Unfortunately ChoppedWood is right
 

It's time for Frank to go and Ballard along with him. This team is nothing shy of absolute fucking garbage.

Bit of an overreactive statement there.

Have you not looked at the score the past 2 weeks? Or week 17 from last year for that matter?

this team is cooked.


fire them all. its over

Lazy-ass players making bank. Reich has no respect. He's a preacher, not a head coach. Interesting times here. Awful on the field.

Keep Ballard, but Frank is cooked.

Why? What the fuck has Ballard done to make this team better.? He had the most cap space in the league and a shit ton of draft picks to work with coming off an underachieving season and we're worse at OL, WR, TE, CB, and no better at QB and DL.

ballard doesn't deserve to stay. look at LT and wr

look at pass rush and defense as a whole

He's kept us somewhat relevant and middle of the pack in a time where we've lost Peyton and ruined Luck. We aren't Detroit and that itself is enough to keep him around. I also think his players all have potential to be very good, but Reich isn't the coach to develop that talent.

It's arguable for sure. Scary thing is it's only game two.

Maybe the Colts can get the overall #1 draft choice and draft a kicker.

Newsflash: we aren't middle of the pack any more. We're bottom of the barrel. And that Lions team you're banging on comfortably beat the team today that comfortably beat the Jagoffs team that skull fucked the shit out of the team Ballard put together.

I like you Norm, but don't take it out on me. I just posted my opinion. We're shit either way, for one reason or another.

I like you too Brylok, and my response was nothing personal. Just trying to drive home my points. My apologies for any offense.

I’m not completely absolving Reich of responsibility, but Ballard has IMO played a major role in the slow starts as well. The constant QB carousel and the constant focus on development instead of achievement are major factors. Last season was nothing but an extended training camp for young DEs. They didn’t earn their spots, they were gifted them by the lack of available options. It appears the same is happening at WR and TE this year. Veterans have a value that Ballard refuses to see, so the early season is simply an extension of training camp to see who rises to the top. Fuck, they are rotating players at LT now. You don’t fucking do that if you have a solution at the position. Especially not at fucking LT. Not to mention the shit at PK.

Hahaha! I wrote that before seeing the game. I watched it later on replay. I recant my statement. Totally agree, Fuck them all.

There are 15 games left, I plan to watch them all regardless of who the Colts have as a coach and GM at the end of the season. It looks bleak, and the team has not looked good! But they should have won the game in Houston, they did everything right in the OT and then missed a very makable FG. Yesterday was a train wreck, but this team is too thin in talent to be missing players like Pittman, Leonard, and even Pierce!

Speaking of Pierce, this guy could be a very important piece. He could also be a bust, but he might be another Wes Welker, which would totally change the efficiency of this offense. Getting back Shaquille Leonard could greatly improve this defense, and getting Michael Pittman back in the lineup will make this team instantly better. We have yet to see this team at full strength. I am not defending Reich or Ballard, I believe all the criticism is warranted and more than likely unless this team has a major turn around both of these guys may be gone next season.

Just my two cents, not trying to persuade anyone or make excuses, I have just watched enough football to know that dramatic turnarounds do happen....occasionally!

If you're looking for Alec Pierce to be Wes Welker, prepare to be disappointed. If you're looking for him to be D.K. Metcalf lite, you might not be.

The only thing Pierce and Welker have in common is being white.

Really, I hadn't noticed?

How about Jordy Nelson then?:D

Well, let's see, we had 7 pro bowlers just last year so there's that. He drafted Taylor, Pittman, Stewart, Nelson, Smith, Leonard, Hines, and Blackmon (I'm probably forgetting a few) as well as several other recent/good role players. Sure, he's had some misfires (particularly at DE, where he's invested several high picks), but his batting average has been much better than most - and way better than the years that preceded him. And with the notable exception of Nelson, all without any picks in the top half of the first round. What team in the second half of the draft has done better?

In free agency/trades, he's been fairly restrained - he resisted the temptation to sign some of the big names that some here have passionately advocated (I recall Le'Veon Bell, Landon Collins and Andrew Norwall off the top of my head), but he's added a limited number that seem pretty good - Buckner, Ryan, Gilmore. Who are the other players he should have added?

At LT, Castanzo just retired in January of last year. He signed Fisher at first, an injury gamble that didn't work out as hoped. Maybe he could have gone after Trent Williams, so I guess that's not an unreasonable criticism. This year, not sure why he thought Pryor was the answer, but he also drafted a well-regarded guy and its early so we'll see. But I get the LT criticism, though most of you are saying that the established players are a big part of the problem on the rest of the line, so why is that Ballard's fault?

At WR, take away any teams' top two WRs and you'll have a thin receiving corps and some less than recognizable names. Pittman appears to be growing into the role the team envisioned for him but got hurt, jury's not back on Pierce yet. As much as I like TY, I don't think he would be making a material difference at this point in his career. Maybe Julio Jones? The guy hasn't played well in recent years and gets hurt. Again, I think some criticism of Ballard is certainly warranted, but certainly not as vicious as many are being. If his faith in Pittman and Pierce proves to be misguided, then I'd see the the criticism more clearly.

