Knee Jerk Reactions...

[BleedthisBlue]

As fans we have been spoiled for the last decade... Theres no need to freak out, it wasnt an earthquake it was just all the bandwagon fans falling off!

The d played fairly well for as many times as our offense turned the ball over on downs or fumbles. And we created turnovers!

The offense showed signs of finding a rythm late in the 3rd and into the 4th, give these guys sometime all is not lost!

[coltfaninnewyork]

Dungy just stated the obvious,nobody stepped up today.

[Balzer40]

Gimme a break man with all the "bandwagon" crap. That has been so over used in the last week its ridiculous. I've been a fan for 27 yrs. and have seen so many bad seasons its not even funny, but I will not pretend that what I seen today was just an abberation and everything is going to suddenly be fixed next week. Being a fan does not mean endlessly kissing butt and fooling yourself into believing everything the organization does is perfect.

This team has serious problems right now and no amount of pretending it don't will not help and just because people are pointing out what the blind homers refuse to see does not mean they are bandwagon fans.

[coltfaninnewyork]

Gimme a break man with all the "bandwagon" crap. That has been so over used in the last week its ridiculous. I've been a fan for 27 yrs. and have seen so many bad seasons its not even funny, but I will not pretend that what I seen today was just an abberation and everything is going to suddenly be fixed next week. Being a fan does not mean endlessly kissing butt and fooling yourself into believing everything the organization does is perfect.

This team has serious problems right now and no amount of pretending it don't will not help and just because people are pointing out what the blind homers refuse to see does not mean they are bandwagon fans.

It actually makes these so called REAL fans to be very foolish.You have to tell it like it is.....unless your 12 like some posters here seem to be.

[Coltsfan4ever]

Gimme a break man with all the "bandwagon" crap. That has been so over used in the last week its ridiculous. I've been a fan for 27 yrs. and have seen so many bad seasons its not even funny, but I will not pretend that what I seen today was just an abberation and everything is going to suddenly be fixed next week. Being a fan does not mean endlessly kissing butt and fooling yourself into believing everything the organization does is perfect.

This team has serious problems right now and no amount of pretending it don't will not help and just because people are pointing out what the blind homers refuse to see does not mean they are bandwagon fans.

Well said! Just because people are complaining about today's game (and rightly so) doesn't mean they're jumping off the bandwagon, they just see the wring on the wall.

[everybodysgotone]

As fans we have been spoiled for the last decade... Theres no need to freak out, it wasnt an earthquake it was just all the bandwagon fans falling off!

The d played fairly well for as many times as our offense turned the ball over on downs or fumbles. And we created turnovers!

The offense showed signs of finding a rythm late in the 3rd and into the 4th, give these guys sometime all is not lost!

Exactly.

And now that the post-game interviews are available, respected guys like Mathis, Saturday, Addai, are all giving their no-filler assesments which are spot-on and underscore the fact that not everything was negative. These guys are level-headed and know what happened out there. When they say there were positives like (paraphrasing) "we played a little more toward respectable in the 2nd half but couldn't do anything right in the first half (Mathis)"...."we rushed well"......"you can't give a good team that short of a field and expect to be in the game"....."penalties hurt us."

The mistakes they're talking about exacerbated the situation. There could have been a big turnaround in points and game complexion when you add up two TX TD drives totaling 30 yds after turnovers.

We got beat in a lopsided game but it wasn't doomsday.

[OLD FAN MAN]

Gimme a break man with all the "bandwagon" crap. That has been so over used in the last week its ridiculous. I've been a fan for 27 yrs. and have seen so many bad seasons its not even funny, but I will not pretend that what I seen today was just an abberation and everything is going to suddenly be fixed next week. Being a fan does not mean endlessly kissing butt and fooling yourself into believing everything the organization does is perfect.

This team has serious problems right now and no amount of pretending it don't will not help and just because people are pointing out what the blind homers refuse to see does not mean they are bandwagon fans.

WELL SAID. some of us want to hear the bad things as well as the good things about this team, to pretend there are no bad things dosent make them go away.

