bluephantom87

To piggyback on your point Nick has only been on the job less than 3 yrs! To his credit he has hit on several key premium positions quickly which includes drafting a franchise rookie qb in Stroud who will probably win ROY and Nick's choice for hc in rookie D Ryan will probably win the COY award. Nick himself is in play for the EOY award along with J Lynch of the 49's. To Ballard's credit he's finally gotten the hc hire right in first timer Shane Steichen whose paid dividends already in wins, culture change and the reason why Minshew (his words) followed Shane to the Colts. Shane has also garnered some buzz lately in conversation for the COY award. Under Steichen could AR have been in play for ROY if not for a season ending injury? Most definitely. As far as Ballard himself I think he is a solid gm who uses a more methodical approach in a now aggressive league which has led to several teams in the AFC alone that have elevated past the Colts in his now several year tenure. I'm not getting into his subpar record by listing some of the reasons why because @LJpalmbeacher2 did it perfectly in the previous post. Ballard has done some good things prior to THIS season but it wasn’t ENOUGH to move the needle as far as winning or being in contention. In my book he's trending up slightly but I need to see a couple of more explosive players on offense and a few more dawgs in the secondary.

Funny that in the Titans game I saw a couple of NASTY blocks in which the defender was driven into the ground and low and behold it was Fries doing the damage!! I say funny because this morning on Get Up Jeff Saturday featured him along with Big Q on some hardcore pancake blocks against the Titans.

These next two weeks are important considering that there's a bunch of teams log jammed in the AFC for the wildcard spots and tiebreakers will be crucial. Cincy and the Steelers are BOTH in the mix. For the Colts I guess a long shot division title is still possible if the Jags fall off without Lawrence but the Texans are right there also and have a better shot considering that they have already beaten the Jags whereas we've lost twice to them.

I agree BUT this is not the game to do so because their receivers would feast if Jake happens to get the pass off...

I hope the Colts don't make the same mistake as the Jags did by NOT pressuring backup qb Jake Browning who torched them for 354 yds and 2 TDs on 32-37 passing with a 115.5 passer rating to pull Cincy to a 6-6 record and VERY much in the playoff race. I don't know if anyone has seen any of Jake's recent interviews but he has a lot of confidence and seems offended that people gave Cincy NO shot once Burrow went down. Jake said he's won many games on all levels and that the Bengals have mutiple playmakers that he can get the ball to. Might be a LONG day for our young secondary if that front doesn't get home! Hopefully we can put Jake down EARLY and OFTEN!!! Thoughts?

This... we are here BECAUSE of Shane's aggressive style and playcalling. Go ask Philly behind closed doors what's the difference between last year's explosive offense to this season's stagnant one that's been an issue so far with the SAME players. Shane is the next in line of these young aggressive offensive minds that are taking over the league.

COACHING is key! We now have a young aggressive offensive mind that has elevated a decent cast with a backup qb at the helm. Most pundits wonder how are the Colts winning with Minshew at qb because of his history of up and down play. I think Shane REALIZES this and is able to accept the warts because he also knows this season is house money no matter how it ends. For every Minshew miscue he STILL trusts him to MAKE a play also!! Shane took fgs in the Titans game and as shakey as Garner looked at times Shane put the ball in his hands in OT. He did it on the called deep ball and on the game winning td toss! They showed on the telecast before one of the big plays Shane saying "Come on Minshew!" like this is the play that will change the game IF executed correctly. So for me personally I'll just keep riding the wave of an exciting run that I didn't see coming ESPECIALLY after all the misfortunes that the team has suffered this season while also coming off a dismal 4 win campaign just last year. Go Colts!!!

Steichen has affected TWO offenses this season!!! The Eagles no longer look like a well oiled machine on O and the Colts are managing to score with some nice playcalling to go along with an aggressive mindset that has this team contending with a backup qb at the helm!! Can we hold on to a playoff spot? Only time will tell but let's enjoy this unlikely run based on circumstances. D Ryan probably will win COY unless the Texans completely fall off a cliff. The Texans are the NFL feel good story right now because they have QUICKLY hit on the qb, wr, de, corner and hc but for my money Shane has changed a mindset by getting the MOST from a good but not great roster. He is getting the most from Minshew (warts included) and that's the point! Minshew is a good BACKUP with limitations yet Shane is trusting him to EXECUTE in critical situations and I truly believe this is why we are in playoff contention right now. No more scared ball and I love it! Shane has also assembled an upper tier coaching STAFF that's flying under the radar.

Let's go!!!!! 7-5 now....

We could’ve had Josh McDaniels... Yikes!

