Are we that spoiled?

[Restored]

5 minutes ago, Myles said:

I'm with you in that this organization failed with Manning here.   They failed to add a defense.   That is why Manning was so much better in the regular season.  Without a good defense, it's hard to get through a playoff run.   Too much pressure on the offense.   The offense really was our defense.  Manning would put up enough points so that the other team would give up on their running game (which we knew that anyone could run on a Colts defense).   This also helped the defense look better on paper.  When our defense knew they were passing, Freeney could zero in and we could get more INT's.   This doesn't happen as easy in the playoffs because teams prepare more and the defenses you face are better.

 

Not that we didn't have some good players, but we all know that the defense was mostly overlooked during the Manning years.  

 

Some of us are afraid we are seeing it happen again.     

 

I agree. What concerns me is that there is a possibility that we won't even see as much as success as we saw in the 2000's.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Love this Thread because yes we are that spoiled. Should we maybe have won 2 or 3 Championships in the Peyton era? Maybe but we won one at least and from 2003-2009 we went to 2 SB's and won 98 games and only lost 29 games, that is Regular Season + Post Season. Then we lose Peyton and rebuild on the fly and from 2012-2014 we win 36 games and only lose 18 games Regular Season + Post Season and have made a Final 4. So when we go 8-8 some people act like it's the end of the world for some reason.

[2006Coltsbestever]

12 minutes ago, Restored said:

 

I agree. What concerns me is that there is a possibility that we won't even see as much as success as we saw in the 2000's.

With Andrew we will win a SB eventually. If we stink 3 years from now than I will panic but I don't see it.

[SaturdayAllDay]

2 hours ago, Happy2BeHere said:

The sky isn't falling, but on the other hand it isn't rising either. I think that's where most Colts fans are at. Am I wrong here?

That's where I'm at,  but there are lots of people who think we are the worst team/roster in football (not even exaggerating, they literally said that)

[ColtRider]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Love this Thread because yes we are that spoiled. Should we maybe have won 2 or 3 Championships in the Peyton era? Maybe but we won one at least and from 2003-2009 we went to 2 SB's and won 98 games and only lost 29 games, that is Regular Season + Post Season. Then we lose Peyton and rebuild on the fly and from 2012-2014 we win 36 games and only lose 18 games Regular Season + Post Season and have made a Final 4. So when we go 8-8 some people act like it's the end of the world for some reason.

 

Are Indianapolis Colts fans spoiled? Yes, to a degree we are. That's a good indicator to the fact of winning on a consistent basis. A natural human reaction to sports. The expectations are very high from our fan base every year because of that. It's not a bad shed of light depending on how you evaluate the NFL as a whole.

 

You've laid out the last 14 years or so as proof to what an 8-8 team suffers under scrutiny because of a bad season. Injuries, bad coaching, under-performance by a few, scheme, conditioning et.al are tied into one big knot as to demise on the horizon for years to come. A knee-jerk reaction to slippage of the status-quo. 

 

The overwhelming part of all of this for average fans is how to get back on track? Right? However, when that is addressed & moves are made to establish that,  it soon becomes a game of suspect because it's not immediate enough or the cure doesn't present itself in a fashion to opinionated individuals aligned another way.

 

So, what to do from there? Not much. You wait and see if the franchise has chosen the way out to a different form of winning. I'll bide my time because of this organization's past and focus in on what they're trying to improve on by not whining for heads to roll until the solution is carried out over the next few seasons.

[Myles]

2 hours ago, SaturdayAllDay said:

That's where I'm at,  but there are lots of people who think we are the worst team/roster in football (not even exaggerating, they literally said that)

No one can seriously think the Colts have the worst roster in the NFL.

I would say that after Luck, it is in the bottom half.  I don't have much faith in the defense at this point.   The offensive line can be fixed in the draft.   The QB/WR/RB situation is pretty good.  

[CheezyColt]

On 3/12/2016 at 4:51 PM, COLTS449 said:

 

You an IU guy? I'm one of the very, VERY few true UK fans who roots for IU when we aren't playing them. UK in college Basketball, Atlanta Braves in MLB, Indiana Pacers in NBA, and the COLTS in the NFL are my teams.

Yeah, definitely a Hoosier fan. I went to college in Kentucky though and worked in restaurants and bars for 6 years there. I die a little inside every time I see UK basketball on TV, haha. Definitely a dedicated and rowdy fan base. I had my moment in the sun on Watford's buzzer beater.... and that's about it. Looking forward to the second round in the tournament this year (unless an upset happens). We're close on teams though.  I'm IU basketball, Braves MLB, Celtics NBA (with a standing interest in the Pacers) due to Larry Bird, and since I moved to Chicago I've gotten into hockey and the Blackhawks.

[COLTS449]

7 minutes ago, CheezyColt said:

Yeah, definitely a Hoosier fan. I went to college in Kentucky though and worked in restaurants and bars for 6 years there. I die a little inside every time I see UK basketball on TV, haha. Definitely a dedicated and rowdy fan base. I had my moment in the sun on Watford's buzzer beater.... and that's about it. Looking forward to the second round in the tournament this year (unless an upset happens). We're close on teams though.  I'm IU basketball, Braves MLB, Celtics NBA (with a standing interest in the Pacers) due to Larry Bird, and since I moved to Chicago I've gotten into hockey and the Blackhawks.

 

Hey. Our Braves are about to be starting up my brother. We may be a little better this year. But I think 2017 we'll be back in contention. We'll have some money to spend and should bring in a good young outfielder to go with Freeman, Swanson, Albies, Inciarte, and hopefully Olivera. I think Olivera is going to have a big year this season. And we have a boat load of good young pitching. I think Newcomb and Blair will be a great 1-2 punch I we trade Teheran next offseason. Then Wisler is going to be a solid number 3 IMO.

