It's time to face facts Colt fans

[CR91]

The golden era of colts football is long gone. We were blessed to have back to back generational QBs, countless wins and records. HOF caliber and pro bowl talent, and long playoff runs. It was fun, exciting, and made you proud that you made it through some dark seasons and finally the football gods said it's your turn. Unfortunately, our time is over and honestly it's been over since that unfaithful moment Luck got hurt. The colts need to face the fact this isn't the same team they once were and embrace that they need to rebuild. What a run it's been though.

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

13 minutes ago, CR91 said:

The golden era of colts football is long gone. We were blessed to have back to back generational QBs, countless wins and records. HOF caliber and pro bowl talent, and long playoff runs. It was fun, exciting, and made you proud that you made it through some dark seasons and finally the football gods said it's your turn. Unfortunately, our time is over and honestly it's been over since that unfaithful moment Luck got hurt. The colts need to face the fact this isn't the same team they once were an embrace that they need to rebuild. What a run it's been.

 

We will probably lose out or only win 1 or 2 games. So we should get a high draft pick. Question is, will Ballard get the right QB? Matt Ryan could have been good but our line has played like garbage and I am very disappointed in Taylor's play. I thought he would be similar to last year, not even close. Leonard is injured but still, he has been disappointing as well. Rivers and Wentz both played with solid rosters and healthy players. At this point I would roll with Sam again and hope we got a top 5 pick. I hate tanking, rarely give up, but as a fan I know the season is over now. Dallas will probably smoke us.

[Nesjan3]

Yah its been pretty grim. Honestly the golden era ended when Manning was cut. Luck was really great but the GM, HC and team put around him was nowhere near SB contention.

 

If he had stayed on and we started scratch and built around Luck we could have started a new golden era, but obviously he was sick of getting blasted every play. 

 

How much must Irsay hate the decision to cut Manning. Goes on to have all those insane seasons with the Broncos and win another. Who knows how many more we could have won if Irsay didn't drop him for Luck. Then a short while later Luck dropped us the same way. 

 

Oh well, heres to hopefully a new GM, rebuild and a fresh start. We get the right GM to come in and draft a QB maybe we get lucky. 

[CR91]

20 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

We will probably lose out or only win 1 or 2 games. So we should get a high draft pick. Question is, will Ballard get the right QB? Matt Ryan could have been good but our line has played like garbage and I am very disappointed in Taylor's play. I thought he would be similar to last year, not even close. Leonard is injured but still, he has been disappointing as well. Rivers and Wentz both played with solid rosters and healthy players. At this point I would roll with Sam again and hope we got a top 5 pick. I hate tanking, rarely give up, but as a fan I know the season is over now. Dallas will probably smoke us.

 

Only win we might get is the Texans. We're not beating the Cowboys, Vikings, Chargers, or Giants 

[2006Coltsbestever]

17 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

Yah its been pretty grim. Honestly the golden era ended when Manning was cut. Luck was really great but the GM, HC and team put around him was nowhere near SB contention.

 

If he had stayed on and we started scratch and built around Luck we could have started a new golden era, but obviously he was sick of getting blasted every play. 

 

How much must Irsay hate the decision to cut Manning. Goes on to have all those insane seasons with the Broncos and win another. Who knows how many more we could have won if Irsay didn't drop him for Luck. Then a short while later Luck dropped us the same way. 

 

Oh well, heres to hopefully a new GM, rebuild and a fresh start. We get the right GM to come in and draft a QB maybe we get lucky. 

Luck wasn't going to be ok sitting for 2 or 3 years. We actually made the right decision cutting Peyton (I love Peyton by the way). We got a QB that was NFL ready and he proved it. Problem was we got the wrong GM. He then got a big head by getting GM of the year and he made bad decisions after bad decisions for years after that. He was so lucky he had Luck, otherwise he would have been Matt Millen.

[CR91]

22 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

Yah its been pretty grim. Honestly the golden era ended when Manning was cut. Luck was really great but the GM, HC and team put around him was nowhere near SB contention.

 

If he had stayed on and we started scratch and built around Luck we could have started a new golden era, but obviously he was sick of getting blasted every play. 

 

How much must Irsay hate the decision to cut Manning. Goes on to have all those insane seasons with the Broncos and win another. Who knows how many more we could have won if Irsay didn't drop him for Luck. Then a short while later Luck dropped us the same way. 

 

Oh well, heres to hopefully a new GM, rebuild and a fresh start. We get the right GM to come in and draft a QB maybe we get lucky. 

