Report: Brents to IR

[Goatface Killah]

Here is the thing about the game on Sunday. 

 

Stroud had around 230 yards and 2 scores, which is a pretty good game from your QB. But it wasnt like he torched us. in fact far from it. They worked for everything they got. 

 

We picked him off twice and both got overturned. I still havent seen the alleged holding on Jaylon Jones that negated Kennys pick and JuJu was barely out of bounds on his pick. 

 

Thats how thin the line is between a great game, and a bad game, for either side. An inch here, a perspective there......and I think thats what fans dont understand about the NFL. 

 

We were also getting gashed on the ground Which makes their job even tougher. They held up pretty well, all things considered. 

 

So basically we were facing, what is likely one of the top 3 passing attacks in football, while getting gashed on the ground, and we still held our own. I think thats promising. 

 

Thats a sign that the secondary is much better than they are getting credit for. 

 

I hope this prompts Ballard to more aggressively pursue what I believe he was already looking to do, which is make a trade for an upgrade at CB. 

 

This team is gonna have a great year, if they can stay healthy. Which is always a concern. 

[crazycolt1]

Like I stated in a previous thread the issue is not the lack of talent in the secondary. It's a problem that most every team in the league faces. The exception is the teams that have constant pressure and sacks of the opposing QBs. With rules that favor the receivers and the speed and size of those receivers its virtually impossible to cover them. 

[GoColts8818]

13 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

The bolded is my point in my second paragraph. All summer, it was determined that our secondary sucked, and Ballard was stupid for not doing anything about it. I think Ballard should have done more about the secondary, just like everyone else, but my stance was 'let's see how they look.' We just played a game, I think the secondary was okay.

 

I'm saying the same thing today. Can we see what happens, or do we have concede today that the season is over because one player got hurt? (And ironically, the player who got hurt is the guy who gave up the biggest pass play of the game on Sunday. I feel dirty even making that point, because I don't think Brents is bad, but really, he's the one who got beat by Nico Collins. We can't survive losing him??)

 

You say the situation was preventable. I'm asking if we even know the severity of the situation. I don't think it's as grave as the discourse makes it seem. 

 

 

I'm not defending it. I've never defending it. I think it was a huge mistake. What I didn't do, though, is scream "I told you so!" 

 

And yeah, I'm not saying anyone was calling Pryor the answer at LT. But let's just saying the expectations for him were more mixed than people remember today. 

 

 

I'm not opposed to people being upset about this. I'm opposed to extreme overreactions, and labeling anyone who doesn't see it the same way as the extreme overreactors as "the problem." 

People have been dying to scream they were right about this all off-season.  The first chance they got they were going to pounce.  They might very well be right but can we at least see if Brents is out for the year first or heaven forbid how they look in some games without him?  If they stink people will still be just as right and have proof on their side rather than speculation because they want to be right.  For the record I was on the side they needed to do more in the secondary and have concerns right now but yelling I was right over and over on a message board isn’t going to make Irsay fire Ballard and he’s the only one with that power.

[Superman]

Just now, luv_pony_express said:

But it’s clear from Ballard’s presser the other day that he knows his decision to stand pat on the secondary is a pretty lonely one…and not just among random fans.

 

Agreed. But do you think the popularity of the decision is a reasonable way to judge the decision?

[Superman]

2 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

People have been dying to scream they were right about this all off-season.  The first chance they got they were going to pounce.  They might very well be right but can we at least see if Brents is out for the year first or heaven forbid how they look in some games without him?  If they stink people will still be just as right and have proof on their side rather than speculation because they want to be right.  For the record I was on the side they needed to do more in the secondary and have concerns right now but yelling I was right over and over on a message board isn’t going to make Irsay fire Ballard and he’s the only me with that power.

 

^^^

 

If our secondary is as bad as people think it's going to be, I will have no problem with laying the blame at Ballard's feet. That's where it will belong. 

 

But what if it's not that bad? Can we just see first?

[GoColts8818]

1 minute ago, Superman said:

 

^^^

 

If our secondary is as bad as people think it's going to be, I will have no problem with laying the blame at Ballard's feet. That's where it will belong. 

 

But what if it's not that bad? Can we just see first?

Yeah that’s my fear but a fear is not proof.  

[Superman]

7 minutes ago, Goatface Killah said:

I hope this prompts Ballard to more aggressively pursue what I believe he was already looking to do, which is make a trade for an upgrade at CB. 

