When have you ever felt better about the colts?

[Trace Pyott]

 Man this year has been crazy and even though I haven’t been a fan as long as some on here (I kinda liked the colts during their infamous loss to Steelers in 96, I was 11) but I officially started watching them every single week the year Peyton was drafted.  Anyways, I cannot think of a single time since then that I was this optimistic about our team. Even when we had Peyton and Marvin and edge I still always felt like the defense would hold us back somehow. 

 

  Now it seems we are much better built on both sides of the ball and we have soooo many young guys contributing and getting better and better each week.  Guys we realistically can win it all THIS YEAR and we still got 3 pretty early picks next year and a ton of money to spend !!!  Even if we didn’t have a single pick or money our guys should all mostly get better!!!  Luck won’t be as rusty, our o line will have another year to familiarize themselves and play as a unit, coach Reich will have more familiarty with his players and vice versa and Leonard will have more experience under his belt. I honestly cannot think of a time that I felt

better about the colts next 2 to 3 years than I do right now. What about you guys???

[The Peytonator]

I’d say about 2009, week 15, just after beating the Jags on Monday night and getting to 14-0. Last time I’ve been so optimistic about Colts football. Even then though, you knew it’d be short lived with everyone getting older. Now is different, we haven’t even begun to peak. 

[braveheartcolt]

53 minutes ago, The Peytonator said:

I’d say about 2009, week 15, just after beating the Jags on Monday night and getting to 14-0. Last time I’ve been so optimistic about Colts football. Even then though, you knew it’d be short lived with everyone getting older. Now is different, we haven’t even begun to peak. 

Unfortunately at that stage the Polian whispers were already out that we were going to tank and rest the starters, therefore I was already fearing the worst. 

[ColtsBlitz]

Listening to this weeks ForTheColture Podcast, they sun it up pretty well. I’ve never felt this good about an overall colts team in the Luck era

 

Luke always loves saying “take away our 45 year old kicker, and we have the youngest roster in the NFL. We ARENT supposed to be this good this early” something I love to hear

[Lawrence Owen]

Well being they may be the most well rounded and balanced team in the NFL right now, I have to admit I am surprised.  And to think next year should be even better.

I did some research on offensive and defensive stats, where they rank in the NFL going into the playoff's. I was so impressed, I made a meme:

 

[pacolts56]

Literally one time....

 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

As far as seasons go even if we lose Saturday, season wise this ranks way up there. I have been a fan since 1984 so we are talking 35 seasons regarding myself watching. 2006 is #1 because we won the SB and won at Baltimore + beat the Pats during that Playoff run (Peyton got his ring). 1995 is pretty untouchable as we were 1 play away from making the SB (the Harbaugh magic). I would put 1995 #2. This 2018 season is much like 2012 = very fun, surprising, entertaining, and in both seasons we were rated #32 by the NFLnetwork but made the Playoffs. That Andrew Luck is something else 

[needanoline63]

I still think our lack of consistent pressure and pass rush is gonna hurt us. Also need Ryan kelly back!!!!

[JColts72]

Beating NE in playoffs; Superbowl 06,the 95 Playoff run, and the 75-77 seasons.

[NewEra]

It's been a long long time. I'm so excited about this team I can't wait for the off season and we just made the playoffs heh

[SOMDColtsfan]

2006 playoffs..when realized that defense was no fluke. 

[aaron11]

colts were legit superbowl contenders in 2005 and 2006 so i was more pumped back then.  i know we have a chance now, but they were probably the best team in the league in 2005

 

theres really no pressure now  texans are favored by a couple.  the favorite has lost both games this year though 

[Smonroe]

I felt pretty good about them the night of February 4, 2007.

[jszfunk]

Its been awhile that's for sure.

 

Not sure if this means anything, but if I totaled this right, the combined record of the teams the Colts have played this season is 94-114. 

 

I am just concerned that they really have not faced the upper brass of the NFL this season, to really test them. I know they are playing great(o line ,def,Luck etc..) way better than I expected, but I still have some reservations.

