How far off are the Colts. Really?

[pacolts56]

Depends on how you define....   "far off"....

 

Far off from a Super Bowl?    Far off from winning the division?     I'm not trying to be clever here,  just asking....

 

The answer for me is....   I think we're here right now.    I think we're set-up to be a consistently good team.    But that means we might win 10 games next year and not 11.    Tougher schedule.    And we might lose again in the first round of the playoffs.   Lots of moving parts to know.

 

Long term,  I think the answer is two more off-seasons...  this year and next....

 

Two more Free Agency periods,  two more drafts...   I think by then we'll be a year in year out contender for the division and the conference....

 

If we're truly Building a Monster that takes time.     Neither Rome, nor Monsterville were built in a day!     

I agree....

 

Winning the AFC South is always the first step.

 

Considering our core of players...our cap space and our AFC South rivals....I think we're 2 years away from serious Super Bowl contention.

 

Jacksonville is still in disarray as a franchise and MJD is in the high-mileage phase of his career as a RB. They seem to be in continual rebuild mode and without a vision of what they are even trying to build.

 

Tennessee isn't a whole lot better off and Jake Locker may or may not be their long-term answer....so far he's so-so, at best. Kenny Britt is talented but injury-prone and a knucklehead. They have some bright spots but they have their problems. Another losing season and Munchak will probably be blown out....and then its on to the next coach.

 

And Houston....for all their talent...has squandered so many years being everyone's "sexy pick", and then under-performing....that I believe their window is now closing. Andre Johnson is getting older, nicked up and will be losing a step...and as his elite skills degrade, Shaub will be hard-pressed to engineer a passing offense anywhere near as formidable. Their pass defense....as we know....is beatable.

 

Our challenge....and we still have several....is the wise use of our cap dollars and building a truly balanced offense and a solid defense, but overall a much more PHYSICAL football team. The position upgrades have been well-covered and IMO Grigson is off to a very good start!

 

Let's face it....we tried the "smallish" and "quickish" roster method, with plenty of regular season success and individual accolades....but also with 7 one and done's that clearly exposed our perennial weak spots and eventually, and accurately, pigeon-holed the Colts as a bunch of soft playground punching bags that almost none of our playoff opponents ever truly feared.

 

Yes.....if your gonna build a monster, then build a MONSTER!

[PatMcAfeeFan]

 Depends on what we do in the coming months. If we enter next season with a decent O-Line, good running game, and a good D. I say we reclaim the Division. If we end up the two or three seed in the Playoffs then I think we could be in the AFCCG. The only way we do that though is if Luck works on his accuracy and his arm strength and get Ballard running from the first snap in the Reg Season. JMO

[oldunclemark]

It is almost scary at times to even think about considering what happened in 2011 and the following offseason with the changes on the team.

 

But, I like this team. I really like the feel of them. There is a young core here who nobody can deny is promising. A few veterans still showing they have it.

 

Some added talent should come in this offseason.

 

Watching Broncos/Ravens made me think about the landscape of the AFC. IF we could have scored TDs instead of FGs that would have been a different game in Baltimore. I won't knock the guys though.....too much youth and I think the better team won and we rwent as far as we could for the magical season.

Ravens will be losing Ray Lewis. Maybe Ed Reed. Steelers are showing some decline. Brady/Manning are not getting any younger.

 

Texans are likely our biggest rival now and have yet to show they can win in Indy and they seem to collapse a bit nearing the end of the season too.

 

Of course we cannot predict surprise teams but there was little turnover this year for the AFC playoffs. 5 of the 6 previous playoff teams made it back in. The 4  AFC teams playing this divisional weekend were the same as the previous season.

 

I am well aware of a sophomore slump but how does this come about? Luck already threw a ton of picks this year and got beaten up a lot. I suppose the win/loss record is the biggest area of concern. We could become better and not reach 11 wins.

 

 

All I am saying is.......I like our chances moving forward. A lot.