 

I agree with most of your post. I don't see this happening, though. Primarily because the corner position is deprioritized in this defensive scheme, and by this defensive play caller. 

 

I'm happy to be proven wrong. If we could add a good player at corner through a reasonable trade, I'd be all for it.

[Blueblood23]

1 hour ago, Superman said:

 

I don't think anyone needs to apologize for being frustrated. The Colts haven't won the opener since 2013. We haven't been to the playoffs in three seasons. We just lost to the division rival that had the #2 pick in the draft a year and a half ago. There are plenty of reasons to be frustrated.

 

But to be specific, it's my belief that, as long as we run Bradley's defense, the most important factor is rushing the passer consistently. Yeah, it sucks losing a young, promising player in the secondary, but the defense will fail or succeed on the basis of what the pass rush does. So to me, it misses the mark to go doom and gloom over the secondary in the first place. 

 

I also think it would be cool to acknowledge that a) the secondary looked better than it did the last time we saw them (so 'different coat of paint on the same cruddy paint' seems unfair), and b) losing one player doesn't end the season.

I was disappointed in the run defense. No one is mentioning it. Now losing a secondary player will obviously make things worse. Hope they can score a lot of points in pretty much every game. 

[ShuteAt168]

3 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Nah, you clearly hate our players. How else do you explain that you think the team is stupid for allowing them to play on gameday? 

Way too far, man. There are lots of things you can say about Chloe, as is the case for all the frequent posters, but she doesn’t “hate” any Colts. 

[Superman]

5 minutes ago, Blueblood23 said:

I was disappointed in the run defense. No one is mentioning it. Now losing a secondary player will obviously make things worse. Hope they can score a lot of points in pretty much every game. 

 

A few people have mentioned it in this thread, but this thread is mostly about something else. It's been mentioned plenty over the last couple days, and rightfully so. If there's one isolated thing that cost the Colts the game on Sunday, it's run defense.

 

I don't know if losing a corner makes the run defense worse. We'll see, though.

[luv_pony_express]

45 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I made the comment about what other people said or didn't say because you said these things were obvious to everyone... 

 

 

We're in the weeds, and pushing the discussion out into the margins, which is what happens. I just want to respond to this, because I think maybe this is one of those things where the perception outweighs the reality. AV finished the 2018 season 23/27 on FGs, and 44/47 on XPs. In the last seven games, he was 9/10 on FGs, and 20/21 on XPs. (He did miss his only FG attempt in the playoffs, against the Chiefs, in the cold and snow.) So why was anyone out on him after the 2018 season? Yeah, he was old, but he had been old for a long time, and was still a good kicker. We were supposed to put him out to pasture when he was still kicking well? You're saying you were legitimately making this argument before the 2019 season? 

 

 

I kind of take exception with the bolded, but it doesn't matter. Ultimately, I think he should be judged on the results. What happens most of the time, though, is people judge him against their own wishes and expectations, and then the rest of the story is a case of confirmation bias.

 

Dumping on Ballard in 2022 because of the OL is, IMO, fair game. Being skeptical of the secondary in 2024, I'm fine with that, also. But I think what's happening today is overly reactionary, and it ignores the actual results we've already seen. And like I've pointed out, the loudest, most extreme reactions are coming from people who were literally saying the same things about the safety position that they're saying about corner right now. So it's ironic to see people talk about accountability in this context.

Well, if I turn out to be wrong and Ballard is vindicated, I’ll be the first one to point it out while eating a heaping helping of crow.  I’d love to eat that crow.  Because all I want is for the team to succeed.  That means I want Ballard to succeed. 

But I simply don’t have the confidence that he’s making the best decisions we need for the team to succeed.  Not all of them.  I’m supportive of many things he’s done.  But I think he’s too quick to talk himself into believing that things are OK as they are when, to me anyway, they clearly aren’t.

 

But here’s to hoping he proves this rando fan wrong.  I’d love nothing more.

[IndyEV]

27 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Agreed. But do you think the popularity of the decision is a reasonable way to judge the decision?

Whelp, just like Ballard said…If this ends up getting him fired, well…So be it!

