ColtStrong2013

Indiana born and raised. I came to love the Colts in my youth when Peyton first started out. Had family that had season tickets and attended, generally, a game a year until the glory years and the games grew to a few a year. Season tickets for all of Luck’s seasons, a couple playoff games here and there. Covid changed things, although I had season tickets last season. Scheduling and children kept us from going like we’d like to. love the Lucas oil environment. Have been to a few away games and would love to go to a home and away game each year instead of being a season ticket holder. I keep tabs daily on activity. Follow most roster moves and follow the offseason closely. Colts football is really my only hobby, per se. the game has changed so much. Sometimes I feel that the colts organization might not even really care about the winning (it’s well known that professional owners across the board are there for the club and the investment more than the championships… obvious which ones want the championships). When I go to games now, so many that are there aren’t even engaged in the game. I’ve been to the club, and it’s always full of people enjoying themselves and company without a care in the world about the game. As long as the environment is good, the team is competitive and the money is rolling, wins don’t really matter from an ownership standpoint. Of course they all want to win to an extent, but there is a lot of luck that goes into it.

This wasn’t directed to me, but thanks for the perspective. I wasn’t aware of the ‘24 injury guarantee, which changes my own perspective a little. I still can’t imagine the media commentary didn’t play a part, even though Steichen says otherwise. Steichen’s stress on accountability seems to be at play some. How can you be taken seriously if you aren’t holding your top paid players accountable? Call it what it is, Leonard’s play has not been stellar. I put my head down and was sad to see the effort he put on several plays in the Patriots game, but especially the Zeke whiff. It’s just not what I came to love about Shaq. But the comments to the media prior made it even worse. How can you blame the defensive scheme not putting you in a position to fly around the field and make plays when you no longer fly around the field at all? It’s a sad situation. Looking back at the beginning of the 2019 season, I was looking forward to many years with #12 under center and #53 on defense. We didn’t get another game… and only a handful of seasons with Leonard on defense. Time is a thief. As I get older, I realize why so many teams go all-in so often. The years go by fast.

I’ve been offline for a few years now. A lot happening in my world. But Ballard’s moves are always my radar. Still a lot of football left in ‘23 and the Colts hold their playoff destiny with games against the Steelers and Texans, as well as Bengals/Raiders. My feeling on Ballard is that he was given a second chance with the mid season firing of Frank and his offseason plan, which I can’t imagine didn’t go pretty well how he presented. Land Steichen as HC and draft AR at #4. My question is how long of a leash does he have with this second chance. It seemed to me that Reich had more influence in the qb conversation with Irsay, especially with Wentz which was reported that he apologized to Irsay (in a move signaling desperation to keep his job.) Hindsight’s always fun, but the Ryan move seems wild to me. Falcons fans were laughing on twitter telling us to enjoy the statue, which turned out to be exactly that. Ironic that a coaching and qb change turned a horrible o-line into its old form overnight. I like Ballard. I agree with Irsay’s statement last year that we were fortunate to get someone of his caliber. I think his draft process is top tier. He just didn’t hit on the key positions early on. Qb, LT, WR1, CB and pass rush are the premier positions, and we seemingly didn’t have a single one the last few years. Things look a little more promising now, and to see the way AR played early on, how Downs looks as a rookie and how Pittman and Raimann have developed is promising at those positions. The pass rush disruption is from our 3tech trade in Buckner, and the d-line isn’t a liability to us, but we still need a premier edge rusher. Perhaps Dayo could develop into that. I like Paye but he’s not what he needs to be. Cornerback is the liability but I’m hopeful that as young as this group is that one or two emerges. Overall, the roster isn’t bad. Bad luck with AR’s injury hampered what could be an even better start to the season. I hope Leonard’s release isn’t a crusher to the locker room, and I don’t think it will be. It shouldn’t be. It should be a statement of being accountable for your play on the field, and perhaps keeping your commentary in a tight locker room during the season. No one in the media is a friend of a locker room mid season. Not one. Here’s to hoping for continued development and a strong finish to an already encouraging season of competitiveness compared to last seasons’s atrocity.

I don’t necessarily disagree with not needing to waive him, but his commentary on the snap count issue was only going to get worse. And that to me is a distraction coming from your captain. Handle it internally. He did not. Love him. He was by far my favorite defender since Mathis left. Loved his energy and his leadership off the field. His injuries have not been good to him. His play was not good this year and with Speed being the other option in nickel back sets, it was obvious who needed to be out there. To go to the media and say “I don’t know what else I can do,” and then follow it up with the missed tackle against Zeke Elliott made me cringe. Our best defender turned into a $20 million dollar liability. Had he kept his dialogue internally, I feel like things would have been entirely different. This was an offseason move made way early because of commentary on coaching decisions. And correct decisions at that.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Thankful for a Colts team in the fight. Can, and has been, worse at this point of the season. Go Blue