It's time to face facts Colt fans

[CR91]

1 hour ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

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

 

Not as obvious. Atleast, we knew Luck was still our QB so there was hope

[tfunky14]

11 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.

 

Bye, bye then

[braveheartcolt]

10 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

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

Polian ordering his stooge to quit on a perfect season was his downfall. I’m glad he was fired. Horrible final few years… 

[Solid84]

40 minutes ago, tfunky14 said:

Bye, bye then

[Rhodelesstraveled]

The OL is a bigger deal than the QB.  You have to have a solid LT and we also spent a lot of money on OL who have big reps and not elite play

[CR91]

1 hour ago, tfunky14 said:

Bye, bye then

 

Not sure I follow. All I said was the golden era is over and the colts need to accept the fact their in a rebuild. This whole upper cortile or whatever Irsay was trying to say is a distant memory.

[cdgacoltsfan]

2 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

Not as obvious. Atleast, we knew Luck was still our QB so there was hope

The " run" ended 8 years ago. 

[CR91]

Just now, cdgacoltsfan said:

The " run" ended 8 years ago. 

 

We know that now, but at the time Luck made things not so obvious.

[cdgacoltsfan]

2 minutes ago, CR91 said:

 

We know that now, but at the time Luck made things not so obvious.

Forget it. This is reminiscent of arguing with the wife.

[danlhart87]

Starting O next year

Colts draft QB in 2nd or 3rd round

 

QB Ryan 

RB Taylor 

WR Pittman 

WR Pierce

WR Campbell 

TE Woods

LT Skoronski or Johnson Jr 

LG Nelson

OC Kelly

RG Smith

RT Raimann 

[CR91]

8 minutes ago, danlhart87 said:

Starting O next year

Colts draft QB in 2nd or 3rd round

 

QB Ryan 

RB Taylor 

WR Pittman 

WR Pierce

WR Campbell 

TE Woods

LT Skoronski or Johnson Jr 

LG Nelson

OC Kelly

RG Smith

RT Raimann 

 

3-14

[OLD FAN MAN]

14 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

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

not sure we can beat the texans with ballards high dollar oline

[bluephantom87]

15 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

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

 

I agree with you on the MIGHT part against the LOWLY Texans who happen to have the WORST record (1 win) in the league!!! Guess what? The Colts TIED the Texans the first go round..   The Colts as of now are headed in the wrong direction and has glaring holes from some of the MOST important positions needed to be successful. Too many JAG type players and not enough "special" ones. That is ONE of the main problems plaguing this team. Ballard has built a MIRAGE in 6 years. The team is just OK enough to sell hope but not good enough to compete for anything!! I can only dream of a new gm because this first timer after six LONG seasons has a losing record to go along with his meh built roster.

[John Hammonds]

17 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.

 

You mean we're no longer in the top quartile of the top quartile????

 

[AustinnKaine]

I'd say we have actually been pretty patient with the medicore results of the last 5 years. The one exception being Phillip Rivers. I guess you don't know what you have until it is gone. With that being said, we've basically been the definition of average under Ballard. Most teams fit in that median somewhere, including us right now. Can play with anyone, and lose to anyone. 

 

The reality is that Ballard got very luck at some non preimium positions, that put us close to good. He then tried to backfill premium positions with have-beens. He had some success at that, but not enough.

 

Now we are in the same spot, with very talented players, at non premium positions; some having regressed. While still having more has-beens, and stop-gaps at other premium spots. (Ryan, Yannick, Gilly) ---> think (Rivers, Wentz, Brisket, Houston, Autry, Rhodes)

 

There is a clear pattern here. Until we change the philosophy of how we are building the team, the results will continue to be .500 seasons. 

[CR91]

10 minutes ago, John Hammonds said:

You mean we're no longer in the top quartile of the top quartile????

 

 

Irsay was definitely on something when he did that presser

[EastStreet]

 

Golden Era?..... Ended after 2014... lol...

 

 

[CR91]

4 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

 

Golden Era?..... Ended after 2014... lol...

 

 

 

Not according to Irsay. Remember upper quartile

[EastStreet]

1 minute ago, CR91 said:

 

Not according to Irsay. Remember upper quartile

10ish years of Manning, and a couple years with Luck...

kept us in the upper quartile even with the last 8 years.... 

