Bad o-line and we are in QB hell, that's the main issues. Ryan's arm looks shot to me.

We lose by 1 point to what may be the best team in the NFL and the sky is falling.

You can't expect Saturday to fix everything in 10 days, that's just not realistic.

There are 2 things that really puzzle me though. I don't understand how the best O-Line lineup is not Braden Smith at RG and Dennis Kelly at RT.

Why is Nick Foles on this team as a 3rd string QB?

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Last week we barely beat one of the worst teams in the NFL, and everybody was dancing on the proverbial graves of all of those who had slammed Irsay for hiring a head coach who had a grand total of 3 years of coaching high school football.

This week we barely lost to one of the best teams in the NFL, and those worthless Colts always find a way to break our hearts, they are a seriously flawed and incomplete team, and they can't fool us with a gimmick hire of a head coach with virtually no experience for the job.


In game threads, I expect those kind hyperbolic, reactionary outbursts ...... on the main board, I expect more objective and rational posts and threads.

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I started this thread as an obvious troll because last week was the equal and opposite sentiment. Guys acted like the Wicked Witch was dead and we found the way. I said in one of the threads last week right after the game that we looked largely unchanged despite the win.

That was in response to all of the chatter about how "we clearly would've lost to the Raiders if Frank Reich was coaching this team" or "Saturday lit a fire under this team and you can tell they just want it more" and stuff like that. Guys wanted their pound of flesh, got it, and were eager to feel vindicated.

Yes, under Saturday and our newfound motivation we lost to probably the best NFC team in PHI by 1 point. Largely due to our D being outstanding and carrying an underperforming O which could not cash in on that final goal line drive.

But we also beat probably the best AFC team in KC by 3 points. And it was the same story. D played fantastic and carried an underperforming O, but the O happened to cash in that final drive this time. That was pretty damn similar and it was obviously under Reich.

Which is the point. I lean towards the thinking that firing Reich will go down as a rash and unwarranted move that we might easily end up regretting.

When he can set his feet and throw, he is pretty good. Same for just about any QB, unless they have a canon for an arm. The O line is not giving any of the Qbs time. Ryan has the experience to read a D, and adjust. But if he cant step into a throw, it looks bad.

Not making excuses, did anyone believe, post covid, the line would be this fouled up? This group is struggling to play better than the Grigson O lines. I never thought I would type that

Well, since you admitted starting the thread as a troll, I can assure that that Frankl Reich is not still the problem. Considering we fired him and all.

Well, we are still using his playbook, and we still have a little of the stench of mediocrity that he brought to the team. Other than that, he is not a problem any longer.

So is it Reich’s fault he never had the same starting QB in consecutive seasons? Is Reich responsible for the mismanagement at LT since AC first discussed retirement? Is he the one that has spent countless draft picks for measurables at DE with a consistently mediocre (at best) pass rush to show for it?

That’s the three most important positions to winning. And let’s not forget the cluster fuck WR has been until this season. It isn’t Reich who brought mediocrity to the Colts.

Raimann is getting his snaps though, another season written off to player development. I wonder how many more the team needs? Ballard is fucking Teflon. As long as he keeps you guys believing the dynasty is coming EVENTUALLY, he’s golden.

Well what would you do if you were a GM making millions in the NFL working for a team in QB purgatory?

Take a stupid swing at a QB that isn't worth it and you're gone in 3 years instead of the six that Ballard has managed to pull off. He knew that the second Luck retired and found ways to prove his value just enough while treading water.

What really fucked everything up was Q, Leonard, Smith, Taylor, and Pittman ALL playing above where they were drafted (And that's saying a lot for Q who was #6 overall for a G). Paying Smith was justified at the time, and the same goes for Leonard and Nelson. He absolutely had to pay them, and they earned it.
How could anyone have forecasted the obscene regression from almost everyone on O? None of us did, nobody in the media did, and I don't think the coaches did either. If the line was that bad wouldn't we have heard more chatter in the preseason? I would like to believe that Ballard or Grigson or my 6 year old daughter would have made a move before the season if they foresaw the line being this big of a dumpster fire.
Hell we could have traded Leonard for a LT straight up before the season started.
Now we are saddled with Shaq's payday and mental health tweets for the next full season before it actually becomes feasible to dump him. Don't get me wrong- he has been an unbelievably productive player for us...but something never sat right with me having our 225 pound linebacker making 130 tackles a season. At some point, that Hyundai was gonna break down.

As for the other guys- I think we will get Smith and Q on track and they will stick around. Kelly has pretty well played himself off the team- and it sucks because of the shit he has had to endure- but I have full confidence that a change of scenery will actually do wonders for him and his wife, and he could have a nice ending to his career with another team. Total trade candidate there for us.

Hines? Yah we kinda fucked that one up too- Not worth the contract, incredibly replaceable player...glad we got something for him and someone that would take his shitty contract.

What would I do? Fully support the short term QB I did choose and accept that’s going to lead to more ups and downs. I wouldn’t continue writing off seasons to development year after year. And yes that is exactly what they have done. Clearest examples were DE last year and LT this year. WR in Rivers year as well.

Regardless you can’t claim Reich led the team to mediocrity and then “explain away” the roster issues as too tough for Ballard to have addressed. Those roster issues directly affect the product on the field. Giving Ballard a pass while expecting Reich to coach around QB, DE, LT, and WR issues is simply asinine.

Anyone think Frank Reich is the answer to our problems?

im not so mad about the qb situation as i am always having the same major issues and always having a ton of cap space. i have no interest in winning the most cap in the nfl award.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/indianapolis-colts

If you click on the 2023 tab it says the cap space for next year is:

$33,956,686

So, is that a ton of space? Its a serious question.

