I'm 50/50 on the Titans being better than us next season. And it's falling closer to 60/40 every day. We're listless as an NFL team. And the Patriots have rebuilt and are going to win the Superbowl again. Sad state of affairs. Really sad if/when Pierce joins them.

That would be awesome for the Bills.

For those that think he should come here. NO WAY he takes SS job. They are too close as friends.

I would not go as far as saying the Pats are all the way back. They played a cup cake schedule this yr.

Everyone thought the Texicans would rule the AFC for years to come and they are still an upper middle team And Stroud is showing weaknesses. Maybe its his supporting cast But he is not the superstar I thought he would become so far

The true Super Bowl is Sunday night, winner of that game wins the superbowl not the AFC representative

The Colts have gone back to the pre-Polian/Peyton 90s, and the Patriots have rebuilt and will win the Superbowl. They'll challenge the Chiefs for the dynasty, and win. The Colts will sit and watch.
Not hating or trolling, I just grew up with the Colts and know what's normal without any greatness. Bengals level. Cardinals.

Cardinals vs Steelers was a great Superbowl though. No current day disrespect. Great back and forth game. Very entertaining.
We're not anywhere near the level of either of those teams.

Haven't made my Soda Bowl picks yet. But I'm leaning toward Sean Peyton and Stidham can beat the lightly tested Pats

Not sure I can pull that trigger yet but that is my lean

I like their chances, even with Stidham at QB, but the Cheats cheat, so...

Lol, I know old guys stick together, but I'm not young anymore. Denver has no chance. None.

Joe Btfspik is alive and unwell!

Your Patriot love the past few days is eerily similar to a group of trolls we had during the Manning/Brady era.

From my perspective it isn't hard to admire an organization that apparently knows how to win. Many of us are so sick of the mediocrity that we actually admire a team that shows us how it is done. We have zilch to root for, my family in Massachusetts is loving football still. It isn't trolling. Nobody comes here to troll the Colts anymore. We aren't good enough to spend the energy to troll like we were in the Manning era. Just pointing out how some teams actually think you can do the 'hard' stuff like win in the NFL.

Great post. I think some of us on here get a bit trapped by our fanaticism, we are absolutely some of the most dedicated, most intense, and most focused fans this franchise has. We know how many breaths Danny Pinter takes on gameday vs a normal day.

When I engage with both work and family / friends circles about the Colts, it is jarring just how unengaged, uninformed, and energy less the general fan is about this organization right now. You talk to them, some of them I have known to be Colts fans for a long time, and they know the team has Taylor, Buckner, Nelson, and they traded for Sauce. They know DJ played good, then not so good, then got hurt for the year and after that we were shit. After that, it's like "meh, I don't even really follow them any more, it's just the same shit different day". That's the reality of the apathy this whole organization, top to bottom, has fostered.

It is commonly stated that the very worst position for a franchise in any sport to be is one where apathy is the sentiment around the team, and I don't think anyone here, as fanatic as we are, can dispute that is where the Colts find themselves now.

Now you have the decision to move camp to the HQ on 56th- no idea how they are going to do anything to engage the fans there?

This franchise is stale, period. To dispute Ballard's oversized role in this would be assinine.

That is a fair point.

I'm rooting hard for the Patriots to lose and lose bad. I admire but hate them and my family gives me endless shit

Now Rivers has withdrawn from the Bills job. It would be so awesome to have him as the OC here. He and SS are on the same page and I think Phil has the balls to tell him when he's wrong on a call


Dianna Russini
@DMRussini
·
7h
Philip Rivers is out of the Bills HC sweepstakes. After interviewing with Buffalo, he’s withdrawing himself from consideration, per sources.

https://x.com/DMRussini/status/2015772018180784202?s=20

Not something that I had thought about before but, man, that could be a beautiful thing.

His body can no longer play the game but his mind? And he KNOWS how to be a franchise QB. He could be such a resource to whomever the Colts end up with at QB.

I had no idea Rivers knew how to withdraw.

I think I read that Jim Bob Cooter is being looked at for the OC (play calling) role in Philly?

Rivers would be an awesome replacement here for sure if Jim Bob bails out. Even bring rivers in as a Qulity Coordinator or other foot in the door job. :cool:

Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?

Some of the NFL reporters indicated that he interviewed well and that the Bills were strongly considering to offer him the job.

But it sounds like he bowed out due to family reasons. Perhaps he wants to continue coaching his son in HS until he graduates. Or maybe the family wasn't quite ready to move to a different city yet.

