Who in the hell wants to go 8-8?

[Matthew Gilbert]

As a fan, rooting for a team to finish a mediocre 7-9 or 8-8 is just plain silly to me. The Colts could be 4-1 right now if a handful of things had went their way but they didn't. As banged up as they are, the Colts are still a competitive team right now. Could they rally and sneak into the playoffs? Perhaps, but are they going to make a SB run? I highly doubt it. I think they are clearly a couple of pieces away from really being a contender in the AFC.

 

I know some people are totally against tanking for a higher draft selection but I am not. Is a top draft pick a lock to be a hit? Of course not but adding a Nick Bosa or an Ed Oliver to this team could be huge. Maybe one guy alone won't turn this team into the AFC favorite but I think it will go along way to achieving that. Throw in the two second round picks (both being fairly early) and the core for this team could be set for years to come. 

 

It's pretty clear Chris Ballard isn't likely to spend big in free agency and I'm ok with that. If he thinks they're one piece away and the right fit is there to spend up on, I could see him going after that player. I really like the Colts young core and want to see them to continue to build through the draft as planned. Picking in the 16-22 range in the upcoming draft would not be ideal for next years run at the AFC title. 

[MikeCurtis]

Its all a matter of perspective

 

If you have a horrible team with no depth......  you HOPE to climb to 8-8

 

This team has a dearth of talent........ Thats a fact

 

This is a THIN team to start.... then you throw in a crazy amounts of injuries......

 

Horrible drafting, horrible FA choices for 5 years....... doesnt get fixed overnight

 

Do I like 8-8...... heck no

 

Do I think 8-8 is a reasonable goal for THIS team, THIS year......... Oh yeah

 

When Manning was under center, and we had good all around teams....... I would be mad when we lost to someone early in playoffs.............. It would ruin my weekend

 

This team is heading in right direction...... (IMHO).......... We will get there soon enough

 

 

[Stephen]

I am not rooting for us to lose until we are eliminated  from playoffs 

[aaron11]

it doesnt matter what we root for, they will try to win games regardless 

[Defjamz26]

17 minutes ago, Matthew Gilbert said:

As a fan, rooting for a team to finish a mediocre 7-9 or 8-8 is just plain silly to me. The Colts could be 4-1 right now if a handful of things had went their way but they didn't. As banged up as they are, the Colts are still a competitive team right now.

 

Words of a true apologist. Too bad there’s no award for being competitive but loosing.

[MikeCurtis]

16 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I am not rooting for us to lose until we are eliminated  from playoffs 

I don't see a single serious post on this forum, suggesting that we should lose any game......

 

Do you?

 

[Myles]

9 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

 

Words of a true apologist. Too bad there’s no award for being competitive but loosing.

The Pacers know that better than anyone.  

I don't think teams tank in the NFL.   Players are playing for their $$ and careers.   Coaches the same.   A QB isn't going to throw INT's on purpose because that is what they are judged on for the rest of their careers and lives.   Too many pieces in the NFL to think tanking happens.    

Perhaps the last game of the season if a team is 4-11 and have a couple slightly banged up players, maybe they may hold them out of the game.   

 

That said, if they are eliminated from the playoffs, sometimes I will hope they lose to improve draft position.  

[braveheartcolt]

OP, I would wager a small sum of cash that you have not purchased any tickets to see the Colts this year. Have you ever played competitive sports? Have you ever played to lose? Tanking is a figment of a losers imagination......

[ColtsBlueFL]

^^^^

These 2 posts above.

[The Fish]

I don't disagree with the point that 8-8 in certain situations, sucks. But in the Colts current one, it indicates progress towards a much more meaningful goal- getting Luck in contention for a SuperbOwl.

[boo2202]

Just put in a draft lottery similar to the nba, that would stop this constant argument. To become a great team most of the time a winning culture is needed. It's hard to do what the Eagles did last year. The only way to Establish a winning culture and expecting to win every game is by winning year after year.

[ColtsBlueFL]

The only way to possibly ‘tank’ is for the coaches to bench star players.  But if they have incentives in their contract, even they will be fighting mad to play and earn more $$, even if playoffs are out of reach.

 

There’s no way any average or lower player will ‘take plays off’ and contribute to losses improving the draft slot, only to find the team drafting his/their replacement.

 

Used to be, to get help rid of bad taste of a poor season, players/teams relished knocking their opponents out of playoffs too.

[TDewar1987]

Depends. Certainly every fan of any sports team always wants their team to win every game, but that is unrealistic. No one wants us to go 8-8 but where we were last year to this year thats an improvement. Its not a bad thing, our team is still young, really young. No one expected us to be superbowl bound this year. Do i want the team to make the playoffs and have a chance? Yes, but im not necessarily going to be disappointed if they dont. The team is still growing.