[GoGoColts]

I am attributing every loss this season to the front office. First round bust after first round bust. There is no reason to guess why we can't score points or stop anyone.

[Smitto]

The colts have the players to fix this, they just arent putting them in the situation to fix it.. With time the coaches will put in the right guys.. though it doesnt take a scientis to figure out that you cant stop a running team with mathis and freeney.. they need to use tyler and anderson more, the colts really do act like the team is a family or something.. but the better guys on the field to play IE johnson over foster on running downs.

[deedub75]

No kneejerk reaction here. I expected a blowout. Colts did next to nothing in the offseason to shore up the defense and Texans offense was already very good. Without Manning where was the scoring going to come from?

[ruksak]

Gimme a break man with all the "bandwagon" crap. That has been so over used in the last week its ridiculous. I've been a fan for 27 yrs. and have seen so many bad seasons its not even funny, but I will not pretend that what I seen today was just an abberation and everything is going to suddenly be fixed next week. Being a fan does not mean endlessly kissing butt and fooling yourself into believing everything the organization does is perfect.

There are bandwagon fans, let us not pretend they don't exist. You are correct that people are way too quick to throw that term around, and it has lost much of its sting. As well, you are correct that a fan can criticize this team and even express overall disappointment and still be a die hard fan.

HOWEVER...we are seeing here on this forum, on TV, at work etc plenty of fans that use harsh, ridiculous verbiage that says "I love this team when they win but I hate this team when they lose". Thats bandwagoneering right there. Comparable to a person that would divorce their spouse they "love" because they were disfigured in an accident.

Y'all either love this team, or you do not. You can love this team and hate the way they played, the calls they make or the mistakes they commit. Its all in the words they use.

I just can't take a "fan" seriously when he/she says "the Colts suck". Maybe they sucked today, but you gonna call your team suck? In my book that means you suck (not you Balzer, speaking figuratively).

[speedrik]

expectations from us fans over the last 10 yrs is we always find a way. The first half was the worst half of ball I think I have ever seen. Beat in every aspect - offense, defense, special teams (and I was thinking before the return special teams has not blown up yet), AV missed a semi chip shot and COACHING and PREPARATION. Like we expected them to run up the gut and stay in pocket to pass. Misdirection killed us. Second half, some positive to build off of, O started to gel a little. Right side of O line needs help and putting Clark on Mario is a sack every time. It has only been a couple of weeks w/ Collins, most likely only has a handful of plays memorized. Not blaming Polian or anyone else, 9 yrs straight to the playoffs, one of the most prolific offenses ever means something, no one could replace PM. You could bring Rodgers or Brady in and would struggle with only two weeks. As they said, Collins had to call the whole play name, PM had it down to a couple key words. Disappointed in the D, which has nothing to do with PM. Secondary may make every QB a superstar. I dont think we win with PM today the way everything else went. Still keeping some hope everyone can continue to gel. Just one bad game which should not be a surprise. Just one game of 16. Look at how bad the Chiefs (playoffs), Steelers (SB), Falcons (SB pick by many) all lost big time. Any given Sunday.

[FireJimCaldwell]

It's not about bandwagon vs. real fans. It is about a fairy tail season vs. reality. A team doesn't lose the best player in the game and go on without missing a beat. The Lakers are going in the tank if Kobe is out for the season.

It's next Manning up, but we don't have another one and it's not going to be pretty. Collins & the offense will eventually look better than they did today and the defense I'm still trying to figure out why there looked to be a lack of effort. I know they were put in some bad spots with the fumbles and such, nobody stepped up at all. My prediction was 34-17, so it was pretty close and if Houston hadn't taken the foot off the gas it could have easily been much worse.

