Zak Keefer says locker room not good

[cdgacoltsfan]

1 hour ago, shakedownstreet said:

 

Boy I miss him....solid left tackle. I hear he works for Vandilay Industries now.

[John Waylon]

9 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

I would imagine if it were covid related the oxygen levels in his blood would be low.    

Not necessarily. I had a guy that was 27 years old who worked on my press who couldn’t handle the heavy lifting parts of the job anymore after his Covid infection. I had to stop and help him move heavy stuff all the time because he just was not the same anymore where a year ago that wasn’t the case. He couldn’t even get tubs of scrap rolling without help and they’re on wheels. The 65 year old little janitor lady can move them, but this kid can’t. Same with my brother. He lifted regularly before his infection, now he’s bad off enough he hasn’t lifted at all in months and he’s openly admitted that he tried and couldn’t. 

[DougDew]

9 hours ago, hoosierhawk said:

So Ballard determines who starts and who sets each week. I learned the last few days that Brady designed the offense and some mentioned he even scripted the first 15 plays of the game. Frank should not have to motivate the players as they are adults and making a living is all the motivation they need. Good lord, Franks got a cushy job with great pay and no responsibilities.

When the mob beats up Frank, my point for months has been to point out  that he as had to fight against some pretty strong headwinds created by upper management, including Irsay.  Yes, Reich could do better and maybe he isn't good enough, but how do you know the next guy would get better results if those headwinds keep blowing?

 

I think people are still assuming what Brady did, so I would not take anything said as fact.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, EastStreet said:

Rivers had a great OL.. and had 24/11 ratio.. vs 27/7.

But I do like Rivers... 

You love stats so here is the lay out:

 

Rivers 4169 yards, 24 TD's/11 INT's, 55 QBR, 68% completion. 11-5 made the playoffs.

 

Wentz 3590 yards, 27 TD's/7 INT's, 54.7 QBR, 62.4% completion. 9-8 missed the playoffs. 

 

It is really not a debate, Rivers was better and threw for 600 more yards than Wentz did in a 16 game season. Rivers at one time was completing 70% of his passes.

 

 

[EastStreet]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

You love stats so here is the lay out:

 

Rivers 4169 yards, 24 TD's/11 INT's, 55 QBR, 68% completion. 11-5 made the playoffs.

 

Wentz 3590 yards, 27 TD's/7 INT's, 54.7 QBR, 62.4% completion. 9-8 missed the playoffs. 

 

It is really not a debate, Rivers was better and threw for 600 more yards than Wentz did in a 16 game season. Rivers at one time was completing 70% of his passes.

 

 

Nah... 

OL was graded top 10 in 2020 (Rivers). Only had to scramble ONCE the whole year.. 

The pass pro was 30th in 2021.... 26% pressure rate... and 26 scrambles...

 

You don't see a difference lol?

 

Same QBR, and better TD/INT ratio... and much worse OL... 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

20 minutes ago, DougDew said:

When the mob beats up Frank, my point for months has been to point out  that he as had to fight against some pretty strong headwinds created by upper management, including Irsay.  Yes, Reich could do better and maybe he isn't good enough, but how do you know the next guy would get better results if those headwinds keep blowing?

 

I think people are still assuming what Brady did, so I would not take anything said as fact.

What’s funny to me is screaming Reich needs to go then turning around saying how bad Ballard is. Reich only coaches what is given. He may be great or might not but nobody can tell me he has had a full compliment of players to show his full potential.

[DougDew]

13 minutes ago, TaylorTheStudMuffin said:

What’s funny to me is screaming Reich needs to go then turning around saying how bad Ballard is. Reich only coaches what is given. He may be great or might not but nobody can tell me he has had a full compliment of players to show his full potential.

He's had mid round picks and UDFAs in the impactful ball handling positions, and he's essentially being judged on his inability to make the offense look like its equipped with better talent. 

 

Its not like he has had a bunch of guys projected to be studs in the NFL, and has failed to develop them.

 

Its funny to read the game day threads, as If he would have just called different plays, the results would have been better.

 

"He's not using the ball handlers up to their full 4th round and lower potential!"  lol.

[ADnum1]

35 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

You love stats so here is the lay out:

 

Rivers 4169 yards, 24 TD's/11 INT's, 55 QBR, 68% completion. 11-5 made the playoffs.

 

Wentz 3590 yards, 27 TD's/7 INT's, 54.7 QBR, 62.4% completion. 9-8 missed the playoffs. 

 

It is really not a debate, Rivers was better and threw for 600 more yards than Wentz did in a 16 game season. Rivers at one time was completing 70% of his passes.

 

 

Rivers is gone...

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

Just now, PRnum1 said:

Rivers is gone...

 

So is Luck and what we did to Matt = 

[2006Coltsbestever]

14 minutes ago, PRnum1 said:

Rivers is gone...