 

Can't wait till Jim's next "hope" message... "Buy season tickets! We'll win 10 Super Bowls in 10 years"

[LJpalmbeacher2]

The Golden Era ended when the Football Gods said "you've had Peyton long enough" and irsay had to cut him. The consolation prize was 3 good seasons from Luck and a couple from Griggs. His first draft was awesome. The downfall came immediately after deflategate, as if Kraft(Brady & Belichek too) concocted a evil spell against us as revenge. Lol

 

But the writing on the wall was official the day Luck retired.. And many colt fans sensed that the 2 decades of the Dark Ages before Manning was about to.set on us once.again and it has.

The Dark days are here and the future is not looking good. 

I'm certainly not a Prophet but I, along with a few others, preached for years about Ballard, Reich, and the Colts. Now after 6 years, many of you are seeing some of it too. It's about time. Lol

 

The only slither of hope is for Irsay to pick the right QB in the Draft and  the right coaches & GM.......and trying to appease the Football.Gods.wouldn't hurt either. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

4 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

3-14

 

3 wins might be a bit optimistic with that offense. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

3 hours ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

not sure we can beat the texans with ballards high dollar oline

 

If we can't and the Texans somehow, miraculously get 2 other wins we have a shot at the #1 overall pick!!! 

[coltsfan_canada]

12 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

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.

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

 

Also JT fumbled in the last two games at critical time. So 

[coltsva]

11 hours ago, John Hammonds said:

You mean we're no longer in the top quartile of the top quartile????

 

I believe you are short a quartile.

 

"That means in the upper quartile of winners we're in the top quartile of that upper quartile." One more and we would have a quartile of quartiles.....I think.

[Nevbot]

On 11/30/2022 at 2:01 AM, Nesjan3 said:

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. 

 

 

I don't think we would have won any, if I am being honest.  We had an incredibly aged roster at that point and we were already trending down.  We didn't have the cap space to bring in any difference maker and our O-line was a mess. No way we were giving Peyton Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Julius Thomas, Stokley, Welker, Sanders to work with- not to mention a D on the other side of the ball.  That 2012 draft...the only receivers that did anything in the first 3 rounds were Alshon Jeffrey, Mo Sanu and TY Hilton.  What a God awful draft that was in general but especially for receivers. 

In hindsight, we should have resigned Peyton, traded him for a boatload of picks, and still drafted Luck. 

 

[Superman]

On 11/29/2022 at 11:24 PM, Nesjan3 said:

Polian would not have let the roster reach the depths of desparity that Grigson did.

 

Except he did exactly that. The 2011 roster was patchwork, with a bunch of inadequate replacement level players in various positions. Even the 2010 roster had really big problems, and was already breaking down.

[HOZER]

 

[RollerColt]

33 minutes ago, HOZER said:

 

God could you imagine having those two together? Seriously... If these low times ultimately lead to us having another Manning -> Harrison connection I'm all for it. Bring the pain, baby! 

[lilolemoi]

Arch isn’t available till 2026. You guys wanna suck for another two years? I wondered if this was a fetish or something haha.

[HOZER]

10 minutes ago, lilolemoi said:

Arch isn’t available till 2026. You guys wanna suck for another two years? I wondered if this was a fetish or something haha.

I’m afraid the team isn’t magically going to turn it around for a while, especially not with Ryan at QB. Probably going to get blown up soon…..Maybe the stars will align, who knows. 

[Patrick Miller]

I am in the camp that wishes we would not have cut Peyton. People say he couldn’t survive behind that o line, but I contend that he had such a quick release and decision  making that He made the o line look better than it was. He made the scrubs that polian put in front of him look good. I believe Bill Polian had the philosophy that you didn’t draft oline until later rounds or sign undrafted free agents. Heck didn’t we have players from the arena league and cfl out there at one point? lol! Peyton made them look good.

[lilolemoi]

On 11/30/2022 at 5:46 AM, IndyEric07 said:

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

 

Chris Jones’ dirty mouth and friendly refs.

[2006Coltsbestever]

11 minutes ago, lilolemoi said:

 

Chris Jones’ dirty mouth and friendly refs.

Only had we had the same REFS vs Philly when Matt got face masked. 

[Nesjan3]

21 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Except he did exactly that. The 2011 roster was patchwork, with a bunch of inadequate replacement level players in various positions. Even the 2010 roster had really big problems, and was already breaking down.

I think its a little over exaggerated how bad the roster was. we went 10-6 in 2010. You take away any teams QB in the NFL and then and replace them with Curtis Painter level QB play and anyone can lose the way we did. Had Polian stayed on with Manning we could have traded the 1st pick for a ransom and re-tooled. 