 

[KB]

40 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

The bolded is my point in my second paragraph. All summer, it was determined that our secondary sucked, and Ballard was stupid for not doing anything about it. I think Ballard should have done more about the secondary, just like everyone else, but my stance was 'let's see how they look.' We just played a game, I think the secondary was okay.

 

I'm saying the same thing today. Can we see what happens, or do we have concede today that the season is over because one player got hurt? (And ironically, the player who got hurt is the guy who gave up the biggest pass play of the game on Sunday. I feel dirty even making that point, because I don't think Brents is bad, but really, he's the one who got beat by Nico Collins. We can't survive losing him??)

 

You say the situation was preventable. I'm asking if we even know the severity of the situation. I don't think it's as grave as the discourse makes it seem. 

 

 

I'm not defending it. I've never defended it. I think it was a huge mistake. What I didn't do, though, is scream "I told you so!" 

 

And yeah, I'm not saying anyone was calling Pryor the answer at LT. But let's just saying the expectations for him were more mixed than people remember today. 

 

 

I'm not opposed to people being upset about this. I'm opposed to extreme overreactions, and labeling anyone who doesn't see it the same way as the extreme overreactors as "the problem." 

Ok i see what you're saying. I'd say this is a good time complain about the lack of moves, which is most of the groaning here. Complaining that the secondary is trash should wait to see how they turn out first. About week 8 and we should fully know. They have a decent hill to stand on to make their argument IMO.

 

Brents is a good CB when on the field. I'll never say he isn't, and even with the injuries I'm glad he is on our team. The injury history is known tho, so there should of been a backup plan on the roster. To me that seems like basic roster management. 

 

The saying it was preventable is just a statement of having the next man up on the roster without a huge drop off. What I mean by preventable is what I've been saying quiet a bit lately. Someone should of been brought in to challenge Brents for the starting spot. Not saying they had to win, but they should be on the roster so when Brents gets injured (which not 100% garunteed but likely to happen) we wouldn't have to scramble for corners that the rest of the league didn't want. Competition throughout the roster should always be the name of the game. Ballard said so when he got here and it's been the #1 thing I loved about his roster building philosophy. Its been really disappointing to see him not maintain that.

 

Not saying you did scream "I told you so!!!". You did make your stance clear and known. If you wanted to say "I told you so" then you were fully within your rights. All any of us can say is "I was right! WOOHOO!", and that's about it. I can't wait to see the day when I'm proven right about AD Mitchell being better than Brian Thomas Jr when it's all said and done. Lol.

 

To the extreme over reactions, they're the same reactions from the same people as always. I'd honestly be worried if they didn't make those reactions. These same people have given enough information about their lives over the years to see where the reactions are coming from really. I know people might not be on this forum as much as I am or read the amount of posts that I do, but there's enough info about posters here that I think we can show some empathy and understanding to where they're coming from. Let them get their groaning out. Each of them provides something different that makes this forum better.

[Goatface Killah]

37 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I agree with most of your post. I don't see this happening, though. Primarily because the corner position is deprioritized in this defensive scheme, and by this defensive play caller. 

 

I'm happy to be proven wrong. If we could add a good player at corner through a reasonable trade, I'd be all for it.

I mean it might be wishful thinking on my part, but I think there was smoke surrounding a guy like Sneed in the offseason for a reason. 

[Superman]

4 minutes ago, KB said:

Ok i see what you're saying. I'd say this is a good time complain about the lack of moves, which is most of the groaning here. Complaining that the secondary is trash should wait to see how they turn out first. About week 8 and we should fully know. They have a decent hill to stand on to make their argument IMO.

 

Brents is a good CB when on the field. I'll never say he isn't, and even with the injuries I'm glad he is on our team. The injury history is known tho, so there should of been a backup plan on the roster. To me that seems like basic roster management. 

 

The saying it was preventable is just a statement of having the next man up on the roster without a huge drop off. What I mean by preventable is what I've been saying quiet a bit lately. Someone should of been brought in to challenge Brents for the starting spot. Not saying they had to win, but they should be on the roster so when Brents gets injured (which not 100% garunteed but likely to happen) we wouldn't have to scramble for corners that the rest of the league didn't want. Competition throughout the roster should always be the name of the game. Ballard said so when he got here and it's been the #1 thing I loved about his roster building philosophy. Its been really disappointing to see him not maintain that.

 

I don't have a lot of disagreement here. I don't think this is a good time to complain about a lack of moves, I think we did plenty of that in March. And I agreed with plenty of the complaints. Right now, I'd like to see how it goes. 