[Jason_]

1 hour ago, Matthew Gilbert said:

 

 

I know some people are totally against tanking for a higher draft selection but I am not.

 

there are probably 15-20 other fanbases that would want their teams to do the same thing.  if your wish were to come true, which it won't, what would games look like when 20+ teams are intentionally trying to tank for a higher draft pick?  

[Myles]

35 minutes ago, boo2202 said:

To become a great team most of the time a winning culture is needed. It's hard to do what the Eagles did last year. The only way to Establish a winning culture and expecting to win every game is by winning year after year.

 

I'm not saying you are wrong, just that I don't think there is as much to the whole "winning culture" idea.   Most would say that any team that wins for multiple years in a row has a "winning culture".   So really "winning culture" just means continued success.  

[Chrisaaron1023]

8-8 turned out pretty nice for the Rams..LOL

 

but in all honesty, I don't really put much thought into it. I like when the Colts win. I don't really even pay attention to draft position until like week 15.

 

But don't worry, we're in pretty good position right now at the bottom of the league, if you're wanting a high draft pick 

[OffensivelyPC]

1 hour ago, MikeCurtis said:

I don't see a single serious post on this forum, suggesting that we should lose any game......

 

Do you?

 

Umm yeah.  Just go back to 2017 when we won our last game.  If I recall correctly, we needed a few tie breakers to go our way, and if they did, we'd jump the Giants to the second pick.  It just so happened that we would have, but because we ended up winning the last game, we stayed at 3.

 

I think it also happened in 2016 where we were eliminated from the playoffs with maybe 2 games left, and many wanted us to lose for the sake of draft positioning.  Then we won both games and the difference would have been a top 7 or 8 pick verses a pick at 16 or whatever we ended up picking at.

[shasta519]

 

1 hour ago, ColtsBlueFL said:

The only way to possibly ‘tank’ is for the coaches to bench star players.  But if they have incentives in their contract, even they will be fighting mad to play and earn more $$, even if playoffs are out of reach.

 

There’s no way any average or lower player will ‘take plays off’ and contribute to losses improving the draft slot, only to find the team drafting his/their replacement.

 

Used to be, to get help rid of bad taste of a poor season, players/teams relished knocking their opponents out of playoffs too.

 

In theory, coaches can make bad play calls to hurt their chances of success. They can also put players in poor positions.

 

But a coach (or HC) would have to be incredibly cozy in his current position to ever do that...AND also have to be willing to sacrifice improvement and development. Not going to happen.

 

And players have no incentive to tank. Until I see a player get a huge contract after a terrible season...it's nonsense. And that obviously doesn't happen...considering the average length of a player's career.

 

[HectorRoberts]

12-4!

[shasta519]

50 minutes ago, J@son said:

 

there are probably 15-20 other fanbases that would want their teams to do the same thing.  if your wish were to come true, which it won't, what would games look like when 20+ teams are intentionally trying to tank for a higher draft pick?  

 

I assume it would look an awful lot like that Brees record-setting TD last night. 

[Jason_]

2 minutes ago, shastamasta said:

 

I assume it would look an awful lot like that Brees record-setting TD last night. 

 

didn't watch last night's game.  I was imagining the episode of southpark where the boys wanted their baseball team to lose so they wouldn't have to continue in the tournament...but so did the boys on other teams lol

[Barry Sears]

right now 8-8 sounds good to me, that means 7-4 the rest of the way.

[shasta519]

Personally, if the team is bad, I would rather win 3-4 games and get a high pick...than win some flukey games and/or beat a handful of other bad teams and win 7-8 (sort of like 2015 and 2016).

 

Just look at the difference in value of the #3 pick last season vs. the year before. 

But that should be a rare occurrence.

[icf]

IMO, I agree with the OP.

 

If you're not making the playoffs, finishing with a record that gets you a top 3 pick is much better when it comes to building for the future then finishing with a mid 1st rd pick and missing the playoffs.

 

I don't expect the players to want to tank/lose these games....especially when many wont even be around in a year or 2.  They play for today and should always give 100% as they are playing for future paychecks.

 

However -- as a fan, if you aren't making the playoffs....I'd rather see you lose a couple of meaningless late season games and go 5-11 vs winning them and finishing 7-9.

[braveheartcolt]

1 hour ago, The Fish said:

I don't disagree with the point that 8-8 in certain situations, sucks. But in the Colts current one, it indicates progress towards a much more meaningful goal- getting Luck in contention for a SuperbOwl.

I've heard of a Great Eagle, but never a Superb Owl.......

[esmort]

I don't think they are doing it(or should at this point), but for the sake of discussion. I don't think it requires the complicated conspiracy that many posters are suggesting to tank. You don't need the players involved or all coaches involved.