 

Because Matt's time got cut short, I have Wentz 2nd since Luck retired:

 

1. Rivers

 

2. Wentz - over Matt, only reason is he had a full season and did put up respectable numbers. Matt is actually better IMO but we didn't give him a chance so we will never know, but being non-biased, Wentz gets the nod because of numbers. He was not better than Rivers though in his time here. 

 

3. Matt is 3rd, because he had us at .500 and was 3rd in passing yards when the FO

decided to cut it short.

 

4. JB - excellent backup, and he was 7-7 in games where he started and finished but he just isn't a true starter. Maybe Sam will be?

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

21 minutes ago, DougDew said:

He's had mid round picks and UDFAs in the impactful ball handling positions, and he's essentially being judged on his inability to make the offense look like its equipped with better talent. 

 

Its not like he has had a bunch of guys projected to be studs in the NFL, and has failed to develop them.

 

Its funny to read the game day threads, as If he would have just called different plays, the results would have been better.

 

"He's not using the ball handlers up to their full 4th round and lower potential!"  lol.

I do think the offensive skill position are finally getting where they need to be but until they fix the oline and get a QB it won’t matter.

[Defjamz26]

45 minutes ago, DougDew said:

And we pretty clearly know that the directive came from Irsay, because Reich was saying Matt was the QB....until suddenly he wasn't.  Combined with the rumor and logic that it was done to save money...cap space next year maybe...and that invites every player to look at their contract to see what kind of guaranteed money they have...or not. (not that they don't already know). 

 

Is it a surprise that Hines wanted to be traded?  His contract is not guaranteed for next year, IIRC.  So he wants to go to a more passing based offense with a better QB situation to use his abilities more often,  Instead of being stuck with an offense that is struggling because of Ballard's oline decisions.

 

And somehow, Frank is supposed to fight through those head winds created by the Executive and maintain a proper locker room.

Yeah the locker room issue will fall on Frank, when really Ballard/Irsay is the person responsible. It’s his O-line that for two seasons now has been subpar. It’s Irsay and Ballard who keep having these knee jerk reactions and forcing guys in and out the building (Wentz out and Ryan In/Out). 

[ADnum1]

16 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Once our coach/FO said Matt Ryan was benched for the season that was really disturbing and if I was in that locker room, I would be like WTH. That ruined my season because it made no sense. Irsay saying we were all in was a pile of crap! and then give up on a Hall of Fame QB after 7 games. That is actually embarrassing IMO at being 3-3-1. I understand him not playing this past week, he is injured. It is the "rest of the season" thing that is ridiculous. I don't want to hear it is about the money, NONSENSE! If a team is all in, you don't give up on your starting QB who had 3 come from behind wins and was 3rd in passing yards. Total NONSENSE. One minute, Franks says Matt is our QB, next day - benched for the season. I will never believe another word our FO or coach says. Sunday's loss was so embarrassing, that I almost quit posting - lost to the Skins at home . I have been disappointed over the last 3 days so stayed away from here. Haven't even read the posts, no need too, I already know what has been said.

 

You don't tell fans you are all in, then bench Matt and trade Hines. 

Sometimes when I read posts on this board, I get the feeling that Colts fans live in a bubble and only follow the Colts.

 

The fact is we were 3-3-1 and in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

If you look around the league, play in the league has been down over all.  In the AFC there is 2 good teams, the Bills and Chiefs.  Everyone else is in the mix competing for a playoff spot and as bad as things had gone, the Colts were right in the mix.

 

If you look at the NFC you probably only have the Vikings and Philly.  Other than that a bunch of mediocre teams.

 

Matt was playing poorly because of the bad oline.  It was cause and effect not correlation.  It was Ballard that staffed the team with poor players and bad contracts and Frank couldn't fix it no matter how hard he tried to move the pieces around.

 

So yes, Matt was made a scapegoat just like Marcus Brady.  Soon Frank is going to run out of people to bench and fire.

 

And the comment that "Matt was benched because he was undermining the Colts chance for making the playoffs" is a strange reason indeed.  Again we were in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

So we're increasing our chances of making the playoffs by putting in a 6th round backup who's ceiling is a career backup ?  This is going to improve our chances ??? Really ?

 

The league across the board is bad.  Ryan was bad ??  How about Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson or Derek Carr.  All have been horrid.  I won't even mention Wentz who's been a disaster in WA.

 

The truth is the leagues unending drive for parity has succeeded.  All teams are now equally as bad with just a few at the top.  If you follow other teams you'll see what I say is true.

 

But lets blame Matt Ryan and throw him under the bus.  I'm sure that will fix everything.

 

We were right in the mix for the playoffs and there was no need to hit the panic button.

[Myles]

2 hours ago, DougDew said:

The poster you are berating/bullying because they disagree with you, this time, is a new poster.  I don't know how old he is or what his status in life is.  Not that he needs me to act as his big brother.  Just an FYI.