 

Quote

Not saying you did scream "I told you so!!!". You did make your stance clear and known. If you wanted to say "I told you so" then you were fully within your rights. All any of us can say is "I was right! WOOHOO!", and that's about it. I can't wait to see the day when I'm proven right about AD Mitchell being better than Brian Thomas Jr when it's all said and done. Lol.

 

I don't think the 'I told you so's' are productive. And when they're never accompanied by an 'I guess I was wrong on that,' it seems hypocritical.

 

I had BTJ at #4, AD at #5 (it took me some time to warm up to AD, admittedly). BTJ had a nice TD on Sunday. I think he's gonna be good. AD got open a lot himself; I think he's gonna be good, also. (And if BTJ is better than AD, I probably won't be hand wringing about it.)

 

Quote

To the extreme over reactions, they're the same reactions from the same people as always. I'd honestly be worried if they didn't make those reactions. These same people have given enough information about their lives over the years to see where the reactions are coming from really. I know people might not be on this forum as much as I am or read the amount of posts that I do, but there's enough info about posters here that I think we can show some empathy and understanding to where they're coming from. Let them get their groaning out. Each of them provides something different that makes this forum better.

 

This is just my opinion, as a poster. I disagree with the bolded. I don't think the kind of discourse that I'm taking issue with in this thread is productive to this forum. I think it drags the level of discussion down. Again, JMO, but I'm on the record here.

 

As for empathy and understanding, I think you're right. But I don't think public vent sessions make this a good place to discuss the Colts. How about some restraint from time to time?

[SR711]

2 hours ago, Superman said:

But to be specific, it's my belief that, as long as we run Bradley's defense, the most important factor is rushing the passer consistently. Yeah, it sucks losing a young, promising player in the secondary, but the defense will fail or succeed on the basis of what the pass rush does. So to me, it misses the mark to go doom and gloom over the secondary in the first place. 

 

 

From my viewpoint, the pass rush was one of the few things the defense did reasonably well on Sunday (4 sacks...a few other times getting Stroud to go into scramble drill) and still (again IMO) overall the pass defense was not very good and the only reason it was not exposed more was there was no reason for the Texans to do so considering the way they were gashing us in the running game.  

 

Houston still converted a 3rd and 17 on an across the field throw off a scramble, got two 4th down conversions on passing plays that were essentially pitch and catch, got a deep ball completion in no small part to poor skill identifying and playing the ball by the two DBs in the area and probably could have another 3rd and long conversion on their 1st drive if Diggs starts his dive a few feet later after catching a ball and being able to run free.  

 

I do agree with you 100%, that in the scheme the Colts employ over the past several years starting with Eberflus and Bradley the pass rush especially that generated by the front four is what ultimately drives this units performance, but that doesn't mean that a secondary can just act like a bunch of human traffic cones and can just line up anyone out there without repercussions on the overall performance .  They have to be able to provide some semblance of making windows tight (in zone coverage) or demonstrate some type of ball hawk skills to make the opposing QB think that extra second, get uncomfortable instead of just going out there and gaining confidence throw after throw.

 

Count me as one of the people who had serious questions about the need to get some outside help in the secondary room in the offseason because what I saw last year was plenty of instances of poor coverage, limited secondary skill sinking some winnable games and not just ones against elite QBs (Atlanta game with one Taylor Heinicke Christmas Eve comes to mind).  Ballard obviously saw it differently, and his view is the one that ultimately matters.  However, I do think he set himself for criticism in the event of injury due lack of depth and unfortunately, that scenario may be playing out.  

[Believe blue1306]

 

emotions hurt because this wasn’t an INT. 
I won’t let it go lol 

[masterlock]

5 hours ago, Solid84 said:

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! WHYYYY CAN'T WE HAVE NICE THINGS!?!?!

 

 

We're not "making a run" this season. This season is about giving AR reps.

What constitutes "making a run", and why do you think the Colts aren't making one?

[DavePSL]

38 minutes ago, IndyEV said:

Whelp, just like Ballard said…If this ends up getting him fired, well…So be it!