I agree. I think he wants to coach his son. They were close last year. Hopefully they win it all this year


I will throw this out there if the discussion ever comes up. Anyone wanting to replace SS with PR will be very disappointed Phil would never do that to his friend. But together. HC and OC. would be a lot of fun to watch

It could be he and his family took a look at the forecast for this week and decided there was no way they were moving to Buffalo :eek:

Not Colts related so yea wrong thread. Thought it was surprising and didn't want to start a new thread

JJ Watt
@JJWatt
·
27m
I can’t be reading this right.

This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.

There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer.



Bill Belichick, the 8-time Super Bowl-winning HC, is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, per @SethWickersham and @DVNJr. Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Good. Hope the voters Barry Bonds him.

Looks like Polian had a little to do with it

Ari Meirov
@MySportsUpdate
·
2h
From the ESPN report: Bill Polian was a vocal figure in the Hall of Fame deliberations involving Bill Belichick, with Spygate and Deflategate coming up among voters during discussions.

Per a voter who spoke anonymously, Polian — the former Bills and Colts GM and longtime Patriots rival — told some voters he believed Belichick should “wait a year” as penance for Spygate.

Florio wrote that Polian denied taking part of that, but he doesn't believe him - https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profoo...belichick-snub + https://x.com/MattVerderame/status/2...451282181?s=20


My gut tells me Kraft had more influence on this than any of his former rivals.

These posts explain the process a little bit:

https://x.com/SandoNFL/status/2016296455305392315

https://x.com/NFLCharean/status/2016310555062022591

o


Sean Payton shit the bed in the AFC Championship game, then threw is Offensive Coordinator under the bus.



Sean Payton Fires OC Joe Lombardi After AFC Title Game Loss

(By Luca Evans)

https://www.denverpost.com/2026/01/2...-joe-lombardi/




Two days after a grueling loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game, Sean Payton is shaking up his coaching staff, including a major move on the offensive side.

The Broncos fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, wide receivers coach Keary Colbert and cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch on Tuesday, Payton announced via a statement.

The 54-year-old Lombardi is the most substantial move, considering he had served as Payton’s offensive coordinator for three seasons in Denver, originally hired by the Broncos in February 2023.

Colbert had been Denver’s receivers coach the past three seasons and Lynch was promoted to cornerbacks coach for the 2025 season after serving as a defensive quality control coach his first two seasons in Denver.

“I want to thank these coaches for playing an important role in elevating our program over the last three seasons,” Payton said in a statement. “I’ve been fortunate to work with Joe Lombardi for 15 years and am particularly grateful for his many contributions to our success as offensive coordinator.

“We sincerely appreciate Joe, Keary and Addison’s hard work and wish them all the best in the future.”

The Lombardi firing came independent of coaching buzz around 31-year-old passing-game coordinator Davis Webb, a source told The Denver Post. Webb completed a second in-person interview with the Raiders for their head-coaching vacancy Monday, and could very well depart Denver for Las Vegas — or an offensive-coordinator job elsewhere — in any circumstance.

“You want to see guys that come in, work, that are part of your staff — see them have success,” Payton said Tuesday when asked about the possibility of Webb’s departure. “Not the other way around.

“And then, we’ll figure out when and if we lose a coach, what the plan is going to be.”

Denver will now launch a full search for a new offensive coordinator. According to the NFL’s Rooney Rule, adopted in 2003, the Broncos will be required to interview at least two minority candidates for the open OC job.

Lombardi is a longtime Payton associate, serving under Payton as an offensive assistant and later quarterbacks coach from 2007-2013. After a two-year stint as the Lions’ offensive coordinator, Lombardi returned to New Orleans to work with Drew Brees as Payton’s quarterbacks coach again from 2016 to 2020.

After Brees’ retirement, Lombardi served two years as the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022, before Payton hired him back in Denver in 2023. Lombardi has served an interesting role in the Broncos’ building the last three years since Payton has been Denver’s primary play-caller.

The Broncos finished 2025 ranked 10th in the NFL in total yards and 14th in the NFL in total points, but scuffled through long stretches of offensive inconsistency, particularly early in games. After starting quarterback Bo Nix’s season ended with an ankle injury in a divisional-round win over the Buffalo Bills, the Broncos managed just seven points and 181 net yards with backup QB Jarrett Stidham in a 10-7 loss to the Patriots on Sunday.