 

 

 

 

 

To be fair, the "new poster" started the bickering in this thread.   I hope he stay s and cools down enough to realize 2 different opinions do not = one being right and one being wrong.  

 

I put the majority of this teams failures on Reich.  He does not scheme well, or if the OC was in charge of that, Reich did not make him change.  Reich calls the plays and fails at it quite often.  Reich has this team playing like they didn't know there was a game today too often.  I think Hines could have been a "Sproles" if Reich knew how to do his job well.   I'm afraid we will see Hines grow in Buffalo.  

2 hours ago, DougDew said:

The poster you are berating/bullying because they disagree with you, this time, is a new poster.  I don't know how old he is or what his status in life is.  Not that he needs me to act as his big brother.  Just an FYI.

 

 

 

 

 

To be fair, the "new poster" started the bickering in this thread.   I hope he stay s and cools down enough to realize 2 different opinions do not = one being right and one being wrong.  

 

I put the majority of this teams failures on Reich.  He does not scheme well, or if the OC was in charge of that, Reich did not make him change.  Reich calls the plays and fails at it quite often.  Reich has this team playing like they didn't know there was a game today too often.  I think Hines could have been a "Sproles" if Reich knew how to do his job well.   I'm afraid we will see Hines grow in Buffalo.  

[2006Coltsbestever]

Give me 2020 Rivers over 2021 Wentz all day. Rivers is right around a top 20 QB ever as well IMO. Matt is in my top 25 ever but our FO basically took you know what on him. It is too bad Luck will never be in the convo of the greats as in top 25ish because he retired early. He still would make my top 50 based on numbers, wins, win shares, and carrying a team.

[2006Coltsbestever]

4 minutes ago, PRnum1 said:

Sometimes when I read posts on this board, I get the feeling that Colts fans live in a bubble and only follow the Colts.

 

The fact is we were 3-3-1 and in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

If you look around the league, play in the league has been down over all.  In the AFC there is 2 good teams, the Bills and Chiefs.  Everyone else is in the mix competing for a playoff spot and as bad as things had gone, the Colts were right in the mix.

 

If you look at the NFC you probably only have the Vikings and Philly.  Other than that a bunch of mediocre teams.

 

Matt was playing poorly because of the bad oline.  It was cause and effect not correlation.  It was Ballard that staffed the team with poor players and bad contracts and Frank couldn't fix it no matter how hard he tried to move the pieces around.

 

So yes, Matt was made a scapegoat just like Marcus Brady.  Soon Frank is going to run out of people to bench and fire.

 

And the comment that "Matt was benched because he was undermining the Colts chance for making the playoffs" is a strange reason indeed.  Again we were in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

So we're increasing our chances of making the playoffs by putting in a 6th round backup who's ceiling is a career backup ?  This is going to improve our chances ??? Really ?

 

The league across the board is bad.  Ryan was bad ??  How about Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson or Derek Carr.  All have been horrid.  I won't even mention Wentz who's been a disaster in WA.

 

The truth is the leagues unending drive for parity has succeeded.  All teams are now equally as bad with just a few at the top.  If you follow other teams you'll see what I say is true.

 

But lets blame Matt Ryan and throw him under the bus.  I'm sure that will fix everything.

 

We were right in the mix for the playoffs and there was no need to hit the panic button.

Great post. 

[DougDew]

21 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:

It’s Irsay and Ballard who keep having these knee jerk reactions and forcing guys in and out the building (Wentz out and Ryan In/Out). 

Great point.   And forcing themselves into short term/knee jerk decisions by not planning for Rivers' or ACs' retirement. 

[EastStreet]

17 minutes ago, PRnum1 said:

Sometimes when I read posts on this board, I get the feeling that Colts fans live in a bubble and only follow the Colts.

 

The fact is we were 3-3-1 and in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

If you look around the league, play in the league has been down over all.  In the AFC there is 2 good teams, the Bills and Chiefs.  Everyone else is in the mix competing for a playoff spot and as bad as things had gone, the Colts were right in the mix.

 

If you look at the NFC you probably only have the Vikings and Philly.  Other than that a bunch of mediocre teams.

 

Matt was playing poorly because of the bad oline.  It was cause and effect not correlation.  It was Ballard that staffed the team with poor players and bad contracts and Frank couldn't fix it no matter how hard he tried to move the pieces around.

 

So yes, Matt was made a scapegoat just like Marcus Brady.  Soon Frank is going to run out of people to bench and fire.

 

And the comment that "Matt was benched because he was undermining the Colts chance for making the playoffs" is a strange reason indeed.  Again we were in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

So we're increasing our chances of making the playoffs by putting in a 6th round backup who's ceiling is a career backup ?  This is going to improve our chances ??? Really ?