I don't know if many of you are familiar with the Carton Show which airs nationally every morning on FS1 before the annoying Skip Bayless. Craig Carton is a popular (to some) NY radio personality with many over the top sport takes who previously had a top rated show with Boomer Esiason until Craig did some time for wire fraud. For whatever reason Craig repeatedly takes shots at the Colts as being dysfunctional, poorly ran, mostly talent void, IRRELEVANT and owned by a wacked out Jim Irsay who in his opinion is one of the worst owners in the league. SURPRISINGLY this morning he showed Shane Steichen some love (he did also for AR before injury) and said he should be in serious consideration for COY with the job he's done with THAT team amid all the issues (that he listed) this season BUT in typical Craig fashion he gave Irsay a backhand compliment for the correct hire in Steichen from Philly after the disaster hire of the fat guy with no experience... Wow! I just hope we can get back to winning on a consistent basis and that be the narrative for the team like the Manning era when the franchise was considered a class act.

I believe IF Ballard lets Steichen influence the draft we definitely will get a wr1 type. Shane had big time receivers with Justin Herbert during his ROY record setting campaign and Jalen Hurts really took off once the Eagles drafted D Smith and aquired Brown.

This... I totally agree with!!

I LOVE his intensity and think that was the PG version with some of the "golly" language because Shane KNEW he was mic'd up!! Lol Never seen him berate a player but he will fire them up with emotion! The great Lane Johnson once said that Shane is one of the most competitive personalities that he knows and the man HATES to lose!! He said besides being a great offensive mind guys loved his sense of urgency and aggressive mindset in attacking defenses. I recently saw Lane on the McAfee show in which Pat spoke on Philly's success but he also brought up Steichen and the job he's done with the Colts. Pat asked Lane if he still keeps in contact with Shane. Lane said yes almost weekly because Shane is always sending him random clips of animals like alligators ripping stuff apart and he loves the guy! Give Shane one or two more offensive playmaking weapons next season combined with a more attacking style defense and there's no doubt in my mind that the Colts can flip this around very quickly to become one of the threats in the loaded AFC.

Even though the Eagles are 10-1 the offense is not the same without Shane calling the plays and its been pointed out on several of Philly's broadcasts throughout the season. The offense is less explosive on a whole and lacks the creativity that kept defenses off guard. The aggressive style that put Philly in the SB last season has been replaced with a more methodical and cautious approach. Wins are still there but some grumble about the inconsistency of their offense at times now and that's where Shane is missed by them. I think we FINALLY have that young coach in Shane who is a rising star in the league. Steichen is STILL a rookie hc but the sky's the limit for him and the team. What he's done with the offense and team in general is mind boggling considering all the obstacles that he's faced this season. Yet here we sit as the 7th seed in the loaded AFC!! No matter how this season plays out I'm EXCITED to see what Shane can do NEXT season with AR and JT in the same backfield to go along with Pitt, Downs and a true wr1. Also don't forget about the young stable of talented TEs either! Get your popcorn ready because something special is on the horizon! Go Colts....

It didn't help either with what D Ryans has done with the Texans or what Shane has done with the Colts MINUS his star rookie qb in the making. I'm not sure he's even an upper tier oc. He was fired in San Diego because of the offense that lacked explosive plays and in Philly he was oc by title only because hc Peterson called the plays. Early in his Panther tenure some fans were calling for Frank to relinquish playcalling duties (sound familiar) and ultimately some in their management agreed as Frank reluctantly gave up those duties after saying that's not what the team needed at the time. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that Frank had reclaimed those duties but continued to garner subpar results. I wish Frank well because by ALL accounts he's truly a good person.

Off topic about our former hc who's been fired less than one season in.

Don't forget that Rams loss in OT or that first Jags game. No one expected the Colts to be here let alone as of now to be holding the 7th seed in the playoff race! Think about it we have an inconsistent defense to go along with a backup qb in Minshew yet here we sit. I also believe that Shane should be in conversation for COY award but our record is not good enough. What he has done with this team / offense WITHOUT his young DYNAMIC rookie qb is amazing!!! His aggressive nature is the very reason this team scores. Shane has done a lot better in taking FG's compared to earlier in the season because Matt G has been nailing some very long ones!! Some like to harp on a few of the failed fourth down attempts but the way I see it Minshew has missed on some open reads that could've kept the drive alive. I don't always agree with going for it but I'll take it because many times it's an excellent play design on the call which usually leads to points later in the drive and that's refreshing!! This team scores points and Minshew has won 3 consecutive games for the FIRST time in his entire nfl CAREER. I will say keep swinging because this is all gravy right now and no one saw this coming GIVEN the circumstances. Go Colts!!!

Frank's already on the hot seat according to some in the media...

I totally agree and to think Shane is doing this without his young dynamic rookie qb. The Texans have flipped their team VERY quickly! The Jags now have the TOP seed in the entire AFC.... Wow

YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Seen this too many times this season. CAN we NOT give up a game ending TD?

The defense making this too easy for Tampa to get downfield quickly... Shane knows he must score on a regular!!!!

His 4th down decision earlier on this drive led to JT's td. I think Shane has gotten a lot better in taking the FG's. If Minshew hits a WIDE OPEN Pierce on the last 4th that failed there's no discussion.

Shane strikes again!!!!!!!