Is this rock bottom? Who knows. Hillis might put 200 on us Sunday. There are going to be some very ugly games, and that doesn't make anyone a fake fan for telling like it is. Now if someone wants to give up and go to other hobbies and such, then that can be defined as a bandwagon fan. We've been spoiled for over a decade, and we might not be graced with Manning under center this year or ever again. IT could still get worse, but it will get better. Eventually

[everybodysgotone]

Thing is, after 37yrs (my case), 25yrs, or just about any fan start-up time between the Bert Jones and Peyton Manning days (sans some good Harbaugh teams), there wasn't a whole lot to be happy about as a Colts fan. You look at things for what they are. Anyone knowing their history beyond the Manning era knows we've had teams a lot worse than this one over the years. Got zilch to do with "homer this homer that." Who cares. Without our franchise QB I'd be happy with 9-7. If we don't get that far and stink it up for a year or two or even longer if Manning retires.....hey that's what happens. Ups & downs nobody stays on top forever. And in fact, some "bandwagon" fans will fall away. Seen it before, lots of folks come out of the woodwork when a team is winning it's not unique to the Colts.

[Yehoodi]

Gimme a break man with all the "bandwagon" crap. That has been so over used in the last week its ridiculous. I've been a fan for 27 yrs. and have seen so many bad seasons its not even funny, but I will not pretend that what I seen today was just an abberation and everything is going to suddenly be fixed next week. Being a fan does not mean endlessly kissing butt and fooling yourself into believing everything the organization does is perfect.

This team has serious problems right now and no amount of pretending it don't will not help and just because people are pointing out what the blind homers refuse to see does not mean they are bandwagon fans.

Balzer40 as a fan of football of 27 years, you of all people should realize that one bad game does not define a team, lets see how things look week 7 or 8, then we can get a grasped of the season and the '11 colts . . . ;) . . . we really can't be making definitive statements about a team until we seem some games . . .

[everybodysgotone]

Balzer40 as a fan of football of 27 years, you of all people should realize that one bad game does not define a team, lets see how things look week 7 or 8, then we can get a grasped of the season and the '11 colts . . . ;) . . . we really can't be making definitive statements about a team until we seem some games . . .

I've got more respect for the fan ^ of a team I've disliked for as long as I can remember, who can come on here and be a voice of reason more so than some of the reactionary people that affiliate with the Colts.

I know for a fact how some outsiders view this board as a whole, and it's not any wonder when you look around. A lot of it has to do with the number of newer era fans, which is good to have, but also bad because they by far and large don't temper what's going on, thus givig this board a face.

[grmasterb]

The colts have the players to fix this, they just arent putting them in the situation to fix it.. With time the coaches will put in the right guys.. though it doesnt take a scientis to figure out that you cant stop a running team with mathis and freeney.. they need to use tyler and anderson more, the colts really do act like the team is a family or something.. but the better guys on the field to play IE johnson over foster on running downs.

Agreed, although I'm beginning to lose faith that the coaches will made the adjustments.

[tfunky14]

Your going to have "the sky is falling" remarks after todays game. I personally didn't get to see the game, not televised in my area. It's only one game, lets see after the 3rd or 4th game and give the grades. Do you think Pittsburg or Atlanta are as terrible as they looked today too.

It the Colts play like this the next 3 games, then go ahead and bash anybody of your choice.

I'm going to wait and see how they bounce back from this.

[LUVTHESHOE]

As fans we have been spoiled for the last decade... Theres no need to freak out, it wasnt an earthquake it was just all the bandwagon fans falling off!

The d played fairly well for as many times as our offense turned the ball over on downs or fumbles. And we created turnovers!

The offense showed signs of finding a rythm late in the 3rd and into the 4th, give these guys sometime all is not lost!

really, the d played well.lol lol

[turner46992]

Take into consideration, Kerry Collins hasnt been with this team for a full month yet, and being able to go out there and deliver a win is asking alot out of a new player that is aging and possibly doesnt have the timing down with the recievers...This is not the end of the colts. I mean you have 2 teams going head to head someone has to lose...unfortunately we lost in a bad way( giving up the ball, and lack of D for the first half). Just look at the saints, steelers, and the falcons...All playoff teams that also got stomped today...its just week 1 guys so lets put our big boy pants on and rally behind this team stop crying the season is over when we have 15 weeks left and a chance to get peyton back into the line up before this seasons over.

