ColtStrong2013

...especially if Purdy gets hurt or falls on his face. That will be the big one. Right now, I think they are hands down favorites in the NFC. But there's a lot of football to be played.

Lions are a home win away from playing for a superbowl birth. They deserve it, but imagine being sorry for anyone but yourself as a Lions fan. Lol. With the roster that they have built, yes there will be question marks if they lose in the conference championship three straight years...

The Ballard hate is humorous to me. He inherited a pretty lousy roster and a battered franchise qb. We've been about as competitive as anyone would have expected to be in that circumstance. Sure, other teams might have continued their dysfunctional way of managing by firing and hiring new managers and coaches during the last 8 years, but it wouldn't have resulted in much. We are coming off the closest season to a divisional title that we've had since Andrew Luck was under center and are going into the most promising offseason we have had since 2019 when he retired abruptly. I think the continuity and patience that Irsay family has shown since Luck's retirement is exactly why we continue to be in the same discussions by a majority of the league as the question that was posed in the original post. Why is the indianapolis colts so competitive even after Manning/Luck have been long gone. If this franchise takes a jump next year, those comments and the franchise record over the past 24 years will be shown more and more.

And by the way, Since Ballard was hired as GM, we share the same below .500 seasons (3) as the 49ers... They have won their division 3 times, and were 3rd and 4th twice each in their divisions in that timeframe. We obviously have zero division titles in that timeframe, but have never finished 4th under Ballard, and have been 2nd in the division 4 times. I don't think they are good example. Just recency bias, even though they haven't accomplished much other than 1 seeds. If they don't make it to the superbowl again this year, they'll have major question marks.

You could say the same for the Indianapolis Colts. We've had 5 below .500 seasons since 1999... 49ers had 14, i believe.

San Fran really doesn’t belong in this discussion. They have been so hit and miss over the last two decades, you can’t reasonably say they are “always competing for a championship.” from 2014-2018 season they were 25-55. they were 6-10 in 2020. They’ve lost two superbowls in modern era. I’m not saying they aren’t a solid franchise, but let’s be real.

I don’t think it would be reaching for a defensive player if the top 10 is saturated with receivers and quarterbacks…

Exactly- man, if Smith can stay healthy, Anthony Richardson (if he can stay healthy too) is going to play with one of the best tackle combos in the league.

Happy for Detroit. I would play for Dan Campbell. If anyone is running through a brick wall for a coach, it's for that guy... Because he'd be the one running through it first.

I don't see a way Stafford is back in this game. It looked like a bad shoulder injury and a concussion.

Enter Carson Wentz...

i saw cj stroud only throwing to dell and Collins this year…

it’s not over… except in Jerry Jones’ eyes. That dude is down cleaning McCarthy’s office out.

they aren’t stupid… they know exactly what they are doing, which is pandering to what is a very large new viewership in the nfl in the swiftie culture.

this is how I feel about him. he’s going to get bigger in the nfl. As Ballard has said many times, guys just get bigger as they get older and especially in nfl weight programs. Any knock on his blocking is because of his size, not because of his effort. He is as elite as they come as a pass catcher. I certainly wouldn’t pass him up for something that he will no doubt get better at regarding blocking… He would move sticks and make big plays in this offense. The biggest problem he poses is a mismatch against virtually everyone that would be tasked with defending him. Some of the most efficient offenses in the past decade had/has a major advantage at tight end.

there is always that possibility- that another team values him and is in position to put a better offer on the table. I think he’s too expensive. Especially given the depth of the receiving class in this draft. If we didn’t trade up to get CJ Stroud over Anthony Richardson, then we are certainly not going to trade up even further to get MJH over another explosive receiver. just hope they both pan out correctly

I don’t think it would get the trade done. Going to take more. if you look at a draft chart, you have to consider a future pick as a lower value than current year. I don’t think anyone here sees Ballard making any kind of move like that ever. If anything, they are going to justify not doing it by saying they can get an explosive receiver where they are. It’s just not going to happen.

if they were convicted on any player outside of Richardson, they would have traded up to make sure they got them. but they didn’t. They stayed put and picked Richardson and said they had been following him since August…

Imagine the Colts being in there instead of the Browns. Round 3 in Houston would have been 1000 times better than this atrocity. Ball don’t lie. Browns were in due to a sham win over the Colts and it shows.

AR can play in Stroud’s shadow (albeit very well) and the colts can still beat the Texans in the division. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Imagine watching CJ stroud throwing all over the Browns in the first half of the wildcard playoffs and still thinking Gus Bradley is why we lost to them last week…

respectfully disagree. we had a much more expensive qb under center and a roster full of pro-bowlers, playing at home in a play-in game similar to the Houston game. We were up in that game. We had everything in front of us and let it go. Not even a comparison in my mind. we could beat this Browns team…

If Nick Harper's homegirl didn't stab him in the leg... There is a great article about Dick Lebeau dialing in on Manning's "fake tempo offense." They got spanked the first game that year, and preparing for the playoff game, he had them wait until under 10 seconds to show anything. He'd figured out the tempo offense that year. Manning would show it was up-tempo, wait until the defense showed their hand, and then adjust. It worked in the first half, and Manning & co. made adjustments and started making their comeback. That play was an incredible play, but you could be right on the "what-if?" If Harper hits the sideline and takes the house, it would be one of the all-time greatest defensive plays in the history of the game, given the circumstances.

Not a play but the last chance for the colts in the 2007 divisional round loss to the chargers. 1st and goal down 4, couldn’t complete a single pass. We only lost by 4 to the undefeated patriots that season, with them obviously losing the Super Bowl. A rematch in the conference championship game could have gone any way, and we could’ve had the Manning Bowl. all eyes were on New England that year, but we missed out on what could have been a great opportunity to defend our championship.