 

The problem with this is that Ballard gets fired and he's just fine. He'll never worry about money, probably get a job again , maybe not a GM, but he'll get another job  so he's good.....It's the Colts fans and players and City that gets left with the mess he left behind and wasted seasons and players careers and we have have to start over and have a new guy come in and fix the mess. The fans and the players lose out, NOT CHRIS BALLARD....Some people might argue it hurts Ballard's reputation. My response is, if he did a bad job , it should hurt his reputation....

 

People act as if Ballard has roots or loyalty to Indy . Trust me when he gets fired, and he will at some point, he wont give a damn about the Colts, Colts fans, or Indy and that's why Colts fans need to take the emotion out of it and judge him by the job he has done, which to this point, is bad, because the only metric that counts for an NFL GM is wins and losses. All the other crap is excuses. If he didn't like what Luck did , turn in your resignation but dont use it as a crutch and he has brought it up more than once. BTW, I understand supporting your teams GM but not to the point that you are defending a bad track record after 8 years, which he has, because then you are doing a disservice to the team as a whole. It's about what's best for the Colts and their fans, NOT Chris Ballard.

 

I would ask the people that continue to defend him. When is enough ,enough?..or do you just blindly continue to support his below 500 record forever and just hope one day it changes.

[Scott Pennock]

The boo birds out in full force in this thread with all the typical rhetoric…..

 

Some of y’all are really funny! 

[RollerColt]

10 minutes ago, DavePSL said:

The problem with this is that Ballard gets fired and he's just fine. He'll never worry about money, probably get a job again , maybe not a GM, but he'll get another job  so he's good.....It's the Colts fans and players and City that gets left with the mess he left behind and wasted seasons and players careers and we have have to start over and have a new guy come in and fix the mess. The fans and the players lose out, NOT CHRIS BALLARD....Some people might argue it hurts Ballard's reputation. My response is, if he did a bad job , it should hurt his reputation....

 

People act as if Ballard has roots or loyalty to Indy . Trust me when he gets fired, and he will at some point, he wont give a damn about the Colts, Colts fans, or Indy and that's why Colts fans need to take the emotion out of it and judge him by the job he has done, which to this point, is bad, because the only metric that counts for an NFL GM is wins and losses. All the other crap is excuses. If he didn't like what Luck did , turn in your resignation but dont use it as a crutch and he has brought it up more than once. BTW, I understand supporting your teams GM but not to the point that you are defending a bad track record after 8 years, which he has, because then you are doing a disservice to the team as a whole. It's about what's best for the Colts and their fans, NOT Chris Ballard.

 

I would ask the people that continue to defend him. When is enough ,enough?..or do you just blindly continue to support his below 500 record forever and just hope one day it changes.

What does it matter? The only opinion on when “enough is enough” is Irsay’s. 
 

Prepare to be really upset at the end of the season when Ballard remains. 

[KB]

23 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

I don't have a lot of disagreement here. I don't think this is a good time to complain about a lack of moves, I think we did plenty of that in March. And I agreed with plenty of the complaints. Right now, I'd like to see how it goes. 

 

 

I don't think the 'I told you so's' are productive. And when they're never accompanied by an 'I guess I was wrong on that,' it seems hypocritical.

 

I had BTJ at #4, AD at #5 (it took me some time to warm up to AD, admittedly). BTJ had a nice TD on Sunday. I think he's gonna be good. AD got open a lot himself; I think he's gonna be good, also. (And if BTJ is better than AD, I probably won't be hand wringing about it.)

 

 

This is just my opinion, as a poster. I disagree with the bolded. I don't think the kind of discourse that I'm taking issue with in this thread is productive to this forum. I think it drags the level of discussion down. Again, JMO, but I'm on the record here.

 

As for empathy and understanding, I think you're right. But I don't think public vent sessions make this a good place to discuss the Colts. How about some restraint from time to time?

I told you so's arnt productive but they dont hurt anyone either. If they did Moosejaw would if been banned a long time ago. I get where it's annoying but it can be easily ignored.

 

I made a film breakdown post about AD and BTJ awhile ago and I'll stand by that. I'm not saying BTJ will be bad, but ADs route running and hands are just that good to me.

 

I didn't see anything bolded. Oh well. I get that some peoples opinions are not meaningful to a conversation, but those statements can be ignored. If it dosnt help the discussion then there isn't much to discuss then. 

