Colts vs Raiders post game thread

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

They are really not liking what Thomas has been doing. This is crazy.

 

 

[RollerColt]

13 hours ago, Superman said:

 

It's been playing with house money all year, especially after Richardson went out. But sadly, his injury puts a big damper on this season for me. We don't know whether we really have a chance to contend in the future until we know what the QB can do, and that's on pause until next year.

 

Compare that to 2012, when we'd seen how magical Luck could be. Even though the roster still needed a lot of work, we knew we had our guy, and my optimism was through the roof. 

 

But yeah, it's hard to understand why someone can't just appreciate this season for what it is. It's almost like they don't actually want the Colts to win games...

He doesn’t. He wants us to lose every game so Ballard gets fired. But then who will the next scapegoat be? 

[RollerColt]

1 hour ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Young team experiencing a playoff regular season game is great for this team and building a Culture that starts with the Head coach setting the Pace. We knew we were pieces away and we still might be, but this ride has been so enjoyable. Prime Time, Indianapolis in the spotlight, Magic, JT, Pitt, Q, Buck, Zaire, hopefully Zach and of course Shane. 
 

I have my 15 hour drive planned out, hotel room set, game tickets for 4 rowdy fans who don’t sit on their hands. Night game so the Libations should make it as Loud and raucous as possible! 
 

 

Hell. Yes. 
 

Make it loud! Make sure Stroud has to use a silent count. This is a playoff game so it deserves the respect of a prime time playoff atmosphere from the fans. I’m planning on going as well to rile the masses up and cause as much chaos as possible while the Houston offense is on the field. 

[cdgacoltsfan]

20 hours ago, BlackTiger said:

I dont think I saw anyone at all predict 9+ wins for this team.  This was a pretty solid year no matter what happens next week

I said 10...since the beginning of the year.

[cdgacoltsfan]

20 hours ago, Smonroe said:

Did anyone legitimately predict 9 wins?  I doubt it.

 

Thank you Coach Steichen and THANK YOU schedule.

 

 

I said 10...at beginning of the year.

[throwing BBZ]

54 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

They are really not liking what Thomas has been doing. This is crazy.

 

 

 

 Thomas is highly intelligent and very fast, but is always late to the play.

Suggests having a lower FB IQ. The kind of player you have on your 27th worst defense. Not even a decent backup.

[cbear]

13 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Lewis might finally get that two year extension. He has been so pivotal to the dline depth. He is close up the top in pressures.

I just hope his agent doesn't fill his head with delusions of grandeur. I'd like him back. 

[cbear]

1 hour ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

They are really not liking what Thomas has been doing. This is crazy.

 

 

This I don't really understand. How can you fall off a cliff like that. It's not as if Cross wasn't on the team or Harrison till now. Or has his play dropped off that much in the last few weeks? Strange. 

[JediXMan]

Antonio Pierce coaches like a old school coach and not in a good way. I was surprised how many times he punted past midfield. That shows he doesn’t really trust his QB. Also it’s crazy how fickle NFL fans are so many Raiders fans were praising him after beating the Chargers and Chiefs now they want him gone after this season lol.

[cdgacoltsfan]

3 minutes ago, JediXMan said:

Antonio Pierce coaches like a old school coach and not in a good way. I was surprised how many times he punted past midfield. That shows he doesn’t really trust his QB. Also it’s crazy how fickle NFL fans are so many Raiders fans were praising him after beating the Chargers and Chiefs now they want him gone after this season lol.

Sounds familiar.

[w87r]

1 hour ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

They are really not liking what Thomas has been doing. This is crazy.

 

 

At least he covered the onside kick, that was looking rough for a brief moment.

[JediXMan]

1 minute ago, w87r said:

At least he covered the onside kick, that was looking rough for a brief moment.

Next time let’s not have EJ Speed as the first line of defense lol.

[w87r]

14 minutes ago, cbear said:

This I don't really understand. How can you fall off a cliff like that. It's not as if Cross wasn't on the team or Harrison till now. Or has his play dropped off that much in the last few weeks? Strange. 