 

And I like Pagano. Love him so far. He reminds me of what we had with Dungy. "The voice" the players listen to and follow. Our leader.

We're not an 11-5 year going forward...

We need a lot of offensive line and defensive line help, if we're being brutally honest.

We were lucky in 2012....but established ourselves as competitive...

I'm just hoping to go 10-6 or 9-7 and make the playofs again in 2013

[GrizzColt]

McGlynn said this was the best locker room he's ever been in and hopes the Colts keep him.  They all feel that way, so we have chemistry and leadership (coaches and players) on our team.  Some teams never get that far.  So I say the first thing is to keep a core group of guys from this team who provide leadership even if they aren't the best players.  They can be depth.  The 2nd is QB.  We have that and he's gonna be elite.  The 3rd is elite talent at key positions.  Vontae Davis for example.  We can't field the top rated player at every position, but we can at key positions.  Hopefully, this will be taken care of in FA this offseason.  With another great draft and this FA, Grigson has the ability to do what he did last year and that's exceed everybody's expectations.  In other words, we may not experience a sophomore slump.  We could very well win a playoff game or better.  We should be able to discern that in the following months by whatever Irsay says.  If he predicts playoff contention and better, then I believe him.

[Turftoe]

Ideally, a season or two.  Of course it depends on how successful the FO is at being able to upgrade our areas of weakness.  Also injuries always seem to have a huge effect on our team, historically.

 

One thing I caution is that we may well be an improved team next year yet have a worse record than this past season.  We won a lot of close games and got some good bounces.  Our opponents may be better or play better we could drop a couple of close ones.

[21isSuperman]

Not many people realized cuz it floated under the radar but we competed for it this year IMO. Next year it will be more obvious after this magical year. Give us 2 guards, another end, a tackle, and a 2nd CB with a 2nd seasons worth of chemistry and exp n watch out

 

Yep.  And even though that might seem like a lot of things to add, Grigs has shown he can get a lot of talent and is going to work his tail off looking everywhere to get it.

[basketballsteve]

We are a good offensive line,  a good defensive line and a excellent second safety away from being a strong SB contender. I think Luck behind a 1st class offensive line even with current backs, TE's and WR would be scary good. I think our defense would be good enough with a big improvement in the DL even with our current LB's and corners but we have only one passable safety.

[SilentHill]

We're about 13 months off from winning a SB.

[Jules]

We're about 13 months off from winning a SB.

Hey not bad. You had us at 12-4 I believe going into last year and you were just one game off. Maybe we will now at least get to the title game. We can dream.

:banana:

[#12]

We're an offensive line and 2nd corner away

 

I would be happy going into next season with a revamped O-line and another corner.  Add a few reasonably-priced Redding vet-types, take a chance on another Butler or Freeman and draft well.  Not every player who can potentially help this team has to be expensive. 

[Kenny]

Yep. And even though that might seem like a lot of things to add, Grigs has shown he can get a lot of talent and is going to work his tail off looking everywhere to get it.

It isn't a lot at all considering there are so many teams with less quality starters than we have holes. We could compete with just a better line honestly

[Tark The Shark]

Realistically, they could be a offseason away from going to the SB. 

 

They could also be a number one draft pick team next year.

 

This offseason will be very important to the team on whether we are contenders or pretenders.

[HungarianColtsFan]

We're an offensive line and 2nd corner away

 

In a nutshell.

 

I'd like to see some depth at D too.. Perhaps a NT...

[jwilli69]

I think one thing we better learn from history, if we don't field a team and only rely on the super star QB to win games, your only going to get so far. I want a oline like Brady has every year. Can you imagine Luck with 3-5 seconds to look over the field and giving deep routes to open up as well as the TE seam route?

[Dudley Smith]

I think we could compete for a SB next season so long as all the right moves are made this offseason-- principally that the OL is fixed and another quality CB is added on defense. That is not to say I expect us to be there next year. I expect us to be there within the next three seasons. But anything is possible.

