And there it is. I think the AR era is done for already.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/colts-c...200701614.html

I think either A:they’re trying to light a fire under his ass or B:he was freelancing to much and pissed Steichen off. Or some combination of the two.

I refuse to believe they’d be dumb enough to pull the plug on him already.

Especially now that the division is essentially out of reach.

I am really wondering if this isn't Steichen with a power play. Got the sense after the hip issue Steichen was flexing on AR a little bit with a sort of ok, you want to be soft, I'll fucking show you I will not hesitate to jump over you. And this morning Bowen was saying he read into Steichen's "he was tired and needed a break" comment to basically be "this is what I am having to deal with because the GM is forcing me to play him".

If so, perhaps this is Steichen creating a stand off with Ballard? If so, good, fucking force that POS out of the organization! I am not sold on giving up on AR this early, but if it meant we would be free of Ballard, I'll sign up for that. I don't believe we will ever be a contender with that fucker calling the shots.

And the man behind the curtain is Irsay.

Exactly what I was thinking with Shane after the hip injury,

He’s putting Shane in an impossible position, you can’t be a scrambling QB that can’t take a hit and gets tired after a few runs especially if you have accuracy issues

Maybe Jim's come to the realization that he won't see another SB in his lifetime, but he could see another playoff game(s) if we go w/ Flacco.

Yeah as I said yesterday, right now I just view the whole of the organization to be a disgrace. It is sad to be at this point, 8 years into the "plan" that is clearly fucking failing. It's time for a re-set... bulldoze this shit!

Evaluating everything could mean they are discussing the direction of the team moving forward. If AR is not the guy moving forward, do they move players for future assets? Do they try to trade for a QB (not that I know any QB worth trading for that would be available)? Is it a total reset on the franchise, meaning we play mostly young guys to see who is worth keeping?

When said in that sort of broad context, fuck man, that's a top of the house down view- that starts with the GM. If you are gonna go youth movement, give Buck, Kenny, Grover and Nelson the opportunity to get a title somewhere and just accumulate pics for them. Throw the season in the crapper. Leverage what you have to in order to move up, and have someone else rebuild the damn thing with their new players.

If we become sellers and that fucking moron is still in charge of personnel, fuck man, just shut the doors on 56th and let it be overgrown with weeds.

Guys, we’re 4-4. There is no way in hell they’re thinking of selling right now. That’s ridiculous.

I agree, but "evaluating everything" might be broader than just QB. Maybe it means he is evaluating play-calling, or his personnel decisions with TEs and RBs.

We're 4-4. I think 1-3 over the next four is probably what it looks like even with Flacco (we SHOULD beat the Jets but Gus is a wet dream for an aged out washed up Rogers to have one last OMG games). So we're at best 5-7 with 5 to go. Bills, Ravens, Steelers, Chiefs, Texans. To me, they are all in. Probably a scrum between us, Chargers, Bengals, and Broncos to get the last spot. The back of our schedule is actually pretty damn weak, so it's possible we could get a spot.

Fuck, I don't know, is it even worth getting in, getting waxed and having the 17th pick?

Let me answer that- to me NO, FUCK NO it is not worth it! That would almost guarantee shit bag another "we're close, let's run it back" year. He needs to be gone!

Some people agree with you in wanting Ballard gone, and they point to the lack of playoffs as a reason. You are the rare one that wants to not make the layoffs, and also get rid of Ballard.

If you were going to play Flacco you should have done it against a shorthanded Houston team....that game was huge and for first place, AR didn't have it and should have been replaced with Flacco. Especially after he pulled himself out, I can't believe Shane put him back in, I wonder if he was told to do it?

Anyway, I'm not convinced Steichen can sit AR, no way Ballard will allow him to give up on AR this soon, even if it might be the right decision.

Well, this certainly adds a whole new layer to it- HE APPARENTLY DID AUDIBLE ON THAT INT!

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/10-thou...091811055.html

"Richardson checked out of that play, sent Goodson out wide to throw out of empty. He stared down zone coverage and threw an interception on a hitch route that led to a touchdown and the swing moment in the loss.

This was young quarterbacking taking the autonomy to change the play but missing the plot. It's on Steichen and Richardson, but it's emblematic of the lack of situational awareness hurting Richardson right now. When the hitch route was so easily covered, he had to throw it away so they could punt and go to halftime in a tie. There was no real payoff to hitting a slant route to the 20-yard line anyway."

Yeah, this certainly sounds like his time as QB 1 is over. I am not one who believes we can sit him and then come back to him. Too high a pick, too much investment, too much pushing the message that he is the guy.

Ummmmm I think this is Zach Wilson 2.0.


FUCK!

Man, such a shitty position. Yes, of course I want to make the playoffs, you get there and you just never know- ala Harbaugh's team.

However, I am convinced if we make it, it gives that stooge yet another year to do fucking NOTHING. We're getting older, some of HIS guys are now reaching an age where they aren't good enough, and I don't for a minute think he can let them go- he likes his guys.

Yeah, sadly, I would prefer missing the playoffs even if we are capable of getting there, just to be rid of this fucking dude.

o


I think that Hoopsdoc is correct ...... I think that this is simply a proverbial "tough love" statement/proclamation, a way of trying to light a fire under Richardson's butt.

Steichen doesn't want Richardson taking his status as the team's starting quarterback for granted, 1st-round draft pick or no 1st-round draft pick.

o

o


Throwing it away would have stopped the clock on an incomplete pass ...... he should have just eaten the ball to make the Texans use their final time-out, then punted.

o

Million percent agree- he should have just tucked it and run- they have to use a TO and we have to play good D for a couple plays.

Okay, I think I have come to rest on this all now. A lot of it helped by an extremely well articulated piece just now by Kevin Bowen.

