I Kinda Think Some Fans Really Don't Know What We Have Had Here...

[dn4192]

I am willing to bet that outside of maybe 2-3 other teams in the NFL, that every other team fans in the NFL would change places with the Colts fans tomorrow to have enjoyed what Colts fans have enjoyed over the past decade +. I am willing to bet that they would be glad to suffer through 1 bad season to have experienced the winning we have. I also doubt there would be ANY that would want a head coach fired whom in his first two seasons has 1 SB appearance, 1 conference title and 2 division titles under his belt. Heck Andy Reid has been in Philly how long and has only 1 SB appearence. Sean Peyton in NO only has 1 SB appearance, Mr. Smith in Chicago has done what?

I think we all need to look at the positives in this season. Those of us who could never get tickets now get a chance to see a live Colts game, we will get a better choice of picks and our schedule will not be killer. Come on folks relax, it's 1 season and we will make it through....

[indy_nick]

I think that if we get Andrew Luck or something like that, then 1 bad season in 20 years+ is pretty darn good. We got very spoiled as fans recently with all of the success. We just have to stick through the tough times and know we will be back to winning games in no time.

[ruksak]

Watching my Colts go through this kind of strife is like watching my child fail at school.

Keep in mind that this forum is as much a discussion ground as it is a venting pipe.

[Smitto]

I doubt that, the raiders have been one of the worst teams yet their fans are insane about that team... just like how most fans here wouldnt wanna go to the pats just cause they are a great team its the same way for fans on other teams when it pertains to the colts.

[dn4192]

Watching my Colts go through this kind of strife is like watching my child fail at school.

Keep in mind that this forum is as much a discussion ground as it is a venting pipe.

We are not good because we are missing our QB, to me if we were bad and had everyone healthy then I could see the distress, but not in the present situation. To me this is a win/win season for the colts franchise.

[horsehead213]

Regardless of which, anyone who call's themselves a fan of a team whatever the sport,should never turn there back on it no matter what the circumstance...win or lose....whatever the qb situation.....i bleed blue and bruise white and always will,I am not from indy,heck ive never been to indy....but monday through sunday 24-7 they have my support!! it's funny b/c i do pest control and alot of my customers know me as "the guy with the colts hat on"......love my colts alway's will!!!

[Coltsman1788]

I am willing to bet that outside of maybe 2-3 other teams in the NFL, that every other team fans in the NFL would change places with the Colts fans tomorrow to have enjoyed what Colts fans have enjoyed over the past decade +. I am willing to bet that they would be glad to suffer through 1 bad season to have experienced the winning we have. I also doubt there would be ANY that would want a head coach fired whom in his first two seasons has 1 SB appearance, 1 conference title and 2 division titles under his belt. Heck Andy Reid has been in Philly how long and has only 1 SB appearence. Sean Peyton in NO only has 1 SB appearance, Mr. Smith in Chicago has done what?

I think we all need to look at the positives in this season. Those of us who could never get tickets now get a chance to see a live Colts game, we will get a better choice of picks and our schedule will not be killer. Come on folks relax, it's 1 season and we will make it through....

I know you are trying to make Caldwell look special and all but 1 SB appearance and 1 Conference title is redundant. If we had actually won that Super Bowl then you could list them both.

[ruksak]

I know you are trying to make Caldwell look special and all but 1 SB appearance and 1 Conference title is redundant. If we had actually won that Super Bowl then you could list them both.

Yes, it would be proper to term it as 1 conference championship. It was won in what I considered to be quite a down year for the AFC, who hasn't won a SB since the Colts won.

[ruksak]

We are not good because we are missing our QB, to me if we were bad and had everyone healthy then I could see the distress, but not in the present situation. To me this is a win/win season for the colts franchise.

I speeched some time ago about how this could be the best way for us to win another SB. Due to the accruing of high draft picks and the possibility of improvement of this O-line (experience to our two rookies).

That doesn't make this season any less arduous and painful. Glaring issues have been exposed and hopefully this process will resolve them.

[Balzer40]

I personally am not upset with this season at all anymore. I resolved myself to the fact that the Colts were going absolutely nowhere this season once it was learned that Peyton wouldn't be available. Frankly, it has made the losses much easier to deal with.