 

The league across the board is bad.  Ryan was bad ??  How about Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson or Derek Carr.  All have been horrid.  I won't even mention Wentz who's been a disaster in WA.

 

The truth is the leagues unending drive for parity has succeeded.  All teams are now equally as bad with just a few at the top.  If you follow other teams you'll see what I say is true.

 

But lets blame Matt Ryan and throw him under the bus.  I'm sure that will fix everything.

 

We were right in the mix for the playoffs and there was no need to hit the panic button.

 

It is a truly strange year... Especially in the NFC. 

But the AFC... top 4 teams in playoff standings... Bills, TN, KC, and Balt... with all 5 or more Ws. Kinda same (from previous years...)

 

But agree Ryan was scapegoated. And several players agree (especially Ryan Kelly)... 

 

I find it funny AF that WA is 4-4, and is tied for the last NFC playoff spot, and over TB, LAR, AZ, and GB... 

[Myles]

2 hours ago, DougDew said:

The poster you are berating/bullying because they disagree with you, this time, is a new poster.  I don't know how old he is or what his status in life is.  Not that he needs me to act as his big brother.  Just an FYI.

 

 

 

 

 

To be fair, the "new poster" started the bickering in this thread.   I hope he stay s and cools down enough to realize 2 different opinions do not = one being right and one being wrong.  

 

I put the majority of this teams failures on Reich.  He does not scheme well, or if the OC was in charge of that, Reich did not make him change.  Reich calls the plays and fails at it quite often.  Reich has this team playing like they didn't know there was a game today too often.  I think Hines could have been a "Sproles" if Reich knew how to do his job well.   I'm afraid we will see Hines grow in Buffalo.  

[Myles]

.

[DougDew]

33 minutes ago, Myles said:

To be fair, the "new poster" started the bickering in this thread.   I hope he stay s and cools down enough to realize 2 different opinions do not = one being right and one being wrong.  

 

I put the majority of this teams failures on Reich.  He does not scheme well, or if the OC was in charge of that, Reich did not make him change.  Reich calls the plays and fails at it quite often.  Reich has this team playing like they didn't know there was a game today too often.  I think Hines could have been a "Sproles" if Reich knew how to do his job well.   I'm afraid we will see Hines grow in Buffalo.  

To be fair, the "new poster" started the bickering in this thread.   I hope he stay s and cools down enough to realize 2 different opinions do not = one being right and one being wrong.  

 

I put the majority of this teams failures on Reich.  He does not scheme well, or if the OC was in charge of that, Reich did not make him change.  Reich calls the plays and fails at it quite often.  Reich has this team playing like they didn't know there was a game today too often.  I think Hines could have been a "Sproles" if Reich knew how to do his job well.   I'm afraid we will see Hines grow in Buffalo.  

That's fine.  How I read it was that he was stating his opinion rather directly and absolutely and leaving it at that, but not bothering to go into the details of explaining why other opinions are wrong....where if you do that directly and absolutely, it comes off as berating.  Just the way I read it.

 

Reich could be better.  Not sure another coach would be better given the marginal talent (as judged by draft slots and availability) he's been given and the headwinds created by his bosses.

[richard pallo]

4 hours ago, Matabix said:

Zak Keefer is a punk, sorry never met the guy. We've had a bad year but to help throw gasoline on this dumpster fire never helps. 

I don’t know Keefer or Matt Bowen , I live no where near Indy but they both strike me as reporters who are going to be looking for every piece of discontent they can find in the locker room and make it their focal point the rest of the year.  It’s a bad year for the team and they are looking for readership.  That’s how they are going to try and get it.  They don’t care about throwing gasoline.  They will be in full attack mode now.  Sad.  

[Superman]

14 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

I’d simply respond this way…..   if what you say is true,  then the decision to trade for Matt Ryan, the raving about how great he was all off-season, and now the decision to bench him FOR GOOD so we can see what we have with Sam….  All that, is one of the worst series of decisions that I can recall about the quarterback position.   Complete and total failure.    And there would be for me NO REASON to ever have trust that the duo of Reich and Ballard can finally figure out the position.   Why should anyone think they can? 
 

To be clear,  I’m in the camp that believes the number one reason the offense stinks is the O-line, not the quarterback.   But it’s easier to try and use a new QB than try to fix an entire OL on the fly.  In short, your view makes me say they’ve scape goated Ryan because it’s easier, not because it’s wiser.   I’m not trying to absolve Ryan of responsibility, he’s been a huge disappointment.  But I think much came from the atrocious play of the OL in front of him.   As Frank admitted, “we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain.”

 

This week, Reich said he still has faith in Strausser.   We’ll find out if it’s true in January when the season is over.   But I’d add this….   If Strausser isn’t to blame for the terrible OL performance, someone sure is, and the only other candidate would be….   Chris Ballard.   