The Colts have many problems, the biggest problem being the OL. I think some of them have physical injuries that don't stop them from playing, but do stop them from performing. Once their weaknesses were exploited, the healthy players tried to adjust and that led to the entire line being out of sync. That's my opinion. Matt Ryan is at the very end of a decent career, but his arm is suspect, his ability to avoid any kind of pressure is apparent, and his propensity to fumble is catastrophic. There are other problems as well, and I don't think any coach could fix them this year.

However, as a fan, to watch an unemotional coach on the sidelines after another very shitty turnover or stupid penalty stopping drive or other missed assignments, I get frustrated and pissed. There are times when I feel I would like to slap Reich in the face and say "GET ANGRY AND CHEW SOMEONES ASS OUT!" He was the field boss and he just looked like a powerless sad sack that did nothing. As a fan, I wanted him fired, Why? Because you can't fire everyone.

Not really. We have just 39 players under contract for next year. Means we have to fill 12-14 spots with that $39M. If we add 12 players at 1.5M per, that leaves $21M to use to bid on free agents. You might get one real stud, or two almost at that level with that money. By real stud, I mean a top 5 player at his position, and those rarely even make it to free agency without being tagged.

no

but i am talking in general. we have had holes on the team and a lot of cap space.

I so much agree. I look at what Howie Rozeman does with Eagles. He identifies a problem at DT and goes out and signs Joseph and Suh, who came up big vs the Colts.

He realizes he made a mistake drafting Raegor at WR, move on and trades for AJ Brown.

Ballard doesn't do that. The young guys gotta play mantra gets old, when the young guys don't produce.

I prefer a head coach that has a general control of the team and is involved on the sidelines, encouraging players and having a 'feel' for what is going on during the game. Having the play calling responsibility made that impossible for Frank to do.

I am not going to address the other paragraph, as I am not as knowledgeable as you are, but this paragraph is spot on!

o


The fact that Ryan has somehow gone 4-4-1 with this offensive line is pretty damned impressive.

o

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I'm particularly impressed with Jeff Saturday's clock-management, on both sides of the ball ...... he reminds me of when Redskins linebacker Chris Hanburger would be in the referee's face the instant that a play was blown dead to call a timeout when his team was trailing in a game, late in the 4th quarter.




https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...pjpg&auto=webp

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Wow back into the previous century.

:eek:

Lol

One reason Allen never ever played rookies. Loved him his old dudes

The team doesn’t need a “real stud” in free agency. They need to shore up the weak areas with average level players. Major weaknesses get exposed. That has always been my issue with Ballard’s use of free agency and his roster management. Every year they have one of two major holes that he expects to be filled with a rookie or a basement level player until he can fill it in the draft. And damn near every year it bites them.

The team also has the least amount of prorated money owed in the future in the league. They straight line their contracts more than every team in the league. You can argue that’s a good thing. But it comes at a cost - leaving major holes year after year.

Pryor at LT, alone, is an offense worth termination, without debate, you are THAT bad at assessing weakness that you permit that dude to represent the blind side protection- no dude, you gotta go.

you can't really argue this is wrong tbh

At the very least Ballard should agree to no more ricockulously stupid experiments with his reclamation projects at super important positions like LT.

Also, whoever does the OL evaluating on his staff probably needs to be shown the door. On top of the Pryor shit storm we also had the Pinter debacle. They had 2 years to evaluate him and still thought it was a good idea to start him at a position he was nowhere near capable of handling.

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Regardless of whether or not Frank Reich was the problem, the 2022 Colts were 3-5-1 with him as their head coach, and they are now 1-6 with Jeff Saturday as their head coach.


Also, the Colts have been outscored 100-9 in the 4th quarter plus overtime in the 7 games since Saturday took over.

In their last 4 games combined, the Colts have been outscored 73-0 in the 4th quarter plus overtime.

o

Colts are the worst team in the league now and by a large margin.

I think they lose to the Texans next week.

It’s actually kind of impressive how bad they’ve gotten.

I think they are mostly playing to not get hurt in a lost cause of a season. I think they bounce back next year with the right players added this off-season. I mean, they can't do worse, can they?

Now that you opened that can………fuck yeah, with not much effort

That game yesterday reminded me of both the Texans games last year. Total domination.

The outcome wasn’t in doubt from the opening kickoff. It was just a matter of how well the Giants played that would determine how much they won by.

The Colts never had a chance in that game.

Depends if they start a rookie QB.

Down 3 offensive coaches what did you expect? The firing of Reich was never meant to find the solution this season, because he was not going to be the solution in any season.

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The 2022 Colts are not horrible because of a lack of offensive coaching. They are not horrible because of Frank Reich, and they are not horrible because of Jeff Saturday. They are horrible largely because of the offensive line. Anybody who has been watching the games with an ounce of objectivity can see that.

o

If you think that it is entirely the OL, then you are sadly mistaken. Have you not noticed the OL improvement under Saturday? Is this OL where we need them to be? Hell NO!

I'll tell you what though, a few times against the Giants, Zack Moss had some massive holes to run through, which JT would've taken to the house.

Then fumbled on the next possession

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I said largely because of the offensive line, not entirely.

The Colts have numerous holes to fill for 2023 and beyond ...... the biggest off-season chore will be trying to get the offensive line back to where they were when they adequately protected a 39 year-old, immobile Philip Rivers.

o

They played so well that they got their starting QB knocked out of the game (and then as has been thoroughly discussed just shrugged their shoulders at the dude doing snow angels next to said knocked out QB).

Mind boggling that people still dispute this.

The line has been marginally better under Saturday but it’s still the worst in football.

Meanwhile, literally everything else has been worse.