Quick Thoughts - Week 13
 

-It feels like this is how it's going to look regardless of how long this ride lasts. If we lose, it's going to look ugly. If we win, it will look slightly less ugly.

-Mainly because we lack high-end talent at the most important position. So wins are going to have to be scrappy, gritty, gutsy.

-That said, we have solid talent around him. With three huge pieces still coming back. We also have a coach that seems to have smarts, energy, and balls. On paper, if we don't trip on our own dicks, we should have 5 very winnable games remaining to punch our tickets where we get a chance to upset some teams we're not supposed to beat. Should be fun.

-Minshew's limitations are known. We live with the inconsistencies and bonehead plays (2pt INT, wtf?)... But the fucker has led us to 8 wins (fuck you CLE) as a backup. Finally let it rip downfield a few times (twice to Pierce, once to Granson on that cool play) and he iced the game with two killer plays in OT. Well done.

-We didn't block the edges worth a shit several times today. Freeland and Ogletree were slow a couple of times.

-Run game wasn't good, but was effective in some key moments for down-and-distance. Part was TEN daring Minshew, part was our OL/TE's getting beat. Moss also looked a little banged up. Needs a rewatch.

-Pittman will get knocked for his average, but a wide receiver is paid to catch the ball. And week-in and week-out this dude catches the fucking ball and moves the chains. Pay him.

-Pierce benefitted from Minshew opening up. When Minshew threw the first TD, I felt like I'd never seen a ball thrown that far I was so surprised. Those plays, and really the consistent threat of those plays, is Pierce's value going forward, especially with AR. Well done.

-Where was Downs?

-Defense was getting killed on the edge run plays. Started to bottle it up midway but started getting gashed again late unless Bradley dialed a blitz. Need Grover back.

-6 sacks, 5 tfl, 9 qb hits and I don't know how many total pressures, all good. Dayo had some great PR reps even though he didn't get a sack. Kwity got 2 and as Butter said in the gameday thread... Ebukam was a homerun signing.

-So much outside action kind of neutralized Franklin by his standards (only 6 tackles) but he did exit Henry from the game because he's a fucking missile. Speed had several TFLs and physical tackles.

-Nick Cross was eating into Rodney Thomas' snaps. Curious what they see there going forward because Cross has the super high ceiling.

-Special Teams won the game.

-Those blocked punts were ridiculous. Apparently it goes down as one block and one fumble, which is a shame because those were two outstanding plays by the ST. Cross and Brown in particular. And since Stuard went to my HS alma mater, that was really cool to see.

-Not only did we get 10 points out of it, but we also broke the punter who was also the holder... and after our clusterfuck 2-pt backfire, that ended up being HUGE when they missed the go-ahead PAT that kept us alive.

-Isaiah McKenzie had a nice day returning.

-Rigo averaged nearly 52yds on five punts.

-Gay (another great signing) was 4/4 and another 13pts. on the season.

-Killer ST day.

It was great to see them make going deep to Pierce a priority.

I feel like that’s been there all season and they just haven’t capitalized on it for whatever reason. Probably because until today Minshew hasn’t been able to capitalize on it. It’ll give teams something to think about going forward.

Pitt is a monster. He’s the quintessential possession receiver. He and Pierce and Downs complement each other really well.

They pretty much shut Henry down after halftime. Him getting hurt helped.

It will be nice getting Grover back. The defense has suffered without him.

This was a game the Frank Reich Colts lose every single time. People in the game thread were bitching about Steichens play calls but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was Minshew.

One of the ost satisfying wins I can remember.

Franklin drilled that MFer hard! Zaire isn't as instinctive as Leonard was so he doesn't create the TO's but he hammers dudes game after game.

The play action at the 1 and that bubble screen to Downs on 3rd- those were terrible play calls that were exacerbated by Minshew being Minshew- which is why they shouldn't have been called.

Minshew did well in the end, but was still not exactly on time with many throws. The one deep throw to Pierce was thrown badly out of the field of play, he just can't put the ball there, that was a wasted opportunity. There was also a throw to Pittman where Pittman just about contorted his body to even be able to get a hand on it. Then the two point effort, which again was a really poor throw that was made worse by the ricochet. And then the fumble, he has to protect that ball in that situation.

I like Minshew as a backup QB, he has been a great stop gap, but there is a reason why he is a backup and ideally you want to limit his gametime to a few games, rather than having to step in for a season ending injury

o


Excellent synopsis, Chaos Theory.

My one minor nit-pick would be that Minshew hasn't "led us" to 8 wins ....... Minshew has led us to perhaps 2 or 3 wins. The team has come up with 8 wins, not necessarily being led to them by the quarterback (ala Joe Montana, Steve Young, Peyton Manning, and Andrew Luck.)

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I think the more interesting question is, do we want Minshew back next season?

