Opening 4 sentences Lindy mag on Colts analysis.

[HOF19]

At the conclusion of the Colts 2017 season, general manager Chris Ballard knew that changes were needed in several areas. After all, the Colts posted a dismal 4-12 regular-season record and finished last in the AFC South. That final record is a bit deceiving, though. Indianapolis was in position to win eight or nine those games, leading well into the fourth quarter before eventually finding ways to lose.           Their words not mine.     The theme I am starting to see on the internet ( which is very opposite of Mr. Nate Davis of USA Today )  is that do not count this Colts team out. They where not as bad as their record last season and remember THEY DID NOT HAVE ANDREW LUCK !...……… GO COLTS !!!!!

[csmopar]

3 hours ago, HOF19 said:

At the conclusion of the Colts 2017 season, general manager Chris Ballard knew that changes were needed in several areas. After all, the Colts posted a dismal 4-12 regular-season record and finished last in the AFC South. That final record is a bit deceiving, though. Indianapolis was in position to win eight or nine those games, leading well into the fourth quarter before eventually finding ways to lose.           Their words not mine.     The theme I am starting to see on the internet ( which is very opposite of Mr. Nate Davis of USA Today )  is that do not count this Colts team out. They where not as bad as their record last season and remember THEY DID NOT HAVE ANDREW LUCK !...……… GO COLTS !!!!!

Yeah... many of us have said that all along. The beat writers somehow miss that

[Smonroe]

We didn’t have Luck, but it’s a different team too.  We expect the Oline to be good but the RBs and WRs are all unproven other than TY.  We have no idea If Ebron will work out.  New coaches,etc.  completely new D.

 

I’m just saying we can’t go on what the team did last year, add Luck, and expect better results.  (Even though I think we’re going to surprise everyone)

[AZColt11]

I'm more cautiously optimistic.  While I seriously doubt Davis' prediction of just 2 wins (I think a healthy Luck could roll out of bed and generate at least 4 or 5 wins by himself), I also don't see them winning double digits either.  While I think they will win more of those close battles this season, I also think they will drop some too.  So I think somewhere between 6 and 9 wins feels about right this year, 6 if the bottom drops out and 9 if a lot of things go right (and Luck stays healthy).  I see them going 3-3 in the division.

[chad72]

If we don't start 0-2, that is an improvement, right? Wasn't it 4 years in a row that we started 0-2? We can then take it from there. 

 

To be fair, we did lose 5 games that were 1 score games. That is why I am a little peeved when people dismiss we could go 9-7 or 10-6 with a healthy Luck.

[CR91]

what boggles my mind is that Luck has carried far less talented teams to the playoffs then what we currently have on the roster. Heck look at the team he took to the AFC Championship (the lead back was dan herron ) I'm not saying the 2018 colts are full of talent, but atleast we have building blocks in place instead of just overpaying vets that didn't amount to anything ala landry, jones, ricky jean, one year rental wrs

[aaron11]

8 minutes ago, CR91 said:

what boggles my mind is that Luck has carried far less talented teams to the playoffs then what we currently have on the roster

that was in a much weaker division, and we still had reggie wayne and robert mathis 

[CR91]

12 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

that was in a much weaker division, and we still had reggie wayne and robert mathis 

 

aging wayne and mathis with wayne coming back from a torn acl and mathis missing the 2014 season with a torn achilles also the division has a lot of questions marks themselves even the jags with their lack of wrs now. Their starting Wrs are Lee and Moncrief. That doesn't scare anyone.

[aaron11]

29 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

aging wayne and mathis with wayne coming back from a torn acl and mathis missing the 2014 season with a torn achilles also the division has a lot of questions marks themselves even the jags with their lack of wrs now. Their starting Wrs are Lee and Moncrief. That doesn't scare anyone.

mathis  had 19.5 sacks in 2013-2014, the year we made the afc final, and it was a weaker division by far

 

i know people dont like to undermine achievements, but it will be a lot harder to make it that far this year

[CR91]

2 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

mathis  had 19.5 sacks in 2013-2014, the year we made the afc final, and it was a weaker division by far

 

i know people dont like to undermine achievements, but it will be a lot harder to make it that far this year

 

No mathis had 19.5 sacks in 2013 which was the year we faced the chiefs. we made the afc championship game in 2014

[2006Coltsbestever]

6 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

No mathis had 19.5 sacks in 2013 which was the year we faced the chiefs. we made the afc championship game in 2014

You are correct. Mathis had his big season in the 2013-14 Season, in the 2014-15 Season we made the Final 4 with Mathis out and Wayne basically playing injured. I have always wondered had we had Mathis in 2014-15 could we have gave the Pats a better game? Anyway, Luck took a team with alot of deficiency's and without Mathis and a gimpy Wayne to the Title Game. We had no running game and TY was our only Good WR. 