[RockThatBlue]

On 3/12/2016 at 5:13 PM, Ryan Pelley said:

I wouldn't say spoiled. I think our expectations are a bit too high and maybe people are more hopeful than realistic. On paper, we have the worst roster in our division. Obviously it's going to be a long term rebuilding if we want to get to that Super Bowl level and people are just frustrated with the current process.

Our roster has issues for sure but the titans have the worst roster in the AFC south.

[SaturdayAllDay]

1 hour ago, Myles said:

No one can seriously think the Colts have the worst roster in the NFL.

I would say that after Luck, it is in the bottom half.  I don't have much faith in the defense at this point.   The offensive line can be fixed in the draft.   The QB/WR/RB situation is pretty good.  

Im with you man. But this topic was created because I legitimately couldn't believe some of the things being said. 

 

I do, however see some upside to the defense. Anderson and Parry both look good, and Langford will be a good vet to help them along. We have two young ilbs who could (and might have to now) break out in Irving and Moore.  We have vontae,  who is a good cb, Butler who has been good in the slot, and a few young guys to develop behind them. Not sold on our safety group long term, but geathers looked good last year and he's a solid piece back there. I think we fix our o line this year, as well as grab a CB and maybe a d line piece.  Then next year we have 70+ million to Round out anything that seems weak on the defense,  as well as another draft to strengthen what we build. IF grigson and his group do things right, and hit at least league averages in good picks and free agents, then we are set for a dynasty. It all hinges on our front offices decisions over the next ~14 months. 

[Nesjan3]

6 minutes ago, RockThatBlue said:

Our roster has issues for sure but the titans have the worst roster in the AFC south.

can you say that for sure? at this point today, i would say its looking equal minus the quarterback position

[Nesjan3]

no were not, we are a winning team in the NFL and us fans expects that to continue, we are not the Cleveland Browns, do you want to be OP?. This organization has been one the most successful over the last 15 years in all of sports so to think that fans getting upset about the situation is not warranted beacuse of a  GM who may not be "the guy" or may even be "that guy " that derails us is ludicrous. We all have a right to be upset at Grigson if he cant continue the winning ways, and if you want to compare us to Cleveland than so be it, but thats not us

[BOTT]

2 hours ago, Myles said:

No one can seriously think the Colts have the worst roster in the NFL.

I would say that after Luck, it is in the bottom half.  I don't have much faith in the defense at this point.   The offensive line can be fixed in the draft.   The QB/WR/RB situation is pretty good.  

Your last sentence is the problem (minus the QB).

[Myles]

9 hours ago, BOTT said:

Your last sentence is the problem (minus the QB).

Are you saying we need to focus on the WR/RB's?

While not the best in the league, I think the Colts are solid enough at those positions to not use many draft picks on them. 

[Steamboat_Shaun]

On 3/12/2016 at 3:09 PM, COLTS449 said:

I've been saying this since free agency started. Grigson is an incompetent, joke of a GM.

It's pretty obvious at this point that this season's free agency approach is being dictated more by what Jim Irsay wants, and not so much what Chuck & Ryan want. You can bash Grigson until you're blue in the face, but it's clear that there's more at play this year than a GM signing a bunch of guys.

[SaturdayAllDay]

15 hours ago, Nesjan3 said:

no were not, we are a winning team in the NFL and us fans expects that to continue, we are not the Cleveland Browns, do you want to be OP?. This organization has been one the most successful over the last 15 years in all of sports so to think that fans getting upset about the situation is not warranted beacuse of a  GM who may not be "the guy" or may even be "that guy " that derails us is ludicrous. We all have a right to be upset at Grigson if he cant continue the winning ways, and if you want to compare us to Cleveland than so be it, but thats not us

We have been away from the winning ways for one season, and we lost our QB. Guess what?  We still went 8-8. Any team that loses their starting QB suffers. Cowboys went 4-12 this year without Romo. In 2013 the Packers went 2-5-1 over the 8 games Rodgers missed.  Bengals went 2-3 (counting their playoff loss) after losing Dalton. Yah it sucks that we didn't do well, but injuries happen. The play luck got hurt wasn't the o lines fault. 

Even taking all of these factors into account, we still made 11 coaching changes, as well as a supposed structure change within the chain of command. All of these changes, coupled with a mandate to switch to more sustainable development strategies means we are headed in the right direction.  Whether that means grigson is competent enough to succeed with this new setup has yet to be seen. However there has been a lot of talk about how our offseason (and subsequently our season) is already over because we did what smart Teams did and didn't waste cap space on overpriced day one free agents. All I have been saying is that everyone is jumping the gun by declaring us the worst team in the league before we have even had a chance to see what the plan is. Irsay came out and said this was the plan the day he retained Pagano and Grigson, yet everyone is acting surprised. 

As you said yourself,  for the last 15 years we have been one of the most successful franchises, and the reason we haven't been as successful lately is because we have shifted to strategies that Teams like the Browns use. Yes it's flashy during free agency and we look great on paper, but it isn't sustainable. Now we move away from that and everyone freaks out that we aren't doing it. I'm not advocating being like the Browns, I'm asking why everyone expects us to go into free agency like the Browns and come out like the Seahawks or Packers.

[SaturdayAllDay]

15 hours ago, BOTT said:

Your last sentence is the problem (minus the QB).

I would think a better o line would help both those groups. For some reason we have the tendency to continue trying to run intermediate to deep routes instead of quick passes, couple that with Luck's tendency to hold onto the ball too long and it's a problem. Giving the wrs more time for the routes to develop will help. Also I think it's pretty obvious that better blocking will help our rbs gain more yards. I don't either is as big a need as most people seem to think.