[Coltsfan23]

As fans we have been spoiled for the last decade... Theres no need to freak out, it wasnt an earthquake it was just all the bandwagon fans falling off!

The d played fairly well for as many times as our offense turned the ball over on downs or fumbles. And we created turnovers!

The offense showed signs of finding a rythm late in the 3rd and into the 4th, give these guys sometime all is not lost!

I agree with many on here that the bandwagon comment is severely over played right now.

The offense started to look better which is good though at the same time I think the Texans let off the gas coming back from half time. When you are up 34-0 its hard to maintain the intensity. The D did look better also though again is it them looking better or the Texan offense letting off the gas?

I am not mad nor sad this was exactly the game I expected to see today. This team is 100% built around having #18 under center without a quality back up to replace him as needed. Today's game and this season in my opinion are an indictment against the Colts front office. They should have seen the day coming where they would no longer be able to jump on #18's back and let him carry them to 10+ victories a year. I am very interested to see how they do next week if the fold up like a cheap tent again then we will all know that its going to be a LONG season.

[Manning2Wayne]

go listen to the post game interviews, its 1 game, lets see where it goes,

[Rich Cannon]

I know we are all disappointed in the loss, but all is not lost. We just can't turn the ball over. There were alot of positive signs but also things we must fix. The season isn't over its just beginning.

[pacolts56]

There are bandwagon fans, let us not pretend they don't exist. You are correct that people are way too quick to throw that term around, and it has lost much of its sting. As well, you are correct that a fan can criticize this team and even express overall disappointment and still be a die hard fan.

HOWEVER...we are seeing here on this forum, on TV, at work etc plenty of fans that use harsh, ridiculous verbiage that says "I love this team when they win but I hate this team when they lose". Thats bandwagoneering right there. Comparable to a person that would divorce their spouse they "love" because they were disfigured in an accident.

Y'all either love this team, or you do not. You can love this team and hate the way they played, the calls they make or the mistakes they commit. Its all in the words they use.

I just can't take a "fan" seriously when he/she says "the Colts suck". Maybe they sucked today, but you gonna call your team suck? In my book that means you suck (not you Balzer, speaking figuratively).

[Rafiki]

I'm not exactly sure what coaching by Caldwell is going on. The biggest frustration to me is the defense, to me the offense gets a pass because a few better offensive lineman will correct most of the offense aside from QB which is just not going to be good till Manning comes back.

The defense on the other side at what point do we go away from the cover 2 scheme? The only team to run this scheme effectively has been Tampa Bay and our atempts to mimic it have just not worked out. Every year experts state that our defense is only good with playing with a lead.. in laymen s terms that means when we don't have to worry about a team running the ball our defense can play ok. Why would we want a defensive scheme that is only good at stopping the pass and only stopping the pass when its the only option for the opponent?

Why not mimic teams defenses like, Pittsburgh / Baltimore / New York Jets / New York Giants / New England / Green Bay / Chicago? These teams do well against both run and pass. Yet the Colts want small players that are onesided.. and every year Peyton hides the flaws by winning games inspite of the defense.

Scrap the Cover2 and go to a defense that can bltz or zone blitz with some lineman and backers with enough size to stop the run.

Caldwell.. make a coaching decision... look at whats not working the last 4 years and fix it stop trying to make the small quick philosophy work.. because its not the players fault its the system

[OLD FAN MAN]

I'm not exactly sure what coaching by Caldwell is going on. The biggest frustration to me is the defense, to me the offense gets a pass because a few better offensive lineman will correct most of the offense aside from QB which is just not going to be good till Manning comes back.

The defense on the other side at what point do we go away from the cover 2 scheme? The only team to run this scheme effectively has been Tampa Bay and our atempts to mimic it have just not worked out. Every year experts state that our defense is only good with playing with a lead.. in laymen s terms that means when we don't have to worry about a team running the ball our defense can play ok. Why would we want a defensive scheme that is only good at stopping the pass and only stopping the pass when its the only option for the opponent?

