stitches

I really hope Bradley decides to blitz him. Do some slot corner blitzes... he won't see them.

He's a rookie HC and it's probably too early to make some huge proclamation but so far so good. He's checking a lot of the boxes I want our HC to be checking and the areas of the team that most depend on his expertise are doing above expectations based on the talent we have. How are we scoring so much with Minshew play at the putrid level he's been playing for most of the season is beyond me. I don't know if it's still honeymoon time and I'm not focusing too much on his mistakes(because just like any coach he will make mistakes too), but I never feel worried or anxious about what he's going to call offensively. Purely subjectively, his playcalling just ... feels right. It feels like the offense is in rhythm, feels like he's switching things around and keeping the opponent on their heels. It never feels to me like the opponent knows exactly what we are going to run and is ready to stop it play after play... like the situation was last year. His offensive coaching hires have been great too... the OL seems to be back on track with the new OL coach(props to him too BTW - finally was able to stop the slide of otherwise talented unit). He seems to be running a good operation with his assistants and QB coach. Just... in general the Colts seem like a well coached team. A team that you will have to work hard to beat, even if our talent is probably not at the level of some of the current juggernauts in the league. With all that said... I really hope Ballard doesn't come away from this year with the impression that the offense is fine and he doesn't need to invest in it. NO! On the contrary. When you have what seems like a great offensive mind, you don't sit on it - you go get the guy the best talent you can find in order to make that offense not just good(which it is right now), but dominant. Go get a legit no. 1 receiver if you can... go get a TE who can stretch the field and/or make plays after the catch... hell... if you love a RG in the draft... spend a 3d rounder to totally solidify that line and eliminate what seems to be the only weakness/question mark or give the line some much needed depth. Just... in general... don't be complacent with the offense.

Vote for Raimann, Braden Smith and Kelly. They all deserve. Right now both our left and right tackle are rated top 10 tackles in the league(this includes both LTs and RTs).

this one made me lol:

Yeah. I'm not the biggest Bradley fan, but it's not like this defense is underperforming. We have our problems, but overall the problems seem to happen in the exact areas you expect and because of lack of talent in the exact positions you expect. Other teams have some insane talent and are performing even worse than us. Can you imagine this defense with Bosa and Mack at EDGE...

I would not mind him taking over as Steelers OC. I want to see if he's worse than Matt Canada.

NFL media/twitter is sooooooo out of touch. I'm reading twitter and wondering... "what am I missing?" They are blaming Tapper and Irsay for Frank's downfall. Are you freaking kidding me?

I saw him run a screen on 4th and 6 on their own 25 yard line yesterday and I thought to myself... "Yep... his days as HC are numbered". Didn't expect it to happen like... right away.

There is a distinct difference in the spirit of this team between this year and last year. This was one of the important things to see this year. They generally look well prepared and whatever shortcomings this team and its players are showing, they rarely seem like they are because their coaches didn't prepare them for the game.

Stroud is so damn good....

Unfortunately Minshew is all he has. I think Shane is doing some miraculous things with the level of play Minshew is providing...

Frank just called a screen on 4th and 6 on their own 25. Just in case you were missing him...

Isn't that the EXACT SAME coverage Lawrence said earlier that they have identified as something they can take advantage of in their game vs the Colts?

Franklin with the worst angles ...

Cross with the best tackle for this Colts defense of the game... and it was kinda flukey too... we've been whiffing on tackles all game long...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating...

I trust Ballard with LBs... he knows that position very well. I think he can find gems at any point in the draft. On the WRs... it seems like another good WR draft. And while MHJ is most probably out of our range already, there is a very good variety and talent at WR that's going to be there in the teens IMO.

I have given up on the dream of having MHJ

Yah, I just read those reports too. So... it seems like they didn't even need the ultimatum from Leonard for them to release him. Lets see what Steichen and Bradley say... I wonder whose decision that was predominantly.

Higgins has been having the benefit of a much better QB and the double edged sword of having a teammate like Chase who takes away from the attention. And he hasn't produced much better than Pittman. I'm not sure who's better.

Interesting. So he didn't request to be released...

He doesn't need to be disrepsectful for it to be a negative distraction in the locker room. I think he asked to be released too... He probably told them "if you are not willing to play me on 3d down, just release me" ... which would have been just another in series of talks they've been having about him being unhappy with his role. This didn't start this week. You can go back and see when the first media statement was made... I would bet he was making the same noises behind the scenes a week or two prior.

Yeah... agreed on this not changing the trajectory of the team. That's why I don't consider this to be a huge move. IMO one way or another this was going to happen over the next few months. The avoidance of his injury guarantee kicking in is an interesting point that might have contributed to the Colts decision. I don't know what Steichen is even supposed to say. He might just refer the journalists to the statements the team and Irsay made. That's how he was dealing with the Taylor stuff. "First before you ask - I heard about Taylor, I won't comment any further than what the team has said" Or something of the sort. And on followups he will just say "I stand up with the decision the team made", etc....

I mean... he's been loud over several weeks now about his role and how he thinks he should be getting more snaps and how he doesn't understand why he's not playing more. I think it was pretty obvious that if he's willing to go in front of the media with this strongly worded statements, then he probably is saying this ... and more behind the scenes...

Kind of a sad ending to his Colts career. I expected us to cut him in the off-season, but it seems like the noise he was making over the last few months about playing time accelerated this decision. You cannot have a player who's been team captain and has the gravitas of Leonard in the locker room continuously make a point of airing his displeasure with his role. If he wasn't willing to accept the coaches decisions and was going to continue being a distraction, I guess this was the best decision for both him and the team. Wish him the best wherever he ends up.