My position= AR MUST START vs the Vikes!

The season was to see what he was capable of- he had to be allowed to fail, we had to look at the PO's as just a wonderful secondary reward if he played well enough to get us there. To me, that should absolutely remain the focus for the team through the remainder of 24'- and I THINK we stand just as much of a chance of getting to the post season with AR in as we would with Flacco. Even with Flacco we may lose all of the next 4. Even with AR as erratic as he is, we honestly SHOULD win the final 5 because those teams suck!

If we go Flacco, we MAY make the PO's, and we will have perpetuated the agonizing post Luck saga for yet another series of years. It is incredible that we are back to this same damn pivot point yet again, it's sad, it really fucking is. Put Flacco in, AR is toast, the damage to him as a Colt- is too extreme, he would have to be moved. Then what? What the fuck are we going to do then? Draft a mid 2nd round grade QB at 17? No, fuck that, we cannot CHOOSE to go that route, we can't!

As for AR, I think most if not all of us would agree, outside of the INT, Sunday was probably his best overall passing day. He was not throwing huge overthrows and while a couple were wide, he threw a bunch of catchable balls that just weren't- but they were fucking close, that's an improvement. He also threw some good passes that were caught and some of those demonstrated touch- a couple short crossers and a screen pass that was on the money. Hell even the long TD to Downs- he settled and threw the easy ball for him to catch and run it in. He didn't panic and throw a piss whistle that sailed out of bounds.

Now, here's where I see the MUST keep AR coming from. We have all seemingly lost track of the TD to Pierce that was called back due to Pittman's pick. This was the play directly before the tap out play. We have forgotten the dude had a man on his back and he just used his big strong ass body to jettison the dude like a rag doll- he settled and he threw a perfect pass to a wide open Pierce. So he did the thing we have all been so excited by- he blew off the would be sacker! He kept his eyes downfield, located a wide open WR and hit him dead in the chest with the TD pass. So, who has consistently been the "if he could only become____________" QB we have all talked about====== JOSH ALLEN. Well that was about as Josh Allen as we're going to see. He did exactly every bit of what we all wanted him to do- there was just a fuck up by Pittman that took what probably was the winning TD away. Then the next play happened and we all know the fire storm that has ensued. And rightfully sow, he fucked up bad. At the same time, we are also again losing focus on the fact the fucking dude got out of the grip of a 350LB man and got back into FG range- again, a Josh Allen / Big Ben type of play- we are just ignoring that aspect of it.

So, he's doing many of the things we are wanting to see. We have to keep seeing if he can do them on a more consistent basis. Myself, contrary to many, I actually think he is developing despite the horrible stats.

Further, in terms of Flacco, love what he brings, but lets also not lose focus of the fact that AR has been getting hit and if not for plays like those 2 above, the sack totals would be far worse. The OL has not been good lately. I am 100% convinced even with we go with Flacco, somewhere in the next 4 games, he gets put down for the season and the ball is right back with AR (again Zach Wilson syndrome...).

I am now convinced the audible inside the 5, is MUCH more in Steichen's ire than is the tapping out. I think the tapping out, sucks, but I think that's a Steichen and other leaders issue to surround AR and tell him that's just not an acceptable thing and he has to grow from it (Kelly already talked about how he addressed it with AR as veteran).

The audible on the other hand, well that's a whole different bag. As noted, I have been seething that Steichen went with the pass there. Well the article I posted confirmed AR motioned Goodson out. My gut says this was supposed to be a run. AR saw something, liked what he saw, and decided to go off the reservation with the pass thinking he had something super easy- and he got fooled (its the NFL, these coordinators are good at this shit- well except for ours). If so, I am far more comfortable with it all. Means Steichen wasn't just being some insane fucking dumb ass with one of the all time coaching blunders. Also says that AR is not on some overly rigid protocol where it all comes from the sideline because they don't think he can lead the offense. If all that is correct, terrible decision by AR in the circumstance, but also a sign that the admin- and he himself- feel he is capable of making pre-snap decisions. To me that would be an indicator he is truly doing the book work they have always talked him up for. Otherwise, no fucking way they give him latitude to change at the line.

So, long post but my hope is others are right- this is a tough love situation. Make him feel some heat for a bit and reflect. Announce he is still the starter and come Sunday, no fucking kid gloves, fucking run his ass a ton, put him in a position to use JT more and see if you can pull off a huge upset and get this thing back on track.

If he gets hurt running and blows out his knee, well that sucks, but at the same time, all the pressure is off the administration- the change becomes a function of injury and you are basically at the exact point you would have been anyway- stuck with an old man that you have no plan for replacing but have to figure it out somehow.

It was such a difficult game to watch. Texans fans were inviting though and I must applaud them. However, it wasn't loud at all and there were empty seats. Nice stadium and a nicer fan base. BTW, LOTS of Colts jerseys.

Well, prepare to be pissed because if the rumors are true that AR lost the locker room then it is going to be nearly impossible for him to come back from this benching the Colts just announced.

Ugh....

o


The article states that Steichen "wanted to stay aggressive", even after the incomplete pass on the previous play ...... so yes, Richardson audibled out of Steichen's play, but Steichen wanted a pass in the first place. Richardson simply audibled out of one pass play, and into another pass play.


So both Steichen and Richardson were clueless morons in that sequence.

o

Steichen is very quickly burning through his coaching change capital and becoming a very similar case study to his sack of shit predecessor!

Clearly they took AR with the vision of what Steichen did with Hurts in mind, creating a devastating dual threat weapon. Steichen then has seemingly in turn decided he wants to get some kinf of trophy for being able to turn Duante Cullpepper into Tom Brady.

I am fucking lost at this point. Trending toward concluding he just sucks at being the top dog.