He has been bottom 1/3  of the league grade wise most of the year, even spent a good chunk of it bottom 10 in the league 

 

 

 

PFF scores by the week:

Thomas -  43.8(72/79), 50.8(72/79), 44.5(81/85), 48.9(79/87), 47.7(77/86), 49.8(79/86), 57.2(68/84), 55.1(74/87), 54.8(76/87), 59.5(60/86), 58.4(65/88), 59.6(60/88), 58.5(68/91), 59.5(72/94), 57.7(78/97)

[cbear]

11 minutes ago, w87r said:

He has been bottom 1/3  of the league grade wise most of the year, even spent a good chunk of it bottom 10 in the league 

 

 

 

PFF scores by the week:

Thomas -  43.8(72/79), 50.8(72/79), 44.5(81/85), 48.9(79/87), 47.7(77/86), 49.8(79/86), 57.2(68/84), 55.1(74/87), 54.8(76/87), 59.5(60/86), 58.4(65/88), 59.6(60/88), 58.5(68/91), 59.5(72/94), 57.7(78/97)

I'm just wondering though why now all of a sudden as opposed to waiting all this time. They kept raving about cross and getting him more time. Thought they would have broken him in much sooner then evolved this drastic drop. 

[AKB]

Cross and Blackmon are probably the safeties going forward 

 

Thomas missed a lot of tackles in his last games, and he also consistently was not covering when Jones got beat. 

 

Yesterday we saw Jones get beat on a double move that Cross sprinted to save. Without that save we probably lose the game tbh. 

 

Also for the negative people in here it really is mind boggling. What more could you want from a team that won 4 games last year. 

 

Without being robbed we would be 10-6 right now. 

 

Minshew ain't my favorite but at least he can win some games. Maybe even Matt Ryan would've done decent under Shane. Anyways playoff football basically starts versus the Texans. 

 

I thought we would see Watson and Luck for 10-15 years. We didn't get that clearly. 

 

But the future looks bright in our division. Like some predicted here the afc south has 3 teams vying for spots in the playoffs in a loaded conference. 

 

We no longer are the worst division in football which people clowned for a decade or so. Discounting our wins. 

[w87r]

7 hours ago, cbear said:

I'm just wondering though why now all of a sudden as opposed to waiting all this time. They kept raving about cross and getting him more time. Thought they would have broken him in much sooner then evolved this drastic drop. 

Cross had slowly been getting more snaps the last few weeks. Seemed to be leading towards that direction.

 

 

I do agree it is kind of curious it happens in a week where we were short back there. Only thing I can think of is, they were about to make the change from Thomas to Cross, then unfortunately Blackmon got hurt, but they didn't want to change Cross's role, so Harrison slides back to natural position.

 

Good thing we got the multi-tool that is Ronnie Harrison, and he can play everywhere I guess. 

[w87r]

13 minutes ago, AKB said:

Cross and Blackmon are probably the safeties going forward 

IDK? I'm starting to lean towards the team potentially letting Blackmon walk. Wouldn't mind if we re-sign him though. Guess will depend on contract demands.

 

I like Blackmon, I think he is solid, but we still have Cross, Thomas, Scott(IR) under rookie deals. Then add to that, the fact that Blackmon has had a hard time staying healthy.(missed games every season because of injuries)

 

He graded out as the 36th best safety this season.

 

26 minutes ago, AKB said:

Minshew ain't my favorite but at least he can win some games. Maybe even Matt Ryan would've done decent under Shane. Anyways playoff football basically starts versus the Texans.

Yeah, I stick by statement, that "I can't wait till he isn't our starting QB anymore", while also acknowledging, that I'm glad we have him and the roller coaster has been a blast, hopefully there's still a few more peaks on this ride.

 

[MikeCurtis]

1 hour ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

I said 10...at beginning of the year.

I said max 4

 

My crystal ball is cracked

[MikeCurtis]

24 minutes ago, w87r said:

IDK? I'm starting to lean towards the team potentially letting Blackmon walk. Wouldn't mind if we re-sign him though. Guess will depend on contract demands.

 

I like Blackmon, I think he is solid, but we still have Cross, Thomas, Scott(IR) under rookie deals. Then add to that, the fact that Blackmon has had a hard time staying healthy.(missed games every season because of injuries)

 

He graded out as the 36th best safety this season.

 

Yeah, I stick by statement, that "I can't wait till he isn't our starting QB anymore", while also acknowledging, that I'm glad we have him and the roller coaster has been a blast, hopefully there's still a few more peaks on this ride.

 

I hope they go after a top safety in the draft

 

 

[husker61]

4 hours ago, Two_pound said:

I watched the 4th quarter of the chief-bengal game and on the bengals last 2 possessions the chiefs came after them with everything and registered 4 sacks, that's the way it's done.

did you see how the chiefs secondary was playing? They were covering man, but handing off receivers running deep to a safety and doubling a receiver cutting short in the same area. The announcer was saying how it was confusing the qb. I can see how it would,  you think a receiver is breaking open and a db showes up right there. That’s one of the reasons they were getting a lot of the sacks, the qb is waiting to see where the db’s will be. Would love to see the colts db’s be able to play like this, but it probably takes time and experience to do it. The colts don’t have that at this time.