 

They have played some decent teams, and proved they can beat "that" caliber, I get that.  They can only play who is on their schedule, but I still feel a little nervous. I hope I am wrong, I just need for them to come out and punch the rest of the AFC in the mouth during this playoff season.

 

[Lucky Colts Fan]

15 minutes ago, jszfunk said:

Not sure if this means anything, but if I totaled this right, the combined record of the teams the Colts have played this season is 94-114.

 

It doesn't really mean anything.

 

They lost to losing teams:

Bengals (6-10)

Jets (4-12)

Jags (5-11)

 

And beat winning teams:

Titans (9-7)

Texans (11-5)

Cowboys (10-6)

[Coffeedrinker]

1 hour ago, aaron11 said:

colts were legit superbowl contenders in 2005 and 2006 so i was more pumped back then.  i know we have a chance now, but they were probably the best team in the league in 2005

 

theres really no pressure now  texans are favored by a couple.  the favorite has lost both games this year though 

Many people don't remember 2005 because of the playoff loss to the Steelers, but 2005 was the best Colts team since they moved to Indianapolis.  I truly believe, if it were not for the suicide of Dungy's son the Colts would have won the SB that year.

[CamMo]

I grew up knowing that Manning was taking us to the playoffs every year.

 

Now that I’ve been a fan through a “playoff drought” it makes me appreciate these seasons even more. I’ve never been more excited. Our coach, our GM, our offense, our defense, a HEALTHY, PROTECTED Andrew Luck. Just good vibes and positivity everywhere.

[dodsworth]

Never felt better about the future for this franchise. When you factor in the

coaching staff, young talented players and a GM that understands that there

are two sides of the ball then we are in exciting times!

 

 

[Superman]

2 minutes ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

It doesn't really mean anything.

 

They lost to losing teams:

Bengals (6-10)

Jets (4-12)

Jags (5-11)

 

And beat winning teams:

Titans (9-7)

Texans (11-5)

Cowboys (10-6)

 

I think it's relevant, and your post highlights two of the reasons why.

 

First, this Colts team has shown it's capable of putting up a stinker, even during the hot finish over the last 10 games. We got shut out by the Jags, but we were flat the week before against Miami, and then had a wobbly game two weeks ago against the Giants.

 

Second, the winning teams we did beat aren't all that good. We only got two quarters of Mariota (and he isn't that impressive anyway), the Texans have been vulnerable at times all season and have a terrible OL. The Cowboys are the best team we've beat, and we dominated them, but overall they're just 'above average,' nothing special.

 

There are six really good to great teams in the NFL right now, IMO: Saints, Bears, Rams, Chiefs, Chargers, Pats. Then there are three teams that the league better watch out for: Ravens, Seahawks, Eagles. I have the Colts in the last tier, with the Cowboys and Texans (two of the winning teams we actually beat). 

 

Any given Sunday, for sure, but I think there's a distinction between the Colts and the big time contenders.

[Myles]

30 minutes ago, jszfunk said:

Its been awhile that's for sure.

 

Not sure if this means anything, but if I totaled this right, the combined record of the teams the Colts have played this season is 94-114. 

 

I am just concerned that they really have not faced the upper brass of the NFL this season, to really test them. I know they are playing great(o line ,def,Luck etc..) way better than I expected, but I still have some reservations.

 

They have played some decent teams, and proved they can beat "that" caliber, I get that.  They can only play who is on their schedule, but I still feel a little nervous. I hope I am wrong, I just need for them to come out and punch the rest of the AFC in the mouth during this playoff season.

 

Good post.   I do think it means something.  The teams hasn't been challenged by the best teams in the league.  Of course it doesn't mean we cannot step up to the challenge.   I think the Cowboys are the best team we faced.   We performed well, but it was at home.   I discount the Titans and Texans games a bit just because of the familiarity of division opponents.   Still good wins over good teams though.  

[Lucky Colts Fan]

2 minutes ago, Superman said:

I think it's relevant

 

There are six really good to great teams in the NFL right now, IMO: Saints, Bears, Rams, Chiefs, Chargers, Pats.

