Are we contenders?

[gacoop1]

I believe Ballard will go offense first with an impact running back like Cook to complement Luck and avoid so many hits.  Then, he'll go all out on Defense even if he has to trade multiple picks to get after an edge...One or two edge will make a difference if you play your cards right.....

[gacoop1]

Anything is an upgrade from Grigson.

[BloodyChamp]

Every position is an improvement if there's good drafting and free agency. I mean that's just a generic, hollow thing to say. You don't just connect the dots and start winning. If I were the Colts I would draft whatever best player is available at the time. I realize that hasn't always been best for different reasons but there first pick is pretty late by the standards of a team with such little talent. Getting your heart set on 1 position only to draft the 3rd guy in mind while there are guys in other positions you had in mind first might cost you those guys. Besides I think we all know what this team really needs is to learn how to be ready to play football on Sunday again.

[Jules]

Contenders for what?

 

The Super Bowl? Absolutely not. We are not even in the same realm as the Patriots and the Steelers usually pummel us too.

 

The division? Depends. To win the division again we will need to you know beat Houston. The Titans are rapidly improving too.

 

[ManningGM]

This team will never be true contenders as long as Pagano is here.

[UKColt13]

No

[braveheartcolt]

Yes. No. Don't know. Can we be? Of course. Will we be? Who knows.

[ManningGM]

4 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

That's the hope, that he'll be able to do with the Colts what he did with the Chiefs. We'll have Luck instead of Alex Smith. It still takes time to build a team from scraps though, so a SB won't happen soon, especially with the Pats and Steelers still on top. I can see winning the division this year, but I don't see beating the Steelers or Pats. It'll be a game of hot Potato, trying to dodge them in the playoffs, should we make it there.

Contenders shouldn't dodge teams come playoff time. They should be embracing the opportunity of playing their long hated rival in an elimination game.

[HungarianColtsFan]

6 hours ago, riftastic28 said:

I feel we are ..  Our defense is soft but with a good draft and free agency I think we could make a run . The offense put up 20+ every week . I even think are secondary is good we just didn't have a pass rush ... we need a D line and line backers . The O line looked alot better towards the end of the season . Decent running game and wide outs  we could make a push . I think afc championship wouldn't be far fetched . What do you guys think 

 

In my opinion, it is premature to say that we're contenders, so is to say we aren't. Let's wait and see how FA and draft pans out. Colts need serious reinforcement on D, and I would like to see first how our new GM addresses this issue. 

 

Just my 2 cents....

[Chucklez]

Guys.... seriously? I like to be optimistic as much as the next guy, but we were 3rd in the AFC South last season and have only cut or lost players since... Until proven otherwise we are exactly just that, a 3rd placed team in the AFC south.

Yeah you can say we just need to focus on D and we have luck etc etc. but until that D does improve, the best we can hope for is winning the AFC south and maybe a playoff game or two... never a contender with that D.

[neug3246]

6 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Well, the Texans are getting J.J. Watt back next year. Add him to the no1 defense, and that's a recipe for disaster in h2h games vs them. It's sink or swim for us. Titans have 6 draft picks in the top 75, Jags have a new coach and another high pick, could easily take someone like Fournette, which would be a disaster, and the Texans always seem to draft well. We have to have a solid draft, and have less room for error than the other teams due to a poor overall team and less picks.

If the Titans hit like they did last year with all their high draft pics plus FA they could be the team to watch in the AFC South. That is scary to think of. The Texans will always be on that edge of always being just good enough or on the outside looking in, and the Jags have talent but need to find a way to put it together. As for the Colts a strengthen D and we would see much improvements but in order to make that deep push we need to score early and often. I saw before we, and I think everyone here know it, we start slow and end in playing catch up or we start fast and coast in the second half. The only way we make a strong push or have a team that is competitive with anyone is if we score score and don't stop scoring all game for 4 quarters. If we could score 7+ points in every quarter next year that would be a force that people would hate to play, because we would defiantly have those quarters where we would score 17-21 plus points too and anywhere in between. 

[neug3246]

2 hours ago, ManningGM said:

This team will never be true contenders as long as Pagano is here.

 

Kinda feel the same way... He isn't aggressive enough as a HC, especially with our offense. 

[Luck is Good]

No they are not contenders. The Colts finished 3rd in the AFC South last season. Andrew spearheads a good offense but it's not consistent enough week in and week out. And we know the defense isn't very good. They'll beat some teams next season but won't be in the upper echelon of the AFC

[runthepost]

No we are not contenders this is a very silly question. We are in tier 3 or 4 in the afc.

[runthepost]

Plus on the bad side Tennessee will most likely win the division next year

[coltsfeva]

Adding a healthy Geathers, Langford, Robinson and Anderson will make a difference. Assuming the o line plays well, they add an explosive back, ILB, a pass rush and run stopper through FA or the draft and we could see a much improved team. Staying healthy at that point is key. IF all those things happen, the Colts could surprise some people. 