 

I'd say that the public vent sessions have their place. I can see not liking them and how they become repetitive. They're a legitimate part of the teams conversation, and some are gonna happen no matter what. It's only so long until some are gonna want Shane gone, and don't stop complaining. Whoever is Ballard's replacement will get the same level of disrespect here even if they win a superbowl. Those posts are an inevitability.

[ColtStrong2013]

11 minutes ago, DavePSL said:

I would ask the people that continue to defend him. When is enough ,enough?..or do you just blindly continue to support his below 500 record forever and just hope one day it changes

scanning through the rambling to get to this point, I will happily answer. 
 

enough will be when they show no success in growing young players they are drafting and competing with rosters filled with in house talent. Enough will be when his drafted qb Anthony Richardson doesn’t develop and the team stagnates (If that happens, not necessarily when.) same goes for the skilled players, the young defensive backs, Latu, etc. Same goes for Shane as a head coach. Do I support waiting until we win? Yes… as opposed to what? Hiring someone who statistically will be worse or have a radical change in philosophy that ownership doesn’t support? Tearing the entire thing down and starting over? That seems timely… I think I’ll happily be patient to watch a 22 year old develop and see if the tide changes. 
 

when will you stop being so angry though? 

[throwing BBZ]

1 hour ago, ShuteAt168 said:

Way too far, man. There are lots of things you can say about Chloe, as is the case for all the frequent posters, but she doesn’t “hate” any Colts. 

 

 That's a joke. She hates Ballard, his Pro personnel staff, our DC and surely the DB coach. They all have input.

 We lose this guy - who got smoked on a bomb this game, with a 70+% completion rate earning a 54.x Pff grade and he will be so hard to replace the season IS OVER. 

Per PFF (subscription), Brents was their 66th best graded cornerback last year with a +63.2 overall grade. He was targeted 48 times in coverage for 32 receptions (66.7 reception rate), 453 receiving yards (14.2 ypr. avg.), 3 touchdown receptions, an interception, and an opposing passer rating of 109.1.

 Brents was still a Nobody! Just a hope and a dream.

 Ballard bagged a good prospect from SF at final cuts and we had Lammons for whoever the first injury went to. If our Defense Staff gets out coached by Green Bay, Steichen has to get his guys better too.

[ColtStrong2013]

36 minutes ago, masterlock said:

What constitutes "making a run", and why do you think the Colts aren't making one?

never count out the cardiac colts baby. Even in the 2022 disaster, I went to the game in Nashville at the end of October and there was still a path to winning the division with a win there. Brutal 9 point loss and the wheels fell off, but even in a God awful season, we were still in it at the halway point. We are 0-1 along with Jacksonville and Tennessee after a brutal week 1 for so many teams, even many winners. I’m not counting out these Colts at all. This was where we were expected to be. Play under the radar. 

[luv_pony_express]

1 hour ago, Superman said:

But I don't think public vent sessions make this a good place to discuss the Colts. How about some restraint from time to time?

Is there a better venue for fans to vent our frustrations?  I can’t think of one.

 

And I don’t see anything wrong with it, either - as long as it’s done respectfully, tastefully, and within the rules of the forum.

 

We’re only bantering with and among each other.  And there are a range of opinions represented here.  Very, very few of us have access to ask questions of the coaches or players.  The GM only has a handful of pressers each season (and, to his credit, he’s usually very forthcoming in them).

 

So I say:  vent away.  We all ultimately have the same objective, I think.

[Happy2BeHere]

I choose to be optimistic…I’ll just continue to hope for the best and really the most important metric of this season is all around AR…anything else is second…with Latu being my second. 

[GoColts8818]

33 minutes ago, luv_pony_express said:

Is there a better venue for fans to vent our frustrations?  I can’t think of one.

 

And I don’t see anything wrong with it, either - as long as it’s done respectfully, tastefully, and within the rules of the forum.

 

We’re only bantering with and among each other.  And there are a range of opinions represented here.  Very, very few of us have access to ask questions of the coaches or players.  The GM only has a handful of pressers each season (and, to his credit, he’s usually very forthcoming in them).

 

So I say:  vent away.  We all ultimately have the same objective, I think.

I think what sups was trying to say is that anyone can vent about what they want but when every thread turns into fire Ballard with the same argument being made in every thread and some people acting like the world is ending because something bad happened to the Colts and can’t wait to declare they were right even before they have been proven right is tired.  Especially when those same people don’t come back when they were wrong and admit they were wrong.  Example, where are all Pierce haters this week?  Also for the record I questioned Pierce last year but after listening to people like Superman decided to keep an open mind and admit there was something too the QB wasn’t pushing the ball down the field argument.  
 