 

Any given Sunday, for sure, but I think there's a distinction between the Colts and the big time contenders.

 

We shut out the Cowboys, who shut down the Saints, who are the current favorite, while we split games with the Texans and Jags, and beat the Titans (soundly) twice who beat the Cowboys and Pats.  Chiefs lose to the Chargers, who lose to the Ravens.  But that's all meaningless.

 

No team has proven themselves to be complete.  Every top team in the league has had their weakness exposed by another team.

 

Any Given Sunday means the record gets thrown out the window.  It's about matchups.  And a healthy Colts team seems to match up well against anybody, regardless of either teams' record or the record of their previous opponents. 

[ManningGM]

21 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I think it's relevant, and your post highlights two of the reasons why.

 

First, this Colts team has shown it's capable of putting up a stinker, even during the hot finish over the last 10 games. We got shut out by the Jags, but we were flat the week before against Miami, and then had a wobbly game two weeks ago against the Giants.

 

Second, the winning teams we did beat aren't all that good. We only got two quarters of Mariota (and he isn't that impressive anyway), the Texans have been vulnerable at times all season and have a terrible OL. The Cowboys are the best team we've beat, and we dominated them, but overall they're just 'above average,' nothing special.

 

There are six really good to great teams in the NFL right now, IMO: Saints, Bears, Rams, Chiefs, Chargers, Pats. Then there are three teams that the league better watch out for: Ravens, Seahawks, Eagles. I have the Colts in the last tier, with the Cowboys and Texans (two of the winning teams we actually beat). 

 

Any given Sunday, for sure, but I think there's a distinction between the Colts and the big time contenders.

Colts are in the tier with the Ravens, Seahawks, and Eagles. 9-1 in the last 10 games and not allowing 100 yd rusher yet is no joke, I don't care who they played. 

 

Pats have looked awfully suspect lately, them beating a Bills and Jets team to death is not impressive. Chiefs have lost 2 out of the 3 last games and have lost to the playoff teams in their schedule. Their defense is also a hot mess. Chargers looked absolutely inept at home against Baltimore a couple weeks ago. 

 

I'm not going to continue further. All those good to great teams you just listed have come back down to Earth in their own ways. If you're not the Cowboys or Texans, you have a shot at the Super Bowl this year.

[Superman]

7 minutes ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

We shut out the Cowboys, who shut down the Saints, who are the current favorite, while we split games with the Texans and Jags, and beat the Titans (soundly) twice who beat the Cowboys and Pats.  Chiefs lose to the Chargers, who lose to the Ravens.  But that's all meaningless.

 

No team has proven themselves to be complete.  Every top team in the league has had their weakness exposed by another team.

 

Any Given Sunday means the record gets thrown out the window.  It's about matchups.  And a healthy Colts team seems to match up well against anybody, regardless of either teams' record or the record of their previous opponents. 

 

I'm following you, matchups are important, and no team is perfect. 

 

But I don't think we match up well against anybody this year. I don't think we match up well against the Chiefs or Chargers; I would expect both of them to score very effectively against our defense. I think the Ravens defense would present a particular challenge for our offense. And that's just in the AFC.

 

Oddly enough, based on how we're playing right now, I do think we'd be a good matchup vs the Pats.

[Mr.ZapRowsdower]

I'm trying not to overanalyze anything at this point. Just trying to enjoy the ride. We are technically playing with house money and I think even the playoff appearance is a huge milestone for a team deemed by most as the number 32 team in the league at the start. Most of us on here including myself had accepted the fact that we were in a rebuild and wouldn't make any type of noise. Now do I think we will win it... Probably not. There are a lot of good teams in the AFC and we have to play all of them on the road. But for now, I'm ecstatic with our improvement and direction. We have a perfect storm with Ballard, Reich and a healthy Andrew Luck. If it ends this week I will sleep well knowing next season and many after are going to be amazing. Just my take on it. 

[Superman]

3 minutes ago, ManningGM said:

Colts are in the tier with the Ravens, Seahawks, and Eagles. 9-1 in the last 10 games and not allowing 100 yd rusher yet is no joke, I don't care who they played. 

