Colts 2021 Season thread

[Bball]

You can see,clear as day,in The Final 8 NFL Team Playoffs…you need a QB and Offense,who can score 30 or more in Regulation…and a Defense that can hold an opponent under 30!
-Jim Irsay on Twitter

For anyone wondering if Irsay had calmed down any after the Jax game...
,
One thing about the defense is the other team can't score when you have the ball. But you can't keep giving it back to them, nor can you throwaway 3 points trying to get a TD when the score is still close, tied or in your favor. You can't keep putting that pressure on your defense, nor gassing them.

[D-BONE]

You can see,clear as day,in The Final 8 NFL Team Playoffs…you need a QB and Offense,who can score 30 or more in Regulation…and a Defense that can hold an opponent under 30!
-Jim Irsay on Twitter

For anyone wondering if Irsay had calmed down any after the Jax game...
,
One thing about the defense is the other team can't score when you have the ball. But you can't keep giving it back to them, nor can you throwaway 3 points trying to get a TD when the score is still close, tied or in your favor. You can't keep putting that pressure on your defense, nor gassing them.

Note that he didn't say just offense, but QB and offense. With the exception of Jimmy G., every QB playing last weekend is in another stratosphere from Wentz. And Jimmy G. is still in another league.

[Bball]

Apparently, Irsay had the same thought I had this weekend- "The Colts are nowhere near up to playing at this level of competition". The regular season is one thing, but by the playoffs, teams are focused in and bring their A games. Pretty rare to catch a team napping in the playoffs. You might get lucky and get a team that doesn't deserve to be there in the early round, or is the best of the worst, but other than that.... You best be ready to go.

[Sollozzo]

Apparently, Irsay had the same thought I had this weekend- "The Colts are nowhere near up to playing at this level of competition". The regular season is one thing, but by the playoffs, teams are focused in and bring their A games. Pretty rare to catch a team napping in the playoffs. You might get lucky and get a team that doesn't deserve to be there in the early round, or is the best of the worst, but other than that.... You best be ready to go.

Yeah, once you get to the Divisional Round, it’s only the legit teams that are left. The difference between these teams and teams like the Colts is huge. Even a playoff team like the Patriots (can’t score, overrated defense) is way off the level of the teams that were in the Divisional Round.

But you give the Colts a quarterback and they are right there. Put Josh Allen on the Colts and they are contending for an AFC Championship. Easier said than done though. We might be looking for a long time.

Luck retiring set us back years. We had the one high level quarterback who wanted to quit at age 30. When else do you ever see anything like that?

[Bball]

Luck retiring set us back years. We had the one high level quarterback who wanted to quit at age 30. When else do you ever see anything like that?

I get it's Luck's life and he can do what he wants... But, it's just unbelievable that a high level, starting QB, would walk away like Luck did. Obviously, in hindsight (and even at the time) there were some strange things going on with Luck those last couple of years that might've been signs of this. IF Luck really was injured heading into training camp and the preseason he retired, it was clearly minor.

And Luck gave no signs of not having a competitive spirit.

Look at the QB's that have fought thru big injuries, multiple injuries, to get back on the field. Played injured. Even those that aged out but didn't want to give it up. Alex Smith nearly lost his leg and he still wanted (and did) make a comeback. Brady had his knee blown out and came back to win SB's and play into his 40's... even winning a SB on a bad knee at age 43 (or was he 44 at the time?). Brees had his shoulder fixed, much like Luck, and played at a high level for many years, including a SB win.
Manning himself and his knee issue and later the neck issue. Nobody would've blamed him for retiring then and there rather than striving to come back.
Rodgers has broken his collarbone at least once.
Montana was injured, missed time and replaced by Young, and so he went to the Chiefs where he still played at a high level before finally retiring.
Mahomes had his kneecap dislocated and he came back after a few games.
Burrows blew out his knee last season, and he's in the AFCCG this weekend.
Unitas and Namath played until they couldn't do it any longer.

Many of these guys that reach starting status, but time or injuries rob them of their games, still hang around, hopping from team to team, even playing backup roles, just to stay in the game.
The list goes on and one.

But not Andrew Luck.

All of the above is why you could understand the Colts being shocked by Luck's move. Even IF he'd already warned them he was planning it (and I personally think he did), they can probably be excused just because NOBODY does that. You'd have to think he just needed some time to realize he misses the competition, the teammates, the game itself, as training camp roars into action. But no.... Not Luck.