[Chucklez]

5 minutes ago, coltsfeva said:

Adding a healthy Geathers, Langford, Robinson and Anderson will make a difference. Assuming the o line plays well, they add an explosive back, ILB, a pass rush and run stopper through FA or the draft and we could see a much improved team. Staying healthy at that point is key. IF all those things happen, the Colts could surprise some people. 

Injuries happen, you cant use them as excuses. Key people will get injured next year too, it's part of the game and has to be accounted for.

I get it's the time to be optimistic about your team and there is so much hope in FA and the draft, but until it becomes a reality, we are what we are and that is unequivocally NOT a contender. There's no guarantee we draft well, there's no guarantee we bring in good FAs.

If Ifs and buts were candy and nuts etc etc.....

[lollygagger8]

Are we talking 2017 or 2018? 

 

We need 4 -5 LB's, S, NT, RB, TE etc.

 

If Ballard can somehow fix all of this in one draft/FA, then he'll easily get GM of the year. 

 

 

[MacDee1975]

Contenders for the AFS South Championship?  Without question.  I guess everyone forgets this team was 1 play away from winning the division this year, with a garbage roster and complete disfunction from the GM down. Why would they not be contenders next year?  They lose nothing in FA except old inneffective players, have 50+ million in cap room, and 5 picks in the first 4 rounds;  will easily be a better team next year.   The only wildcard, as someone has already mentioned, is that Tennessee is poised to make a huge jump if they hit on the draft (again);  they also have tons of cap room to work with.

 

Contenders for the AFC Championship?  Hell no.

[SilentHill]

I'd say No, The defense is bad and the personnel doesn't fit the scheme.

[aaron11]

11 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Patience is going to be key.    Both for the franchise and the fan base.     So far the fan base has not done a good job of being patient.     Will be interesting to see how they react in 2017.......

 

i dont think you have been around long enough to understand why we are so impatient.  first of all we sucked for years during the 80s and 90s.  we were plenty patient during that era

 

it took peyton 6 years to win a playoff game.  then we should have won at least two, and probably three superbowls!  colts were the best team in 2005, and we had a better team than the saints in 2009

 

now we are wasting lucks career, and hes taking too many hits. we're mad about pagano becasue he's a mediocre coach that makes too many mistakes

[Rackeen305]

12 hours ago, Lawrence Owen said:

No.

Offensively, yes. top 10 and can put up points on anyone.

Defensively...there is as much meat as a skeleton.  We need to rebuild 1/2 the starters on defense. 

 

Easy with the "put up points on anybody". See Pittsburgh game (28-7), KC game (30-14), Denver game (34-20).. I'm optimistic that the team will get better, but I'm also a realist. And the 3 teams I just mentioned made the playoffs so...

[jet1968]

The Colts got closer to being contenders when they fired Grigson. 

[braveheartcolt]

5 hours ago, runthepost said:

Plus on the bad side Tennessee will most likely win the division next year

Well, they have a 25% chance........

[Chucklez]

2 minutes ago, braveheartcolt said:

Well, they have a 25% chance........

We don't count the Jags, 33% really.... 

 

[braveheartcolt]

Just now, Chucklez said:

We don't count the Jags, 33% really.... 

 

Yeah, I thought about that.......but did not want to tempt fate!

[richard pallo]

Of course we are.

[jskinnz]

15 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I think the majority are optimistic about the new year and possibly have had too much to drink on Valentine's day lol. We have an outside chance to win the division, and that's it. We are nowhere near a contender. Our offense is still figuring things out and is inconsistent. We need a WR to step up other than Hilton, we need a TE to emerge as a leader, and we need our O-Line to have a starting 5 we can count on. The defense is just terrible. It's needs to be stripped from the bone and almost started over. Basically have a bunch of starters who should be backups, and the guys who could be starters like Henry Anderson and Clayton Geathers are iffy. 8-8 and a transition year IMO.

 

Per usual, I pretty much disagree with the overall take.

 

The Colts have something that most teams in their situation don't - a franchise level QB.  Further, the Giants were an all time bad defense last year and in one off season, completely turned it around.  Did you or anyone else go into the 2016 season thinking that Atlanta was a contender?  I would guess not.

 

It is the NFL.  The league is littered with worst to first stories.  It happens every year.  I would not be surprised at all if they are an upper echelon team next year.

[NewColtsFan]

3 hours ago, aaron11 said:

i dont think you have been around long enough to understand why we are so impatient.  first of all we sucked for years during the 80s and 90s.  we were plenty patient during that era

 

it took peyton 6 years to win a playoff game.  then we should have won at least two, and probably three superbowls!  colts were the best team in 2005, and we had a better team than the saints in 2009

 

now we are wasting lucks career, and hes taking too many hits. we're mad about pagano becasue he's a mediocre coach that makes too many mistakes

 

You're about the 10th or 20th person to have made this post to me over the 5 years that I've been here.

 

And the truth is,  I've known all of that BEFORE I ever found this website.    Remember, as a member of the media I followed the NFL closely for decades.     So, I know the Colts history.