Why not mimic teams defenses like, Pittsburgh / Baltimore / New York Jets / New York Giants / New England / Green Bay / Chicago? These teams do well against both run and pass. Yet the Colts want small players that are onesided.. and every year Peyton hides the flaws by winning games inspite of the defense.

Scrap the Cover2 and go to a defense that can bltz or zone blitz with some lineman and backers with enough size to stop the run.

Caldwell.. make a coaching decision... look at whats not working the last 4 years and fix it stop trying to make the small quick philosophy work.. because its not the players fault its the system

the coaches noticed the same thing you did, that our scheme did not work well today and they are going to make some adjustments

[deedub75]

the coaches noticed the same thing you did, that our scheme did not work well today and they are going to make some adjustments

Whatever! They never make adjustments. We need big bodies in the middle and some cornerbacks who can cover.

[MAC]

No kneejerk reaction here. I expected a blowout. Colts did next to nothing in the offseason to shore up the defense and Texans offense was already very good. Without Manning where was the scoring going to come from?

Nothing, right.........................

Never played a down for the Colts previously: Anderson, Brayton, Simms, Nevis,Rucker, Lefeged, Moten, Caldwell, Johnson, Thomas

Young player expected to improve: Moala, Angerer, Conner, Wheeler, Hughes,

Back from Injury: Bullitt, uhhhh, might be more of the 19 IRed back, I'd have to check.

Most of the remainder are quality starters (and a couple of pro bowlers).

What exactly did you want them to do - aside from signing Asomugha for so much money that Peyton would have had to be released outright?

[WoolMagnet]

the coaches noticed the same thing you did, that our scheme did not work well today and they are going to make some adjustments

Where did you see this ? Is there anywhere on-line to see post-game interviews?

What I don't understand is that 95% of us here KNEW the scheme wouldn't work. Why on earth wouldn't the coaches?

They should have had a back-up plan. What did they do at half-time? Order pizzas.

As hard as I try not to, I'm really starting to doubt the competancy of this coaching regime. The loss of Howard mudd might be rearing it's ugly head too.

Manning does affect both our offense AND defense, no doubt. But it couldn't be THAT much, could it? No, really.... could it?

[WoolMagnet]

Nothing, right.........................

Never played a down for the Colts previously: Anderson, Brayton, Simms, Nevis,Rucker, Lefeged, Moten, Caldwell, Johnson, Thomas

Young player expected to improve: Moala, Angerer, Conner, Wheeler, Hughes,

Back from Injury: Bullitt, uhhhh, might be more of the 19 IRed back, I'd have to check.

Most of the remainder are quality starters (and a couple of pro bowlers).

What exactly did you want them to do - aside from signing Asomugha for so much money that Peyton would have had to be released outright?

I agree with you fully.

And don't forget they added high picks on the OL. Which everyone wanted them to do.

I also feel we have talent. In my view, to day's problems primarily started from the OL not giving Collins "reasonable" time. This made it hard to sustain drives, which put pressure on our defense. Thos guys got a WORKOUT today. The defense is gonna sleep for a couple days.

[ColtsD]

As fans we have been spoiled for the last decade... Theres no need to freak out, it wasnt an earthquake it was just all the bandwagon fans falling off!

The d played fairly well for as many times as our offense turned the ball over on downs or fumbles. And we created turnovers!

The offense showed signs of finding a rythm late in the 3rd and into the 4th, give these guys sometime all is not lost!

Exactly I look at the good defensive plays made as things to continue & build on.

[MAC]

The defense on the other side at what point do we go away from the cover 2 scheme? The only team to run this scheme effectively has been Tampa Bay and our atempts to mimic it have just not worked out. Every year experts state that our defense is only good with playing with a lead.. in laymen s terms that means when we don't have to worry about a team running the ball our defense can play ok. Why would we want a defensive scheme that is only good at stopping the pass and only stopping the pass when its the only option for the opponent?

