2021 Season

[Four2itus]

Well, after a summer of agonizing discussions, massive uneducated conjecture , and clockwork like emotional overreactions.........we've all reached the finish line!

 

The 2021 Indianapolis Colts season is set to begin! 

 

First of all, let's start at the top. Jim Irsay remedied his "lack of success" hire of Ryan Grigson, with the selection of Chris Ballard. (cue standing ovation from me). Regardless of how his hiring of Frank is viewed, the success to me is obvious. More on that in a bit. Ballard has been available, forthcoming, and upfront about his process and his beliefs. He has first....changed the way we as fans get to follow the team. Their PR and media is not only outstanding in it's content and availability, but it gives us a REAL view of just how they are operating and building their success. If I could have been asked prior to his hire......what I would want to see as a fan......well, he has succeeded that. I have no doubt that other teams are watching how the Colts are connecting with their fan base.

 

This preseason, has been like no other. Prior to this current braintrust, preseason was a close lipped, keep a lid on it, show nothing, get the starters a few reps and get no injuries...affair.

Wow. What a change. We have been invited in via media to watch the team building, the position battles, and the competition close up. You can still use your "preseason is boring" memes, or your "none of this matters till the regular season" comments, but it now rings hollow. It does matter. In the past, the conversations mainly followed the "who can we get during cutdowns" before the season starts. Now it's......who are we not going to be able to protect? How * cool is that?

 

What was the fans general consensus about team needs after last season? Pass rush was the top, with different groups wanting improvements at WR. CB, TE....and of course, the retirement of the Italian Stallion brought that need to the forefront. Don't get your Jockey's in a bunch if I didn't mention what you thought we should address.....I'm doing this from memory. As we all should know, not everything can be fixed in one offseason. With the way the draft fell, Ballard doubled down on pass rush, and the early projections look really good. He said he felt the WR group they had would develop into what the team needs, and appears very promising upfront. The addition of Mike S. is yet another straw in Ballard's Scout Team Assembly hat. That kid looks to be a man child. 

 

Getting back to Frank....I love the way he leads his guys. I like his staunch belief in people, his gritty desire to "go for the win", and his support that doesn't waiver. Hard to say where the Colts would be if someone had not backed out of the job he then acquired. I can say however, that Frank is the better man....end of story. Before Frank hangs it up, I see his best days are yet to be written as a coach, and I think that is an understatement. 

 

The Colts draft special people, with special skills. They stand out. They proudly stand for the team. You now how "The Patriot Way", has been a thing for sometime now? Well, we are watching the emergence of, "The Colt Way". 

[throwing BBZ]

 

 "And that's the way it is" August 28, 2021

 

 I'm a faithful follower of, and believer in, "The Colts Way".   

[Four2itus]

6 hours ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 "And that's the way it is" August 28, 2021

 

 I'm a faithful follower of, and believer in, "The Colts Way".   

Seems appropriate for that currently used term......"Colture". 

[EastStreet]

 

For football being back, Ballard (in general), having a new QB, potentially an improved pass rush, potentially a deeper/better WR group, a great 1-2-3 punch at RB, and Reich (as just a great guys)...... I be like

 

 

 

For our pass D in general, LB new look, OL injury situation, and game planning / play calling, I'm a bit more reserved.....

 

 

 

 

 

[throwing BBZ]

5 hours ago, EastStreet said:

 

For football being back, Ballard (in general), having a new QB, potentially an improved pass rush, potentially a deeper/better WR group, a great 1-2-3 punch at RB, and Reich (as just a great guys)...... I be like

 

 

 

For our pass D in general, LB new look, OL injury situation, and game planning / play calling, I'm a bit more reserved.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

   I see our pass D as better because of experience and improved pass rush.

   We will be better at LB with Oke getting many more snaps. The 3rd LB and depth does concern me, quite a bit.

  Kelly's elbow and Q's foot should be ok so that ends my o-line injury concern. 

  We can't escape injuries during the season. It's the luck of the draw.

