Your expectations of the 2017 season

[CR91]

This imo will be a very interesting season because we have a few things going for us. We have a few pass rushers in shread simon hankins and basham to hopefully create pressure, some young talent in the secondary, an established oline with a lot of upside and good depth,and a very favorable schedule albeit the results of last year teams. Of course luck and geathers being on the mend is concerning, we dont know yet the longevity of the injury and until late august comes around and their timetable is still a mystery, there is no point in worrying about it. My expectations of this team is 11-5, win the division, and perhaps win a playoff game, but I still dont think we have the talent to match up against the pats steelers or even the raiders. 

[Bluefire4]

I need to see how we play in preseason and how healthy we are going into week one. If we have injury problems as bad as last year prior to week 1, I will be as pessimistic as I was last year.

[bananabucket]

Expecting 9 or 10 wins.

 

SoS is meaningless to me.

[Yoshinator]

If Luck is out for the first few weeks, then we are most likely going to miss the playoffs. A couple wins that turn into losses can be the difference with this team in this division. It shouldn't be, but it is. If Luck is 100% week 1, I see us winning the division and making it through the playoffs until we either face the Pats, Steelers or Raiders. Once the inevitable matchup happens, we will get destroyed by whichever of the 3 teams face us due to a lack of preparation and coaching. One more year of talent and drafting and a new coach (hopefully Dave Toub), and we'll have a chance vs those 3 next year.

[TKnight24]

Floor: 8-8 

 

Ceiling: 12-4 

 

 

[Narcosys]

I was originally calling 9-7, but had doubts and saw 8-8 possible.  But after Ballard's excellent  draft, I'm comfortable saying a solid 9-7.

 

[dodsworth]

10 wins minimum.

[BullsColtsFan1]

It's really hard to tell.  I hope the Colts win 10-12 games and get back into the playoffs.  I do think Luck will have an excellent year (35+TD's and 4500+Yards with only around 8 picks).  I think the defense will be improved.  I am curious to see if Geathers makes it back.  Geathers and Hooker back at safety would be an excellent tandem in my opinion.  There are a lot of question marks but I just hope our Colts are exciting to watch again and get back into the playoffs. 

[MTC]

Considering there are so many new players, it's going to take time to mesh. Plus Luck's injury is no where near full recovery.

 

I'm going to say an optimistic 9-7. Will that be enough for a wild card spot? Who knows.

[aaron11]

if luck plays the whole season i think we fall between 8-8 and 10-6

 

if he misses even one or two games, i dont think we make the playoffs

[Mr. Irrelevant]

My expectations are a defense and an O-line that will improve nicely throughout the season.

 

It will be a relief being able to follow the Colts again without having to hide behind a chair out of fear each time the defense is called upon. Big difference, even if it might take a bit of time before they put it together. 

 

I just don't know about OC Chud, not really sold on him lighting a fire under the Offense.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

18 minutes ago, Mr. Irrelevant said:

 I just don't know about OC Chud, not really sold on him lighting a fire under the Offense.

 

I don't think he's the most innovative OC out there by any means, but we were a top 10 unit last year, so he's doing something right.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

I fully expect to win the South.

[Dark Superman]

9-7 and 2nd in the South.

I'll say the Titans go 10-6

[MacDee1975]

Honestly I expect to go about 8-8 again.  But it will be an 8-8 that carries alot of future optimism with it, unlike last year's 8-8.

[NagelHausForge]

Anything less than an AFC South Championship is a failed season to me.  I would say 10 wins minimum really.  As many others have mentioned, it all hinges on the health of a few key players.

 

My biggest concern at this point is coaching... I would say the Colts outperformed Pagano/Grigson/Lucks first 3 seasons and that saved Pagano's job... I am not sure if he is ever going to be able to get the Colts where they need to be... however, given a weak schedule/division and finally a good GM (on paper at least) that could be enough to keep Pagano's job safe but never allowing the Colts to progress past teams like the Pats/Steelers/ etc.

 

It will be interesting to say the least!

[BOTT]

Contend for the afc south

[Malakai432]

2 minutes ago, BOTT said:

Contend for the afc south

 

^ This

[Douzer]

7-9 to 11-5

[southwest1]

22 hours ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I see us winning the division and making it through the playoffs until we either face the Pats, Steelers or Raiders. Once the inevitable matchup happens, we will get destroyed

As much as it pains me to say this, Jared is right on the money. I'm not indicting Jared simply agreeing with him that that scenario seems mostly likely. 10-6 & then Derek Carr or Big Ben demolishes us in the post season. 

 

Joe Philbin gets promoted to HC next yr. I like Pagano, but can he get us to a SB? Honestly, no. 

[AZColt11]

All things being equal, I could see 9-10 wins so long as Luck doesn't miss too many games.

