From 2-14 to afccg

[Timo1]

It's Only been 3yrs since the 2-14 season. Sure this hurts but what team in the afc has a brighter future then the Colts. Seattle will be there fufur awhile in the nfc. The Colts have improved every year. Expect another improvement next year.

[maxgamestate]

It's Only been 3yrs since the 2-14 season. Sure this hurts but what team in the afc has a brighter future then the Colts. Seattle will be there fufur awhile in the nfc. The Colts have improved every year. Expect another improvement next year.

I like it, I want a rematch in Indy next year

[Mr.Debonair]

The lose isn't what bothers me. It's getting embarrassed

[ricker182]

What a black eye to an otherwise good season.

We keep taking steps in the right direction, but I'm afraid we're going to have to wait until BB retires to ever win one.

[sb2001]

The lose isn't what bothers me. It's getting embarrassed

Yeah, gotta agree. If we had just showed up, then I would be so proud. But you are correct, baby steps. Next year SB bound!

[mattceinicram]

The fact that some fans are getting angry shows that we are a spoiled fan base. Most teams would kill to have the success we've had.

[Dustin]

The lose isn't what bothers me. It's getting embarrassed

 

I was fine with losing. I expected it. I would have been fine with a ~20 point loss. But this.....

[mintor]

It's Only been 3yrs since the 2-14 season. Sure this hurts but what team in the afc has a brighter future then the Colts. Seattle will be there fufur awhile in the nfc. The Colts have improved every year. Expect another improvement next year.

 

 

 not true are defense regress this year.  only reason we beat denver because of manning was injured

[#12]

It's Only been 3yrs since the 2-14 season.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much better this team is.  Luck is better than Painter no doubt, but the team?

[dw49]

It's Only been 3yrs since the 2-14 season. Sure this hurts but what team in the afc has a brighter future then the Colts. Seattle will be there fufur awhile in the nfc. The Colts have improved every year. Expect another improvement next year.

 

 

I'm really not sure they improved this year. Other than playing a nice game vs Denver , it's debatable.

[jjcolts]

I am a little bitter right now.

 

We have one of the best QB's.  Luck is good, he is dang good. Elite.

 

But as we all know from the Manning era...that is not good enough.  This organization needs to build a team, it shows how one dimensional we are when we play a tea like the Pats.

 

It makes me angry that this organization hasn't figured this out.

[deedub75]

I honestly don't think we've improved.  We just happened to get more favorable matchups earlier in the playoffs each year.  Had we played the Patriots, Steelers, or Chargers in the wildcard round it would have been one and done each year. 

 

The offense was improved in the regular season as far as points are concerned but we had the most dropped passes in the league, did not score an opening drive TD until the playoffs, and turned the ball over at an amazing clip. 

 

We have so many holes to fill on this team. 

[csmopar]

The lose isn't what bothers me. It's getting embarrassed

Same

[TKnight24]

I like it, I want a rematch in Indy next year

..... Already got spanked in Indy. How many times you wanna watch them spank the Colts?

[GoColts8818]

Exactly this is how it works for most teams in the NFL.  You have to learn how to win and that does mean taking your lumps along the way. I don't think this was Andrew Luck's last AFCCG and frankly I think it's these kinds of games over the past three years that are going to pay off big time over the course of his career.  He's taking steps that Peyton's Colts didn't take this early in this career and I think it's going to be the Colts who are going to be in the AFCCG year after year like the Pats have been over the bulk of Luck's career. 

 

One thing I think the Colts need to do is figure out how to get these games in our building.  They need to have a little more success in the regular season. 

[corgi]

 not true are defense regress this year.  only reason we beat denver because of manning was injured

You can say that as much as you want, but it doesn't make it true.

[GoColts8818]

You can say that as much as you want, but it doesn't make it true.

I really don't understand why "fans" of our team tries to discredit anything good they do.  I think it goes back to the point I've brought up before many are more concerned about being right than they are honestly looking at how things went.

 

There is no question the defense had a lot to do with the Colts beating the Broncos, especially the way Davis and Toler played in that game. 

 

With that said the Colts got their backside kicked tonight and clearly something has to change.  If the Colts want to take that next step and get to a Super Bowl they are going to have to beat the Pats at some point and right now they can't even make it competitive with them.  I think the Colts need to take a long hard look at the front seven on defense this off-season, especially the front three. They are not good enough against the Pats. 

