Just for the sake of discussion

[krunk]

10 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Basically here's how I see it. We had a nice game vs the Jets, the offense looked very good. The defense was solid against a terrible offense. This basically gives us the right to face the Raiders IMO. We get that opportunity before the playoffs start now. We can score vs the Raiders, we'll probably put up 24-27 points honestly. The question is, can our defense do anything vs them? The answer is no. They have an incredible o-line, a top QB, and good wrs. It'll be a shootout where we rely on our defense to do their part, and I don't trust them vs quality opponents yet. They have the chance to prove me wrong though. I'll withhold judgment until we face the Raiders in the regular season. Broncos QB play is pretty bad, Chiefs will be a problem, Ravens have looked very strong, I don't believe in the Dolphins at all. Pats and Steelers are probably losses. Anyone with a brain knows the Steelers took it easy on us the 2nd half, and Big Ben's pass attempts back that up. 

 

When we do something out of the ordinary, I will be the first to praise them. Until then, they are a poorly coached team who beat up on other weak teams and lose to the big boys. The defense needs to step up vs quality opponents, and I don't mean the Jets. I think we reach the playoffs. D'Qwell Jackson will be back, and barring a major injury, there will be no excuses regardless of how they play. The defense will either cause us to lose or push us over the hump. I know Luck will do his job.

Big Ben was on the sideline for almost the entire 3rd quarter because their sorry defense couldn't get Tolzien off the field.  That had more to do with Big Bens attempts in the second half.   There would have been more drives like that had Luck played that game.  You know that Steeler defense is sorry.  I have confidence we beat those guys with Luck.   Show me somebody you can point to that we have no chance of winning against?  All these playoff teams have some sizeable chinks in the armor.  KC is about the most solid out of all of them.

[krunk]

13 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Basically here's how I see it. We had a nice game vs the Jets, the offense looked very good. The defense was solid against a terrible offense. This basically gives us the right to face the Raiders IMO. We get that opportunity before the playoffs start now. We can score vs the Raiders, we'll probably put up 24-27 points honestly. The question is, can our defense do anything vs them? The answer is no. They have an incredible o-line, a top QB, and good wrs. It'll be a shootout where we rely on our defense to do their part, and I don't trust them vs quality opponents yet. They have the chance to prove me wrong though. I'll withhold judgment until we face the Raiders in the regular season. Broncos QB play is pretty bad, Chiefs will be a problem, Ravens have looked very strong, I don't believe in the Dolphins at all. Pats and Steelers are probably losses. Anyone with a brain knows the Steelers took it easy on us the 2nd half, and Big Ben's pass attempts back that up. 

 

When we do something out of the ordinary, I will be the first to praise them. Until then, they are a poorly coached team who beat up on other weak teams and lose to the big boys. The defense needs to step up vs quality opponents, and I don't mean the Jets. I think we reach the playoffs. D'Qwell Jackson will be back, and barring a major injury, there will be no excuses regardless of how they play. The defense will either cause us to lose or push us over the hump. I know Luck will do his job.

Who's left on the schedule that would satisfy you?  I would suppose Oakland whose defense is worse than the Colts.  Offense is the only thing that makes them a Big Boy on any level.   They really aren't that much different a team than Indy.  Honestly we are just starting to hit our stride as Moncrief was out for over a month. I see no reason why we couldn't duplicate the same offensive production as them.   

[Yoshinator]

3 minutes ago, krunk said:

Big Ben was on the sideline for almost the entire 3rd quarter because their sorry defense couldn't get Tolzien off the field.  That had more to do with it.   There would have been more drives like that had Luck played that game.  You know that Steeler defense is sorry.  I have confidence we beat those guys with Luck.   Show me somebody you can point to that we have no chance of winning against?  All these playoff teams have some sizeable chinks in the armor.