[MackAttack]

I don't know if I expect double digit wins but I expect our defense to perform better than last year. things will really get interesting imo when Ballard brings in his new head coach

[Synthetic]

7-9 or 8-8 at best and 5-11 or 6-10 at worst. The Colts are a long ways away from being a contender again. Gone are the days when they could click 6 easy wins against a horrible division. The AFC South is still the worst in the league, but is gradually improving to a competitive balance. 

 

Depending on if the Texans can't finally get their stuff together and post a 10 win season, then the worst division in the NFL might be wide open...That's if Tennessee don't regress and Jacksonville can't get it together with their talent under Coughlin and Marrone. 

 

Honestly, I expect to see Pagnano get fired this year. That was something they should've done this off season when they cleaned the house with Grigson. Got rid of 1 out of 2 problems...

[Jules]

I honestly for the first time ever with the Colts have no darn clue at all what will happen this year. I think the division could even go to any of the 4 teams for the first time in my life.

 

So I guess sit back and see what the heck unfolds. 

[ManningGM]

8-8 again, especially if Luck will be out the first two weeks or maybe more.

 

Chuck and his incompetent coaching staff (with the exception of Philbin) prove yet again why they shouldn't be here. Defense will obviously experience some growing pains but will look like the beast Ballard envisions it to be near the end of the season.

 

Dave Toub will be hired as our head coach for the 2018-2019 season.

[zibby43]

4 hours ago, southwest1 said:

As much as it pains me to say this, Jared is right on the money. I'm not indicting Jared simply agreeing with him that that scenario seems mostly likely. 10-6 & then Derek Carr or Big Ben demolishes us in the post season. 

 

Joe Philbin gets promoted to HC next yr. I like Pagano, but can he get us to a SB? Honestly, no. 

 

I'm no Pagano fan, but if he can't get the Colts to the Super Bowl (and I don't think he can), I'm pretty sure Philbin can't either.

 

Pagano's record as HC: 49-31 (.613)

 

Philbin's record as HC: 24-28 (.462)

 

If Pagano gets canned, we need to upgrade the HC position, not just change it up for kicks.  I think Philbin is a fine position coach/coordinator, but his head coaching record speaks for itself.  In my humble opinion.

[BOTT]

1 hour ago, zibby43 said:

 

I'm no Pagano fan, but if he can't get the Colts to the Super Bowl (and I don't think he can), I'm pretty sure Philbin can't either.

 

Pagano's record as HC: 49-31 (.613)

 

Philbin's record as HC: 24-28 (.462)

 

If Pagano gets canned, we need to upgrade the HC position, not just change it up for kicks.  I think Philbin is a fine position coach/coordinator, but his head coaching record speaks for itself.  In my humble opinion.

I don't see Philbin getting kicked up to HC, but judging coaches solely on their won/loss is a mistake.

[2006Coltsbestever]

10-6 Division Champs, 1-1 in the Playoffs is my early call. It's a crapshoot but we have got much younger on Defense and added better players like Hankins, Sheard, and Hooker. I am in the belief Andrew will be healthy by Week 1 and we win that game over LA to start 1-0 for a change. Our schedule is also very favorable compared to past years and Houston still doesn't have a QB worth 2 cents. Last season we lost 4 games by 5 points or less = Houston by 3 in OT, Houston by 5, Jacks by 3, and Detroit by 4. That is a lot of bad luck and I don't see us losing that many close games again or getting swept by Houston either. I really want to see how Pre-season plays out first and make sure Andrew is healthy by my early calls say:

Colts 10-6

Houston 9-7

Tennessee 9-7

Jacks 6-10

[oldunclemark]

On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 0:23 AM, CR91 said:

This imo will be a very interesting season because we have a few things going for us. We have a few pass rushers in shread simon hankins and basham to hopefully create pressure, some young talent in the secondary, an established oline with a lot of upside and good depth,and a very favorable schedule albeit the results of last year teams. Of course luck and geathers being on the mend is concerning, we dont know yet the longevity of the injury and until late august comes around and their timetable is still a mystery, there is no point in worrying about it. My expectations of this team is 11-5, win the division, and perhaps win a playoff game, but I still dont think we have the talent to match up against the pats steelers or even the raiders. 

We will be a playoff team if Andrew Luck plays 16 games..

..our defense will be much different from 2016....hopefully better against the run

 

...if we are healthy going into the post-season, we could win the AFC because of our edge at QB

[Peterk2011]

The Colts haven't had a loosing record (except 2011) for 16 year now. There are a handful of winning franchises in the league who, no matter what, always manage to pull off a record at least matching their actual talent level ... if not better. One of these teams are the Colts. So I expect something similar in 2017 too. A 8-8 or better record. My over-under is somewhere at 9, maybe 9.5 considering that we will play with the NFC West and AFC North. Except the Seahawks (who the Colts are matching well against) and the Steelers, the remaining teams are mediocre or struggling. So even with a 3-3 division record, the Colts still can finish with a positive record.