[mintor]

I really don't understand why "fans" of our team tries to discredit anything good they do.  I think it goes back to the point I've brought up before many are more concerned about being right than they are honestly looking at how things went.

 

There is no question the defense had a lot to do with the Colts beating the Broncos, especially the way Davis and Toler played in that game. 

 

With that said the Colts got their backside kicked tonight and clearly something has to change.  If the Colts want to take that next step and get to a Super Bowl they are going to have to beat the Pats at some point and right now they can't even make it competitive with them.  I think the Colts need to take a long hard look at the front seven on defense this off-season, especially the front three. They are not good enough against the Pats. 

  

 

 

Fire Manusky look his past he always sucked against top teams like pats  he was fired.

[Dustin]

Yeah the team definitely looked like they were just happy to be there. 

[GoColts8818]

Fire Manusky look his past he always sucked against top teams like pats  he was fired.

Yeah as long as you over look them shutting down Peyton Manning and the defending AFC Champions on the road just last week and yes his defense shut Manning down it wasn't all Manning's injury even though that's nice to say because it makes that game fit the argument.

 

Manusky isn't getting fired.  They have gone rom 2-14 to three straight playoff season and each year taken another step.  They aren't going to fire coaches so I would come to grips with it. 

 

Besides I think there problem is more personal than it is coaching.  When your front line gets blown off the ball on every play against New England there is very little coaching wise that you can do that is going to work. 

[Flash7]

I really don't understand why "fans" of our team tries to discredit anything good they do.  I think it goes back to the point I've brought up before many are more concerned about being right than they are honestly looking at how things went.

 

There is no question the defense had a lot to do with the Colts beating the Broncos, especially the way Davis and Toler played in that game. 

 

With that said the Colts got their backside kicked tonight and clearly something has to change.  If the Colts want to take that next step and get to a Super Bowl they are going to have to beat the Pats at some point and right now they can't even make it competitive with them.  I think the Colts need to take a long hard look at the front seven on defense this off-season, especially the front three. They are not good enough against the Pats. 

To an extent I agree with you. I think that the Colts played exceptional against the Bengals and Broncos and deserved to be in the AFCCG. But to say that the Bengals weren't missing key pieces to their offense, or that Manning wasn't injured; and that his injury did not have an effect on the Colts win is a bit dishonest.

 

I live in CA where Bill Romanowski has a radio segment. He has the same trainer as Manning. The Trainer said that Maning's injury was so bad that his entire upper-portion of his leg had turned black and blue from the muscle tear. It was a real bad injury. That's why he missed so much practice, which is a rarity for Manning, as you know. It's also why he will miss the Pro Bowl, which Manning greatly enjoys.

 

Lastly, in the game against the Broncos Toler was beat several times but it was Manning that overthrew the receivers repeatedly. Manning was off, and that led to the Broncos offensive troubles. Again, good job by the Colts. They did what they had to do against an inferior opponent.

[GoColts8818]

To an extent I agree with you. I think that the Colts played exceptional against the Bengals and Broncos and deserved to be in the AFCCG. But to say that the Bengals weren't missing key pieces to their offense, or that Manning wasn't injured; and that his injury did not have an effect on the Colts win is a bit dishonest.

 

I live in CA where Bill Romanowski has a radio segment. He has the same trainer as Manning. The Trainer said that Maning's injury was so bad that his entire upper-portion of his leg had turned black and blue from the muscle tear. It was a real bad injury. That's why he missed so much practice, which is a rarity for Manning, as you know. It's also why he will miss the Pro Bowl, which Manning greatly enjoys.

 

Lastly, in the game against the Broncos Toler was beat several times but it was Manning that overthrew the receivers repeatedly. Manning was off, and that led to the Broncos offensive troubles. Again, good job by the Colts. They did what they had to do against an inferior opponent.

To also act like the Manning injury is the only reason why the Broncos lost is also false.  Several times Manning made a good throw and the Colts corners broke up the pass.  The strip sack by Newsome had nothing to do with Manning's injury.  The Colts defense was extremely good in that game and they had a much bigger impact on that game than Manning's injury.  I am tired of people trying to pretend like the defense had nothing to do with that game.  Frankly in 8 quarters against Manning this year the Colts dominated six of them holding Denver to two touchdowns in those six quarters.  They had a bad first half in the first game but they were clearly the better team the rest of the time.