[aaron11]

18 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

No mathis had 19.5 sacks in 2013 which was the year we faced the chiefs. we made the afc championship game in 2014

sorry, my bad

 

 it was still a weak division though and that was before luck got hurt.  i think hes going to have a tougher time carrying this team to the playoffs this year

 

 

 

 

[CR91]

4 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

sorry, my bad

 

 it was still a weak division though and that was before luck got hurt.  i think hes going to have a tougher time carrying this team to the playoffs this year

 

 

 

 

 

As I mention, the division also has questions as I said about the jags and their wrs, the texans are getting back watson yes, but he only flashed for a few games so we don't know what the finish product looks like also JJ hasn't been healthy for two years. The titans are a mixed bag as they are a talented team, but not a team that scares you. Their wrs are still not that good as Corey Davis was ineffective and rishard mathews is average. Their running game will be good though.

[2006Coltsbestever]

8 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

sorry, my bad

 

 it was still a weak division though and that was before luck got hurt.  i think hes going to have a tougher time carrying this team to the playoffs this year

 

 

 

 

Houston was Good in 2014, they went 9-7 and outscored their opponents 372-307 that season. So it just wasn't us and nobody else. I know what you are saying though, the Jags and Titans are Good for a change and if Watson is healthy that makes Houston dangerous. I see no reason why we can't go 9-7 this season if Luck is indeed 100% healthy. People tend forget how Very Good and even Great at times he was. It's because he hasn't played in a while so I get it. The O.Line we have now should be better than it was in 2014, same for the RB's. We had Boom Herron and Trent Richardson in 2014. 

[aaron11]

25 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

As I mention, the division also has questions as I said about the jags and their wrs, the texans are getting back watson yes, but he only flashed for a few games so we don't know what the finish product looks like also JJ hasn't been healthy for two years. The titans are a mixed bag as they are a talented team, but not a team that scares you. Their wrs are still not that good as Corey Davis was ineffective and rishard mathews is average. Their running game will be good though.

we have a lot more question marks than Tennessee or Jacksonville.  

 

the texans are like us and full of question marks too, but if watson and watt are healthy then they are more talented than the colts.  

[CR91]

Just now, aaron11 said:

we have a lot more question marks than Tennessee or Jacksonville.  

 

the texans are like us and full of question marks too, but if watson and watt are healthy then they are more talented than the colts.  

 

Thats a big if. we don't know how good watson really is

[Larry Horseman]

1 hour ago, aaron11 said:

we have a lot more question marks than Tennessee or Jacksonville.  

 

the texans are like us and full of question marks too, but if watson and watt are healthy then they are more talented than the colts.  

I generally agree with your point that the division is more competitive now than it was Luck's first three years. Although both the Titans and Texans were competitive in two of the three years - it was really just the Jags who were terrible. That said, the Titans have a new, very young and inexperienced HC and OC, and will be implementing a completely different offensive system. I'd say that is a pretty big question mark coming into this year. 

[NDcolt]

8-9 games leading late with JB at qb, no pass rush whatsoever, CP as head coach and the WORST ol in history of NFL??  Failed to mention Luck is back, pass rush has potential, HC is major upgrade and we just drafted what could be the best O-lineman this game has ever seen!  Sleep on that 

[aaron11]

3 hours ago, Larry Horseman said:

I generally agree with your point that the division is more competitive now than it was Luck's first three years. Although both the Titans and Texans were competitive in two of the three years - it was really just the Jags who were terrible. That said, the Titans have a new, very young and inexperienced HC and OC, and will be implementing a completely different offensive system. I'd say that is a pretty big question mark coming into this year. 

some of my years were off, but i double checked and the titans were never better than 7-9 in lucks first three years, and they had a 2-14 in there.  the jags won 8 games in three years, thats a pretty weak division 