Like I said before I was on the Ballard needed to do more with the secondary this off-season group.  I also freely admit I have concerns with Brents going down.  I think there is a very good chance this could be devastating to the secondary, especially since Flowers looks like a shell of what we saw last year right now.  
 

With that said I am not trying to verbally bash in Ballard’s brains and act like he’s never done anything right.  Despite what some want to admit he has made some good moves.  Enough?  That’s a fair question but it’s not one I get a vote on.  One man does Jim Irsay.  Right now he’s in Ballard’s camp so as a Colts’ fan I am going to pull for things to work out because I want the Colts to win.  To me that’s what fans do, they support their team.  That doesn’t mean you can’t be critical of the team, you absolutely can.  There is difference in being critical and even saying you think a change is needed, both of which are okay, and making extreme arguments that aren’t really true all to proclaim you are right before you have really been proven right in every thread you can find.  Doing the later is being chicken little and makes some question why you are really here?  Are you here to support the Colts or to show off how smart you are and be right?  
 

for the record I am not saying you personally are doing the later but I get Sups frustration.  The people doing the later makes it really hard to have real conversations, both positive and negative about a team people are fans of.  

[Hawkeyecolt]

Let’s hope Womack steps up. I stated prior to the season that Brents was the guy that I was most worried about when it comes to being injury prone.  More so than Blackmon. He was injured at Iowa, he was injured coming out of KSU and was injured last year. 
 

I’m disappointed that Ballard didn’t bring in a vet CB especially after choosing not to grab a CB early in the draft.  I had a feeling Brents would be injured at some point. 
 

However, I don’t know who the Colts offered contracts to nor do I know if guys like Witherspoon would even be willing to sign on to a PS. Some vets might have been asking for certain guarantees that the Colts weren’t willing to give considering they want the kids starting. 

[Superman]

1 hour ago, luv_pony_express said:

Is there a better venue for fans to vent our frustrations?  I can’t think of one.

 

And I don’t see anything wrong with it, either - as long as it’s done respectfully, tastefully, and within the rules of the forum.

 

We’re only bantering with and among each other.  And there are a range of opinions represented here.  Very, very few of us have access to ask questions of the coaches or players.  The GM only has a handful of pressers each season (and, to his credit, he’s usually very forthcoming in them).

 

So I say:  vent away.  We all ultimately have the same objective, I think.

 

The question is whether there is a better way to vent frustrations. My answer is absolutely, positively, yes there is. (For example, you said respectfully and tastefully. I think that bar is often not met. JMO.)

 

I really enjoy substantive debates, where both sides respect the facts and each other. I don't think everyone needs to see everything the same way, and I don't think the team or the GM should be shielded from criticism. It's one of the things that I enjoy most about message boards. The discourse I'm pushing back on is something different. 

[Superman]

55 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Also for the record I questioned Pierce last year but after listening to people like Superman decided to keep an open mind and admit there was something too the QB wasn’t pushing the ball down the field argument

 

Do you know how much I wanted to take a victory lap about Pierce, and say 'I told you so' to everyone?

 

Actually, I didn't want to at all. First, it's just one game. We've seen Pierce make big plays before. What's missing is consistent ability to produce. Second, it's petty, and it adds nothing to the discussion to gloat after being right about something. And if Pierce doesn't have a good year, I'll be right on board with moving him out of the lineup. 

[Dobbinblitz]

Well, Ballard has money to spend, anxious to see how he addresses the  secondary. I have been in the camp that believes a veteran presence  should have been brought in to help stabilize a young secondary and provide quality depth.  Ballard has taken this route in the past with the WR’s and OL guard positions- unproven talent/depth with no proven positional veteran leadership.

Hopefully he opens the checkbook and makes a quality signing .

[Superman]

2 hours ago, KB said:

I told you so's arnt productive but they dont hurt anyone either. If they did Moosejaw would if been banned a long time ago. I get where it's annoying but it can be easily ignored.

 

I made a film breakdown post about AD and BTJ awhile ago and I'll stand by that. I'm not saying BTJ will be bad, but ADs route running and hands are just that good to me.