 

The defense had one of their better games of the year against the Ravens as well at home this year.  The Ravens went on to be playoff team who won a game and came with-in one bad pass of beating the Pats. 

 

Then to shut out a playoff team for three of the four halves you play against them during a season in impressive even if they are missing some important players. 

 

The idea that this defense is always awful against good teams is false.  They do have real issues with New England and those need to be addressed.  They need to make some changes and hopefully they can find the right answers this off-season. 

[Flash7]

To also act like the Manning injury is the only reason why the Broncos lost is also false.  Several times Manning made a good throw and the Colts corners broke up the pass.  The strip sack by Newsome had nothing to do with Manning's injury.  The Colts defense was extremely good in that game and they had a much bigger impact on that game than Manning's injury.  I am tired of people trying to pretend like the defense had nothing to do with that game.  Frankly in 8 quarters against Manning this year the Colts dominated six of them holding Denver to two touchdowns in those six quarters.  They had a bad first half in the first game but they were clearly the better team the rest of the time.

 

The defense had one of their better games of the year against the Ravens as well at home this year.  The Ravens went on to be playoff team who won a game and came with-in one bad pass of beating the Pats. 

 

Then to shut out a playoff team for three of the four halves you play against them during a season in impressive even if they are missing some important players. 

 

The idea that this defense is always awful against good teams is false.  They do have real issues with New England and those need to be addressed.  They need to make some changes and hopefully they can find the right answers this off-season. 

I hope that this does not come off as arguing with you, rather just expressing a difference of opinion.

 

To your point about "To also act like the Manning injury is the only reason why the Broncos lost is also false" I can agree with this. But a strong argument can be made that the QB position is the most important position on the team. If the QB is greatly suffering from an injury, especially a lower body injury that alters the QB's ability to throw deep-- then the defense can plan accordingly and pin their ears back.

 

The Colts defense did play really well. I have conceded that point and couldn't be more happy. But still, we didn't play the Broncos at full strength is all I'm saying. And to say that didn't have a affect on the win or how the defense was able to play is again, a bit dishonest.

 

As for the Ravens...well, the have a much stronger front 7 compared to the Colts and match up much better against the Pats. However, we match up much better against them (Ravens) because they have a suspect secondary. Nonetheless, how the Ravens played vs the Pats is a bit irrelevant as that's not how football works, as you know.

 

The Bengals didn't have their #1 and #2 WR and their starting TE. That's a major loss. We struggled last year missing Wayne and D. Allen. I can see where they're coming from.

 

Lastly, I never said that this defense struggles against good teams. Perhaps others have said so.  I think this was a successful season. We made it to the AFCCG which a major accomplishment and in the long run, no one will remember who played and didn't play. But if I had to truthfully evaluate this team, I would have my reservations.

[sfergson727]

Something is not right with us.  Normally the Super Bowl is where a team gets blown up, but we've had it happen to us twice now, in the playoffs, by the same team.  Most playoff games are competitive, I cannot think of one other team that has consistently been blown up so badly by another that wasn't a basement dweller team.

 

I'd like to think the Colts are a upper echelon team, but the upper teams don't get creamed like we did this season.  Think back to the Steelers, Patriots (2X), Dallas...etc. etc.  We were embarrassed and thoroughly got our rears kicked.  It is this that makes me wonder if we are an upper level team, or just an average to below average team that is blessed enough to play in a weak division.

 

Sooner or later, the teams in our division are going to catch up with us if we don't hold everyone accountable, all the way to the top of the organization.  My fear is that Andrew Luck will hide the fact that our coaches are not up to the task, and we will be a perennial average team that never reaches it's potential.  

 

I'd hate to think that we peaked already....but....

[GoColts8818]

I hope that this does not come off as arguing with you, rather just expressing a difference of opinion.

 

To your point about "To also act like the Manning injury is the only reason why the Broncos lost is also false" I can agree with this. But a strong argument can be made that the QB position is the most important position on the team. If the QB is greatly suffering from an injury, especially a lower body injury that alters the QB's ability to throw deep-- then the defense can plan accordingly and pin their ears back.