[WoolMagnet]

This should be a wakeup call to the organization.

It is obvious that if Peyton can come back next year (sry, but this yr he's not) or if he never plays again, this team needs to address some glaring issues.

OL, DL, CB and safety. OL should improve(rookies) but more help is needed. DL showed improvement until injuries. CB we need 1 more corner, hopefully a "good" one. safety depth is needed.

Our MAJOR concern is the QB position (for future) but that could be helped dramatically by improved OL and defensive play. If Peyton can play again, how many years can we realistically expect him to play? Before this we were saying 4 or 5. Whats now? 2 or 3? 4 maybe? We need to groom the next one now if we get a chance to draft someone we feel would be a franchise guy. He'd be ready about the time manning retires. The experience from a preparation standpoint would be invaluable. he would just need some practice and playing time.

If manning can't come back (there is no guarantee), then we'd have our "future" guy to either throw to the wolves or we bring in a vet QB that we feel is capable in leading what still is a quality team to a SB run. I would think we could temp a "better" QB into coming here for a year or two.

It will be interesting to see what Painter can do from here on out. Who knows, maybe we'll be surprised. Too bad he won't get enough protection for a real chance.

I would be prepared for next years training camp as if Manning wasn't coming back. Consider his return as a bonus. Then we're prepared even if he does come back and regresses during the season. We still need a #2 that we are comfortable as our #1 if needed. Anything less is asking for another season like this one.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

Watching my Colts go through this kind of strife is like watching my child fail at school.

Keep in mind that this forum is as much a discussion ground as it is a venting pipe.

Pipe?..... that reminds me.... brb.

[ruksak]

Pipe?..... that reminds me.... brb.

friggin bogart.....

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

friggin bogart.....

its in short supply lol

[Virtuoso80]

This should be a wakeup call to the organization.

It is obvious that if Peyton can come back next year (sry, but this yr he's not) or if he never plays again, this team needs to address some glaring issues.

OL, DL, CB and safety. OL should improve(rookies) but more help is needed. DL showed improvement until injuries. CB we need 1 more corner, hopefully a "good" one. safety depth is needed.

Our MAJOR concern is the QB position (for future) but that could be helped dramatically by improved OL and defensive play. If Peyton can play again, how many years can we realistically expect him to play? Before this we were saying 4 or 5. Whats now? 2 or 3? 4 maybe? We need to groom the next one now if we get a chance to draft someone we feel would be a franchise guy. He'd be ready about the time manning retires. The experience from a preparation standpoint would be invaluable. he would just need some practice and playing time.

If manning can't come back (there is no guarantee), then we'd have our "future" guy to either throw to the wolves or we bring in a vet QB that we feel is capable in leading what still is a quality team to a SB run. I would think we could temp a "better" QB into coming here for a year or two.

It will be interesting to see what Painter can do from here on out. Who knows, maybe we'll be surprised. Too bad he won't get enough protection for a real chance.

I would be prepared for next years training camp as if Manning wasn't coming back. Consider his return as a bonus. Then we're prepared even if he does come back and regresses during the season. We still need a #2 that we are comfortable as our #1 if needed. Anything less is asking for another season like this one.

A vet like carson palmer maybe?

[OLD FAN MAN]

I know you are trying to make Caldwell look special and all but 1 SB appearance and 1 Conference title is redundant. If we had actually won that Super Bowl then you could list them both.

several teams want caldwell so they can try for the first round pick, we need to keep him if we want luck

[ALuck12]

I say we hold on to Caldwell until after this season, and then we can cut him loose. We will have our #1 pick and a better chance at a SB without that emotionless cardboard cutout.

[sixfive]

I remember when mayor Hudnut said we will have football in Indy. I remember the hole being dug for the Hoosiser Dome and here came the Colts on Mayflower trucks on the cold winter night. I remember the rough years of losing and losing(and bad at that). I remember Captain comeback, Pat Beach Eugene Daniel, Ray Butler. Back then we didn't even know how to be fans because we were not use to having football in Indy. Things have changed now we have the BEST team in the NFL hands down. With that being said Its has been a rough start to this year, we are so use to seeing the Colts steam roll teams by 21,28 points. That is not going to happen this year. There arent any teams in the NFL that can say that there team has made it to the playoffs 9 years running. That is a record that has to be respected. So lets not listen to all the NAYSAYERS that say the Colts are done. This team still has alot of gas in it's tank. So lets remember they are still the team to beat in the AFC South and the season isn't over. GO COLTS.