 

Well, yeah. The Matt Ryan era has been a complete and total failure. And that's not entirely his fault, but I don't see a lot of reason to think that he can be good enough to play for a team that wants to contend. His performance was very bad, bench-worthy.

 

It's hard to say what the biggest reason is for the offense being bad, but Matt Ryan is the one who was turning the ball over. And it's easier to switch the QB -- especially if you have someone who's more mobile -- than it is to fix the OL, particularly during the season. We know this because they've tried a thousand different OL combinations already, and none of them were good enough. So similar to the Marcus Brady thing, yeah he's taking the fall right now, but he's not free from blame, not even close.

 

To the bolded, bingo. The QB saga is a damning piece of evidence against Ballard and Reich. It's fair to judge decision makers on the basis of the outcome of their decisions. No one is perfect, but this is a series of decisions that have left the Colts with no viable options at QB moving forward (no disrespect to Sam, but he has a lot to prove, and a short window in which to do so). The only argument they can make is that they haven't actually drafted a potential franchise QB and tried to develop him. But the counter argument is that no one forced them to go down the path they've taken, this is their own doing. It speaks to their judgment. And along the way, the rest of the offense has suffered, and even regressed. I like them both, but they've messed this up, I don't know if they should get another chance to figure it out, and I'm not convinced they're capable of getting it right.

[Superman]

12 hours ago, AustinnKaine said:

well yeah everything you're saying is fine... he didn't play well. we know that. 

 

they still benched him due to his guranteed in contract. or at least, that's a considerable portion of their reasoning, and outside of his awful turnover margin, that's the most clear aspect of it all.

 

they don't want to pay him next year. 

 

They wouldn't have benched him if he wasn't playing poorly. 

 

People are willing to pay tons of money to drive a fancy car. But if that fancy car is always in the shop, they start looking for ways to get out of their lease. The catalyst isn't the money, it's the unreliable performance.

 

So yeah, they don't want to pay him next year, but that's because his performance was bad.

[Superman]

1 hour ago, PRnum1 said:

Sometimes when I read posts on this board, I get the feeling that Colts fans live in a bubble and only follow the Colts.

 

The fact is we were 3-3-1 and in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

...

 

Second place in the AFC South? How aspirational! 

 

We're in second place in worst division in the AFC! And the reason we're in second place is because we just got swept by Titans, a team with middling QBing. Oh, and because we tied with the Texans (a team any would-be contender should be able to beat), and got shut out by the Jags, we have no reasonable path to first place in this sorry division. 

 

And speaking of getting shut out, we had the lowest scoring offense in the entire league with Matt Ryan at QB. We led the league in turnovers. We were close to the league lead in sacks. We were bottom 10 in yards/play, bottom 5 in scoring %, bottom 10 in the red zone, bottom five in points/possession... We can't score in the first half. We had 10 points in Ryan's last game. The QB leads the offense, and we were flying a dead stick.

 

Meanwhile, our defense was top ten in points/game, yards/game, scoring %, yards/drive... Our defense is not great, but that side of the ball was more than pulling its weight. And that's without forcing a bunch of turnovers or getting a lot of sacks, which means it's probably sustainable, and probably has room to improve before we face the Eagles, Cowboys, Vikings, Chargers... especially if the offense can sustain some drives and get an advantage in time of possession. 

 

The offense was holding this team back, and Matt Ryan's play was a significant part of that. The idea that this team was going anywhere is ludicrous. I don't care that they were second place in the AFC South, it's immaterial. We can't even compete with the Titans, much less the class of the AFC. Beating the Chiefs was fool's gold (only made possible by an inconsequential penalty), and I'm surprised to see so many people think that it meant something more than that we caught them on a bad day. 

 

And bigger picture, this team should have come out on fire, with absolute rage in their eyes. Haven't won an opener in seven years, haven't won in Jacksonville in eight years. The schedule opens with the terrible Texans, and then we get a chance to end the Jacksonville streak and get revenge for keeping us out of the playoffs last season. The team talked about both of these things for six months. And we wind up winless after two weeks? Against two teams that are realistically worse than us? And we get shut out by the Jags? And y'all think this team was going somewhere because we're second place in the worst division in the AFC?

 

The Colts' opening is not the result of parity, it's just bad football. And the biggest cause of it was bad QBing.

 

I don't think changing the QB is going to make us a playoff team. I think the staff hopes that this change will light a spark and get something going. And if not, it allows them to make some adjustments and evaluations over the rest of the season. But purely from a football standpoint, it was more than justified.

[TheShadow]

2 hours ago, PRnum1 said:

Sometimes when I read posts on this board, I get the feeling that Colts fans live in a bubble and only follow the Colts.

 

The fact is we were 3-3-1 and in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

If you look around the league, play in the league has been down over all.  In the AFC there is 2 good teams, the Bills and Chiefs.  Everyone else is in the mix competing for a playoff spot and as bad as things had gone, the Colts were right in the mix.