 

Regarding our division, I actually see the Texans loosing a step. Unless Deshaun Watson turns into a Dak Prescott, which I don't see coming. (Imo O'Brians system requires a very good QB. It's not coincidence, that every QB looked bad there in recent years.) Their defense will be good, but I don't expect it to be better than last year. Watt is coming back, but they lost quite many pieces too. Bouye, Demps, Simon, Wilfork, etc. They can afford it, that defense will still be good, but starters can't play 100% snapcounts in defense, so the loss in depth will show up sooner or later. And without an offense, it will be an uphill battle for them.

The Titans and the Jaguars on the other hand, improved a LOT. Imo the years of beating the Titans twice are gone, we HAVE to beat them in Indy, and hope for the best, but expect a loss in Tennesse. The Jaguars roster is scary good. And Coughlin is good, I expect him to finally bring the winning mentality there, so they will be tough to beat as well.

 

All in all, this will be a very interesting season. I pray for Luck to be ready week1, because - opposed to how we used to start the season for the last 2-3 years - this year the first 2-3 game will be against beatable opponents. It would be very important to win these games, because our division rivals will probably also beat them. So we need Luck from day 1.

 

(Regarding our defense, some early struggles are expected. Still, imo the front7 should start better than it finished last year. The core of the dline is intact, only Hankins is new, who is a veteran. They should be OK from day 1, and still improving. The LB corp had a complete overhaul, but it was soo bad last year - especially inside -, that even with some expected growing pains, the new corp should be at least not worse from day 1 than last years was. The secondary is a big question mark though. With the addition of Hooker and Wilson, they have the potential to be the best group in the defense, but I have no clue how much time the rookies will need to get used to the NFL. It might take a few games, half a season, an entire season or even more.)

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

25 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

We will be a playoff team if Andrew Luck plays 16 games..

..our defense will be much different from 2016....hopefully better against the run

 

...if we are healthy going into the post-season, we could win the AFC because of our edge at QB

I agree, we had the worst Defense possible last season and lost a bunch of close games and still went 8-8 somehow. If Andrew plays all 16 games and we win on opening day I think 10-6 is very possible. We will be better than last season and our Defense should be much better. Our schedule is even easier. Houston isn't sweeping us either.

[Luck is Good]

I expect an AFC South championship. Anything else I'm not sure right now

[IndyScribe]

9-7, third place in the division. However, our team shows signs of improvement.

[2006Coltsbestever]

3 minutes ago, IndyScribe said:

9-7, third place in the division. However, our team shows signs of improvement.

Third? You must have a ton of faith in Houston and Tennessee winning 10 games.

[BProland85]

If Luck stays healthy and plays all 16 games, 11-5.

 

If he misses a few games, 9-7. 

 

I have high hopes for this team with the added talent and youth, especially on defense. Hankins will make a big impact, as will Hooker when he gets healthy and shakes off some early rookie mishaps. Plus the OL seems to be progressing. 

 

 

[Colt Overseas]

I think we win the AFC South, with a 10-6 record, so long as Luck is good to go for the start of the season.

 

Looking at it objectively, we are clearly better on defense this season, than the 30th ranked defense last season. Our O-line should improve like it did by the end of last season. These improvements are not offset by losing any key players in the FA or to retirement (with the exception of Pat).

 

So I expect our 8-8 record to be better. Yes the divisional rivals will improve, but we only won half our divisional games last year anyway, I would expect us to win no less than that amount this year. Remember our strength of schedule is one of the easiest in the league also.

 

10-6.

[bleevit]

As opposed to making this prediction by individual players, I would go with a prediction based on turnovers and sacks. For every increase in turnover margin of 2, I'll add a win. For every 5 additional sacks over last year, I'll also add a win. As a results oriented prediction I believe this will stand up.

[aaron11]

18 hours ago, Synthetic said:

7-9 or 8-8 at best and 5-11 or 6-10 at worst.

thought you were talking about the saints there for a second

[Carlos Danger]

Im expecting a battle for the AFC South that will last until week 17... My guess is that we win that battle because we will be a better team in the 2nd half of the season. Our W/L numbers might not reflect that because of the schedule, but our new guys, young guys, and rookies will have had time to figure some things out. 

 

Also... Andrew Luck... No player in the division (maybe the whole league) has a bigger effect on win/loss record than our #12.

[AZColt11]

Getting off to a good start is imperative IMHO.  They don't need to necessarily beat Seattle, but they damn well better beat the Rams, Cards, and Browns to start at least 3-1 with the Niners coming to town.  If they do that, they'll be in the driver's seat for the South.