 

The Colts defense did play really well. I have conceded that point and couldn't be more happy. But still, we didn't play the Broncos at full strength is all I'm saying. And to say that didn't have a affect on the win or how the defense was able to play is again, a bit dishonest.

 

As for the Ravens...well, the have a much stronger front 7 compared to the Colts and match up much better against the Pats. However, we match up much better against them (Ravens) because they have a suspect secondary. Nonetheless, how the Ravens played vs the Pats is a bit irrelevant as that's not how football works, as you know.

 

The Bengals didn't have their #1 and #2 WR and their starting TE. That's a major loss. We struggled last year missing Wayne and D. Allen. I can see where they're coming from.

 

Lastly, I never said that this defense struggles against good teams. Perhaps others have said so.  I think this was a successful season. We made it to the AFCCG which a major accomplishment and in the long run, no one will remember who played and didn't play. But if I had to truthfully evaluate this team, I would have my reservations.

So the Pats didn't play us at full strength tonight.  No one is at full strength this time of year.  The Colts had a good game plan against Denver and the defense played a great game from start to finish vs. Denver and it wasn't just because of Manning's injury.  If you go back and watch the film most of the day guys weren't getting open not because of Manning's injury but because our guys were doing a great job covering people.  Davis tied a playoff record for the most break ups in a playoff game.  Credit needs to be given to the defense rather than looking for reasons to explain away the game they played well. 

 

Just like tonight they shouldn't be given excuses for getting their backside kicked.  They should be judged on how they play good or bad and praised or criticized for that.  Tonight it's more than fair to call them out and frankly I think the front three needs to be completely over hauled. 

 

Still this narrative that some are trying to get going that never play well against good teams is false.  They just did a week ago. 

[azcolt]

We'd still be about 2-14 if Luck had missed the year and Painter had been qb. Fotunately we have a good backup now so that 2-14 would be somewhat better. But overall talent is poor and the window is closing on spending our way forward, assuming Luck gets the rumored 25 mil this year.

[tfunky14]

The lose isn't what bothers me. It's getting embarrassed

Couldn't agree more...A better showing would have been nice...

[notallpats]

The fact that some fans are getting angry shows that we are a spoiled fan base. Most teams would kill to have the success we've had.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much better this team is.  Luck is better than Painter no doubt, but the team?

Read so much today about the beatdown that was last nights game. I'm a Pats fan, there I said it but hang on ....... I'm on your side. Pats fans LOVE Andrew Luck ... why? Because he reminds them of so many players that have been on this team since Belichek. Love em or Hate em .... the Pats have what I refer to as a fiscal plan. You wonder why James Devlin is catching a TD pass and your first teamers can't. Its not that they're not good enough to. I believe because the vast majority of NFL teams are sub par once you get past the first teamers. You can't throw tons of money at 1 ... 2 .... 3 players and hope to sustain winning. You BETTER win today or your team will implode for long term. Now the Colts are talking about making Luck the highest paid QB in the league. Good for him, bad for the Colts. Not saying that every player in the league can give a discount like Tom Brady because of his billionaire wife, but if guys truly want to have a shot at winning, they are going to have to be willing to share the love so the team can have decent backups or guys that bust their butts to make a play because they know they can win. So many teams have guys that just get abused by the first teamers and they are what I'll call the Browns. WE LOVE Andrew Luck and I personally would hate to see a talent like that, a really likable person, to get pounded because they just don't have enough around him. Not all Pats fans are D-bags ..... it just seems that Kraft and Belichek have a plan and all 53 guys on the field really DO have a job and they can't wait to go do it because they have a shot every year. The guys in charge have to be willing to do what's best for that season and to have a shot. The Pats do.

[Anonymous]

Losing to NE isn't bad their a real good team but getting destroyed by 38 pts is what is awful. 

 

Colts are simply too talented for that. 

[COLTS449]

I hate the way everyone lets on like the reason we went 2-14 is because we were a horrible team. We went 2-14 because Manning was hurt. If he hadn't been injured we would have won 12 or 13 games like usual. I'm not saying anyone on here is saying this but a lot of people want to act like we had a horrible roster similar to freaking Oakland. We just happened to have no backup QB.