 

 

We played a bunch of bad QBs, and the correlation between 100 yard rushers and wins is overstated. I think we'd have to play much better than we played over the last two months if we want to do something special in the playoffs.

 

I'm not trying to sell the Colts short, only saying I think there's a distinction between the Colts and the contenders. And the distinction between us and those other three is that a) the Seahawks and Eagles have SB pedigree (and the Eagles in particular appear to rally around Foles), and b) the Ravens are the most physical team in the league.

[ManningGM]

3 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

We played a bunch of bad QBs, and the correlation between 100 yard rushers and wins is overstated. I think we'd have to play much better than we played over the last two months if we want to do something special in the playoffs.

 

I'm not trying to sell the Colts short, only saying I think there's a distinction between the Colts and the contenders. And the distinction between us and those other three is that a) the Seahawks and Eagles have SB pedigree (and the Eagles in particular appear to rally around Foles), and b) the Ravens are the most physical team in the league.

Frank Reich, Adam Vinatieri, Jabaal Sheard, and Jim Irsay all have SB pedigree. Let's make this run.

[chad72]

6 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I'm following you, matchups are important, and no team is perfect. 

 

But I don't think we match up well against anybody this year. I don't think we match up well against the Chiefs or Chargers; I would expect both of them to score very effectively against our defense. I think the Ravens defense would present a particular challenge for our offense. And that's just in the AFC.

 

Oddly enough, based on how we're playing right now, I do think we'd be a good matchup vs the Pats.

 

Would have been a good year to get the #3 seed and home playoff game, IMO, considering how well we would match up vs the Patriots. If we lose to the Texans, folks are going to bring up the 4th down call vs Texans and the road Jaguars game again, both of which could have swung the division in our favor.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

2 minutes ago, Superman said:

I don't think we match up well against the Chiefs or Chargers; I would expect both of them to score very effectively against our defense. I think the Ravens defense would present a particular challenge for our offense.

 

The Ravens defense is really impressive and is going to give any offense fits.  And that run game...  The Ravens scare me more than any other team.  If we play them, it might be like the "FG Game" when we went on our last SB run in 2006.

 

Any other team we play will probably have to win a shootout, and I like the Colts chances in a shootout.

[Superman]

5 minutes ago, ManningGM said:

Frank Reich, Adam Vinatieri, Jabaal Sheard, and Jim Irsay all have SB pedigree. Let's make this run.

 

We all know that the Seahawks and especially the Eagles have rosters with plenty of SB experience. We barely have any players with playoff experience. The only players who have gone to the playoffs with the Colts are Luck, Hilton, AC and AV. 

 

But yes, let's make this run.

[ManningGM]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

 

We all know that the Seahawks and especially the Eagles have rosters with plenty of SB experience. We barely have any players with playoff experience. The only players who have gone to the playoffs with the Colts are Luck, Hilton, AC and AV. 

 

But yes, let's make this run.

Yes indeed. 

[Superman]

3 minutes ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

I like the Colts chances in a shootout.

 

The Chiefs have a bad defense, but that offense is explosive in a way we haven't seen.

[BleedBlu8792]

1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Many people don't remember 2005 because of the playoff loss to the Steelers, but 2005 was the best Colts team since they moved to Indianapolis.  I truly believe, if it were not for the suicide of Dungy's son the Colts would have won the SB that year.

 

I still like 2007 better. Had Freeney and Marvin not gotten hurt that year we would have cruised through. Bob won DPOY of that year too. That defense was legitimately great.

[John Waylon]

31 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

We played a bunch of bad QBs, and the correlation between 100 yard rushers and wins is overstated. I think we'd have to play much better than we played over the last two months if we want to do something special in the playoffs.

 

I'm not trying to sell the Colts short, only saying I think there's a distinction between the Colts and the contenders. And the distinction between us and those other three is that a) the Seahawks and Eagles have SB pedigree (and the Eagles in particular appear to rally around Foles), and b) the Ravens are the most physical team in the league.

 

This. We’ve caught some breaks and we’ve seen some encouraging things in the second half of this season, but there’s still been plenty that could use some work. 