 

If you look at the NFC you probably only have the Vikings and Philly.  Other than that a bunch of mediocre teams.

 

Matt was playing poorly because of the bad oline.  It was cause and effect not correlation.  It was Ballard that staffed the team with poor players and bad contracts and Frank couldn't fix it no matter how hard he tried to move the pieces around.

 

So yes, Matt was made a scapegoat just like Marcus Brady.  Soon Frank is going to run out of people to bench and fire.

 

And the comment that "Matt was benched because he was undermining the Colts chance for making the playoffs" is a strange reason indeed.  Again we were in SECOND PLACE in the AFC South.

 

So we're increasing our chances of making the playoffs by putting in a 6th round backup who's ceiling is a career backup ?  This is going to improve our chances ??? Really ?

 

The league across the board is bad.  Ryan was bad ??  How about Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson or Derek Carr.  All have been horrid.  I won't even mention Wentz who's been a disaster in WA.

 

The truth is the leagues unending drive for parity has succeeded.  All teams are now equally as bad with just a few at the top.  If you follow other teams you'll see what I say is true.

 

But lets blame Matt Ryan and throw him under the bus.  I'm sure that will fix everything.

 

We were right in the mix for the playoffs and there was no need to hit the panic button.

Ryan had 4 comeback games, won 3, should have won 4.  Irsay has been raving about him for the first 6 games. He was hugging him to death after jacksonville win.  He could move the ball when he had some protection, which wasnt very often. 7th game was a lost. Frank said in presser that Ryan was his guy. Next day ryan is benched for the yr. Isay had to be involve in this decision.  Why would Irsay do that after 7 games?  not a good look.

[Solid84]

4 hours ago, DougDew said:

When the mob beats up Frank, my point for months has been to point out  that he as had to fight against some pretty strong headwinds created by upper management, including Irsay.  Yes, Reich could do better and maybe he isn't good enough, but how do you know the next guy would get better results if those headwinds keep blowing?

 

I think people are still assuming what Brady did, so I would not take anything said as fact.

I’m sorry but if you have a bad head coach, “the next guy could be bad too” isn’t a valid argument for keeping him. 

[AustexColt]

It is getting to the point where Frank is going to be let go at the end of this season. It cleans the slate and the new head coach will then decide about Ryan, Erlinger and the entire offensive staff. Ballard has stayed away because that has already been decided. This is a tank year and Ballard knows it. Frank is a nice guy but he has 10 more games to just play for respectability. He will be Jax new OC under Pederson. Frank will make Trevor Lawrence great again. 

[Solid84]

1 hour ago, Superman said:

 

Second place in the AFC South? How aspirational! 

 

We're in second place in worst division in the AFC! And the reason we're in second place is because we just got swept by Titans, a team with middling QBing. Oh, and because we tied with the Texans (a team any would-be contender should be able to beat), and got shut out by the Jags, we have no reasonable path to first place in this sorry division. 

 

And speaking of getting shut out, we had the lowest scoring offense in the entire league with Matt Ryan at QB. We led the league in turnovers. We were close to the league lead in sacks. We were bottom 10 in yards/play, bottom 5 in scoring %, bottom 10 in the red zone, bottom five in points/possession... We can't score in the first half. We had 10 points in Ryan's last game. The QB leads the offense, and we were flying a dead stick.

 

Meanwhile, our defense was top ten in points/game, yards/game, scoring %, yards/drive... Our defense is not great, but that side of the ball was more than pulling its weight. And that's without forcing a bunch of turnovers or getting a lot of sacks, which means it's probably sustainable, and probably has room to improve before we face the Eagles, Cowboys, Vikings, Chargers... especially if the offense can sustain some drives and get an advantage in time of possession. 

 

The offense was holding this team back, and Matt Ryan's play was a significant part of that. The idea that this team was going anywhere is ludicrous. I don't care that they were second place in the AFC South, it's immaterial. We can't even compete with the Titans, much less the class of the AFC. Beating the Chiefs was fool's gold (only made possible by an inconsequential penalty), and I'm surprised to see so many people think that it meant something more than that we caught them on a bad day. 

 

And bigger picture, this team should have come out on fire, with absolute rage in their eyes. Haven't won an opener in seven years, haven't won in Jacksonville in eight years. The schedule opens with the terrible Texans, and then we get a chance to end the Jacksonville streak and get revenge for keeping us out of the playoffs last season. The team talked about both of these things for six months. And we wind up winless after two weeks? Against two teams that are realistically worse than us? And we get shut out by the Jags? And y'all think this team was going somewhere because we're second place in the worst division in the AFC?

 

The Colts' opening is not the result of parity, it's just bad football. And the biggest cause of it was bad QBing.