[crestmount]

I can't believe some people here.  To read some of the posts, you would think we have the worst roster in the League.  Yes, last Sunday was disappointing, but I bet that there are 28 other teams that wish they had been playing football that day.

[BOTT]

Losing to NE isn't bad their a real good team but getting destroyed by 38 pts is what is awful. 

 

Colts are simply too talented for that.

Talented lol? Take a look at the roster.

[1959Colts]

Time to get a few players who can tackle.

[OLD FAN MAN]

2-14 was the painter show since then it has been the luck show, the only difference, the rest of the team is about the same

[NewColtsFan]

The lose isn't what bothers me. It's getting embarrassed

 

Hey,  Denver got embarrassed on a much, much bigger stage -- the Super Bowl.

 

They got over it.    We will too.....

 

The Road to Greatness is long and hard....     that's what makes winning it all so great!!    

[Cynjin]

Losing to NE isn't bad their a real good team but getting destroyed by 38 pts is what is awful. 

 

Colts are simply too talented for that. 

 

I think that is the problem, they are not talented enough yet.  Especially along the offensive and defensive lines.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

What a black eye to an otherwise good season.

We keep taking steps in the right direction, but I'm afraid we're going to have to wait until BB retires to ever win one.

 

Let's hope BB is suspended next year!

 

 not true are defense regress this year.  only reason we beat denver because of manning was injured

 

Our D gave us 2 more points per game but almost 20 less yards per game than last year.  Losing Mathis definitely hurt us a  bit, but I was impressed with Manusky's ability to get creative with his blitz packages -- should only help our D when Mathis is back and Newsome and Werner have another offseason under their belt.  For the record, we had 42 sacks in 2013 (Mathis had 19.5 of them) and in 2014 we had 41 sacks (Newsome led team with 6.5) -- goes to show Manusky was able to keep up the sack production level by mixing things up.  Losing Art Jones definitely hurt us.  Save a few very bad games (Pitt, NE, Dallas -- all of which saw our offense put the D in some bad spots) our D improved, IMO.  We need to get better at a few spots, but I think we showed improvement as a unit.

 

Exactly this is how it works for most teams in the NFL.  You have to learn how to win and that does mean taking your lumps along the way. I don't think this was Andrew Luck's last AFCCG and frankly I think it's these kinds of games over the past three years that are going to pay off big time over the course of his career.  He's taking steps that Peyton's Colts didn't take this early in this career and I think it's going to be the Colts who are going to be in the AFCCG year after year like the Pats have been over the bulk of Luck's career. 

 

One thing I think the Colts need to do is figure out how to get these games in our building.  They need to have a little more success in the regular season. 

Yes!! I think it was Cory Redding who said it for the Colts, but it is very, very hard to win on the road in January.  We've got to take the step from 11-5 to 12-4 or 13-3 so we can get some home field advantage in the post-season. 

[cdgacoltsfan]

I'm really not sure they improved this year. Other than playing a nice game vs Denver , it's debatable.

So ,dominating performances against 2 other playoff teams (Ravens / Bengals) doesn't count? hmmmmm...OK

[dw49]

So ,dominating performances against 2 other playoff teams (Ravens / Bengals) doesn't count? hmmmmm...OK

 

 

I said it's debatable and I believe it is. If you look at the 6 losses , 4 were horrific blow outs. Last year we had 3 bad losses. 

 

The two teams we beat in the playoffs this year were both very much effected by injuries. Cinn especially. Denver I think was a good win but they did come out with the Manning injury. But there is "debatable " stuff here also.

 

Last year we beat SF , Denver and Seattle in the regular season. Those were probably the 3 best teams in football. 

 

So everything considered , IMO it's not a given that we made big strides from last year. IMO , I think we;re closer to betting to the ultimate goal as we improve this roster by both a full compliment of draft picks and we still have cap room for some help in FA. I also think it's easy to fix the RB problem and the O line looks to be only a healthy Cherlius and a better RG away from being solid.

[braveheartcolt]

Why do fans think we have a divine right to be the best, win most games, never get well smacked? The NFL is build to make it difficult, and difficult it is. No two seasons, or teams, are ever the same. We have some very good ingredients, we need some luck in the draft, in FA, and improve on our play / coaching. We are not far off, and NE are not unbeatable next year at all. I'm fed up with all this doom and gloom.

 

Success is close.