 

Look at the Ravens right now. They really are not an overly impressive team on either side of the ball this year and yet they are one game away from being in the SB and having a shot at a title. They just played well enough and had enough go right with the matchups this year that they are where they are. I think our Colts team next season could easily be the same quality as the Ravens this year, and depending on a bounce here or there could experience the same type of postseason.

[UKColt13]

I'd say a reliable o line, a slightly upgraded secondary and another legit pass rusher away from the Super Bowl.

[hawkeyes]

3-4 years I think.

 

By then Freeney, Mathis, Wayne, Vinny, and several others will likely be gone.   Can't even imagine what the Colts will look like in 3-4 years....

[HarassedOffTheSite]

How far off are the Colts. Really?

 

We will win the Super Bowl next season.

[House]

By then Freeney, Mathis, Wayne, Vinny, and several others will likely be gone. Can't even imagine what the Colts will look like in 3-4 years....

We will have all new guys who we can't imagine the Colts without lol.

[No 1 Manning Fan]

I think one thing we better learn from history, if we don't field a team and only rely on the super star QB to win games, your only going to get so far. I want a oline like Brady has every year. Can you imagine Luck with 3-5 seconds to look over the field and giving deep routes to open up as well as the TE seam route?

You've got to take into account that Brady and the Pats run a lot of quick slants, out routes and screens. He doesn't need a lot of time to do that. When he is hcing success with that it causes the defense to stop blitzing and to focus on the short routes, that's when he calls for the long passes. But the other thing that causes defenses a lot of grief is that a large number of long passes are up the seam to Gronk and Hernandez.

The way Luck and the offense played this year, he would need a good 5 seconds to survey the field and allow the long routes to develop. That's tough to do on a consistent basis. We really need some monsters on the line to do that.

[lollygagger8]

The focus #1 is O-Line. I would put Luck (with a legit O-line) against ANY team in the NFL.

 

We obviously need another CB (Powers will be gone) and a safety (Zibs is garbage) and someone to replace Freeney, but other than that, if the O-Line is fixed we are going to be sitting pretty for years to come.

[SilentHill]

We're not an 11-5 year going forward...

We need a lot of offensive line and defensive line help, if we're being brutally honest.

We were lucky in 2012....but established ourselves as competitive...

I'm just hoping to go 10-6 or 9-7 and make the playofs again in 2013

 

You should change your name to "Doom&Gloom"

[SilentHill]

Realistically, they could be a offseason away from going to the SB. 

 

They could also be a number one draft pick team next year.

 

This offseason will be very important to the team on whether we are contenders or pretenders.

 

I'd bet the bank, the house and the federal reserve that we wont be the worst team in the NFL next year, I think the odds of that are somewhere along the lines of 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%

[PMan Escape Plan]

We are not that far off at all... considering the upcoming changes this offseason ($$$ for FA and draft class).

 

I say next year they are contenders for representing the AFC in New York for the SB..

[No 1 Manning Fan]

You've got to take into account that Brady and the Pats run a lot of quick slants, out routes and screens. He doesn't need a lot of time to do that. When he is having success with that it causes the defense to stop blitzing and to focus on the short routes, that's when he calls for the long passes. But the other thing that causes defenses a lot of grief is that a large number of long passes are up the seam to Gronk and Hernandez.

The way Luck and the offense played this year, he would need a good 5 seconds to survey the field and allow the long routes to develop. That's tough to do on a consistent basis. We really need some monsters on the line to do that.

I don't know how I accidentally quoted and posted my own post! I wish I could figure out how to delete my posts when I'm using my iPhone.

[shakedownstreet]

not far off but totally far out

[Coltswarriors]

Call me crazy, but I can honestly see us being in the running for the SB next year. With an offseason of $46M to spend on free agents and another draft I'm pretty pumped about next year.