 

Irsay, Ballard, and Reich (no players and no other coaches) could probably tank this team without it even looking like they are doing it; this team only requires the slightest nudge to push it into a loss. And both Ballard and Reich are secure enough in their positions they could easily sacrifice a few games for long-term gain if they decided the draft pay off was worth it. 

[ColtsBlueFL]

Ballard and Reich have integrity. Colts have outplayed their talent (and health) even in losses and they won’t throttle back.  They are building a culture and chemistry as well, not just collecting talent. They will play the best they can, scout the best they can, and draft the best they can,

[Myles]

[chad72]

4 minutes ago, Myles said:

 

Where is Cleveland here? Man, things have changed.  

[NewEra]

Teams who were recently 8-8?

Teams who were recently 3-13?

Just now, NewEra said:

 

Teams who were recently 3-13?

 

[NewEra]

Teams who were recently 3-13?

Sorry, don't know how to edit lol

[Myles]

25 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

Where is Cleveland here? Man, things have changed.  

[masterlock]

2 hours ago, ColtsBlueFL said:

The only way to possibly ‘tank’ is for the coaches to bench star players.  But if they have incentives in their contract, even they will be fighting mad to play and earn more $$, even if playoffs are out of reach.

 

There’s no way any average or lower player will ‘take plays off’ and contribute to losses improving the draft slot, only to find the team drafting his/their replacement.

 

Used to be, to get help rid of bad taste of a poor season, players/teams relished knocking their opponents out of playoffs too.

Well, you could call predictable plays, even without benching your "star" players. That would work too. For example, if virtually every play was a run up the middle, then it would be easy for opposing defenses to shut down those plays, and force 3-and-outs. 

[IinD]

You wait all year for football then want to tank after the first month..??

 

Lol @some fans honestly. Losing doesn't guarantee you get better the next year.

 

I like seeing the Colts play, when the season is over all I can think about is when's the season start?

 

I'll take 8-8. If losing was the cure for all, Cleveland would be title town.

[coach kline]

Ballard needs to stop sitting on 50 million and get some help. This is nuts!

[Four2itus]

If I was to define the absurd idea of tanking, I would need a plethora of today's iconic adjectives such as:

 

Garbage

Hot Garbage

Trash

[Luck 4 president]

Imo throwing games or purposely trying to lose shouldn’t be done in sports. However, there is a difference between that and not trying to win. Remember “suck for Luck”? We weren’t trying to lose, but we were also content with having maybe the worst QB ever who wouldn’t win any games for us. 

[Alex22]

5 hours ago, Matthew Gilbert said:

As a fan, rooting for a team to finish a mediocre 7-9 or 8-8 is just plain silly to me. The Colts could be 4-1 right now if a handful of things had went their way but they didn't. As banged up as they are, the Colts are still a competitive team right now. Could they rally and sneak into the playoffs? Perhaps, but are they going to make a SB run? I highly doubt it. I think they are clearly a couple of pieces away from really being a contender in the AFC.

 

I know some people are totally against tanking for a higher draft selection but I am not. Is a top draft pick a lock to be a hit? Of course not but adding a Nick Bosa or an Ed Oliver to this team could be huge. Maybe one guy alone won't turn this team into the AFC favorite but I think it will go along way to achieving that. Throw in the two second round picks (both being fairly early) and the core for this team could be set for years to come. 

 

It's pretty clear Chris Ballard isn't likely to spend big in free agency and I'm ok with that. If he thinks they're one piece away and the right fit is there to spend up on, I could see him going after that player. I really like the Colts young core and want to see them to continue to build through the draft as planned. Picking in the 16-22 range in the upcoming draft would not be ideal for next years run at the AFC title. 

 

12-4 starts today 

[RollerColt]

5 hours ago, braveheartcolt said:

OP, I would wager a small sum of cash that you have not purchased any tickets to see the Colts this year. Have you ever played competitive sports? Have you ever played to lose? Tanking is a figment of a losers imagination......

Agreed. I’ve never been a part of a team that has the tanking mentality. It’s literally something fans create as a justification for their team having a bad season. I guess that makes them feel better about themselves?

 

 

[-JJ-]

5 hours ago, ColtsBlueFL said:

The only way to possibly ‘tank’ is for the coaches to bench star players.  But if they have incentives in their contract, even they will be fighting mad to play and earn more $$, even if playoffs are out of reach.

 

There’s no way any average or lower player will ‘take plays off’ and contribute to losses improving the draft slot, only to find the team drafting his/their replacement.

 

Used to be, to get help rid of bad taste of a poor season, players/teams relished knocking their opponents out of playoffs too.

Not to mention its against the rules.  You must field a completive team.  I don't know what the fine is because to my knowledge no team has ever done it.

 

Plus like Braveheart said- athletes are competitive by nature... whether ping pong or whatever.

 I think its called pride or something