So.... The Excuse....

[Damian Rivas]

No excuses the Colts lost but how many times will they lose to the Patriots before they fix the problem?

[RandomFan]

The refs? 

[5toolplayer]

No "we" didn't. The Colts lost a game they weren't really expected to win. I would have preferred it was closer, but the Colts will be back on this stage again... SOON.

         

[Coltsman1788]

Let's be honest. We got a break facing Andy Dalton without AJ Green and their best tightend in the first round. In the Divisional round we got an old and aging Peyton Manning. The real AFC championship was won last week by the Pats against the Ravens. Today was a formality and the Colts showed they simply did not belong on the same field today. 45-7 not even remotely close. Still a good season and a successful one with the aid of some fortuitous playoff match ups. Still lots of work needed before this team can be considered a legitimate Super Bowl caliber team.

[CanuckColt]

Not having the number 1 seed, not having a D, not having a running game, was any WR's playing in the game? getting outcoached (Chuck is the new Caldwell) , not having a PR who can catch and Adam looked like Mike V. against the Steelers there.

"Chuck is the new Caldwell..."

Let us not insult Jim Caldwell.

[5toolplayer]

Let's be honest. We got a break facing Andy Dalton without AJ Green and their best tightend in the first round. In the Divisional round we got an old and aging Peyton Manning. The real AFC championship was won last week by the Pats against the Ravens. Today was a formality and the Colts showed they simply did not belong on the same field today. 45-7 not even remotely close. Still a good season and a successful one with the aid of some fortuitous playoff match ups. Still lots of work needed before this team can be considered a legitimate Super Bowl caliber team.

Well said sir and I agree 100%. We got lucky facing the Bengals who haven't won a playoff game since the early 90s and were missing their top 2 receiving options. Manning didn't show up and we took advantage of that and fooled a lot of people into thinking we had a chance vs NE. This game was over as soon as the ball bounced off Cribb's facemask. Colts aren't even on the same planet as the Pats. 45-7 and it was worse then that if u were actually watching the game

[ThaCaliColt]

We are just not there yet. I thought it might be a special year…Oh damn well, guess it's not. Screw the Patriots. Time to buy a Seahawks hat. 

[austriancolt]

I'm really disappointed not because we lost but how we lost. You can lose in Foxboro but getting demolished and destroyed in three straight games is just pathetic! It was actually the story of this season. Colts looked unprepared, the Offense out of sync, the Defense couldn't stop anything, Play callings were awulf and stupid mistakes cost us. We played well against the Broncos but obviously Peyton Manning having another Playoff meltdown helped a lot. Getting into the AFC Championship game was nice but probably will prevent significant changes. Colts miss a lot of pieces to be a real Super Bowl contender!

[DoubleE Colt]

When you go to NE and virtually hand the Pats 21 points with a muffed catch, missed fg and interception all returned to TDs then no team is going to win. That's not to mention the dropped catches again! How many this season?! Not to say I expected a win but to go out fighting. It's hard to take being beaten in exactly the same way as before too, we knew the running game was coming. How we can be pretty good against the run most of the season and blow up twice against the Pats twice is beyond me.

[mahagga73]

No "we" didn't. The Colts lost a game they weren't really expected to win. I would have preferred it was closer, but the Colts will be back on this stage again... SOON.

That was an embarrassment on national TV. I've heard of kool-aid drinking but you got to be kidding.

[mintor]

When you go to NE and virtually hand the Pats 21 points with a muffed catch, missed fg and interception all returned to TDs then no team is going to win. That's not to mention the dropped catches again! How many this season?! Not to say I expected a win but to go out fighting. It's hard to take being beaten in exactly the same way as before too, we knew the running game was coming. How we can be pretty good against the run most of the season and blow up twice against the Pats twice is beyond me.

 

 

play in rain and hard wind a deflated football ? changes way kick, caught, hold the ball . harder on raining cold with high winds.

[HungarianColtsFan]

Pats were a better organized and better coached team with lots of experience.

 

3 years ago Colts were 2-14 team, the leagues worst team. Only 3 years...we have a lot to improve. It is just as simple.