[plshlp18]

My first Colts game was the season opener of 1991, the year they went 1-15. Loved them ever since and always will. But Peyton changed our expectations and we can be critical when we see opportunity lost. One ring in 13 years? That's opportunity lost. It doesn't make us haters or bandwagoners. Just upset that management has failed to surround Peyton with talent. With Peyton gone, I haven't cringed a single loss or lost support for my team. My expectations changed. I don't expect us to win. As for Caldwell, you can praise him for "leading us" to the Super Bowl. IMO, the only call he made was to pull our starters against the Jets.

[bluebombers87]

My first Colts game was the season opener of 1991, the year they went 1-15. Loved them ever since and always will. But Peyton changed our expectations and we can be critical when we see opportunity lost. One ring in 13 years? That's opportunity lost. It doesn't make us haters or bandwagoners. Just upset that management has failed to surround Peyton with talent. With Peyton gone, I haven't cringed a single loss or lost support for my team. My expectations changed. I don't expect us to win. As for Caldwell, you can praise him for "leading us" to the Super Bowl. IMO, the only call he made was to pull our starters against the Jets.

You fans need to get your stories right. First it was Polian who ran the team like a puppet. But when it conveniances you, it was Caldwell who did it. At least be consistant.

Management is the exact reason we have the success we've had. We have surrounded Manning with the talent to succeed. Anyone remember last year, you know here Manning had practically no one help on offense. How did the team do then? Still made the playoffs. Wayne, Collie, Addai, Clark on offense, on defense, Freeney, Mathis, Brackett, Bethea. All of these players get paid, and get paid quite a bit. And with this new fangled creation called the salary cap, we have to put players who are either very green or cast offs to fill in the gaps. This isn't Madden kids.

Also, I won't name names, but all those posters out here (notice I didn't call them fans) who either have made mention of playing poorly on purpose in order to get Andrew Luck; I sincerely hope you're kidding. I had a friend who made a comment that Colts fans are whiny spoiled babies. I defended the fanbase then but after seeing someone with an avatar with the "Suck for Luck" emblem, all I can say is that I hope they were kidding.

[plshlp18]

So it was Polian who pulled the starters? That shows how irrelevant Caldwell is then. I disagree that management is the reason we have success. You said it yourself. "Manning had practically no help on offense, yet we still made the playoffs". Exactly! How did we lose? Special teams allowed a tackle to midfield and defense allowed the Jets to setup a field goal. Season over.

We don't need great receivers. Peyton threw to no-names like Tamme and White and still the Colts led the league in passing. We were near the bottom in rushing. We win because of Peyton, we lose because our defense and special teams have always been below-average during the "Manning Era". They are the reason we have one ring.

[BillCowher]

We know exactly "what we have had here" but what does that have to do with today? You are saying that because we have been great (because of one person) we should be happy that we have a terrible team with a terrible coach? GM had a great run as well and they were very happy about their past and you see what happened to them. (Maybe we will get a bailout as well?) Also, the past was not that great, Manning outstanding. We always knew we had a very porous defense and very lame coaching (post-Dungy). What we see now is the full manifestation of life without Manning.

[Blue Horseshoe]

Management is the exact reason we have the success we've had. We have surrounded Manning with the talent to succeed. Anyone remember last year, you know here Manning had practically no one help on offense. How did the team do then? Still made the playoffs. Wayne, Collie, Addai, Clark on offense, on defense, Freeney, Mathis, Brackett, Bethea. All of these players get paid, and get paid quite a bit. And with this new fangled creation called the salary cap, we have to put players who are either very green or cast offs to fill in the gaps. This isn't Madden kids.

The talent is all out there. So far they are 0-5 with very few predictable victories ahead. Manning has made the management look better than they really are, especially in the 2nd half of the decade.