 

I didn't see anything bolded. Oh well. I get that some peoples opinions are not meaningful to a conversation, but those statements can be ignored. If it dosnt help the discussion then there isn't much to discuss then. 

 

I'd say that the public vent sessions have their place. I can see not liking them and how they become repetitive. They're a legitimate part of the teams conversation, and some are gonna happen no matter what. It's only so long until some are gonna want Shane gone, and don't stop complaining. Whoever is Ballard's replacement will get the same level of disrespect here even if they win a superbowl. Those posts are an inevitability.

 

There's a bit of space between "unproductive" and ban worthy. But moose gets quite a bit of pushback against his extreme takes also. 

 

Sometimes it's easily ignored. But sometimes, I think firm resistance is in order. 

 

I forgot to bold the part I was referring to. It was your very last line. But I'm gonna move on from that. 

[ProblChld32]

9 hours ago, John Waylon said:

So this is going well…

Literally what everyone feared was we were one injury away from having a decimated secondary at a position we were already thin at . It looks like this season just took a big turn.

[stitches]

At least we have Dallis Flowers. Also... Gus' dream of bringing Darrell Baker Jr back might become true. 

 

On a more serious note - this sucks for Brents. He's been having various nicks and bruises througout his whole time with the Colts and now he suffers a season ending injury  Hope he recovers and returns stronger for next season. 

[krunk]

I don't think the Colts went into this in any kind of dream that Brent's would play the whole year for sure. They gave it a shot though bc he is young. They aren't caught off guard by this.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

5 hours ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 That's a joke. She hates Ballard, his Pro personnel staff, our DC and surely the DB coach. They all have input.

 We lose this guy - who got smoked on a bomb this game, with a 70+% completion rate earning a 54.x Pff grade and he will be so hard to replace the season IS OVER. 

Per PFF (subscription), Brents was their 66th best graded cornerback last year with a +63.2 overall grade. He was targeted 48 times in coverage for 32 receptions (66.7 reception rate), 453 receiving yards (14.2 ypr. avg.), 3 touchdown receptions, an interception, and an opposing passer rating of 109.1.

 Brents was still a Nobody! Just a hope and a dream.

 Ballard bagged a good prospect from SF at final cuts and we had Lammons for whoever the first injury went to. If our Defense Staff gets out coached by Green Bay, Steichen has to get his guys better too.

I don’t know where you get I hate Ballard. It’s in the Colts  best interest to work because  the ramifications are bad. But I am not going to sit here not call out year after year where he is stubborn. He has built a competitive roster but doesn’t do enough up contend.  Until we get a few more really good players we will fall short. I think every position on this roster except the secondaryi is very very good and can be contenders with them. But the secondary is so week it’s going to cost us a few games where we will come up short of the playoffs again. That’s the frustration. Coming up just short because he fails at one position. One that a 2 year old could see needed fixed.

 

 

. 

[Jason_]

7 hours ago, KB said:

To the extreme over reactions, they're the same reactions from the same people as always. I'd honestly be worried if they didn't make those reactions. These same people have given enough information about their lives over the years to see where the reactions are coming from really. I know people might not be on this forum as much as I am or read the amount of posts that I do, but there's enough info about posters here that I think we can show some empathy and understanding to where they're coming from. Let them get their groaning out. Each of them provides something different that makes this forum better.

 

Empathy and understanding have their limits.  We also know enough about these regular chicken Littles to know they're adults for the most part.  When do we get to expect adults to act like adults? 

 

And no,  sorry but each of them do not make the forum better.  Most do in some way but not all and the positive rarely outweigh the negatives. 

[RollerColt]

2 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

One that a 2 year old could see needed fixed.

This is the type of stuff @Superman is talking about. You’ve made your point over and over again in this thread, but then this final sentence you take a personal shot. 

[jvan1973]

3 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

I don’t know where you get I hate Ballard. It’s in the Colts  best interest to work because  the ramifications are bad. But I am not going to sit here not call out year after year where he is stubborn. He has built a competitive roster but doesn’t do enough up contend.  Until we get a few more really good players we will fall short. I think every position on this roster except the secondaryi is very very good and can be contenders with them. But the secondary is so week it’s going to cost us a few games where we will come up short of the playoffs again. That’s the frustration. Coming up just short because he fails at one position. One that a 2 year old could see needed fixed.

 

 

. 

So ridiculous...