[John Hammonds]

3 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

They are really not liking what Thomas has been doing. This is crazy.

 

 

His PFF score has been in the mid 50's all year.  And that's just not something you want your starters sitting it.  He was a good story before -- 7th round choice from an Ivy League school finding his way into the starting lineup.  But that was yesterday.  And in the meantime, Nick Cross has been improving and improving, giving the coaches reason to get him playing time.  There had to be a moment when it was "ok, let's let somebody else play, and see how they do".

[Moosejawcolt]

18 hours ago, Superman said:

 

This team was expected to win 6 games this year. They just got their ninth win today, and are now knocking on the door to the playoffs. 

 

Does any of this bring you any pleasure or joy? 

My wife,snow, my guzzi, my pets and I could go on. The biggest issue I have with this season is it masks Ballard's competency as a GM. I just don't think he is Superbowl type GM. The fans and Irsay will say " wow we won 9 games or so". The question I have is this. Why did everyone feel we were most likely in line for a top 5 pic in 2024?They pointed to a rookie qb and lack of talent. I think Steichen has had more to do with the wins than Ballard's drafting. Now that we have played a very easy schedule, people are on the Ballard bandwagon. I have gone on record for years now, saying Ballard will never bring a Super Bowl to Indy. Now, I think Steichen is going to have more control after this year. I believe he is going to turf Bradley and bring in a new scheme and coach I think he will gain more control of the draft and eliminate Ballard's obsession with this Seattle scheme. If we are to go to the next level it will because Steichen has gained more control eith regards to personnel moves.

[AKB]

2 hours ago, w87r said:

IDK? I'm starting to lean towards the team potentially letting Blackmon walk. Wouldn't mind if we re-sign him though. Guess will depend on contract demands.

 

I like Blackmon, I think he is solid, but we still have Cross, Thomas, Scott(IR) under rookie deals. Then add to that, the fact that Blackmon has had a hard time staying healthy.(missed games every season because of injuries)

 

He graded out as the 36th best safety this season.

 

Yeah, I stick by statement, that "I can't wait till he isn't our starting QB anymore", while also acknowledging, that I'm glad we have him and the roller coaster has been a blast, hopefully there's still a few more peaks on this ride.

 

In terms of blackmon I mainly meant when healthy this season he'd probably start opposite cross. 

 

I haven't put a lot of thought into resigning him but I don't think his replacement is already on the roster. 

 

Look how long they made cross sit. Maybe if Blackmon leaves you slide Cross over to strong safety, but then you would need to unbench Thomas, who is a smart player but also seems to be a poor tackler, and often doesn't recognize the corner getting beat in time. 

 

So we would probably need another safety in that scenario. Either way we probably need another safety, I wouldn't count on Scott either personally. 

 

I'd like Kenny and Blackmon back on 2 year deals. 

[w87r]

2 minutes ago, AKB said:

In terms of blackmon I mainly meant when healthy this season he'd probably start opposite cross. 

Let's hope we find out.

 

3 minutes ago, AKB said:

Look how long they made cross sit.

I think this is more of a Gus Bradley shortcoming. Stubbornness. Thomas has needed replaced for a couple months now.

 

8 minutes ago, AKB said:

Either way we probably need another safety,

Yeah most likely. Usually pretty easy to fill the vet role through cheap FA. 

 

9 minutes ago, AKB said:

Maybe if Blackmon leaves you slide Cross over to strong safety

Thought they brought Cross in for the SS spot in the first place? Then moved Blackmon over to SS and I guess, had Cross practicing FS more to take over for Thomas?

 

 

Wouldn't mind resigning both.

[Dingus McGirt]

17 hours ago, Goatface Killah said:

Because Moose isnt a fan. He never has been. He likes football and has chosen the Colts as the team he likes to criticize online when hes bored. Thats all. 

 

We lose our starting QB. Our best offensive player missed half the season. We were blatantly robbed of a win against Cleveland, who has been beating everyone. We have had numerous suspensions. We have a new coach. We have been playing an extremely young secondary that has been decimated by injuries all year. And oh yeah, we cut our highest paid player and a guy who was considered our team leader, mid season. And according to the haters, all of our players either suck or are extremely overrated and arent truly important. But all the losses are still legit.

 

But that Ravens game.......that was a different mostly healthy team, at home. So it doesnt count. 

 

Does this sound like a fan to you?

 

This season has been borderline magical. We should be 10-6 and playing for the division title on Sunday. Nobody thought that could happen. The schedule has been out for awhile. Still, nobody predicted this. Not even us "blind homers". 