As frustrating as he is to watch, he is maybe the best backup in the league.

And with the Colts starting an injury prone running quarterback next year, I think it would be wise to bring him back.

Then again, he may get a starting opportunity somewhere and won’t want to come back.

o


By the way, the Colts' defense overall was dominant for more than half the game ...... the Titans had 17 points early in the 2nd quarter, and their offense did not score again until the final minutes of the 4th quarter ...... that's 5 consecutive possessions of PUNT, PUNT, PUNT, BLOCKED PUNT, BLOCKED PUNT, before they finally scored a TD with 5:56 left to play in regulation.

They (the Colts' defense) forced 8 punt attempts in 13 Titans possessions in regulation, and 8 punt attempts in 14 Titans possessions overall ...... not great, but not bad, either.


http://www.coltfreaks.com/forum/show...=167347&page=2

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Anybody see the Minshew interview after the game with the lady reporter (sorry missed her name, they are all the same person I think)....was it just me or was the laugh at the end by Minshew borderline batshit crazy? :D

They played so well that they got the opposing team's Special Teams coordinator fired.

https://twitter.com/jwyattsports/sta...35076369473911

I am incredibly impressed with how well the secondary has played. If you had told me that this group would play this well at the beginning of the year I would have thought you were nuts.

I also find it an interesting feeling that when one of our starting offensive tackles goes down I am not worried. I was wrong again about our depth at tackle, Freeland is a find.

Those of us pessimistic on Pierce may need to eat some delicious crow. The guy can really block and is looking like he is more comfortable each game catching the ball. He was great Sunday, looked like ghost of Roger Carr

Most of us felt we took a hit when Bubba left. Most of us were wrong.

On that note Steichen hired a damn good staff. These guys know how to coach a group of players into a team.

dayum

I mean, from what I’ve heard about the extent of the punters injury, they had to fire someone.

Apparently, his knee is in pretty bad shape.

Hope he recovers.

i don't think anyone wants to have him starting.


i also don't want to bring him back. i want to roll with ehlinger or better yet a draft pick next year. i won't be mad at bringing him back, but i personally wouldn't

this game doesn't make me think we don't miss Bubba. i still think we do

Jesus. Sam Ehlinger? I think we’ve seen quite enough of Sam Ehlinger. He’s a freaking turd.

And of course no one wants Carson Minshew starting. That goes without saying.

But with what we’ve seen of AR, I’d MUCH rather have Minshew backing him up than Sam Freaking Ehlinger.

I pray that AR can stay healthy, because I think if he does, he has MVP level talent. He’s the most talented quarterback in the league, by far.

I’m just not sold on him staying healthy.

Therefore, I want a capable backup.

Ehlinger had everything except an NFL arm if I remember. The Colts love his intangibles. I seem to remember articles being written about him reworking his entire throwing motion-was a several year project he said. If-a big if I know-the kid has improved his arm strength he might make an excellent long term back up. I have no idea where his arm is at right now.

ehlinger had no chance last year. i really don't think anything about what we saw tells us anything. don't get me wrong, i don't think he is ever going to be a starter quality player. but can he be a good backup? maybe. and that goes beyond what he does on the field. i imagine ehlinger is a great qb room guy.

and also, we don't have to pay 7 mil a year or whatever minshew will want to be a backup. AR goes down for the whole season again, i don't give a fuck about wins.

all that said, i want to draft a qb next year. keep drafting them.

If it's a draft pick this year, who are you targeting?

More from Baldy:

https://youtu.be/ez8m3tXJelU?si=HmjP6QBTiLGgfhdS

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Colts Officially Have One of the Best Pass Rush Groups in the NFL

(By Jaleel Grandberry)

https://horseshoeheroes.com/posts/co...e-01hgxsxz5va9

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So basically, your reasoning is Ehlinger MIGHT be better and you don’t wanna pay Minshew 7 million?

That’s idiotic.

The odds are astronomically high that Ehlinger will never amount to anything at quarterback and 7 million is NOTHING to pay for a top notch backup.

If he is close to Minshew's arm talent, we absolutely need to let Minshew walk.

Ehlinger isn't AR but I think his athleticism and skill set fall more in line with the offense we had for AR than what Minshew's does.

I doubt he processes things like Minshew does, personally, but perhaps he needs a real opportunity.

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And now, the Colts are getting ) Grover Stewart ) back ...... woo hoo.


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Ehlinger's arm is to Minshew's arm as Minshew's arm is to AR's arm.