Hopefully we are fortunate that way, and we seem to be about as deep as anyone.

 Frank mixes conservative with aggression. One thing he sticks to is running the da*n ball. Even when it isn't so successful by numbers. But he knows it wears a D down, helps keep the pass rush honest, and controls the clock.

 Now he has a Great back, with a better #2 than Hines, though Hines has improved as a runner. He has a yes young but very athletic with big size receiving corp, His QB, with some movement skills, that has the tools to throw the ball well anywhere in the field of play. 

 It will be an exciting year for Frank to grow as an offensive play caller.

The PLAYERS just have to execute. 

   

[EastStreet]

Overall, there are some things I saw in preseason that give me reason to be optimistic about certain things, but some things not really. I like to stay away from blatant projection that things will get better. Reality is, we played 3 mediocre teams in preseason, and saw very little of their starters.

 

21 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

   I see our pass D as better because of experience and improved pass rush.

I liked what I saw from Paye, and the DL, but I also know a lot of the pressures were against depth guys trying to make the roster. I believe Paye and Turay will be good, but there's a lot of projection with the rest. 

 

As far as the secondary goes, we only saw 7 attempts by any starting QB (Cousins). He went 5-7 for 71%. 

 

Overall, our pass D last year was 20th in PassYPG, #20 in completion % allowed, and #27 in allowed passing 1st down %. 17th in passer rating allowed. Those are simply not good numbers.

 

Now if our pass rush improves, that will help, but I don't have an improved confidence in our secondary in general right now. Hoping RYS figures it out, Carrie can handle CB2 duties if RYS can't, and Blackmon improves his coverage is great, but it's all hope.

Quote

   We will be better at LB with Oke getting many more snaps. The 3rd LB and depth does concern me, quite a bit.

I'm less concerned with SAM (Zaire), than I am with Oke's run D. He struggles in that area, and those are the snaps he's now taking over.

Quote

  Kelly's elbow and Q's foot should be ok so that ends my o-line injury concern. 

That's the hope, but we're also without Fisher for who knows how long. Injuries to the center and entire left side just isn't good. Especially when you have the Rams in week 2... 

Quote

  We can't escape injuries during the season. It's the luck of the draw.

The season hasn't started though. We're handicapped on the OL before we start lol.

Quote

Hopefully we are fortunate that way, and we seem to be about as deep as anyone.

We're deep in certain areas, very shallow in others. OL is shallow. LB is shallow. DB is debatable. WR and RB are really the only deep areas IMO.

Quote

 Frank mixes conservative with aggression. One thing he sticks to is running the da*n ball. Even when it isn't so successful by numbers. But he knows it wears a D down, helps keep the pass rush honest, and controls the clock.

 Now he has a Great back, with a better #2 than Hines, though Hines has improved as a runner. He has a yes young but very athletic with big size receiving corp, His QB, with some movement skills, that has the tools to throw the ball well anywhere in the field of play. 

 It will be an exciting year for Frank to grow as an offensive play caller.

The PLAYERS just have to execute. 

   

My issues with Frank are more around game planning and adjustments. We can't afford bone headed game plans like the Miami and Jax games. Tossing it all over the yard vs horrible run Ds are just mind bending to me. Until I see a clean year of game planning, my concerns will be the same. I'm not really expecting perfection, just asking we not do the opposite of what we should.

[EastStreet]

One positive thing, we no longer have to worry about making Minshew look like a surgeon now that he's be traded to the Eagles.

 

I don't think the Eagles have named Hurts the starter yet, and trading for Minshew will stir the pot. I'm sure Hurts will be the starter, but even Flaco has been hanging around and looking decent. Sirianni will earn every penny this year lol... 

 

Also, CBS reported the Dolphins were going hard after Watson. Might we see Tua in Houston, and Watson in Miami?

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

10 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

One positive thing, we no longer have to worry about making Minshew look like a surgeon now that he's be traded to the Eagles.