[Combsey]

I'm making no excuses either but I found it funny that less than an hour after the game the NFL was investigating NE for using purposely deflated balls. Wow. Granted they handed us our hat but I still think they are classless up twenty some points and still going for it on fourth down and airing it out.

[schwamm]

That was an embarrassment on national TV. I've heard of kool-aid drinking but you got to be kidding.

OK, Chicken Little... I woke up this morning to the realization that you are correct... the sky really has fallen. Now what?

[Dan'l Boom]

Don't know what caused such poor play by Luck.  If he's going to truly be an elite QB, he needs to do better in the biggest games.

 

From ESPN:

"Luck struggles, gets little help
Luck completed 12 of 33 passes. His 36.3 percent completion percentage is the lowest by a quarterback with at least 30 pass attempts in a playoff game since Trent Dilfer completed 11 of 36 (30.6 percent) for the 1997 Buccaneers against the Packers

Luck was 3-of-17 with an interception on passes thrown more than five yards downfield and 2-of-13 when targeting wide receivers.

Despite not taking a sack, Andrew Luck was pressured on 47 percent of his dropbacks Sunday (17 of 36), the highest single-game percentage of his career. Luck went 4-of-15 passing when under duress Sunday.

The Patriots blitzed on only two of Luck’s 36 dropbacks.

Luck is the second quarterback in the Super Bowl era to lose by 15 or more points in three consecutive postseasons, joining Jake Plummer."

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/101610/top-stats-to-know-patriots-rout-colts

 

He's being compared to lesser QB, and it's his own stats that caused it.

[Dan'l Boom]

Problem is, franchise QB deals have become bragging rights for the owners. They don't care how it impacts the team, they want to be able to say "I pay mine more than you". Look at the deals Flacco and Dalton got. Crazy deals.

 

Remember Peyton's last contract? He wanted to take less to help us win and Irsay just would not have a word of it, He was bound and determined to make him the highest paid QB ever. And he did, and it was just like "Damn the consequences".

 

I agree, change for change is a knee-jerk reaction and should be avoided. But I don't feel like we're closing the gap. I haven't all season. I feel like it's widening between us and the top teams. I think that our playoff advancement has masked that. Look at the blowouts we suffered this season. Used to, we NEVER got blown out. 

 

Over the past few years it has happened more and more. This year against Denver (We rallied furiously late, and saved it from being a blowout, but it definitely had the foundation laid to be a blowout) Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas.....

 

I really don't know where we go from here. It's obvious now that we didn't so much beat Denver last week as Denver just didn't show up. This loss tonight is, in my opinion, kind of a bad sign about where we are REALLY at on the totem pole in the AFC. We finish second in the AFC, but are we really?

 

I honestly cannot say yes. 

Flacco is clutch, and he is worth what he's paid.  I wish Luck were as good.

[Cynjin]

Problem is, franchise QB deals have become bragging rights for the owners. They don't care how it impacts the team, they want to be able to say "I pay mine more than you". Look at the deals Flacco and Dalton got. Crazy deals.

 

Remember Peyton's last contract? He wanted to take less to help us win and Irsay just would not have a word of it, He was bound and determined to make him the highest paid QB ever. And he did, and it was just like "Damn the consequences".

 

I agree, change for change is a knee-jerk reaction and should be avoided. But I don't feel like we're closing the gap. I haven't all season. I feel like it's widening between us and the top teams. I think that our playoff advancement has masked that. Look at the blowouts we suffered this season. Used to, we NEVER got blown out. 

 

Over the past few years it has happened more and more. This year against Denver (We rallied furiously late, and saved it from being a blowout, but it definitely had the foundation laid to be a blowout) Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas.....

 

I really don't know where we go from here. It's obvious now that we didn't so much beat Denver last week as Denver just didn't show up. This loss tonight is, in my opinion, kind of a bad sign about where we are REALLY at on the totem pole in the AFC. We finish second in the AFC, but are we really?

 

I honestly cannot say yes.