[Superman]

Just now, Nesjan3 said:

I think its a little over exaggerated how bad the roster was. we went 10-6 in 2010. You take away any teams QB in the NFL and then and replace them with Curtis Painter level QB play and anyone can lose the way we did. Had Polian stayed on with Manning we could have traded the 1st pick for a ransom and re-tooled. 

 

It's not over exaggerated. The team in 2010 wasn't good. We couldn't do anything on defense, and anything the offense did was entirely on Manning's shoulders. If he had a bad quarter, we would lose. Our leading rusher was Donald Brown, with 497 yards. The OL was dreadful, our best lineman was 35 year old Jeff Saturday. You put almost any other QB on the 2010 team and he gets sacked 40+ times; Manning was sacked 16 times, due to his own mastery. It was Manning carrying that team on his back, with Reggie as his trusty sidekick, and together they made up for substandard coaching, poor defense, poor line play, and no running game. That roster was awful.

 

Expecting Polian to rebuild at that point is unreasonable, IMO. He (and his son) were already doing a bad job for a few years. 

 

If anyone had known for sure that Manning could play at a high level for another 3-4 years, the decision might have been different. But you still had major cap money tied up in players who weren't very good anymore. We had $40m in dead money in 2012; only $16m of that was from releasing Manning. Garcon was a FA, we had no RBs, no TEs, the OL was a mess (outside of Castonzo, who was coming off a decent but not great rookie season). On defense, Mathis was a FA, Freeney was making $19m, we had no good LBs, no good corners, Bethea was still okay but overrated, especially in coverage, and interior DL was awful like it almost always was under Polian. So you're talking about a major retooling, with limited cap space, and it has be done right away otherwise you're wasting one of Manning's precious remaining years. Your margin for error is razor thin, and you don't really have time to wait for draft picks to develop. This is not a finger snap situation, and I don't think 2012 Polian would have been the right person for this job either way. 

 

On the other hand, you draft an amazing QB prospect and build around him in a sustained way, while you reset your cap standing and address your other positions of need. Grigson failed at this, for various reasons, but that was still the obvious choice. And I think that's true even after seeing Manning win an MVP and a Super Bowl in Denver. I would have loved to see Manning stay with the Colts, but it's mostly based on sentiment. Moving on was the right choice.

 

Luck retiring is the one element no one could predict. It's understandable to go back and play the what-if game, but it's pointless if we don't acknowledge all the variables along the way. 

[Fluke_33]

On 11/30/2022 at 2:49 PM, cdgacoltsfan said:

Forget it. This is reminiscent of arguing with the wife.

Because you learned it isn't worth it???  lol.  i love it!

[OLD FAN MAN]

On 11/30/2022 at 4:04 PM, danlhart87 said:

Starting O next year

Colts draft QB in 2nd or 3rd round

 

QB Ryan 

RB Taylor 

WR Pittman 

WR Pierce

WR Campbell 

TE Woods

LT Skoronski or Johnson Jr 

LG Nelson

OC Kelly

RG Smith

RT Raimann 

if ballard is here we will have a seventh rd qb and a first round right guard

[lilolemoi]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:04 PM, danlhart87 said:

Starting O next year

Colts draft QB in 2nd or 3rd round

 

QB Ryan 

RB Taylor 

WR Pittman 

WR Pierce

WR Campbell 

TE Woods

LT Skoronski or Johnson Jr 

LG Nelson

OC Kelly

RG Smith

RT Raimann 

 

I think Campbell will move on in FA if another team needs a fast gadget guy. Colts don’t. 

 

I could see trading JT or Q. RB are a dime a dozen and Q isn’t worth the money Colts pay him.

 

Kelly should be traded. You could draft a rookie to play Center, but not LT. You need a veteran in that position.

 

[crazycolt1]

17 minutes ago, lilolemoi said:

 

I think Campbell will move on in FA if another team needs a fast gadget guy. Colts don’t. 

 

I could see trading JT or Q. RB are a dime a dozen and Q isn’t worth the money Colts pay him.

 

Kelly should be traded. You could draft a rookie to play Center, but not LT. You need a veteran in that position.

 

Campbell a gadget guy? Not hardly. 

 

[masterlock]

I'd say the golden era is over AT PRESENT. But a lot can change in a relatively short time (1 or 2 years) with a little luck. Could the Colts get Levis, and could he turn out to be the next Mahomes or Allen? Maybe, maybe not. But it's not like any doors have been slammed shut at the moment.