The stated reason for bringing Dungy in was to simplify the defense. They had to commit so much money on offense that they wanted a defense in which youth and speed were the primary features. In other words, so they could draft undersized players (lower draft slots), throw them in, and replace them as needed without missing a beat. In case you hadn't noticed, it's been working pretty well. If they had built a D core like the Steelers we wouldn't have a skill position core like the Colts. In the salary cap/free agent era you can't have everything. The Colts starting point was Manning. I doubt they change philosophies unless he retires and they can't get a suitable replacement. I'd happily take the Colts accomplishments during the Manning era over any franchise in football.

[doogansquest]

Gimme a break man with all the "bandwagon" crap. That has been so over used in the last week its ridiculous. I've been a fan for 27 yrs. and have seen so many bad seasons its not even funny, but I will not pretend that what I seen today was just an abberation and everything is going to suddenly be fixed next week. Being a fan does not mean endlessly kissing butt and fooling yourself into believing everything the organization does is perfect.

This team has serious problems right now and no amount of pretending it don't will not help and just because people are pointing out what the blind homers refuse to see does not mean they are bandwagon fans.

Why are people "blind homers" if they recognized the positive things the team did today?

What does finding something positive point to someone endlessly kissing butt (which isn't even a phrase that would apply here), or fooling oneself, or believing anything about the decisions of the organization?

You just sound bitter, and offer nothing valid here. You complained about an attitude, or a stance which was not presented at all by the OP, and then did the polar opposite as if that isn't hypocritical.

[Hawkeyecolt]

Thing is, after 37yrs (my case), 25yrs, or just about any fan start-up time between the Bert Jones and Peyton Manning days (sans some good Harbaugh teams), there wasn't a whole lot to be happy about as a Colts fan. You look at things for what they are. Anyone knowing their history beyond the Manning era knows we've had teams a lot worse than this one over the years. Got zilch to do with "homer this homer that." Who cares. Without our franchise QB I'd be happy with 9-7. If we don't get that far and stink it up for a year or two or even longer if Manning retires.....hey that's what happens. Ups & downs nobody stays on top forever. And in fact, some "bandwagon" fans will fall away. Seen it before, lots of folks come out of the woodwork when a team is winning it's not unique to the Colts.

It felt like 1978 today.

[braveheartcolt]

Balzer40 as a fan of football of 27 years, you of all people should realize that one bad game does not define a team, lets see how things look week 7 or 8, then we can get a grasped of the season and the '11 colts . . . ;) . . . we really can't be making definitive statements about a team until we seem some games . . .

This isn't about one game though. This is about a Defense that has been struggling for years. We don't have very poor players really, so it must be the coaching staff. Peyton covered up a lot of cracks, we all know that, but come on.

[Blue Horseshoe]

The defense played well? What ball game were you watching? The only reason Houston didn't rush for 250 yards is because Houston started drives on the Colt 30.

[Blue Horseshoe]

Your going to have "the sky is falling" remarks after todays game. I personally didn't get to see the game, not televised in my area. It's only one game, lets see after the 3rd or 4th game and give the grades. Do you think Pittsburg or Atlanta are as terrible as they looked today too.

It the Colts play like this the next 3 games, then go ahead and bash anybody of your choice.

I'm going to wait and see how they bounce back from this.

With Pittsburgh I will say yes. That is what Roethlisberger looks like when the defense is getting too old to protect him. He is a wildly overrated quarterback just because the defense won some championships while he was on the team.

[John Waylon]

the coaches noticed the same thing you did, that our scheme did not work well today and they are going to make some adjustments

Yeah, kinda like the did in the Super Bowl, right? Brees was cutting us up underneath because our corners were playing 10 yards off, and we came out and........ Wait a minute... We kept playing 10 yards off....

Hmmm...

[everybodysgotone]

It felt like 1978 today.

Excellent anaology. We were on a roll and right in the thick of it in 1975, 76 and 77 with some really good Bert Jones teams.....then he got hurt. We started the 1978 season (had to look it up) with a 0-38 loss to the Cowboys & wound up 5-11 that year.

[King Colt]

They Stunk! But the Steelers got beat 35 to 7, one more point worse than us. Biggest surprise of the day was Cam Newton throwing for more than 400 yards. Terry Bradshaw said in the pregame show Newton was not an NFL QB!