Weird.

Someone get that 30 for 30 going on this and let us know all those gritty details. Like when he first told someone he might retire early. What the Colts thought. Was that last 'injury' a smokescreen for giving him 'time' to decide (or change his mind)?

[Sollozzo]

Bears are hiring Eberflus as HC.

[Bball]

Bears are hiring Eberflus as HC.

Watch, he'll turn out to be a great head coach and turnaround players' careers and we'll be like "What???? We had this guy all along, even before we had Reich!"

He was hired by/for Josh McDaniels to be part of his staff... In case anyone forgot that.

[D-BONE]

Sounds like half the coaching staff is heading to Chicago with Flus, including an offensive coach or two. Early DC interview candidates are our currents safeties coach and former Jags DC.

[Sollozzo]

It’s funny, we lost so many winnable games....yet Cincinnati still only won one more game than we did. But they are in the Super Bowl while we feel like we are in no man’s land. The difference of course is all in the QB -they have one of the best QB’s in the league who gets better every game while we have, well.....

9-8 even with a QB as bad as Wentz. I still feel like our team is pretty solid aside from that all important position. But it could be years before we find the right guy. We had the one QB in the modern era who was willing to quit at age 30. I really do think the franchise has tried as hard as possible to regroup, but let’s face it, Luck quitting set us back years.

[Bball]

I keep seeing people blaming the receivers and the O-line... saying that's where the Colts need to upgrade, not at QB.
What receivers and O-line would look good with a QB like Wentz?

[D-BONE]

I agree 100% with last two posts about Wentz. Clearly, there's no comparison between Wentz and the two SB QBs.

However, there is also NO COMPARISON between the receiving corps of the SB teams and the Colts. Both are quintessential Dick Vitale M & M-ers. Of all areas, QB and receiving corps are just hideous for us. QB is pitiful and WR is nearly as bad if not for Pittman.

Yes we've got a deeper, more talented RB room than probably any team. Yes, we've got a good (although slightly disappointing) O-line. But the other 50% of the offense is nowhere near modern competitive standards.

[PacerDude]

I agree with a lot here - but let's not forget the abysmal shape that Grigson left this team in. That team wasn't going to be competitive for a while. And it's almost been a while. Let Ballard finish what he's started. Complete overhauls take a little bit of time.

[Bball]

I agree with a lot here - but let's not forget the abysmal shape that Grigson left this team in. That team wasn't going to be competitive for a while. And it's almost been a while. Let Ballard finish what he's started. Complete overhauls take a little bit of time.

The Colts, and Ballard, had the misfortune of a team following Peyton Manning with the exact perfect QB to follow Peyton Manning and build around... except for 1 flaw... He decided not play beyond age 30. What high level, starting QB just walks away from the game?
USUALLY, the one main thing that makes them a high-level, starting QB, is their competitiveness. The one thing that also makes it so they can continue playing long careers because they push themselves to be the best they can be at any age and point in their career, and work hard to get back on the field ASAP if they are injured.
But not Luck...

[PacerDude]

What high level, starting QB just walks away from the game?

Getting the living crap beat out of you game after game, season after season with an incompetent GM that does nothing to address the O-Line.

You folks just need to let it go. And as for him 'screwing over the franchise' - he told them before the pre-season began. They tried to get him to change his mind. It didn't work and they were unprepared for it.

[Bball]

Getting the living crap beat out of you game after game, season after season with an incompetent GM that does nothing to address the O-Line.

You folks just need to let it go. And as for him 'screwing over the franchise' - he told them before the pre-season began. They tried to get him to change his mind. It didn't work and they were unprepared for it.

Well, that would make sense if he quit before Reich and Ballard...
If he'd walked into the office and laid down an ultimatum and nothing happened during the Pagano - Grigson era (error?).
But he quit after getting a QB friendly coach, a new GM, and a respectable O-line.

So we're back to what high level, highly competitive, starting NFL QB walks away from the game at age 30?

Even if he hated the Colts and the time it took to make those changes, any other QB in his position would've demanded a trade so he could continue playing. Not quit football. So it still doesn't fit in the norms and is an outlier among outliers.

So, yes... He screwed the Colts.