[21isSuperman]

It isn't a lot at all considering there are so many teams with less quality starters than we have holes. We could compete with just a better line honestly

 

If you really think about it, in one season, we added a franchise QB (but that was a gimmie), three good future deep threats in Avery, Hilton, and Brazill, two very good LBs in Hickman and Freeman, a solid corner in Davis, a good RB in Ballard, and two good centers in Shipley and Satele.  We already have LT and C down and we could arguably also have RT down depending on what happens with Justice and Ijalana.  Our guard positions do need some help though, but we aren't that far off

[Franklin County]

I'm just hoping to go 10-6 or 9-7 and make the playofs again in 2013

I think Jules is talking about the Colts and not the Broncos     j/k

[Ufansince65]

 Here's an interesting concept: With Luck's running ability, once the O-line is beefed up, the Colts have the possibility of running

a Colin Kapernick-style 'gun' offense AND a New England-style 2-tight end offense at the same time. Could be kinda cool.

[No 1 Manning Fan]

Here's an interesting concept: With Luck's running ability, once the O-line is beefed up, the Colts have the possibility of running

a Colin Kapernick-style 'gun' offense AND a New England-style 2-tight end offense at the same time. Could be kinda cool.

Yes to the 2 TE offense. No to the Kapernick run and gun. Luck's mobility need to be used to extend plays and escape when the pocket collapses, or at the most on rollouts.

[unitaswestand]

I honestly think next year we are serious Super Bowl threats.   It goes beyond overall team talent.  Pagano and Grigson seem to know how to mold players together to embrace the "team" concept.   Look how well we did this year.  Defensively, we played better than Denver did against Baltimore.  And that was with missing all our defensive linemen, for the most part, as well as two backups playing on the offensive line.  Also with so much dead money against the cap.   Now project that to next year. Add a couple offensive linemen, another corner and safety, a pass rushing LB.  Look out!

 

I expect the Colts to be in the AFC title game next year.

[JoKeR]

By the 3rd year I think we will be top 10 in power rankings and considered a favorite to win the SuperBowl. I think we will make a run next year.

[Truckin Sanders]

Not to be that guy but we did have an incredibly weak schedule this year and had a lot of come from behind wins and while they are wins still worrisome. Our 2 biggest wins were Green Bay in miracle fashion and against a slumping Texans team. Love what I see from Luck but if we went 6-10 next year I wouldn't be surprised but i also wouldn't be surprised if we went 10-6.

[Qwiz]

 I hope Houston likes those 2 Division Titles, cause thats all they are gonna have to look at for another 10 plus years!!!  

Doubtful.

[Franklin County]

Doubtful.

We all have dreams.........

[presto123]

 I think it's great the other two rookie QB phenoms are in the NFC. Down the road it could give us a better shot to reach SB once some of the older elite QB's hang it up.

[ADayWithoutRain]

Honestly,not that far.I think 2 starting guards,a back-up center(to shipley),an average RT(Justice is servicable),a LB to replace freeney,and a 2nd corner.A safety upgrade would be nice also.I think most of those area's will be addressed through FA/DRAFT.

[theanarchist]

We were one game out for the division this year!!! The AFC is getting weaker as stars are aging.

 

People used to say for years as long as we had Peyton we would make the playoffs and compete. Who says the same can't be said for this era with Luck? Has he not shown us A TON in his rookie year? This guy is going to be ridiculously good people and he is crazy smart/poised too.

 

Our future is bright. I can't wait for September again.

Exactly. Luck really impressed me in the Ravens game. Under constant pressure he still threaded the needle most of the time. His arm is strong and accurate. We have to PROTECT him better. Do that and we contend every  year. Very happy with the young players that were brought in this year. But, that o-line has to get better. I think I heard during the broadcast of the Ravens game that no QB had been knocked down more this year than Luck was. That's got to improve.

[SkyBane]

If it weren't for his mobility, Luck would be looking at David Carr levels of being sacked. The fact his numbers were as high as they were given that Oline is nothing short of miraculous. If the Oline improves, this team will likely be an AFC darkhorse and the new "sexy pick" so to speak.