 

Much different team. Peyton had a ton of talent in Denver. You think Peyton would have survived with the horrible oline Andrew dealt with? Not to mention Peyton was on borrowed time. One bad hit from that makeshift oline and he was done.

[Nesjan3]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Luck wasn't going to be ok sitting for 2 or 3 years. We actually made the right decision cutting Peyton (I love Peyton by the way). We got a QB that was NFL ready and he proved it. Problem was we got the wrong GM. He then got a big head by getting GM of the year and he made bad decisions after bad decisions for years after that. He was so lucky he had Luck, otherwise he would have been Matt Millen.

Nah now that we have hindsight it definitely was not the right decision. Manning went on to have some insane years and win another SB. He could have done that with us and been a Colt his whole career. Luck had an injury riddled career and retired early. We won a couple divisions and playoff games woo-dee-doo. Just because you have the #1 pick doesn't mean you have to pick a QB. We could have picked the next best player that wasn't a QB. Or trade down and stacked a ton of picks. 

[Nesjan3]

Just now, CR91 said:

 

Much different team. Peyton had a ton of talent in Denver. You think Peyton would have survived with the horrible oline Andrew dealt with?

Polian wouldn't have been fired if Peyton wasn't cut. Polian would not have let the roster reach the depths of desparity that Grigson did.

[CR91]

2 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

Polian wouldn't have been fired if Peyton wasn't cut. Polian would not have let the roster reach the depths of desparity that Grigson did.

 

Polian was fired because he wouldn't fire his son. It was inevitable.

[Nesjan3]

Just now, CR91 said:

 

Polian was fired because he wouldn't fire his son. It was inevitable.

Polian got fired because Irsay wanted a fresh start with Luck, a new GM and new HC. Yea it inevitably would have eventually happened anyways, but he wasn't going anywhere had Irsay decided to keep Manning and pass on Luck.

[CR91]

Just now, Nesjan3 said:

Polian got fired because Irsay wanted a fresh start with Luck, a new GM and new HC. Yea it inevitably would have eventually happened anyways, but he wasn't going anywhere had Irsay decided to keep Manning and pass on Luck.

 

Polian was gone regardless. Irsay did not want Chris Polian to be GM anymore and he ordered Bill to fire him. 

[Nesjan3]

Just now, CR91 said:

 

Polian was gone regardless. Irsay did not want Chris Polian to be GM anymore and he ordered Bill to fire him. 

Meh agree to disagree, one thing you are definitely right about though is the golden years are long gone lol

[2006Coltsbestever]

7 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

Nah now that we have hindsight it definitely was not the right decision. Manning went on to have some insane years and win another SB. He could have done that with us and been a Colt his whole career. Luck had an injury riddled career and retired early. We won a couple divisions and playoff games woo-dee-doo. Just because you have the #1 pick doesn't mean you have to pick a QB. We could have picked the next best player that wasn't a QB. Or trade down and stacked a ton of picks. 

We didn't have the defense Denver had, Peyton would have been good but I doubt he wins a sb with us like he did in Denver in his late years. We were in rebuild mode.

[Nesjan3]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

We didn't have the defense Denver had, Peyton would have been good but I doubt he wins a sb with us like he did in Denver in his late years. We were in rebuild mode.

I dunno about rebuild mode, we were 10-6 in 2010 and went to the SB in 09 Then Mannings injury and we went 2-14. We could have used that #1 to trade down for a boat load of picks to re-tool the team. 

[CR91]

4 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

I dunno about rebuild mode, we were 10-6 in 2010 and went to the SB in 09 Then Mannings injury and we went 2-14. We could have used that #1 to trade down for a boat load of picks to re-tool the team. 

 

Boat load of picks or not, Peyton was on borrowed time. Denver was already established. Peyton didn't have the luxury of waiting for the rookies to contribute.

[2006Coltsbestever]

7 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

I dunno about rebuild mode, we were 10-6 in 2010 and went to the SB in 09 Then Mannings injury and we went 2-14. We could have used that #1 to trade down for a boat load of picks to re-tool the team. 

We peaked in 2009. Our O.Line was done by 2011, Dallas Clark was done, freeney was done too. Because it was Peyton he still would have been good but Denver had an all-time great defense in 2015.

[Nesjan3]

3 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

Boat load of picks or not, Peyton was on borrowed time. Denver was already established. Peyton didn't have the luxury of waiting for the rookies to contribute.

How was he on borrowed time when he played 4 more seasons?? Denver was 4-12, then 8-8 the two years before he joined them how is that established. Haha you know you guys can defend Irsay and his decision all you want, it will never change my thoughts on it. Irsay screwed up majorly. He probably feels the same himself. Its late have a good night.