Patriots for one, Chiefs I'm on the fence about. Raiders have an elite Offense like us, except with an elite O-Line and better defense, so at the very least, we are at a disadvantage there. Ravens are looking like a better team, so I think that's an even matchup. Only two teams we probably win against for sure are the Broncos or Dolphins. That won't carry us very far. BTW, Tolzien may of been on the field a lot, but the Steelers were just pounding the rock with Leveon Bell the whole 2nd half as well. One of the few times he threw it, Brown scored his 3rd td. Vontae can't stop Brown, and he won't be able too in the playoffs either. Maybe it'd be a bit closer, but Tolzien didn't play bad, he was almost as good as Luck would of been besides the failed 4th downs at the goal line.

[krunk]

2 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Patriots for one, Chiefs I'm on the fence about. Raiders have an elite Offense like us, except with an elite O-Line and better defense, so at the very least, we are at a disadvantage there. Ravens are looking like a better team, so I think that's an even matchup. Only two teams we probably win against for sure are the Broncos or Dolphins. That won't carry us very far. BTW, Tolzien may of been on the field a lot, but the Steelers were just pounding the rock with Leveon Bell the whole 2nd half as well. One of the few times he threw it, Brown scored his 3rd td. Vontae can't stop Brown, and he won't be able too in the playoffs either. Maybe it'd be a bit closer, but Tolzien didn't play bad, he was almost as good as Luck would of been besides the failed 4th downs at the goal line.

Every team in the AFC can say New England and I'll concede that one, but I honestly don't have much respect for New Englands defense.  And I think Luck has much more of a Vet mindset at this point to how he's playing.  He's not the same sloppy QB from the past couple seasons. I think we could make a game out of that one.  I'd be less confident if it snowed.  

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, krunk said:

Who's left on the schedule that would satisfy you?  I would suppose Oakland whose defense is worse than the Colts.  Offense is the only thing that makes them a Big Boy on any level.   They really aren't that much different a team than Indy.  Honestly we are just starting to hit our stride as Moncrief was out for over a month.   

Oakland and the Vikings on Offense and defense are the matchups I want to see us face before the playoffs. Oakland's defense is on par with the Colts basically, there's really no difference between crap and crap. The difference is they have Khalil Mack. They also have an elite O-Line that we won't get any pressure on. That's why Oakland has an advantage over us. Minnesota we should beat, but I don't want a 10-6 victory, I want Luck to put up a respectable game. There will be playoff games he has to do the same. Hopefully we hit our stride, we'll get our chance. I trust Luck, it's Pagano I don't trust. The team is getting healthy. Any dominant game like Monday is a good one. Lets do that vs the Raiders and Vikings. Until then, it's the same old song and dance.

[krunk]

9 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Oakland and the Vikings on Offense and defense are the matchups I want to see us face before the playoffs. Oakland's defense is on par with the Colts basically, there's really no difference between crap and crap. The difference is they have Khalil Mack. They also have an elite O-Line that we won't get any pressure on. That's why Oakland has an advantage over us. Minnesota we should beat, but I don't want a 10-6 victory, I want Luck to put up a respectable game. There will be playoff games he has to do the same. Hopefully we hit our stride, we'll get our chance. I trust Luck, it's Pagano I don't trust. The team is getting healthy. Any dominant game like Monday is a good one. Lets do that vs the Raiders and Vikings. Until then, it's the same old song and dance.

I think we'll stop Oakland more times than they will stop us.   A 21 sack team like Oakland leaves me no reason to fear Khalil Mack.   Tennessee has produced much more sacks with Orakpo and Morgan than Oakland has with Irvin and Mack. We've ripped through Tennessees defense like a hot knife through butter in both games.  Heck I think Mercilus and Clowney may even be a better front than the Oakland Raiders production wise.  The Green Bay front was a better front than Oakland.

[Yoshinator]

3 minutes ago, krunk said:

I think we'll stop Oakland more times than they will stop us.   A 21 sack team like Oakland leaves me no reason to fear Khalil Mack.   Tennessee has produced much more sacks than Oakland and we rip through Tennessees defense like a hot knife through butter in both games.  Heck I think Mercilus and Clowney may even be a better front than the Oakland Raiders production wise.

Mercilus and Clowney are definitely more effective than Mack and a random OLB for sure. Like I said, I trust Luck. I just hope our defense doesn't shut down in the playoffs (mainly the pass rush). It's my no1 fear, and it gives me an uneasy feeling. Raiders are winnable if Luck is on his game. Lets hope he is. He seems to step up pretty well in the playoffs the majority of the time.