 

I don't think changing the QB is going to make us a playoff team. I think the staff hopes that this change will light a spark and get something going. And if not, it allows them to make some adjustments and evaluations over the rest of the season. But purely from a football standpoint, it was more than justified.

This. Some fans have shades so blue they can’t see what’s right in front of them. 

[DougDew]

43 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

I’m sorry but if you have a bad head coach, “the next guy could be bad too” isn’t a valid argument for keeping him. 

I was thinking that the next guy could be worse.  Not advocating keeping him, just saying that firing is usually the easiest move.

[jvan1973]

2 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Second place in the AFC South? How aspirational! 

 

We're in second place in worst division in the AFC! And the reason we're in second place is because we just got swept by Titans, a team with middling QBing. Oh, and because we tied with the Texans (a team any would-be contender should be able to beat), and got shut out by the Jags, we have no reasonable path to first place in this sorry division. 

 

And speaking of getting shut out, we had the lowest scoring offense in the entire league with Matt Ryan at QB. We led the league in turnovers. We were close to the league lead in sacks. We were bottom 10 in yards/play, bottom 5 in scoring %, bottom 10 in the red zone, bottom five in points/possession... We can't score in the first half. We had 10 points in Ryan's last game. The QB leads the offense, and we were flying a dead stick.

 

Meanwhile, our defense was top ten in points/game, yards/game, scoring %, yards/drive... Our defense is not great, but that side of the ball was more than pulling its weight. And that's without forcing a bunch of turnovers or getting a lot of sacks, which means it's probably sustainable, and probably has room to improve before we face the Eagles, Cowboys, Vikings, Chargers... especially if the offense can sustain some drives and get an advantage in time of possession. 

 

The offense was holding this team back, and Matt Ryan's play was a significant part of that. The idea that this team was going anywhere is ludicrous. I don't care that they were second place in the AFC South, it's immaterial. We can't even compete with the Titans, much less the class of the AFC. Beating the Chiefs was fool's gold (only made possible by an inconsequential penalty), and I'm surprised to see so many people think that it meant something more than that we caught them on a bad day. 

 

And bigger picture, this team should have come out on fire, with absolute rage in their eyes. Haven't won an opener in seven years, haven't won in Jacksonville in eight years. The schedule opens with the terrible Texans, and then we get a chance to end the Jacksonville streak and get revenge for keeping us out of the playoffs last season. The team talked about both of these things for six months. And we wind up winless after two weeks? Against two teams that are realistically worse than us? And we get shut out by the Jags? And y'all think this team was going somewhere because we're second place in the worst division in the AFC?

 

The Colts' opening is not the result of parity, it's just bad football. And the biggest cause of it was bad QBing.

 

I don't think changing the QB is going to make us a playoff team. I think the staff hopes that this change will light a spark and get something going. And if not, it allows them to make some adjustments and evaluations over the rest of the season. But purely from a football standpoint, it was more than justified.

Well, besides for the many things you mentioned,  they were pretty good.     The uniforms are cool

[cclaser]

Ryan was definitley the scapegoat.   Let's not forget that the kicker missed an easy field goal that caused one of the losses.

[crazycolt1]

Calling Ryan a scapegoat is  not really true. He was benched because of his turnovers and was replaced by a more mobile QB. Going to a more mobile QB gives the Colts a better chance to win. 

[Solid84]

21 minutes ago, cclaser said:

Ryan was definitley the scapegoat.   Let's not forget that the kicker missed an easy field goal that caused one of the losses.

He also had 4 fumbles (1 lost) and an Int that game which put us in that position to begin with. Let’s not kid ourselves here, Matt has played poorly. The Oline is definitely the main culprit this season, but QB play is up there too..

[AKB]

10 hours ago, Superman said:

 

They wouldn't have benched him if he wasn't playing poorly. 

 

People are willing to pay tons of money to drive a fancy car. But if that fancy car is always in the shop, they start looking for ways to get out of their lease. The catalyst isn't the money, it's the unreliable performance.

 

So yeah, they don't want to pay him next year, but that's because his performance was bad.

 

Right, but this is like saying water is wet.... what's the point?

 

sure his poor play brings attention to the contract... but the contract and his experience combined with the poor play throws red flags. 

 

just like you said, its a "fancy car" because of what? the price...

 

if it was a beat up toyota we wouldn't complain as much, thats to be expected with old, used cars. Imagine paying a luxury price for that old beat up toyota though... see what im saying? 

 

Yes the poor performance matters, but the price makes it 20x worse.

 

combine that with the fact they DONT want to pay him next year, the two go hand in hand.

 

If you want to split straws thats fine, but its clearly both his play AND his pay. 

[AKB]

7 hours ago, cclaser said:

Ryan was definitley the scapegoat.   Let's not forget that the kicker missed an easy field goal that caused one of the losses.

so you think Ryan should be starting?