[CR91]

5 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

How was he on borrowed time when he played 4 more seasons?? Denver was 4-12, then 8-8 the two years before he joined them how is that established. Haha you know you guys can defend Irsay and his decision all you want, it will never change my thoughts on it. Irsay screwed up majorly. He probably feels the same himself. Its late have a good night.

 

Established in terms of talent. They already had Thomas and Decker along with Von Miller and an up and coming defense. Also it was more like two. 2014, Peyton was getting hurt. 2015, While they won the super bowl it was the defense that was pushing force. Peyton was clearly done at that point.

[cdgacoltsfan]

5 hours ago, CR91 said:

The golden era of colts football is long gone. We were blessed to have back to back generational QBs, countless wins and records. HOF caliber and pro bowl talent, and long playoff runs. It was fun, exciting, and made you proud that you made it through some dark seasons and finally the football gods said it's your turn. Unfortunately, our time is over and honestly it's been over since that unfaithful moment Luck got hurt. The colts need to face the fact this isn't the same team they once were and embrace that they need to rebuild. What a run it's been though.

 

Umm...the Colts have not won a weak AFC South division title since 2014. When Luck left us at the alter , it wasn't because of injury.

[jemack]

5 hours ago, Nesjan3 said:

Yah its been pretty grim. Honestly the golden era ended when Manning was cut. Luck was really great but the GM, HC and team put around him was nowhere near SB contention.

 

If he had stayed on and we started scratch and built around Luck we could have started a new golden era, but obviously he was sick of getting blasted every play. 

 

How much must Irsay hate the decision to cut Manning. Goes on to have all those insane seasons with the Broncos and win another. Who knows how many more we could have won if Irsay didn't drop him for Luck. Then a short while later Luck dropped us the same way. 

 

Oh well, heres to hopefully a new GM, rebuild and a fresh start. We get the right GM to come in and draft a QB maybe we get lucky. 

Only a Qb that is a slam dunk please. Colts spent the 80's grasping at Qb talent. They even new Elway wouldn't play for them BEFORE the draft.

Rebuilding the Oline during a Qb shallow draft would be more fruitful. Getting rid of Ballard would be a plus. Its time to target players of need, not picking the best player available on the board.

It will be painful, but we will get back to being a competitor again, but only with a strong foundation.

[chad72]

4 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

Established in terms of talent. They already had Thomas and Decker along with Von Miller and an up and coming defense. Also it was more like two. 2014, Peyton was getting hurt. 2015, While they won the super bowl it was the defense that was pushing force. Peyton was clearly done at that point.

The word was Peyton was going to be asked to take a pay cut in March 2016 by Elway with all those star contracts. He was already contemplating retirement and that deadline also made his decision easier.

 

[IndyEric07]

How in the world did we beat the Chiefs!?!

[Lancer1]

6 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Luck wasn't going to be ok sitting for 2 or 3 years. We actually made the right decision cutting Peyton (I love Peyton by the way). We got a QB that was NFL ready and he proved it. Problem was we got the wrong GM. He then got a big head by getting GM of the year and he made bad decisions after bad decisions for years after that. He was so lucky he had Luck, otherwise he would have been Matt Millen.

Philip Rivers hated sitting for 2 seasons behind Drew Brees, but it made him all the hungrier and he made sure he never had to ride the pine again. Had Brees not torn his labrum in the last game of the 2005 season, the Chargers would've probably moved forward with Drew and traded Philip somewhere.

[gspdx]

Yes - Luck gave us some exciting games but nothing to compare with the Manning years.  Two GMs and several head coaches (depends how you count them) later this is a mediocre team and has been for a decade.

 

The reality in the NFL these days is you need a top 10 QB to have a realistic shot at the Super Bowl.   The search will actually begin now.

[shasta519]

17 minutes ago, IndyEric07 said:

How in the world did we beat the Chiefs!?!

 

The defense played really well. But...

• KC muffed a punt at their own 4 yd line, which resulted in a Colts TD (+7)
• KC's kicker was hurt and the replacement missed a PAT and a chip shot FG (-4)
• On one drive, they didn't trust him to kick a 41 yd FG, so they ran a really bad fake FG and turned it over on downs (-3)
• With 5:00 to go, Matt Ryan is sacked, which would have made 4th and 14 at IND's 31 and the Colts would have punted. Instead, the refs throw a flag on Chris Jones for UC because he apparently said something mean to Ryan. Instead of a punt, the Colts get the ball at midfield with a new set of downs (+7)
• For some strange reason KC also doesn't use any TOs leaving them with only :18 when they got the ball back

It was a fluky win for the Colts. But they have shown they can play with PHI too.

