Imgrandojji

See, this is one of the things I don't understand. No he's not the OC or DC but he's the Patriots' analytics mastermind. Of course he had Belichick's ear! Belichick found a talented person who could give him a legal edge over his opponents, put him in charge of the film room as the Head of Research and used his insight on the field and this is somehow nefarious? you can argue about some of the other stuff, but the Ernie Adams conspiracy theories never made sense for me. There's other people with perfect memories, if you don't like what Belichick is doing with Adams, find your o

As far as I know there's exactly zero credible or substantiated rumors about those first 3 rings. a few insane people refuse to let go of a long-since walked back rumor by bitter Rams players about some kind of locker room bugging incident, that's pretty much the extent of it. As far as I know Marshall Faulk is literally the only man in the world that actually believes them. The two big cheating scandals with any legs to them are the 2007 Spygate thing, which obviously has no net effect on Brady's legacy because it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Brady, Belichick got

Brady's reputation as the best playoff QB in the history of the NFL is pretty much already set in stone. There are ootner QB who can compete in terms of regular season performance -- Manning, Rodgers, Mahomes-- but in terms of doing what is necessary to get to the playoffs and then perform at a high level once there, the only guy who comes close at the moment is #18 and even Mr Manning is a clear second place finisher.

(for the record, Irsay won't let Ballard walk away from a chance at a premium QB and risk leaving his franchise exposed. We're in on Stafford whether Ballard likes it or not, I have absolutely zero doubt on that!)

Don't underestimate New England. Just because they're slowing down doesn't mean they don't have a ton of prestige among the players. Most players still look at the Patriots as a premium team that's had a down year. and Belichick's 20+ year reputation as a coach that can make winning happen will take more than 1 bad year to seriously call into question. I think New Engand with its friendly relationship with the Detroit FO is a pretty significant threat to claim Stafford. Then again, so are we. But I honestly think that the Colts and the Patriots are going to wind up being the ma

Could definitely stand Stafford coming here. He's basically a younger version of Rivers, and we know we can compete with that guy as our leader.

btw what would fans think if instead of all this, Ballard traded a second rounder to the 9ers and brought in Nick Mullens? Personally I think he's an interesting young cat, very high completion percentage and good yards per attempt. he is prone to the INT but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that as the third quarterback, if he's on the field his franchise is in turmoil by default. and he has been on the field. A lot. I think he could be turned into a fine pocket passing QB. Especially with the protection we can afford him. Might be an interesting buy low candi

Always easy to vote for a young guy who hasn't accumulated a lifetime of sins. It's just the standard prejudice of football fans speaking. I'd be OK with Stafford or Matt Ryan. And I definitely would have been OK going 1 more year with Rivers if he had been up for it, he was decent. Brissett is a longterm backup and a good guy to have on the roster but at this point probably shouldn't be your Plan A starter.

Be as skeptical as you like. I know what I read. He came out once, at Irsay's invitation, he was at the Colts' practice facility, and then a couple weeks later he signed with TB. That's the facts, the rest is a question of how you connect the dots. Probably he was just maximizing his bargaining position with Tampa, but there's more juice to this one than most of the offseason rumors that filter around in a thread like this .

I didn't say he did. I said Irsay wanted it. That said there was at least one rumor that Brady came here at Irsay's invitation before he signed with Tampa. Probably just doing due dilligence but still, there it is. That said, given the situation at the time the Colts were an above average landing place for Brady, and I hope people don't let their antipathy for the man blind them to the fact that he would have been an enormous asset for us

I did. Irsay was apparently all for it for awhile. It was after Brady came off the market that Irsay started making a full court press on Rivers.

Since we don't have that transcendent talent in the wings I'd be OK going year to year with Rivers until someone stands out behind him.

I wanted him TBH, ut I understand why it didn't work out. Frankly Tampa was a better situation for a short timing older QB, we're still in the buildup to a deep Superbowl run and many of our key players are still getting their careers properly started. Tampa on the other hand was bristling with veterans and going all in in a way Ballard will probably never do.

My point is the talent was there. A lot of our issues on defense came down to soft scheming that can be fixed at the coaching level. Every unit needs to be defined not just by talent but by talent and execution. Frankly I think the Colts are a fair bit more talented than people let on, but they're held back by a small litany of fatal flaws and a lack of scheming around those flaws.