 

It was not all that that long ago that we lost to the Jags 6-0. 

 

The media hype is nice, but it’s metaphorical. None of the talking heads claiming we are the team no one wants to face in the playoffs, or even the team with the most momentum have actually watched our games. They watched the box scores. 

 

I hope we get on a hot run and go deep into the playoffs. But I also accept that the odds are very much against that. 

[Coffeedrinker]

1 hour ago, Superman said:

 

We played a bunch of bad QBs, and the correlation between 100 yard rushers and wins is overstated. I think we'd have to play much better than we played over the last two months if we want to do something special in the playoffs.

 

I'm not trying to sell the Colts short, only saying I think there's a distinction between the Colts and the contenders. And the distinction between us and those other three is that a) the Seahawks and Eagles have SB pedigree (and the Eagles in particular appear to rally around Foles), and b) the Ravens are the most physical team in the league.

I am as happy as any Colts fan with the 9 of 10 wins the past 10 weeks of the year.  But I agree with the bolded and I don't think it can be overlooked or over stated.  The Colts D has benefitted a lot in recent weeks with QBs not making good throws to open receivers.

 

In the playoffs, IMO, Houston and Baltimore have less than good QBs.  Watson is pretty accurate but if his first read isn't open and he can't scramble he struggles.  Jackson, IMO is a good RB that lines up at the QB position but he is not a good QB.  Outside of that, I think the other 4 (including the Colts) all have excellent QBs and I think the Colts D will struggle against excellent QBs.

[krunk]

I think we can beat whoever.   I'm not really worried about the "we haven't faced this and that QB".  I saw us against the Pats with a completely depleted defense and barely any running game and we still made a game out of it.    We've got the tools now to play against and defeat anybody.   I fear the Chiefs a little bit but that's not an insurmountable task either.   I say bring it on!

[Superman]

17 minutes ago, krunk said:

I saw us against the Pats with a completely depleted defense and barely any running game and we still made a game out of it.

 

Which game did you watch?

 

We were down 21 at the half, we lost by two TDs, and Brady shredded our pass defense (even accounting for two fluke picks). We got housed by the Pats.

 

And that's a team I think we might actually match up well against right now. But they absolutely picked us apart when we played.

[ManningGM]

7 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Which game did you watch?

 

We were down 21 at the half, we lost by two TDs, and Brady shredded our pass defense (even accounting for two fluke picks). We got housed by the Pats.

 

And that's a team I think we might actually match up well against right now. But they absolutely picked us apart when we played.

We made it a 1 score game with Luck and the practice squad in the 3rd....

[krunk]

28 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Which game did you watch?

 

We were down 21 at the half, we lost by two TDs, and Brady shredded our pass defense (even accounting for two fluke picks). We got housed by the Pats.

 

And that's a team I think we might actually match up well against right now. But they absolutely picked us apart when we played.

Did we not come back?  We shouldn't have with what we stepped on the field with and the reason we were down had a bit to do with turning the football over more than anything.  That and drop passes which are execution based. I think if we had Walker and Leonard and the rest of the boys we were missing we do a much better Job.  Not to mention Mack was missing, I think Kelly was missing along with Costanzo.   Luck had to pass, pass, pass the whole darn game.  I think we can play with any of these teams and win as long as we are healthy.

[Superman]

19 minutes ago, ManningGM said:

We made it a 1 score game with Luck and the practice squad in the 3rd....

 

Could say the same thing about the Titans Sunday, but the Colts controlled that game from bell to bell, and it was only our mistakes that made it somewhat close late. I don't think we made a game of it against the Pats anymore than the Titans made it a game against us.

[stitches]

I don't think I've ever felt better about the Colts since I became a fan of the team(Luck's rookie year). The main contributing factors for it are - the GM, the coach and the QB. I think we have the right people on all of those spots and I trust our brain trust to continue making the right decisions off-the field and our coaches and QB to continue making the right decisions on the field. I also think we've never been better set with potential resources for the team going forward. I love where this team is and I love even more the potential of where it can go.