattle, Arizona, Green Bay, Carolina all look worse than last year and the Viking lost their starting QB AND their HOF Running Back but still might be the best team in the NFC. Cincy and Pittsburgh in the AFC looked discombobulated at times, but I expect both to fight it out for a first round bye in the end but New England sure looks like a huge favorite and even something like losing their starting (or in their case their first 2 QB's) didn't seem to phase them at all.  

 

Yeah, I know, it's only week 2.... but New England had to put everyone on alert in the league that an angry Brady coming back against Cleveland is just going to be hoping on an already rollin' train.  If we can win the next 5 games (all should be winnable) we may be able to compete with everyone once we get our guys back each week over that stretch and be ready for a much tougher final 9 games.  San Diego may be the toughest game in that stretch and historically we play awful against them, but I feel much better seeing Houston humiliated and their confidence sunk.   

 

What do you guys think? 

Short term memory?  While we didn't get shut out, and it was Tom Brady in there, our AFC Champtionship game was a pretty big whooping in my humble opinion.... Hopefully we've learned from those mistakes!

[King Colt]

Way too early to pick in this division. Look at the Jags for one example week one they are Kings, week two they are paupers. The new big boss Texans were shown the door in Gillette Stadium and their tails are still sore from dragging. The Titans I don't think will get better or worse this season, they are a 500 club. The Colts aren't going much further with the injury list that won't go away. Bottom line for the AFC South will be the last quarter and who is healthy. Right now after week tow it is a pipe dream to honestly believe the Colts are better than Pittsburgh and New England. 

[JPFolks]

18 hours ago, compuls1v3 said:

Short term memory?  While we didn't get shut out, and it was Tom Brady in there, our AFC Champtionship game was a pretty big whooping in my humble opinion.... Hopefully we've learned from those mistakes!

A shut out is a rarity in the NFL.  A blowout is not.  Houston has now been shut out 2 times in 4 games.

[krunk]

48 minutes ago, JPFolks said:

A shut out is a rarity in the NFL.  A blowout is not.  Houston has now been shut out 2 times in 4 games.

Yeah and every single time Houston roles into that New England game its with the league talking about how good they are. How improved on defense and what not. Blow out every time.

[Synthetic]

 

You gotta win a single game first, and then maybe talk about your playoff chances. 

 

Jim Mora said it best...

 

 

[Jules]

Hard to say the NFC "looks down" after just a few weeks. I personally think Carolina will be strong all year and have a chance to go back to the SB again. Seattle is another team who often peaks in the second half of the season. 

 

In the AFC, divisional chances are just that.......meh right now. It's a bad bad division. And I would not even count out the Titans either if they win at home this weekend vs. Oakland. 

 

The sad thing is nobody in this division has a snow balls chance in hell of probably getting by the Pats or Steelers or maybe even a few other AFC teams come playoff time. Our best bet is the Bengals in the playoffs who love to find ways to blow it anyway.

 

Do I feel BETTER about our division chances? Maybe........but not sure it matters much if I think we get mauled later. We still have major major weaknesses on this team right now even if we squeaked by a few middle of the pack to bad teams.

[Jules]

23 hours ago, Hoose said:

So yes, I think they can stil win it. But it's not Houston Who will be the toughest rival: it's the Jags. 

 

Well, the Jags won't probably win enough overall games but they WILL show up for us this year. They often do in at least one game. I am not expecting the game in London to be easy at all........

[RockThatBlue]

On 9/23/2016 at 7:12 AM, GoDeep said:

Wow...Osweiler is trash.  The Texans spent a gajillion dollars on a back up QB...LOL!

They should have kept Hoyer if they wanted a mediocre QB. Would have been much cheaper too.

[JPFolks]

14 hours ago, Jules said:

Hard to say the NFC "looks down" after just a few weeks. I personally think Carolina will be strong all year and have a chance to go back to the SB again. Seattle is another team who often peaks in the second half of the season. 

 

In the AFC, divisional chances are just that.......meh right now. It's a bad bad division. And I would not even count out the Titans either if they win at home this weekend vs. Oakland. 

 

The sad thing is nobody in this division has a snow balls chance in hell of probably getting by the Pats or Steelers or maybe even a few other AFC teams come playoff time. Our best bet is the Bengals in the playoffs who love to find ways to blow it anyway.

 

Do I feel BETTER about our division chances? Maybe........but not sure it matters much if I think we get mauled later. We still have major major weaknesses on this team right now even if we squeaked by a few middle of the pack to bad teams.

I don't think we're disagreeing... teams will emerge and decline in ways we don't see yet, but I think after seeing Houston's performance, winning our division (which is always the first goal) is clearly doable.

[MTC]

As long as we have a better record than the Texans, we'll get in. Titans and Jaguars stink.

[OffensivelyPC]

On 9/24/2016 at 0:05 AM, #12. said:

 

No way.

 

So, the AFC South leader, probable winner was blown out by the Patriots?  What's new?

 

Can we actually win a game before we start creating threads like this?

 

No, can we win a quarter, can we get a lead in a game before we start creating threads like this?

 

 

 

 

Pretty hard to talk about winning the division when - at least at the time this thread was created - we were 0-2.  lol.

[#12.]

9 minutes ago, OffensivelyPC said:

Pretty hard to talk about winning the division when - at least at the time this thread was created - we were 0-2.  lol.

 

Right? 

 

That said, thank God AFC South.  You complete one pass play and feel like you're right back in the mix.  lol

[chad72]

We will face a desperate Jags team, 2-2 is a must for divisional hopes.

[coltsfanatic24]

The division is not good but it depends how healthy we can be. I had us winning the division 9-7 by default.