Matt Ryan benched for Sam (merge)

[RollerColt]

1 minute ago, Dingus McGirt said:

I don't know, RC.  Ryan made more than $250M from the Falcons in the last 15 years.  Add in what gets from the Colts, and he never needs to work again.

 

Yeah moneywise he and his family are set for life. I think he'll still be involved either through coaching or media. But yeah, if I were him I'd put my feet up for a few years jobwise, and travel. See the dang world and hang with the kiddos. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

12 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

- in 2 weeks, Frank: Matt is our QB again, Sam did a great job at getting us to 5-3-1  

If Sam has us at 5-3-1 then that’s even a bigger reason for them to keep Matt on the bench.

[shasta519]

15 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Nick Foles was the SB Champ, Carson was holding a clipboard. 

 

And Ryan's not a Hall of Famer . 

 

I like Pittman, but he got 2/3 wrong.

[Defjamz26]

47 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

I understand that.   Completely agree.   But to me, one is much worse than the other.  If, as Frank told Ryan,  the Colts held up their end of the bargain,  and given him a good O-line and a top running game,  I don’t think we’d be where we are today. 

Yeah I’d agree with that. If I had to pick I’d say bad O-line>Matt Ryan being bad. The one game we didn’t give up a sack, Ryan had his best game. Imagine if he had good protection against the Texans and Titans. You’re talking about a team that could be 4-2 or even 5-1. The worst unit on this team right now is the offensive line by far.

[2006Coltsbestever]

14 minutes ago, shasta519 said:

 

And Ryan's not a Hall of Famer . 

 

I like Pittman, but he got 2/3 wrong.

Matt Ryan 7th all-time passing yards - more than Marino. NFL MVP which Drew Brees has never won one, Won an NFC Title by going through Rodgers, and lets be real the SB Ryan lost was a fluke. Coaching cost them bigtime. Run the ball 3 times and kick a FG and they win the SB. His win/loss record is also 123-105-1. He is easily a Hall of Famer, I would even say 1st ballot, if not 2nd ballot without a doubt.

[colts89]

Does anyone know if the stat of how many snaps have been under center vs in the shogun on offense are recorded somewhere? I've watched a decent amount of clips this week of Sam, Ryan, and other QBs that have been in Reich's system this week, and the more and more I've seen, the more I think the move to Sam is primarily to get the run game going again.

 

Dan O makes a good point that unless a RB has a great run blocking OL (which we don't have anymore) or a mobile QB (which we didn't have with Matt), that shotgun RBs don't do to well. 

 

 

 

Wentz was still pretty mobile last year and we ran a decent amount of RPO as well from the shotgun that the opposing defenses had to at least consider Wentz keeping the ball. It might be understated that this helped create the best scenarios for Taylor to succeed since we know Wentz didn't throw a crazy amount when we were winning games. Watching Sam in college, it's obvious he has no qualms keeping the ball and gaining a few hard earned yards, so I expect to see a lot of that this year so that defenses can't just ignore the QB and go after JT all the time like they have been this year.

 

I also feel like we ran plays under center a lot more last year as well as opposed to this year due to it being easier for veterans QBs like Matt Ryan. I watched all of JT's big runs last year, and a good chunk of them were under center. I think that the thought process with Matt was that the OL was going to be able to protect him in shotgun in a similar way that they protected Rivers in order to bring in a more 'balanced' offense that Reich yaks about in press conferences. They were very wrong about the OL performance so moving to Sam will be essentially trying to bring back the schemes/run plays that worked well for them last year.

 

I think if we have success in the offense going forward this year, it's going to be because of the RPO/running ability for Sam to pick up a few yards so that opposing defenses can't literally just focus entirely on JT along with bringing back more run plays under center. But, I would like to confirm that last part by comparing the % percentage of snaps under center vs shotgun that we've had this year. I know that a lot of Reich's pass offense is typically in shotgun, but I just feel like Wentz was also under center a lot more than Matt Ryan was last year.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Really impressed with Taylor, Campbell, Pittman today talking about how they need to step up and help Sam. These young guys are such great leaders.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Colt pass catchers are working extra after practice this week with Sam.

[runthepost]

2 hours ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

Because Sam is a threat to run we should have more open receivers and more running room.

All you gotta do is have a QB spy and you cancel out the running threat

[coming on strong]

32 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Matt Ryan 7th all-time passing yards - more than Marino. NFL MVP which Drew Brees has never won one, Won an NFC Title by going through Rodgers, and lets be real the SB Ryan lost was a fluke. Coaching cost them bigtime. Run the ball 3 times and kick a FG and they win the SB. His win/loss record is also 123-105-1. He is easily a Hall of Famer, I would even say 1st ballot, if not 2nd ballot without a doubt.