 

 

I understand what you are saying and I don't disagree.  I hope the organization is willing to do what it takes to put more talent around Luck, I would like to see more on the Dline and Oline personally.  If Irsay insists on paying Luck the most just to say he has the top paid QB, then that is just not a good move.  Hopefully, Grigson has more sense than that and has enough pull that Irsay would listen to him.

[Hoosier]

You know what the saddest part of all is?

I ain't even mad.

We lost to the pats last year in the divisional round, I blew my top. That was a fire, a sting I hadn't felt in a long time.

When we lost to them this season, I felt it again. All that fan rage, always being second best, always having that glass ceiling crushing our heads...

Tonight when I went back to playing Skyrim at 31-7, I wasn't even mad at all. Let down for sure. But mad? Nope.

The New England patriots are our daddies. They own us.

We beat them ONE time in the playoffs. And even then we had to come back from 18 down at half.

We can't beat New England. They have pounded us into submission over the years to the point that I'm cool with it. "Oh, New England is on the schedule? Go ahead and mark that as a loss, that ain't gonna happen."

I'll never even entertain the idea that we can beat the Patriots until the clock strikes 0:00 and we have a lead. In whatever strange post apocalyptic future land that happens to take place in.

It is what it is. We can't compete with New England. Same story, different decade. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.

Sadly, I get what you're saying 100%. I think I've missed exactly two Colts games in the last 13 years, and I understand that there's a lot of anger in my thought process, but right now I'm thinking, I'm not even going to *watch* another Colts/Patriots game until Belichik retires.

[John Waylon]

I understand what you are saying and I don't disagree. I hope the organization is willing to do what it takes to put more talent around Luck, I would like to see more on the Dline and Oline personally. If Irsay insists on paying Luck the most just to say he has the top paid QB, then that is just not a good move. Hopefully, Grigson has more sense than that and has enough pull that Irsay would listen to him.

It's all a market bubble. Eventually someone is gonna realize "hey, we can't commit almost 20% of our cap to one player and expect to be a championship caliber team" and when that sets in across the league, that bubble will burst. And you'll see QB deals start to go back to a more reasonable % of the cap. I was really hoping it would happen before Luck's post-rookie deal (I've been saying this about QB deals since 2009) but it hasn't. (Except in New England where Brady restructures his deal seemingly monthly to help the cap.) And now it just looks like we're blowing the biggest breath yet in the bubble.

[Cynjin]

It's all a market bubble. Eventually someone is gonna realize "hey, we can't commit almost 20% of our cap to one player and expect to be a championship caliber team" and when that sets in across the league, that bubble will burst. And you'll see QB deals start to go back to a more reasonable % of the cap. I was really hoping it would happen before Luck's post-rookie deal (I've been saying this about QB deals since 2009) but it hasn't. (Except in New England where Brady restructures his deal seemingly monthly to help the cap.) And now it just looks like we're blowing the biggest breath yet in the bubble.

I am completely with you on this. Now if only Luck and his agent are reasonable about his contract, he deserves to be paid but there needs to be a balance to it.

[Mr.Debonair]

Don't know what caused such poor play by Luck. If he's going to truly be an elite QB, he needs to do better in the biggest games.

From ESPN:

"Luck struggles, gets little help

Luck completed 12 of 33 passes. His 36.3 percent completion percentage is the lowest by a quarterback with at least 30 pass attempts in a playoff game since Trent Dilfer completed 11 of 36 (30.6 percent) for the 1997 Buccaneers against the Packers

Luck was 3-of-17 with an interception on passes thrown more than five yards downfield and 2-of-13 when targeting wide receivers.

Despite not taking a sack, Andrew Luck was pressured on 47 percent of his dropbacks Sunday (17 of 36), the highest single-game percentage of his career. Luck went 4-of-15 passing when under duress Sunday.

The Patriots blitzed on only two of Luck’s 36 dropbacks.

Luck is the second quarterback in the Super Bowl era to lose by 15 or more points in three consecutive postseasons, joining Jake Plummer."

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/101610/top-stats-to-know-patriots-rout-colts

He's being compared to lesser QB, and it's his own stats that caused it.