[NDcolt]

AFC South just went from worst division in NFL to best.  First team to 11 wins takes the crown and it will come down to who can win all 3 home games AND steal one on the road.   BET

[Larry Horseman]

4 hours ago, aaron11 said:

some of my years were off, but i double checked and the titans were never better than 7-9 in lucks first three years, and they had a 2-14 in there.  the jags won 8 games in three years, thats a pretty weak division 

Again, I’ll start by saying I agree the AFCS wasn’t strong from 2012-14. That said, aside from the Pats, only 1 team in the AFCE had a winning record during that time-the Bills went 9-7 in 14. The best finish aside from that was 8-8. Neither division was strong and the Pats were a better team than the Colts over that span.

 

Point is, a weak division isn’t the main argument against a team being good or bad. Based on roster, Luck leading the Colts to multiple playoff wins in that period speaks to his potential. We’ll see how he looks this year. I’m cautiously optimistic. 

[NannyMcafee]

I’m hoping the QB whisperer brings out the best in Andrew. And I really hope he knows how to call plays too. Man I have forgotten what it’s like to have a coach who knows how to call plays. 

[crazycolt1]

5 hours ago, NannyMcafee said:

I’m hoping the QB whisperer brings out the best in Andrew. And I really hope he knows how to call plays too. Man I have forgotten what it’s like to have a coach who knows how to call plays. 

Well no matter who the coach is they have to have talented players to call and make plays work.  Blaming the Colts problems on the coaches is over looking the other problems the team had.

[NannyMcafee]

40 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

Well no matter who the coach is they have to have talented players to call and make plays work.  Blaming the Colts problems on the coaches is over looking the other problems the team had.

 

No it is not blaming the colts problems entirely on the coaches. Nor does my statement say anything about the colts woes during any head coaching. You’re assuming things. Not everything is about chuck pagano man. 

[TKnight24]

19 hours ago, NDcolt said:

AFC South just went from worst division in NFL to best.  First team to 11 wins takes the crown and it will come down to who can win all 3 home games AND steal one on the road.   BET

Eh, wouldn’t call it the best. NFC East, NFC South, and AFC West are better 

 

Too many unknowns with the AFC South. And QB quality in the AFC South isn’t exactly that good 

[MR. Blueblood]

3 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Well no matter who the coach is they have to have talented players to call and make plays work.  Blaming the Colts problems on the coaches is over looking the other problems the team had.

Not disagreeing about the necessity of talent for the coaches to work with, but it's also a coach's job to put the players in the best position possible to succeed.  I saw very little, especially from the OC and the HC, that put the players in a position to succeed.  There was a thread awhile back about the Colts playcalling tendencies in the 4th qtr last season.  You tell me how doing something 100% of the time when you have a certain personnel package in puts those players in a position to succeed? The plays are doomed to fail when the defense knows what you are doing well before the ball is snapped, and it's compounded when you lack the talent that the guy lined up opposite of you has.  I put the overwhelming majority of the blame squarely at the coaches feet.

[crazycolt1]

2 hours ago, MR. Blueblood said:

Not disagreeing about the necessity of talent for the coaches to work with, but it's also a coach's job to put the players in the best position possible to succeed.  I saw very little, especially from the OC and the HC, that put the players in a position to succeed.  There was a thread awhile back about the Colts playcalling tendencies in the 4th qtr last season.  You tell me how doing something 100% of the time when you have a certain personnel package in puts those players in a position to succeed? The plays are doomed to fail when the defense knows what you are doing well before the ball is snapped, and it's compounded when you lack the talent that the guy lined up opposite of you has.  I put the overwhelming majority of the blame squarely at the coaches feet.

Yeah we all know that Mike McCarthy forgot how to coach too.

[MR. Blueblood]

16 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

Yeah we all know that Mike McCarthy forgot how to coach too.

Nice deflection.  Too bad you couldn't answer the question.

 

Must mean you have nothing about the Colts to add so you had to jump to another coach to try and make some point.  

[crazycolt1]

7 hours ago, MR. Blueblood said:

Nice deflection.  Too bad you couldn't answer the question.

 

Must mean you have nothing about the Colts to add so you had to jump to another coach to try and make some point.  

It wasn't a deflection at all. If you have followed me for any time at all you would know what I was talking about.