All time stats don’t really mean as much now with the rule changes .  Any franchise Qb can rack up stats over time .  Matt Ryan is not in the same  league as Dan Marino . 
 

The hall of fame is watered down now you should have to have been a top 5 Qb for ten years minimum to get in . 
 

I just never saw it with Matt Ryan to me he was never top 5 in his era .I would put manning Brady Rodgers Big Ben drew Bree’s rivers all before Matt Ryan .  I would even add luck and Wilson in his prime over Matt 
 

he was a top ten guy but was more towards the back of that top ten list .  His wr core was always stacked too . 

[Chucklez]

1 hour ago, coming on strong said:

I will be all in unless he really plays bad .  If he plays bad I will be all in on drafting a Qb in the first round . 
 

it’s a win win situation either Sam shows up and is the future or we get a high draft pick . 

Or he could be average or just below average and we go 7-9-1 or 8-8-1 and we are still in QB purgatory.

 

All in saying is let it play out, I'd love to be wrong, but don't see him being our answer. 

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, Nickster said:

 

Ryan is washed and was never a good fit for what the Colts are trying to do though.  bad OLINE play is only partially responsible for his failure.  He took bad sacks, fumbles and INTS too.

 

Interestingly, Ryan is 1 yard from 3rd place in passing yards this year lol. 

Sorry….   I don’t share that view.   Not at all. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Think about how close this game came to being Wentz vs Foles.

[Nickster]

3 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Sorry….   I don’t share that view.   Not at all. 

You think he'll play anymore?

 

To me, you look at his production, he's washing out.

 

Then, by witnessing his actual play, it seems pretty obvious.

 

Maybe with a really good situation, he'd be OK, but I doubt it.  He appears to have lost it.  His record shows that he's been headed in that direction for a few seasons now. 

 

Tom Brady and Drew Brees to a lesser extent have made it look like late 30s QBs can play till there 45 effectively, but it is still exceedingly rare.  

 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

52 minutes ago, coming on strong said:

All time stats don’t really mean as much now with the rule changes .  Any franchise Qb can rack up stats over time .  Matt Ryan is not in the same  league as Dan Marino . 
 

The hall of fame is watered down now you should have to have been a top 5 Qb for ten years minimum to get in . 
 

I just never saw it with Matt Ryan to me he was never top 5 in his era .I would put manning Brady Rodgers Big Ben drew Bree’s rivers all before Matt Ryan .  I would even add luck and Wilson in his prime over Matt 
 

he was a top ten guy but was more towards the back of that top ten list .  His wr core was always stacked too . 

Never said Ryan was in the same league as Marino, to me Marino is a Top 10 QB of all-time. I just noted he passed him in yards. Ryan is still top 25 of all-time factoring in everything and in 2016 he was a top 5 QB in the league, arguably the best QB in the league, he won MVP that year and was close to winning the SB.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

If Sam has us at 5-3-1 then that’s even a bigger reason for them to keep Matt on the bench.

With our coach and FO you never know is why I posted my sarcasm.

[Solid84]

4 hours ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

Because Sam is a threat to run we should have more open receivers and more running room.

He’ll need to prove he can pass first. If he can’t they’ll keep playing shallow against us. 

[Solid84]

4 hours ago, buccolts said:

I swear. If Frank calls Hines up the middle for the first play this Sunday I'm going to start taking it personally.

 

Would be cool if they went downfield on the first play, but anything other than Hines up the middle will do.

 

AND, I wonder if Frank would entertain Taylor, and Hines in the backfield with Sam at QB, here and there.

At least the first few drives are going to be very JT heavy. 

[Dingus McGirt]

3 hours ago, runthepost said:

All you gotta do is have a QB spy and you cancel out the running threat

Yep.  Eazy-Peezy, Lemon squeazy.  /s

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Yep.  Eazy-Peezy, Lemon squeazy.  /s

It’s not that easy or Lamar wouldn’t be doing what he is.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

 

[runthepost]

44 minutes ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

It’s not that easy or Lamar wouldn’t be doing what he is.

Because Lamar has elite vision like a RB, not every QB has that

[chickenMan]

6 hours ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

Reggie will have his young guys ready.

 

 

No matter what happens to Reich/Ballard, we have to keep Reggie as WR coach. Pittman, PC, and Pierce are playing fantastic under his coaching.

[chickenMan]

6 hours ago, buccolts said:

I swear. If Frank calls Hines up the middle for the first play this Sunday I'm going to start taking it personally.

 

Would be cool if they went downfield on the first play, but anything other than Hines up the middle will do.

 

AND, I wonder if Frank would entertain Taylor, and Hines in the backfield with Sam at QB, here and there.

He should entertain that option. Both JT and Hines have shown they can be good pass catching backs, and Sam is a dual-threat QB, so an offensive scheme that featured JT, Hines, and Sam in the backfield has a lot of potential, especially for some RPO stuff

[Dingus McGirt]

1 hour ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

It’s not that easy or Lamar wouldn’t be doing what he is.