The WRs played like crap and Pep got schooled but Luck doesn't his legs hardly enough. Things not open downfield, take off

[Nesjan3]

It's all a market bubble. Eventually someone is gonna realize "hey, we can't commit almost 20% of our cap to one player and expect to be a championship caliber team" and when that sets in across the league, that bubble will burst. And you'll see QB deals start to go back to a more reasonable % of the cap. I was really hoping it would happen before Luck's post-rookie deal (I've been saying this about QB deals since 2009) but it hasn't. (Except in New England where Brady restructures his deal seemingly monthly to help the cap.) And now it just looks like we're blowing the biggest breath yet in the bubble.

this is very true and it almost looked as if we would be on the outside of the bubble bursting with the recent Kap and Cutler contracts looking to be horrible decisions for those teams, but at the same time, unfortunately for us you have Wilson in the NFC with probably the best rounded overall team in the NFL around him making him look like a superstar, and the hawks are going to pay him like one...which means Luck will get a similar contract.

[Hoosiernsavga]

The way I look at it this team over achieved. We are not a top 4 team in the league so I will take it. The only bright spot, embarrassing as it is, hopefully Grigson is smart enough too agree we need some changes. The question we will find out soon enough is will he be content with just making the playoffs while Houston is a QB away from taking that from us or being serious contenders for the SB???

[throwing BBZ]

We need better players its as simple as that. Sorry, no disrespect to Andy Studebaker(hope he's OK he got destroyed on that kick off) but we aren't going to be as good as we can be with him being a major contributor at LB. Same can be said for several other players. We need upgrades. The coaches have to get better as well.

 

 Studebaker has NEVER been asked to be more than a spot contributor, so good point. Good grief!

[throwing BBZ]

They are relying too much on Luck. If they need to make changes then so be it, but they need to have someone better if they are going to do that. Change for the sake of change is just a bad idea. I trust/am hoping that Luck realizes that he needs a team around him and that if he gets everything he can then that will adversely affect who the Colts can put around him in a salary capped sport.

 

 He had plenty of time to throw yesterday.

  He is slow in the head finding receivers. He throws to the wrong guy often, and sucks at fitting the ball in in the short to mid-range game. Luck needs more Cow (Jags) Bell to win.

 

[ColtStronger]

I blame it on the deflated balls.  Patriots always be cheating... lol The Pats are just better, but really though if that accusation is true, there should be significant consequences IMO.  No way should a franchise be allowed to cheat all the time.  It's not that big of a deal for the outcome of the game, but it is a huge deal because it seems like the Pats are always trying to bend rules and or flat out cheat.  A message needs to be clearly sent.  Belicheck or whoever in charge of the conspiracy should be banned or at least 1 year suspension.  Slapping them on the wrist with picks or a fine doesn't hurt them or bother them.  They're rich and win w/o the picks. 

[theanarchist]

 He had plenty of time to throw yesterday.

  He is slow in the head finding receivers. He throws to the wrong guy often, and sucks at fitting the ball in in the short to mid-range game. Luck needs more Cow (Jags) Bell to win.

 

The receivers were not open yesterday. Luck isn't perfect I agree but without the threat of a real running game he's much easier for a defense to defend. As for my comment on Studebaker, he's a special teams player. We need those yes. But, we have no quality depth at a lot of places and the fact that Werner wasn't active yesterday and Studebaker played defense makes me scratch my head. Say what you want Werner's pass rush abilities he played the run pretty fair this year. We need better players, period. Mostly we need better players up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

[ColtStronger]

Don't know what caused such poor play by Luck.  If he's going to truly be an elite QB, he needs to do better in the biggest games.

 

From ESPN:

"Luck struggles, gets little help

Luck completed 12 of 33 passes. His 36.3 percent completion percentage is the lowest by a quarterback with at least 30 pass attempts in a playoff game since Trent Dilfer completed 11 of 36 (30.6 percent) for the 1997 Buccaneers against the Packers

Luck was 3-of-17 with an interception on passes thrown more than five yards downfield and 2-of-13 when targeting wide receivers.

Despite not taking a sack, Andrew Luck was pressured on 47 percent of his dropbacks Sunday (17 of 36), the highest single-game percentage of his career. Luck went 4-of-15 passing when under duress Sunday.