 

I'm somewhat new to the website.     But I'm not new to the Colts or to the NFL.     Honestly.

 

 

 

[Smonroe]

17 minutes ago, jskinnz said:

 

Per usual, I pretty much disagree with the overall take.

 

The Colts have something that most teams in their situation don't - a franchise level QB.  Further, the Giants were an all time bad defense last year and in one off season, completely turned it around.  Did you or anyone else go into the 2016 season thinking that Atlanta was a contender?  I would guess not.

 

It is the NFL.  The league is littered with worst to first stories.  It happens every year.  I would not be surprised at all if they are an upper echelon team next year.

 

And first to worst, i.e. Carolina Panthers. 

 

There were probably 4 losses last season that could have gone the other way with slight improvements to the D.   That gets us into the playoffs, and anything can happen from there. 

 

I like the way the O line is trending, there's no reason that can't continue.  But the D needs an overhaul to become average.

[Jason_]

6 hours ago, Chucklez said:

Injuries happen, you cant use them as excuses.

 

 

http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2017/1/26/14399536/packers-defense-dom-capers-return-mike-mccarthy-press-conference-injuries-clay-matthews

Quote

I think when you look at (Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins, and LaDarius Gunter), they did a lot of good things in their first year. We have a long history the last 11 years with guys making a big jump in their second years ... both Randall and Q had multiple injuries to deal with this year ... I thought Joe Whitt did a tremendous job getting those guys ready. We just never ever had any consistency with who were were playing with in consecutive weeks.

I’m excited about their future, I think they’re going to be really good players for us ... both Q and Damarious will be working out together out there in California. They’ve got their workout plans set, they’ll start working in a week, week and a half. Those guys will learn and grow from their experience this year.

 

 

So, is Mike McCarthy no longer one of the better head coaches in the league because he pointed out the obvious that injuries do in fact have an impact on the field and in terms of gameplanning? 

 

 

Quote

Key people will get injured next year too, it's part of the game and has to be accounted for.

 

yes they do need to be accounted for, and the person responsible for accounting for those injuries is the GM.  It's his responsibility to provide competent enough depth to compensate for injuries.  If he doesn't, then your team winds up signing guys off the street (like Rashaad Melvin, Chris Milton etc ) and performance on the field severely suffers. 

[Jason_]

4 hours ago, SilentHill said:

I'd say No, The defense is bad and the personnel doesn't fit the scheme.

 

how does the current personnel not fit the scheme? please elaborate

[Yoshinator]

1 hour ago, braveheartcolt said:

Well, they have a 25% chance........

By this logic, the Patriots have a 25% chance of winning their division every year as well. You know that's not true. This is only accurate if every team is created equal. Right now, we need a consistent offense and a whole new defense.

[Yoshinator]

1 hour ago, richard pallo said:

Of course we are.

Answer me honestly, would you bet real money that the Colts could beat the Pats or Steelers? Something that could affect your pocketbook? The Raiders are a problem too with Carr back. I think we can win the division, but a new GM by himself won't make us contenders, he still has to fix the team and hit on a lot of new players, which it seems you are assuming is a given.

[gacoop1]

Contenders?? You're joking, right?

[Smonroe]

18 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

By this logic, the Patriots have a 25% chance of winning their division every year as well. You know that's not true. This is only accurate if every team is created equal. Right now, we need a consistent offense and a whole new defense.

 

He didn't use the sarcasm font, but I'm pretty sure he was being facetious. 

 

However, the Browns would gladly take those odds!

[LJpalmbeacher2]

At this very moment ? No

 

But we have plenty of cap space to add good talent in FA,

 

If our new GM can hit. in the dfaft. along with FA there's no reason why we can't. at least be contenders in our division. And remember. our conference isn't that good.

[Yoshinator]

Just now, Smonroe said:

 

He didn't use the sarcasm font, but I'm pretty sure he was being facetious. 

 

However, the Browns would gladly take those odds!

I couldn't tell honestly. If it was sarcasm, I apologize. Yeah, if I was a browns fan, I'd take those odds! LOL. It must be terrible getting the top pick or even two 1st round picks every year and messing them both up.

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, LJpalmbeacher said:

At this very moment ? No

 

But we have plenty of cap space to add good talent in FA,

 

If our new GM can hit. in the dfaft. along with FA there's no reason why we can't. at least be contenders in our division. And remember. our conference isn't that good.

Yep, but it's top heavy, and it seems we'll have to beat the Pats to get to the SB eventually, especially if Brady plays 3-5 more years. The Steelers and Raiders are good enough to beat us, we have to start by beating them as soon as 2018. This year, we need to fill the holes and develop our players. Figure out plans for the future.

[braveheartcolt]

1 hour ago, Jared Cisneros said:

By this logic, the Patriots have a 25% chance of winning their division every year as well. You know that's not true. This is only accurate if every team is created equal. Right now, we need a consistent offense and a whole new defense.

If we WERE so bad last season, and came so close to winning the division, it should'nt be so hard to get that little bit better and win it. But that doesn't fit with the hate.