The “/s” was for sarcasm 

[Zoltan]

9 hours ago, GoColts8818 said:

 

 

That's a good quote from Hines but he needs to step up. Averaging 1.2 yards per carry is not good.

 

8 hours ago, Chucklez said:

 

You are being extremely bullish on a 6th round draft pick my friend. I want him to succeed as much as the next person and I agree a change at QB was needed, Ryan not playing particularly well, coupled with the O line playing like hot garbage meant a change HAD to be made. I just wouldn't be so all in on Ehlinger if I were you, in all likelihood, he isnt going to be the long term answer for the Colts. 

Again, I hope he is, but being completely realistic, he probably isn't.

 

I just hope for entertaining, ironically if he ends up being as good as Heinicke I would be happy.

 

7 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I have been a huge defender of Frank but if I was coach and had a Hall of Fame QB, I would let them run the offense. Whether it be Peyton, Rivers, Matt. See Frank can get away with things with a QB like JB, Wentz, and Sam because they aren't on that level. As classy as Matt is, I bet he told Frank what was up behind close doors - hence the bench for the whole year. The whole year is so funny 

 

Rivers was a borderline HOF and will get in, I wouldn't say Ryan is a Hall of Famer. 1 MVP and Super Bowl appearance but that was with Kyle Shanahan as the OC, once Shanahan left he was never as good. He really isn't the offensive intellect that Peyton and Rivers were.

 

[skerfalcon8710]

12 minutes ago, Zoltan said:

 

That's a good quote from Hines but he needs to step up. Averaging 1.2 yards per carry is not good.

 

 

I just hope for entertaining, ironically if he ends up being as good as Heinicke I would be happy.

 

 

Rivers was a borderline HOF and will get in, I wouldn't say Ryan is a Hall of Famer. 1 MVP and Super Bowl appearance but that was with Kyle Shanahan as the OC, once Shanahan left he was never as good. He really isn't the offensive intellect that Peyton and Rivers were.

 

What has rivers ever done to deserve HOF? 0 post season success.
 

Ryan had a identical season statistically in 2018 with Sark as an OC than his 2016 season. However Atlanta had a choke artist defense that choked away multiple wins in the last minute true to form. 
 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/11237/matt-ryan

[Zoltan]

One thing that is not talked about is, we now know Ryan won't be calling the protection (since we didn't know who was calling it before) most likely it will be Ryan Kelly calling them now because Ehlinger just doesn't have the experience. We will see how it goes

[EastStreet]

7 hours ago, Nickster said:

Surely, the are going to do some zone read plays.  If SamE BOI  can burn them by pulling the ball and scampering outside the tackles a couple of times, that would open up yards and yards of space for everything else.  That is our hope IMO.  Sam is going to struggle mightily in the passing game most likely with blitz after blitz like all young QBs unless he can prove he can beat it.

 

I don't expect him to prove that this week. 

 

Will be interesting. WA is a bad team, but they have some talent on the DL. Secondary is bad. 

But I'd expect them to play shallow, and mostly defend JT and a scrambling QB. 

Not sure what is more interesting/entertaining. Sam's 1st start, or Irsay's response if we lose to Snyder. 

[coming on strong]

5 hours ago, Chucklez said:

Or he could be average or just below average and we go 7-9-1 or 8-8-1 and we are still in QB purgatory.

 

All in saying is let it play out, I'd love to be wrong, but don't see him being our answer. 

then we would be in the same situation if we started matt ryan .     we were never gonna be better than 8-8-1 under matt so i see no real risk here .   worst case we end up with the same record we would of been with matt .   then we have two other scenario's each one is good . getting a top pick in the draft or sam is the future

[Zoltan]

The more I think about it, we know this QB move wasn't from Reich from his comments saying Ryan is our QB right before the switch and we know Irsay doesn't fire people until the end of the season. I think Reich is gone at the end of the season because I don't think you can force your coach to bench the QB and that not cause irreparable harm to the relationship with said coach.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 minute ago, Zoltan said:

The more I think about it, we know this QB move wasn't from Reich from his comments saying Ryan is our QB right before the switch and we know Irsay doesn't fire people until the end of the season. I think Reich is gone at the end of the season because I don't think you can force your coach to bench the QB and that not cause irreparable harm to the relationship with said coach.

According to Keefer Irsay pushed for it but Reich knew deep down Ryan wasn’t working. They gave Reich a little leeway to see if Ryan could figure it out. When it didn’t Reich also knew they had to switch. That was according to Zak Keefer in his latest story.