The Patriots blitzed on only two of Luck’s 36 dropbacks.

Luck is the second quarterback in the Super Bowl era to lose by 15 or more points in three consecutive postseasons, joining Jake Plummer."

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/101610/top-stats-to-know-patriots-rout-colts

 

He's being compared to lesser QB, and it's his own stats that caused it.

It must've been because of the deflated balls... Or Trent Richardson!  Fire Pep Grigs Pag!  Sell the team Irsay lol  Oh you mean to tell me the OL still sucks.  That really surprises me, because they were so good the last 2 weeks.  You mean they didn't get better overnight?

[justafan]

Hi there Colts fans.  Just wanted to congratulate your team on a terrific season and what I expect will be a great future.

 

I love your Quarterback.  He's not only incredibly talented but obviously a very fine young man.  No one can predict the future, but I would be very surprised if he didn't end his career with plenty of records and more than one Super Bowl ring.

 

I've been reading some of the posts on this one.  I also read a few columns on the Indianapolis Star.  It's part and parcel of being a fan to look for a particular person to blame the loss on, but it seems to me that you have a very good coach in Pagano. Just think of how far this team has come in such little time -- and what an exciting quarterback you have to root for and watch grow.

 

I would hope that plenty of you feel "okay" about the loss simply because it's obvious that your team is on the cusp of dominance, but is just not quite there yet in terms of talent and veteran leadership. As another poster said, I too would rather lose the way the Colts did yesterday as opposed to what happened in Green Bay.  Those kinds of games just tear your heart out as a fan.

 

So... if misery love company, I hope this will help:  I can recall an implosion by "my" Patriots in an AFC game at Indianapolis and two Superbowl victories snatched at the last minute.  Those kinds of losses are just emotionally brutal.  You almost don't want to watch football again.

 

I'm hoping this loss by your Colts just leaves you chalking things up to necessary growing experiences and looking forward to the off-season and next year.  I think your coaches are better than some of you are giving them credit for.  I doubt that they didn't look for solutions.  More likely, the team just couldn't execute from a talent standpoint.  There's only so much a coaching staff can do.

 

Man oh man... compare that to some of Mike McCarthy's choices yesterday.  The Packers lost due to pure cowardice.  I knew Seattle was going to come back and win as soon as the Packers decided not to go for the touchdown on 4th and one twice.  The Packers beat them up and down the field the entire first half and they only came away with.. what?  13 or 16 points?    

 

If you don't have enough faith in your offense to go for it on 4th and 1 goal to go, then you've basically just told your team that you don't think they're good enough to win.  By and large I think McCarthy is a very good coach.  But if I were a Packers fan right now I'd want to punch him.

 

See you next year.  

 

P.S.  And how cool is it that the next great NFL quarterback is named Luck and wears a horse shoe on his helmet?   That's destiny at work right there.  

Edited January 19, 2015 by 21isSuperman

[coltsfanatic24]

When a team loses 4 straight times by double digits to the same team, there shouldn't be any excuses. The Patriots have better players, coaches, and a better QB. It's going to take a perfect game from Luck to beat this team and he's yet to play a good one.

[Cynjin]

He had plenty of time to throw yesterday.

  He is slow in the head finding receivers. He throws to the wrong guy often, and sucks at fitting the ball in in the short to mid-range game. Luck needs more Cow (Jags) Bell to win.

Was it that Luck is slow finding receivers or was it the receivers were not getting open against the Pats D? We could all use more Cow Bell.

[Corndog]

You know what the saddest part of all is?

I ain't even mad.

We lost to the pats last year in the divisional round, I blew my top. That was a fire, a sting I hadn't felt in a long time.

When we lost to them this season, I felt it again. All that fan rage, always being second best, always having that glass ceiling crushing our heads...

Tonight when I went back to playing Skyrim at 31-7, I wasn't even mad at all. Let down for sure. But mad? Nope.

The New England patriots are our daddies. They own us.

We beat them ONE time in the playoffs. And even then we had to come back from 18 down at half.