At his end-of-season press conference Tuesday morning, Payton made abundantly clear that he was dissatisfied with several aspects of Denver’s overall offensive output. The head coach dove specifically into coaching technique for wide receivers — noting the “proper way to catch a football” was with thumbs together — when asked about his own comments that the Broncos’ pass-catchers had too many drops this season.

Given Payton also reiterated he believed he had good, talented players who fit the mold in the receiving room, the comments foretold trouble for Colbert, a 43-year-old former pro receiver himself.

Payton said he also had a discussion with offensive line coach Zach Strief on Monday on improving the offense’s run game, which dropped from a top-10 unit to a middle-of-the-road attack leaguewide after running back J.K. Dobbins went down with injury midseason.

“I feel like we’re far enough with the RPOs and some of that. But, when we want to run it under center and control the game, we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like, I think,” Payton said. “And so, that’ll be an important study, and with urgency.”

Tuesday’s move certainly constitutes some urgency, and could point to Payton wanting to elevate from within. Webb is an option for OC if he doesn’t get the Vegas job, as is Strief, a former Saints offensive lineman under Payton who’s revamped the Broncos’ front over the course of three years in Denver.

Payton also brought former passing-game coordinator Johnny Morton — hired away as the Lions’ OC and then fired at the end of the year—- as a consultant across the team’s playoff run. The Broncos also employ Pete Carmichael as a senior offensive assistant, who served as the Saints’ offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2023 and has a long history with Payton.

Lynch’s firing comes as a bit of a surprise considering Denver promoted him to cornerbacks coach a year ago, a sign that defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and secondary coach Jim Leonhard trusted him with one of the club’s deepest and most talented groups. Even before he was promoted, Lynch often worked with the Broncos’ cornerbacks while Leonhard worked with the safeties, and worked with the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year in CB Pat Surtain II.

“I appreciate Sean for the opportunity,” Lynch told The Denver Post Tuesday night. “I just look forward to going somewhere next year that sees what I’ve done with the group the last two years, and will value what I bring.”

o

o


I watched the game with my own lying eyes, and Jarrett Stidham ...... who had not throw a pass in the NFL in 2 years ....... actually played a little bit better than Drake Maye did, especially before it started snowing heavily in the 2nd half.

In my rat's ass of an opinion, the Broncos' Offensive Coordinator ought to at least get some credit for having a career back-up like Stidham prepared for a championship game when he hadn't thrown a pass in a game since December of 2023.

o

I agree that Stidham looked quite good in the first half. I don't think that anyone was going to look good playing in those conditions in the second half!

Incredibly rapid turn of weather in the game.

A note on Belecheat. The Hall of Fame has said that Polian voted for Belecheat. Growing up with football in the 60's and beyond everyone had a coach or person trying to steal signs from the opposition. He is hated for the same reason every dynasty is hated, he beat the shit out of us every year. I want this team to be hated like the Patriots are. Nobody, absolutely nobody, cares enough to hate us.

The Eagles interviewed Jim Bob Cooter a second time...this time in person.

I think there were initially a dozen guys in the running for Philly's OC job and a few got second interviews. Packers QB coach Sean Mannion and former Bucs OC Josh Grizzard are other candidates who received a second interview.


https://x.com/JFowlerESPN/status/2016657602629800103

Apparently since he is "Available," the Giants are going to interview Jim Bob Cooter, too.

https://x.com/PSchrags/status/2016945070121812359

There's a difference between doing it in real time and using video or other means to steal signs, then relay that information to the coaches. One is legal (because there's no way to prevent it), one is not (because it can be prevented).

The Titans hiring Daboll as offensive coordinator bothers me. The guy is a great coach of quarterbacks.

He will have Cam Ward playing his best.

Winning is part of the equation in that if you cheat and lose no one really cares. But as Dam pointed out what Belicheat did was well beyond simple in game sign stealing. Dude had people dress up like NFL cameramen to illegally videotape his upcoming oppositions sidelines FFS, and he got caught doing it again after the initial cheating scandal.

IMO he deserves way more taint on his legacy than just a 1 year hold on getting into the HOF, and it's too bad Goodell was such a pussy in handing out punishments for Spygate 1 or maybe Belicheat would have just that.

Am I really the only one on here that thinks BB not getting 1st Ballot is complete bullshit? I don't like the guy but

Love him or hate him. The guy is the best coach in NFL history.

Not sure of NFL history but certainly the best of his era

His resume says he is a first ballot HOF coach. I personally think he could choke on a bag of dicks, but doesn't take away his accomplishments!