[EastStreet]

9 minutes ago, Zoltan said:

The more I think about it, we know this QB move wasn't from Reich from his comments saying Ryan is our QB right before the switch and we know Irsay doesn't fire people until the end of the season. I think Reich is gone at the end of the season because I don't think you can force your coach to bench the QB and that not cause irreparable harm to the relationship with said coach.

IMO, Ryan is another scapegoat. Not saying he's good. But we have other bigger issues. HC and scheme issues. OL and OL coaching issues. And the meddling isn't helping either. 

 

Overall, my biggest fear is the player morale. Players have looked frustrated and disinterested the last 2 years. It's just a mess. 

[NewColtsFan]

12 hours ago, Nickster said:

You think he'll play anymore?

 

To me, you look at his production, he's washing out.

 

Then, by witnessing his actual play, it seems pretty obvious.

 

Maybe with a really good situation, he'd be OK, but I doubt it.  He appears to have lost it.  His record shows that he's been headed in that direction for a few seasons now. 

 

Tom Brady and Drew Brees to a lesser extent have made it look like late 30s QBs can play till there 45 effectively, but it is still exceedingly rare.  

 

 

No.   I don’t think he’ll play anymore.   He’s done, because he got the stuff beat out of him.   If we had given him what we promised, a good offensive line that can both pass and run block, plus a top-5 running game,  then I think Ryan would be fine and playing. 
 

And here’s my reasoning.   Did you know Ryan had FOUR come from behind games this year?   Houston, KC, Denver and J’Ville.    A quarterback who is done, washed up, doesn’t do that in 7 games.   Ryan was very good when he had to be.  
 

And when he wasn’t good, he was either hurt, or the line in front of him was beyond terrible.   At this point, it doesn’t really matter.  No team could sell Matt Ryan to their fan base next year as they’re starting QB.   And I don’t think MR wants to be the backup.   So he’s done. 
 

But to be clear,  the Colts are sitting MR because they don’t want to risk further injury which would make an ADDITIONAL $17m become guaranteed next year.  As it is, the Colts will pay Ryan about $12+m next year.   Already guaranteed.  The Colts don’t want that to become roughly $30m. 
 

Ryan’s career ends with a whimper, and not a bang.   As ugly a chapter as the Ballard-era has seen.  

[Myles]

10 hours ago, chickenMan said:

He should entertain that option. Both JT and Hines have shown they can be good pass catching backs, and Sam is a dual-threat QB, so an offensive scheme that featured JT, Hines, and Sam in the backfield has a lot of potential, especially for some RPO stuff

Do you have faith in Reich that he will change the scheme at all?

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

4 hours ago, Myles said:

Do you have faith in Reich that he will change the scheme at all?

If you think they they are going to play the same way with a totally different QB I don’t know what to tell you.

 

 

[DougDew]

13 hours ago, Zoltan said:

The more I think about it, we know this QB move wasn't from Reich from his comments saying Ryan is our QB right before the switch and we know Irsay doesn't fire people until the end of the season. I think Reich is gone at the end of the season because I don't think you can force your coach to bench the QB and that not cause irreparable harm to the relationship with said coach.

 

13 hours ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

According to Keefer Irsay pushed for it but Reich knew deep down Ryan wasn’t working. They gave Reich a little leeway to see if Ryan could figure it out. When it didn’t Reich also knew they had to switch. That was according to Zak Keefer in his latest story

Reich isn't by himself going to bench the $35M QB that his GM and owner signed off on.  Off course he knew that it wasn't working, but that isn't a decision a HC just pops with one week.  He's not Bill Parcells or BB.

 

This was in the works when Sam was elevated to #2, IMO.  Reich was having ideas about Ryan then, as was Ballard.

 

He may still get fired though, for total production issues.  

[2006Coltsbestever]

Matt's benching was due to all 3 IMO = Irsay, Ballard, and Frank. He is injured anyway so he wasn't playing this week so it made it easier. Only problem I have is when Frank said Sam is our QB for the rest of the year. You just don't say stuff like that. A lot can happen from game 8 to 17 is why.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

57 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Matt's benching was due to all 3 IMO = Irsay, Ballard, and Frank. He is injured anyway so he wasn't playing this week so it made it easier. Only problem I have is when Frank said Sam is our QB for the rest of the year. You just don't say stuff like that. A lot can happen from game 8 to 17 is why.

I agree. Why not just say he will be out awhile. Then if Sam plays well it’s much easier to just keep rolling with him.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 hour ago, DougDew said:

 

Reich isn't by himself going to bench the $35M QB that his GM and owner signed off on.  Off course he knew that it wasn't working, but that isn't a decision a HC just pops with one week.  He's not Bill Parcells or BB.

 

This was in the works when Sam was elevated to #2, IMO.  Reich was having ideas about Ryan then, as was Ballard.

 

He may still get fired though, for total production issues.  

I know. It was clear when Sam got elevated.