I wouldn't be against paying Minshew high end backup money, he's earned it. I also wouldn't be against drafting Jayden Daniels. I didn't like the approach that led to drafting AR (mostly because it could've led to drafting Levis) and I don't like that he now has a recurring shoulder separation injury. I also like the skillset that Daniels brings, he probably has every bit of the speed AR has, and most of the playmaking running ability as well, but his passing is far more polished and NFL ready. He will be 23 on draft day and through most of his first season, but so was Joe Burrow, and he's turned out pretty well even with a fairly bad injury bug thus far in his career. Steichen seems to want a QB similar to Jalen Hurts, and while the body type is not similar (Daniels is built more like Lamar Jackson), the skillset is.

no idea right now

i have no idea what ehlinger is. other than i think his football iq is good and he has decent athleticism. and best of all he is cheap. i don't care if he makes the team next year or we roll with a different cheap guy.


nothing is idiotic about it. if ar goes down, we aren't winning anything with minshew. why pay him and see again what we already know? which is why i am in favor of drafting players to try and find that guy.

JT O'Sullivan's QB School for Minshew:

https://youtu.be/HWt5UXvcOCU?si=bRf4DWmHMZ50h_Up

Looking forward to when he starts doing the 2024 draft class of QBs.

What approach? How do you know their approach? Were you in the room with Ballard? How could it have led to drafting Levis, considering he was still on the board and they drafted AR not Levis?

How do you know its recurring? It happened once.

Maybe but given the stuff you're imagining you know in this post I think I'll move on. Plus they aren't giving up on AR.

Go watch Ballard's post draft (maybe post Day 1?) press conference, he talks about it. Basically said they didn't particularly like any of the QBs more than any of the others and so were content to sit at 4 and take whoever fell to them. He said they would've drafted Levis had someone traded up to 3 for AR. That's a shit strategy IMO, especially when dealing with the most important position in all of professional sports. Your strategy for that position should be to find the player you think is the best and move heaven and earth to get him.

Go watch the Season 4 of the Netflix series "QB1: Beyond the Lights", it shows AR suffering the same AC Joint injury, they even call it that.

Not imagining it, just did more research than you.

And if the Colts are 7-4 next season and AR goes down for 3-4 weeks, then you’re stuck with Ehlinger. Who is 99.9 percent likely to blow.

We KNOW Minshew can win games. And 7 million is NOTHING to pay a good backup.

You’re logic is dumb.

The dude was not having surgery before. Now that he has the resources of an NFL team, he has had the surgery.

Dam is once again talking through his ass. He, and none of us, has any idea if it was the same injury. It was an injury to the AC joint, but doubtful if it was the same extent. Furthermore it would make complete sense to watch after the first injury if it wasn't to severe. Once it reoccurred that joint had proven it has a propensity to be damaged and a permanent repair was done. It is taken care of and will most likely be meaningless for the rest of his career, if other athletes are any example.

I don't know why most people who post here think that Ellinger would suck given the chance. He was 27-6 in 43 starts at Texas, 94td-27int, 145 passer rating

You can get away with a weak arm in college, not so much in the NFL. People remember him not being able to make throws. Not enough arm talent. But that can be improved, not sure if it has. If it hasn't he cannot be the answer, but given the fact that the Colts keep the kid around I am hopeful his arm strength has improved enough to be a decent backup.

There was a chance he wouldn't have surgery with this injury. When he suffered the injury, the reports said rehab and surgery were the options. It may be resources that made the decisions in both cases, but it seems like both options are considered medically valid.

It's still a recurring injury to his throwing shoulder. Also, I know they call it an AC joint sprain, but in non-technical terms, it's a separated shoulder. I'm no medical expert, but everything I've ever read and heard about joint separations suggests that once a joint separation occurs, the likelihood of recurrence increases dramatically, and with each recurrence the likelihood of recurrence increases. It's also his throwing shoulder, so damage/weakness there could be similar in its limiting factor to productivity to a RB suffering an ACL tear.

You are correct about it weakening the joint, IF IT ISN'T REPAIRED. I am also not an expert in this shit, but I was a practicing physician for 40 years who is friends with orthopedic docs. They tell me that if properly repaired and healed (and here you have a real concern, that AR doesn't heal properly-a distinct if very low possibility. He had the best in the world doing the repair so I am guessing it was done correctly) he shouldn't have to worry about it separating again. If it does, the separation would be the least of his worries-he would have sustained a massive injury-very, very unlikey. The man should be fine, shoulder wise.

o


Thanks you for your service to mankind at-large.

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I don't worry about AR's shoulder being more susceptible to injury than it was pre-injury.

That's because even if they repair/rehab it back to 100% and a clean slate (which I expect)... he's still going to have more volume of opportunity for injury with his style. In general.

If he takes that exact same Harold Landry shot, whether is separated shoulder is 60% or 100%... doesn't matter, he's going to fuck up his shoulder again.

and minshew can lose us games as well. we can have someone other than ehlinger. like i said, draft a guy. i think it is dumb to watch a guy play for whatever that colts team was last year, and think you have him figured out. minshew isn't worth spending money on.