 

I guess it only counts if you slay goliath at full strength with your hands tied behind your back. 

 

No matter what happens on Sunday, this season has been a lot of fun and a massive success. And the Colts deserve a better fan base. The building had way too many Raiders fans today, which again is a recurring problem around here. This was a huge game and the "fans" arent showing up for their team. It's frustrating. 

Both the Raiders and the Steelers have a massive national following.  Their fans will pay a  premium for tickets and will travel anywhere to see them play.  That said, I watched the game on my laptop - and thought the Colts' faithful did pretty well - as they did when the towel crowd was here.

 

BTW, I was at the Panthers game...there were a LOT of Colts' fans there.  JMO.

[Dingus McGirt]

26 minutes ago, Moosejawcolt said:

My wife,snow, my guzzi, my pets and I could go on. The biggest issue I have with this season is it masks Ballard's competency as a GM. I just don't think he is Superbowl type GM. The fans and Irsay will say " wow we won 9 games or so". The question I have is this. Why did everyone feel we were most likely in line for a top 5 pic in 2024?They pointed to a rookie qb and lack of talent. I think Steichen has had more to do with the wins than Ballard's drafting. Now that we have played a very easy schedule, people are on the Ballard bandwagon. I have gone on record for years now, saying Ballard will never bring a Super Bowl to Indy. Now, I think Steichen is going to have more control after this year. I believe he is going to turf Bradley and bring in a new scheme and coach I think he will gain more control of the draft and eliminate Ballard's obsession with this Seattle scheme. If we are to go to the next level it will because Steichen has gained more control eith regards to personnel moves.

Oh, give it just a short rest.  Please.  

[throwing BBZ]

2 minutes ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Oh, give it just a short rest.  Please.  

 

 More wisdom like this and I might take Moose off ignore.

[BProland85]

Praying for a Titans win against the Jags for multiple reasons. Really want them to have a worse draft pick as well. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

45 minutes ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 More wisdom like this and I might take Moose off ignore.

Not really, he isn't a fan of Ballard but likes Steichen. Who hired Steichen - It was Ballard. If it wasn't for Ballard, there would be no Steichen! 2ndly, he likes to say we had an easy schedule, well so did Houston and Tennessee. They played the same teams we played for the most part. The guy can't even enjoy a win or a fun season. Pathetic if you ask me and I am speaking for 90% of the forum . Nobody else will call him out, I have no problem doing it.

[Goatface Killah]

1 hour ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Both the Raiders and the Steelers have a massive national following.  Their fans will pay a  premium for tickets and will travel anywhere to see them play.  That said, I watched the game on my laptop - and thought the Colts' faithful did pretty well - as they did when the towel crowd was here.

 

BTW, I was at the Panthers game...there were a LOT of Colts' fans there.  JMO.

The crowd was louder than normal on Sunday but it still wasnt very loud. 

 

I remember I attended our first ever playoff game against Tennessee back in 99 when they had McNair and Eddie George, and was just appalled at how many Tennessee fans got tickets to that game. We had Manning at the time and hadnt had a home playoff game before. They not only beat us, their fans rubbed it in our faces in our own place. It was absolutely a gross feeling. So maybe its just a sore spot with me, but it makes me sick every time.

 

Anyone can get in our building any time they want, en masse. It shouldnt be that way. It feels like a neutral site a lot of times.  

 

 

[Goatface Killah]

1 hour ago, Moosejawcolt said:

My wife,snow, my guzzi, my pets and I could go on. The biggest issue I have with this season is it masks Ballard's competency as a GM. I just don't think he is Superbowl type GM. The fans and Irsay will say " wow we won 9 games or so". The question I have is this. Why did everyone feel we were most likely in line for a top 5 pic in 2024?They pointed to a rookie qb and lack of talent. I think Steichen has had more to do with the wins than Ballard's drafting. Now that we have played a very easy schedule, people are on the Ballard bandwagon. I have gone on record for years now, saying Ballard will never bring a Super Bowl to Indy. Now, I think Steichen is going to have more control after this year. I believe he is going to turf Bradley and bring in a new scheme and coach I think he will gain more control of the draft and eliminate Ballard's obsession with this Seattle scheme. If we are to go to the next level it will because Steichen has gained more control eith regards to personnel moves.

Maybe he found the right coach to execute his vision?

[MB-ColtsFan]

On 12/31/2023 at 5:31 PM, Dingus McGirt said:

For me the pain began in my 3rd year as a Colts fan.  Super Bowl III.  I still believe the fix was in.

I'm with ya', brother.  Super Bowl III was when I decided to become a Colts fan.  They were favored to win so I thought "why not?!".  Boy, was that humiliating...