 

I don't think the Eagles have named Hurts the starter yet, and trading for Minshew will stir the pot. I'm sure Hurts will be the starter, but even Flaco has been hanging around and looking decent. Sirianni will earn every penny this year lol... 

 

Also, CBS reported the Dolphins were going hard after Watson. Might we see Tua in Houston, and Watson in Miami?

That entire thing if true with Miami is just weird.  Anyone that trades fir him without all these cases being resolved I think id ridiculous. Then add on top of that giving up on a young QB you just drafted. I don’t think that is a good way to build team culture. I mean Watson with that defense would make them a really good team but it just isn’t worth the risk.

[The Fish]

9 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

One positive thing, we no longer have to worry about making Minshew look like a surgeon now that he's be traded to the Eagles.

 

I don't think the Eagles have named Hurts the starter yet, and trading for Minshew will stir the pot. I'm sure Hurts will be the starter, but even Flaco has been hanging around and looking decent. Sirianni will earn every penny this year lol... 

 

Also, CBS reported the Dolphins were going hard after Watson. Might we see Tua in Houston, and Watson in Miami?

Apparently any Joe can will the Jags to a win over the Colts in the regular season. Very strange, actually. It's odd that teams structure, when they're chasing an division rival can stick for a long time. The Jags are built to beat one team in the NFL and it's the Colts.

[EastStreet]

9 minutes ago, Wentzszn said:

That entire thing if true with Miami is just weird.  Anyone that trades fir him without all these cases being resolved I think id ridiculous. Then add on top of that giving up on a young QB you just drafted. I don’t think that is a good way to build team culture. I mean Watson with that defense would make them a really good team but it just isn’t worth the risk.

I'm sure the picks would likely be conditional, or at least partially conditional. 

If they swapped players, not conditional of course.

 

Reality is, there's not likely to be any criminal charges. It'll likely remain civil, and get settled out of court. Just a big media stink. It'll be 100% he said she said. We all know what Watson was doing, and we all know the other side of the equation is likely not as naïve as they claim to be. 

 

Watson wants out, and Houston would be smart to unload him and get what they can. And regarding Tua, I've never really though he'd translate well to the NFL. And Miami players want to win, and Watson would help them do that. They'd forget about Tua quickly. I'm not a fan of Watson as a person, but he can play.

[EastStreet]

13 minutes ago, The Fish said:

Apparently any Joe can will the Jags to a win over the Colts in the regular season. Very strange, actually. It's odd that teams structure, when they're chasing an division rival can stick for a long time. The Jags are built to beat one team in the NFL and it's the Colts.

 

We beat ourselves vs the Jags. 

 

But they are improving fast. And a new QB and a new coach can do wonders.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

8 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

I'm sure the picks would likely be conditional, or at least partially conditional. 

If they swapped players, not conditional of course.

 

Reality is, there's not likely to be any criminal charges. It'll likely remain civil, and get settled out of court. Just a big media stink. It'll be 100% he said she said. We all know what Watson was doing, and we all know the other side of the equation is likely not as naïve as they claim to be. 

 

Watson wants out, and Houston would be smart to unload him and get what they can. And regarding Tua, I've never really though he'd translate well to the NFL. And Miami players want to win, and Watson would help them do that. They'd forget about Tua quickly. I'm not a fan of Watson as a person, but he can play.

From what I saw on Twitter there could be protections in the picks if he is suspended. I mean let’s say you trade for him and give TUA to Houston. Then he is suspended six games and they have no QB.

[EastStreet]

43 minutes ago, Wentzszn said:

From what I saw on Twitter there could be protections in the picks if he is suspended. I mean let’s say you trade for him and give TUA to Houston. Then he is suspended six games and they have no QB.

protections = conditions (like I said).

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

4 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

protections = conditions (like I said).

Your still screwing your team if he is suspended and you trade TUA.

[NorthernColt]

I agree on Frank. I have been critical of him at times with his play calling decisions the past two years, and got heated in the moment. But that will happen with any coach. After you cool down and compare to around the league, I'm really glad we have Frank as our coach. Players love him, qb whisperer and a good dude.