 

 

Peyton Manning fumbled 8 times in an 18 year career.....

 

Ryan fumbled more than that in the first 6 games....

 

Are we breathing the same air here bud?

[Happy2BeHere]

11 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Well, yeah. The Matt Ryan era has been a complete and total failure. And that's not entirely his fault, but I don't see a lot of reason to think that he can be good enough to play for a team that wants to contend. His performance was very bad, bench-worthy.

 

It's hard to say what the biggest reason is for the offense being bad, but Matt Ryan is the one who was turning the ball over. And it's easier to switch the QB -- especially if you have someone who's more mobile -- than it is to fix the OL, particularly during the season. We know this because they've tried a thousand different OL combinations already, and none of them were good enough. So similar to the Marcus Brady thing, yeah he's taking the fall right now, but he's not free from blame, not even close.

 

To the bolded, bingo. The QB saga is a damning piece of evidence against Ballard and Reich. It's fair to judge decision makers on the basis of the outcome of their decisions. No one is perfect, but this is a series of decisions that have left the Colts with no viable options at QB moving forward (no disrespect to Sam, but he has a lot to prove, and a short window in which to do so). The only argument they can make is that they haven't actually drafted a potential franchise QB and tried to develop him. But the counter argument is that no one forced them to go down the path they've taken, this is their own doing. It speaks to their judgment. And along the way, the rest of the offense has suffered, and even regressed. I like them both, but they've messed this up, I don't know if they should get another chance to figure it out, and I'm not convinced they're capable of getting it right.

Irsay coming out saying we’d win two superbowls in 10 years was no help to Frank or Ballard (even though it was only publicly said a short time ago). You don’t go get a franchise QB easily and then win one…let alone two in a 10 year span that easily. So Irsay may have had influence over the QB position more than we even know…hard to say. But for sure, they certainly didn’t make any moves to secure the position long term..and that has always been the problem.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colts-owner-jim-irsay-guarantees-two-super-bowl-wins-this-decade-believe-and-you-will-see/amp/

 

[Hoose]

10 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Second place in the AFC South? How aspirational! 

 

We're in second place in worst division in the AFC! And the reason we're in second place is because we just got swept by Titans, a team with middling QBing. Oh, and because we tied with the Texans (a team any would-be contender should be able to beat), and got shut out by the Jags, we have no reasonable path to first place in this sorry division. 

 

And speaking of getting shut out, we had the lowest scoring offense in the entire league with Matt Ryan at QB. We led the league in turnovers. We were close to the league lead in sacks. We were bottom 10 in yards/play, bottom 5 in scoring %, bottom 10 in the red zone, bottom five in points/possession... We can't score in the first half. We had 10 points in Ryan's last game. The QB leads the offense, and we were flying a dead stick.

 

Meanwhile, our defense was top ten in points/game, yards/game, scoring %, yards/drive... Our defense is not great, but that side of the ball was more than pulling its weight. And that's without forcing a bunch of turnovers or getting a lot of sacks, which means it's probably sustainable, and probably has room to improve before we face the Eagles, Cowboys, Vikings, Chargers... especially if the offense can sustain some drives and get an advantage in time of possession. 

 

The offense was holding this team back, and Matt Ryan's play was a significant part of that. The idea that this team was going anywhere is ludicrous. I don't care that they were second place in the AFC South, it's immaterial. We can't even compete with the Titans, much less the class of the AFC. Beating the Chiefs was fool's gold (only made possible by an inconsequential penalty), and I'm surprised to see so many people think that it meant something more than that we caught them on a bad day. 

 

And bigger picture, this team should have come out on fire, with absolute rage in their eyes. Haven't won an opener in seven years, haven't won in Jacksonville in eight years. The schedule opens with the terrible Texans, and then we get a chance to end the Jacksonville streak and get revenge for keeping us out of the playoffs last season. The team talked about both of these things for six months. And we wind up winless after two weeks? Against two teams that are realistically worse than us? And we get shut out by the Jags? And y'all think this team was going somewhere because we're second place in the worst division in the AFC?

 

The Colts' opening is not the result of parity, it's just bad football. And the biggest cause of it was bad QBing.

 

I don't think changing the QB is going to make us a playoff team. I think the staff hopes that this change will light a spark and get something going. And if not, it allows them to make some adjustments and evaluations over the rest of the season. But purely from a football standpoint, it was more than justified.

Well said. Ryan was awful, even with the genuine excuse of a poor OL. Sam gives them a chance to see if he’s the future or not. While the odds are against him, I like the move and I like what I saw last week. There is hope. 
 

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Sometimes I am wondering if you need a mobile QB in this league because olines are so bad. Seems there is a shortage of good oline players.

[Moosejawcolt]

On 11/3/2022 at 3:29 PM, jvan1973 said:

Have you ever been in a locker room. Or any room with those mentioned above??

Yea. What's the point?