At QB, I don't really see much reason for criticism at all. He hasn't had a super high draft pick where most of the top QBs are found, so what have been his options? He's brought in well-regarded, experienced guys - exactly what everyone seems to think he should do at these other positions - but none so far (save perhaps Rivers, who he tried to re-sign) have performed to the level which would warrant keeping them for more than one season. I continue to maintain that although the Wentz trade didn't turn out great in retrospect, it was a worthwhile gamble under the circumstances - and Ballard cut his losses immediately to minimize the damages.

The rest of the criticisms focus on underperforming veteran guys who have shown they are capable of much better play in prior seasons. That, to me, is on the coaching staff and the players themselves. Ballard provides the talent, Reich should develop it (though overpaying these players would be on Ballard). I like Reich and want him to succeed, but ultimately getting the players to perform is his job. Incidentally, it's funny to look back at the list of guys that Ballard interviewed at the time he "hired" McDaniel and then hired Reich - several were unproven/unknown at the time but other teams have since identified and hired some of these guys as head coaches (including Dan Campbell, Matt Ruhle, Mike Vrabel if I recall correctly).

Every single other team in the league who have had no problems beating the Jagoffs. That's who.

I don't expect him to be Wes Welker, I was just saying he might end up being a very good possession receiver...I see him working out of the slot position, but I hope this concussion problem was just a freak thing, I'm not aware of him having many injuries problems in college. Jordy Nelson would probably be a better comparison, again not saying he will be as good as either of these guys, just saying he could end up being that type of player if we are very lucky!

Missed the point. And no problems? Jacksonville beat Buffalo last year and held them to 6 points. Allen had 2 INTs and no TDs. Jacksonville is likely much better this year, without Meyer and with Lawrence having a year under his belt.

Our division is trash…

Beat the Chiefs

Let’s get rolling

I don't think either one of these comparisons are apt at all, aside from the fact that you are comparing AP to white receivers. But he is nothing like Welker as a player.
Any recent comparison that I would hope AP can become would be someone like AJ Green. They have a similar build and length. AP is a bit thicker, but likely less nimble.
Only time well tell...so far AP has shown exactly nothing, albeit he did take a huge cheap shot in game 1 that led to his concussion. We need him to step up and start developing, badly

Jags could easily win this division.

Jordy Nelson is almost exactly the same size, and I can easily see Alec being used in a similar way. I have also seen articles from analyst that compared the two. My comparison to Welker was a poor comparison, I admit that, but I was just trying to say he might end up being a bust or end up being a great clutch possession receiver. He supposedly has great hands and runs precise routes.

It's not the talent level of the comparison that I was taking issue with, it's the play style. You could say Hunter Renfrow and I'd disagree for the same reason. Slot receivers like Welker and Renfrow rely on quickness, agility, and route running ability to create separation. X receivers like D.K. Metcalf, Jordy Nelson, or even Calvin Johnson are big receivers with the strength to get off of a jam, and the speed to run by defenders and make plays using their size and speed. Usually their route trees are far more limited, but they're very effective at using their size and speed to maximize the effectiveness of the routes they run, like "boxing out" a CB using their body on a slant, or beating a jam to win a fade route over the top.

Lawrence is a bust.

That may be, but we have mad him look like he will be getting a bust in Canton the last two games against the Jags.

Honestly, I hope you're right. But year 2 is when lots of these guys take a leap forward, and he's been done pretty well so far this year.

That was a very slight exaggeration considering the rest of the league is 28-2 w/ an average score of +13 points/game since the start of the 2020 season. So yeah, damn near every team other than the Colts have had no problem with the Jagoffs.

Speaking of missing points, you obviously missed mine. That's great that Ballard's had a couple of really good drafts, but the NFL is a what have you done for me lately league. And what did Ballard do in the offseason that actually improved the team? Going into the offseason we needed to get better at QB, WR, OL, DL (pass rush), and to a lesser extent CB. We haven't improved over last year in a single one of those position groups. In fact we're probably worse in all of them with the exception of pass rush, and that's only b/c of how bad the pass rush was last year. It's not realistic to expect that you're going to get better everywhere, but if Ballard was half the GM that some of you think he is then we'd at least be better somewhere.

Except when he plays against us. Then he turns into a HOFer. But the Colts have a LONG history of that sort of thing.

He has incredible skill and now he has a REAL QB coach- if he keeps getting protection, he will emerge as a top level QB.

I'd take him in a second compared to what we have.

You hit the nail on the head!

It seems that as soon as a player gets paid, he lays back and spends the rest of his career with minimum effort trying not to get injured.
Not too thrilled with Braden Smith and Ryan Kelly among others.
And what the hell does Hines bring to the team anyway?

Smith, Leonard, Kelly, and Nelson have done fuck all since getting paid that's for sure.