[2006Coltsbestever]

15 minutes ago, Lancer1 said:

Philip Rivers hated sitting for 2 seasons behind Drew Brees, but it made him all the hungrier and he made sure he never had to ride the pine again. Had Brees not torn his labrum in the last game of the 2005 season, the Chargers would've probably moved forward with Drew and traded Philip somewhere.

Rivers was a fantastic QB, good here and he is a 1st ballot of Famer IMO but Luck was being compared to John Elway and Peyton was in year 14 coming off neck surgery. Not only that our team going into 2012 was nowhere near what it was in 2009.

32 minutes ago, IndyEric07 said:

How in the world did we beat the Chiefs!?!

We actually had Philly beat too but choked. Refs did not help matters either.

[CR91]

3 hours ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

Umm...the Colts have not won a weak AFC South division title since 2014. When Luck left us at the alter , it wasn't because of injury.

 

Luck retired in 2019.

[teganslaw]

One of the high points has been beating the Chiefs. Buffalo is the only other team to beat them so far. That puts Indy in  a special category. (Have to find good things in this season.) 

[CR91]

3 hours ago, chad72 said:

The word was Peyton was going to be asked to take a pay cut in March 2016 by Elway with all those star contracts. He was already contemplating retirement and that deadline also made his decision easier.

 

 

Don't see why. Peyton was clearly done after the super bowl

[2006Coltsbestever]

Last playoff game we won was with Luck in 2018. Rivers was good in 2020, other than that we haven't been a threat since 2014 with Luck. We haven't been great since 2009 with Peyton.

[Mr.Debonair]

Those who have come to that realization sooner that others have been ostracized by the gatekeepers here

[Fluke_33]

9 hours ago, Nesjan3 said:

Polian wouldn't have been fired if Peyton wasn't cut. Polian would not have let the roster reach the depths of desparity that Grigson did.

Especially with the treasure trove of draft picks he would have gotten for trading the #1 pick. 

[Blueblood23]

2 hours ago, shasta519 said:

 

The defense played really well. But...

• KC muffed a punt at their own 4 yd line, which resulted in a Colts TD (+7)
• KC's kicker was hurt and the replacement missed a PAT and a chip shot FG (-4)
• On one drive, they didn't trust him to kick a 41 yd FG, so they ran a really bad fake FG and turned it over on downs (-3)
• With 5:00 to go, Matt Ryan is sacked, which would have made 4th and 14 at IND's 31 and the Colts would have punted. Instead, the refs throw a flag on Chris Jones for UC because he apparently said something mean to Ryan. Instead of a punt, the Colts get the ball at midfield with a new set of downs (+7)
• For some strange reason KC also doesn't use any TOs leaving them with only :18 when they got the ball back

It was a fluky win for the Colts. But they have shown they can play with PHI too.

More than likely the Colts played over their heads and KC and Philly just showed up expecting to win by just being there. 

[KB]

We will be back on top some day. I'll just consider myself lucky to of experienced the great times. Until then let's just root for our team and appreciate the good times. 

[csmopar]

2 hours ago, IndyEric07 said:

How in the world did we beat the Chiefs!?!

Matt is good for 1 good to decent game out of every 4.

[csmopar]

41 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

Don't see why. Peyton was clearly done after the super bowl

Yep and many forget, he was benched for a few weeks toward the end of the regular season to get rested and healthy. He wasn’t playing great before the benching

[cdgacoltsfan]

1 hour ago, CR91 said:

 

Luck retired in 2019.

Thanks Captain Obvious. I'm simply saying the dark days are and already have been here ....for like 8 years.

[IinD]

If you grew up on a diet of Peyton and Luck this is a devastating time as a fan.

If you're an older fan (like myself) this is just the same old Colts pre Manning years... Lol

[Indyfan4life]

I think saying the golden era is gone is a bit of an exaggeration. Some fans have only been around for Peyton and Andrew. This team will rebound, rebuild and be fine.

[#12.]

As it stands, this team isn't that bad.  They need a QB and a few pieces, but they're in about every game.   With a few right moves, they could be back at it in short order.

 

Now if Irsay gets emotional and foolish and fires Ballard, hires Saturday and Ryan Diem, or whoever, as GM, then yeah, I'm afraid we could turn into the Browns or Jags for the next 10 or 15 years.