ColtFreaks.com - Indianapolis Colts Fan Forum - Culture problems started with Joe Flacco

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 318352)

Ballard doesn’t believe in players mentoring players. He doesn’t believe in veterans helping set the culture in the locker room. He believes that should all be from the coaches. He told us this when he first started cutting vets, pitching a slow rebuild while Luck was still on the roster. It was one of the very first things that soured me on Ballard. If Flacco wasn’t mentoring AR that’s not something you can blame him for, it’s almost guaranteed he wasn’t brought in to do that. Which to me just further highlights how fucking stupid Ballard’s philosophy is and how much he has fucked AR and this team in general.

Of course Chris Ballard started cutting vets. He inherited a team that, apart from Andrew Luck and a few others, was talent poor.

Looking at the roster

The Good:

TY Hilton
Anthony Castonzo
Ryan Kelly
Andrew Luck
Jack Doyle who was a 2nd stringer under Pagano

The Old:

Frank Gore was 34
Mike Adams was 36
Vontae Davis was only 29, but he’d only play 6 more games in his career
D’Qwell Jackson was 34
Robert Mathis was 35
Joe Reitz was 31

The Ugly

Donte Moncrief
Jonothan Harrison
Hugh Thornton
Dwayne Allen
Chase Coffman
Kendall Langford
David Parry
Zack Kerr
Erik Walden
Sio Moore
Patrick Robinson
TJ Green

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kray007 (Post 318225)

One of the things that Anthony Richardson needed most desperately was someone to take him aside and teach him how to operate as a professional. That someone turned out to be Sam Ehlinger of all people. I get it, Flacco is a 20 year vet, and he wasn’t brought in to hold Richardson’s hand. He didn’t do it in Philadelphia, didn’t do it with the Jets, the Broncos, or Cleveland.

But, you can’t be a turd floating in the toilet bowl and complain that the bathroom isn’t clean. He is the personification of an I’m in this for myself attitude that cuts against the grain of team building. He has a zero sum mentality in which there are only winners and losers, and everything he does to help a young Quarterback hurts his own chances of his seeing the field.

Ultimately, he might be right, the Colts might have a culture problem; but, ironically enough, the start of the solution might begin with eliminating him from the equation.

Flacco has been honest about this from the start. I’m not a fan of his attitude though. He’s the anti hasselbeck and won’t be back. But he was brought in competent backup that could win games. He sucked at that.

I actually don’t think there is a culture problem. I think there are a lot of strong good voices on this team. I think there is a QB problem. AR is 22 and the youngest QB in the league for the second year in a row. I don’t think anyone has sat him down and taught him how to be a pro and a QB. Not in college certainly. That Florida program is crap. But I do like AR’s response to his benching. And he did improve after the benching. I want to see how he does after a full offseason. I dont think ppl get just how young he is. I still want to try and develop him because the AFC is ridiculously tough. You are not going to get through it with average. Right now AR is the best shot at a star QB.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kray007 (Post 318355)

Even if he did cut all of the vets because the existing ones sucked, that didn’t stop him from adding some via FA to set a culture. He didn’t. And he specifically said he wasn’t worried about veteran presence in the locker room because he expected his coaches to set the culture. He employed a supposed specialist in getting “good character” players in place. I get it, you are a constant Ballard defender. But Ballard wasn’t forced to do things the way he has. This is his team completely. The losing culture and lack of leadership on this team is a result of Ballard’s methods.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 318382)

This isn’t a matter of a losing culture. It’s a talented offense held back by a QB with serious shortcomings. If Richardson, somehow, morphs into a solid pro, the Colts are a serious playoff contender. If he doesn’t, Ballard is on the outside, looking for a job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kray007 (Post 318399)

The Colts were held back as much or more by their defense than the were by their offense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc (Post 318406)

The Colts were held back as much or more by their defense than the were by their offense.

No argument here. They need a sea change in defensive philosophy. If the players can’t handle a more complicated, sophisticated scheme, it’s time to find new players.

When Flacco is on the sidelines he seems totally uninterested in what is going on on the field, in fact, once I thought I read his lips and he asked one of the training staff if they had some Grey Poupon!

Quote:

Originally Posted by CletusPyle (Post 318426)

He's a dick!

Some of you have lost your minds. Seek help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc (Post 318406)

The Colts were held back as much or more by their defense than the were by their offense.

I'm not defending them, they had a bad year and the eyeball test doesn't mitigate the numbers like it did to an extent the previous couple of years.

That said, when your QB is throwing 47%, only like a dozen completions per game, moonshots or short hops easy throws so we can't extend drives, blah blah... It's just a non-starter. It effects both sides of the ball.

The rest of the offense was fine. OL was elite when healthy, had an ugly stretch when 3 starters were out. JT was good, Pitt/Pierce/Downs can play if you can get them the ball, and TEs were underwhelming.