[AKB]

1 hour ago, w87r said:

Let's hope we find out.

 

I think this is more of a Gus Bradley shortcoming. Stubbornness. Thomas has needed replaced for a couple months now.

 

Yeah most likely. Usually pretty easy to fill the vet role through cheap FA. 

 

Thought they brought Cross in for the SS spot in the first place? Then moved Blackmon over to SS and I guess, had Cross practicing FS more to take over for Thomas?

 

 

Wouldn't mind resigning both.

They're on record saying they kind of view the spots as somewhat interchangeable. 

 

From what I seen he was at FS mostly against Oakland with Harrison in the box. 

 

But to me he fits more of a ss or dime backer role than FS but he does have the speed to play free safety 

[Goatface Killah]

41 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Not really, he isn't a fan of Ballard but likes Steichen. Who hired Steichen - It was Ballard. If it wasn't for Ballard, there would be no Steichen! 2ndly, he likes to say we had an easy schedule, well so did Houston and Tennessee. They played the same teams we played for the most part. The guy can't even enjoy a win or a fun season. Pathetic if you ask me and I am speaking for 90% of the forum . Nobody else will call him out, I have no problem doing it.

Frank was a big problem for this team. Hes a good guy and is descent at working with QBs, but he was just never a good head coach. Steichen has ready shown me more ability to scheme than Reich ever did. 

 

So, maybe Ballard was never the problem? Maybe his teams won a descent amount of games in spite of Reich and the QB issues, because Ballard is actually an excellent GM? I mean is that really a crazy thing to say? Maybe he has a very good reputation around the league for a reason?

 

The line between success and failure is never as large as negative people suggest. So next time they are painting themselves as "realists", remember that they are just as delusional as anyone else. Its just harder to prove them wrong because they will never stop unless you win a super bowl. 

 

Which is why Moose has again moved the goalpost to "Ballard cant win a SB". Then he never has to admit hes wrong until Ballard wins a SB which is just an absurd achievement to ask for to gain respect as being good at your job. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Goatface Killah said:

Frank was a big problem for this team. Hes a good guy and is descent at working with QBs, but he was just never a good head coach. Steichen has ready shown me more ability to scheme than Reich ever did. 

 

So, maybe Ballard was never the problem? Maybe his teams won a descent amount of games in spite of Reich and the QB issues, because Ballard is actually an excellent GM? I mean is that really a crazy thing to say? Maybe he has a very good reputation around the league for a reason?

 

The line between success and failure is never as large as negative people suggest. So next time they are painting themselves as "realists", remember that they are just as delusional as anyone else. Its just harder to prove them wrong because they will never stop unless you win a super bowl. 

 

Which is why Moose has again moved the goalpost to "Ballard cant win a SB". Then he never has to admit hes wrong until Ballard wins a SB which is just an absurd achievement to ask for to gain respect as being good at your job. 

People move goal posts all the time when their argument is running thin. I could say Lynch has never won a SB if I wanted to be a Jackbutt about it and some in here think Lynch walks on water.

[Goatface Killah]

3 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

People move goal posts all the time when their argument is running thin. I could say Lynch has never won a SB if I wanted to be a Jackbutt about it and some in here think Lynch walks on water.

Its kind of hard to do, even if youre really good. 

 

Its like telling an entrepreneur he stinks if he doesnt create a publicly traded, fortune 500 company. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

23 minutes ago, Goatface Killah said:

Its kind of hard to do, even if youre really good. 

 

Its like telling an entrepreneur he stinks if he doesnt create a publicly traded, fortune 500 company. 

Yeah, it is like telling Reggie Miller he is a failure because he never won a Championship. Pretty dumb really. We only won 1 SB with Peyton, it is real hard to win a SB, ask Dan Marino.

[NewColtsFan]

On 12/31/2023 at 2:31 PM, Dingus McGirt said:

For me the pain began in my 3rd year as a Colts fan.  Super Bowl III.  I still believe the fix was in.

If the fix was in, we’d have known by now.  

[TrueBlue4ever]

I’m your Huckleberry Moose Jaw! Lose the Colt’s from your Moniker. Your a Log term Troll. You’ve been Exposed. Go Away. Forever……..

Go join the Patriots Bandwagon or maybe the Stampeders. Eh!

[husker61]

10 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

If the fix was in, we’d have known by now.  

maybe not. That was a long time ago when sports betting was in the shadows, players had other sources of income, and wasn’t covered like today. A friend of mine played and fixed college basketball games with team mates at a top ncaa team in the early 60’s for a local bookmaker, one was a 1st round draft pick. They were usually big favorites so the just had to win and not cover.