[krunk]

4 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Mercilus and Clowney are definitely more effective than Mack and a random OLB for sure. Like I said, I trust Luck. I just hope our defense doesn't shut down in the playoffs (mainly the pass rush). It's my no1 fear, and it gives me an uneasy feeling. Raiders are winnable if Luck is on his game. Lets hope he is. He seems to step up pretty well in the playoffs the majority of the time.

My main line of thinking is we have a fairly decent shot against most of these opponents.  I'll give credit where it's due to whatever those teams have accomplished, but I just feel if the Colts keep up what they've done for the last 3 games with a healthy Luck at the QB we've got a good shot against whomever.

[Myles]

I wouldn't feel confident.   It doesn't matter who we play.  Any team can score on this defense.   It's just not good.   Having a horrible offensive line makes any playoff matchup tough. 

I think the Colts can get hot and play with any of the teams, but I wouldn't be confident.  

[DalTXColtsFan]

14 hours ago, runthepost said:

Bengals would probably have a better record if injuries did not kill them. Same with Pitt 

But if the Colts had been healthy all year our record would be exactly the same?

[tikyle]

On 12/5/2016 at 10:51 AM, DalTXColtsFan said:

Because when it all comes down to it that's what these message boards are for, right? :).

 

Let's say, just for the sake of discussion, that after week 17, the following have all happened:

1. The Colts have squeaked into the playoffs

2. The OL of Costanzo/Reitz/Kelly/Good/Haeg started each of the last 5 games

3. Hilton, Davis, Robinson, Geathers, Mathis and Ridgeway are all 100% healthy

4. No more than 1 other key injury to anyone other than Luck

 

Let's say you're (in the order of opponent likelihood) either the Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders, Dolphins or whatever miracle team other than those that makes the playoffs as a WC and you're coming to Indianapolis for your wild card playoff game (my money's on the Chiefs - let's face it, we're going to be the #4 seed, Oakland is probably going to win the AFC West and KC is going to have a better record than any other WC team).

 

How confident do you feel, seriously?

 

OP, I'm so glad you made this thread.  Now I see what we're dealing with on these boards and I would guess in "fans" in general.  The level of delusion and unwarranted optimism I am reading is becoming quite overwhelming.

 

You can't in one breath say that Luck needs protection and weapons and then in the next breath think we have a good shot to beat any team as long as Luck is playing.  You can't say in one breath no one could win with this 30th ranked defense and then the next say we have a good shot to beat any team as along as Luck is playing.  What type of logic is this?  Or is this the very definition of fanaticism?

[PeterBowman]

5 hours ago, krunk said:

Big Ben was on the sideline for almost the entire 3rd quarter because their sorry defense couldn't get Tolzien off the field.  That had more to do with Big Bens attempts in the second half.   There would have been more drives like that had Luck played that game.  You know that Steeler defense is sorry.  I have confidence we beat those guys with Luck.   Show me somebody you can point to that we have no chance of winning against?  All these playoff teams have some sizeable chinks in the armor.  KC is about the most solid out of all of them.

The offense had no problems moving the ball....they just had issues scoring when inside the 5....that wouldn't have been the issue if Luck was playing.

[braveheartcolt]

1 hour ago, tikyle said:

 

OP, I'm so glad you made this thread.  Now I see what we're dealing with on these boards and I would guess in "fans" in general.  The level of delusion and unwarranted optimism I am reading is becoming quite overwhelming.

 

You can't in one breath say that Luck needs protection and weapons and then in the next breath think we have a good shot to beat any team as long as Luck is playing.  You can't say in one breath no one could win with this 30th ranked defense and then the next say we have a good shot to beat any team as along as Luck is playing.  What type of logic is this?  Or is this the very definition of fanaticism?

Just how many threads do you need to poison with your repetitive wailing? Get a grip, we know how you feel.

[tikyle]

23 minutes ago, braveheartcolt said:

Just how many threads do you need to poison with your repetitive wailing? Get a grip, we know how you feel.

 

Why is being realistic poison?