We can't beat New England. They have pounded us into submission over the years to the point that I'm cool with it. "Oh, New England is on the schedule? Go ahead and mark that as a loss, that ain't gonna happen."

I'll never even entertain the idea that we can beat the Patriots until the clock strikes 0:00 and we have a lead. In whatever strange post apocalyptic future land that happens to take place in.

It is what it is. We can't compete with New England. Same story, different decade. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.

Felt exactly the same way, I actually gave up when the Colts let New England march down the field to begin the second half.  I usually lose it when the Colts lose to the Pats, just like I did when they met at Indy this year.  I was yelling at the tv in the first half, but as it went on, I just lost all feeling and eventually gave up, just like the team.  

 

Changed the channel, came into the chat for a minute and said my piece and then just went on living my life.  Probably won't watch ESPN for a while, and will really just be using the Superbowl as background noise for whatever party I go to and check to score to see if I hit a square.  

 

But really the fact is, the reason people like myself say this team is regressing is measured by games like this.  This team is getting further away from the Patriots not closer.  

[cbear]

I guess if we did beat the Pats and lost to Seattle 45-7 in the SB, we could always say the only reason we beat the Pats in the first place was because they didn't have their starting center, Revis was dinged up and Brady is not the QB he once was.

 

What, oh sorry, I thought this thread was for coming up with excuses why we WON games.  The bottom line is that we made it to the AFC championship game in only three years following a 2-14 season.  Three years folks!  

[Corndog]

I'm really disappointed not because we lost but how we lost. You can lose in Foxboro but getting demolished and destroyed in three straight games is just pathetic! It was actually the story of this season. Colts looked unprepared, the Offense out of sync, the Defense couldn't stop anything, Play callings were awulf and stupid mistakes cost us. We played well against the Broncos but obviously Peyton Manning having another Playoff meltdown helped a lot. Getting into the AFC Championship game was nice but probably will prevent significant changes. Colts miss a lot of pieces to be a real Super Bowl contender!

Couldn't agree more.  Getting in the AFC Championship game probably hurt us more than helped, because it fooled this organization into thinking they were better than they were.  The defense hasn't progressed since day one of the regime, minus the secondary.  But they kept trying to sell to us that this defense would be bigger and more able against the run, which it isn't.   I have a bad feeling that no real changes will be made and this team won't make the necessary personal/coaching changes needed to improve.  I am not saying Pagano, but Manusky has run his course.  This team needs better linebackers and DTs to stop the run and control the middle of the field, which is where the Patriots completely exposed us.  Then again, this team hasn't had a top linebacker since Trev Alberts.  

[colts_100nascar17fan]

I wasn't ripping on luck, the team in general because they are so far from a super bowl ready team it's sickening.

He's in year 3. Get a grip yourself.

[PhillyCOLTSfan]

You know what the saddest part of all is?

I ain't even mad.

We lost to the pats last year in the divisional round, I blew my top. That was a fire, a sting I hadn't felt in a long time.

When we lost to them this season, I felt it again. All that fan rage, always being second best, always having that glass ceiling crushing our heads...

Tonight when I went back to playing Skyrim at 31-7, I wasn't even mad at all. Let down for sure. But mad? Nope.

The New England patriots are our daddies. They own us.

We beat them ONE time in the playoffs. And even then we had to come back from 18 down at half.

We can't beat New England. They have pounded us into submission over the years to the point that I'm cool with it. "Oh, New England is on the schedule? Go ahead and mark that as a loss, that ain't gonna happen."

I'll never even entertain the idea that we can beat the Patriots until the clock strikes 0:00 and we have a lead. In whatever strange post apocalyptic future land that happens to take place in.

It is what it is. We can't compete with New England. Same story, different decade. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.

same il believe it when i see it pats stole my heart

[theanarchist]

I wasn't ripping on luck, the team in general because they are so far from a super bowl ready team it's sickening.

 

They need pieces for sure

[CanuckColt]

Easy, we were missing our rolling, wrecking ball of knives.

I think the Chuck-ism was "a rolling ball of butcher knives"....or is that an upChuck-ism?