Originally Posted by Spike (Post 353383)

It's so hard to watch these Colts. I'm finally starting to get on the fire Ballard bandwagon.

Originally Posted by Spike (Post 353398)

Can we not get any damn pressure on Jackson ??? What the hell ???

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles (Post 353399)

o


The Colts could lose their first 3 games this season, and then turn their season around.


I remember when the New York Jets were blown out by a score of 31-0 on Opening Day against the Bills in 1981, and then lost their next 2 games to start the season at 0-3......and then they went 9-2-1 the rest of the way to claim their first playoff berth since 1969.



https://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/r...Teams/1981-nyj



Give the Colts at least 6 or 7 games, Spike ...... there's no rush to jump on the bandwagon now, and if you jump on it later nobody will kick you off of it.

o

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 353404)

Yes, they can give you 6-8 games of good play to convince everyone they are really really close. Ballard just needs another year or two. He’s just been very unlucky. Next year is their year.

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc (Post 353416)

I think that they may get 60 points today ...... they have 326 yards of offense ...... they’re averaging 9.6 yards per play.

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles (Post 353393)

o


Don't tell me these Colts ain't got no heart ...... you just gotta poke around.

o

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles (Post 353393)

o


Don't tell me these Colts ain't got no heart ...... you just gotta poke around.


o

Originally Posted by Thorgrim (Post 353420)

Can I stop poking ???

Originally Posted by HoosierinFL (Post 353389)

At first I liked his emphasis on building in the trenches but so many of those players never panned out. But also he’s been the constant across a decade of mediocrity

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles (Post 353415)

o


No, THIS YEAR IS BALLARD'S LAST CHANCE.

My post did not imply in the slightest that Ballard should get another year if the Colts are mediocre again this year.

I specifically said that the Colts could start 0-3 and then turn their season around ...... and then I specifically told Spike that he is welcome to jump on the bandwagon of firing Ballard if they don't.


Nice try.

o

Originally Posted by Chromeburn (Post 353423)

The season is super long now. It’s like a bunch of mini-seasons now. Everyone signed the jags off last year. The league is just a different animal now much more about resilience and the luck of health.

Originally Posted by Chromeburn (Post 353422)

The philosophy is sound. That’s why good linemen on both sides go early in the draft. There just aren’t that many of them. But you need a QB in the league and they haven't had good consistency at the position. When they get it the other elements come together. But if you don’t have a QB the best you can hope for is mediocrity. If the team was bad they would would only be winning 4 games every year.

Irsay was too patient with Grigson, he made a monumental blunder selecting him over Les Snead. But Ballard was and still is considered a good GM around the league. I know that’s not a popular opinion with Colts fans but it’s the truth. Bill Polian thinks highly of him, everytime I hear him brought up on NFL radio they talk highly of him. And their commenters are all former league personnel. I don’t blame fans for being frustrated over the lack of overall success. But if it were easy to find QBs, every team would have one. Eventually GMs do run out of time, but I’m not really convinced he is the issue and things will be fixed if he is replaced.

As for this game. You can’t turn the ball over in the nfl and expect to win. Puts your defense in a bad situation and teams are too even now.

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 353435)

And there it is, Ballard is a good GM. Just unlucky. Exactly why the team has been mediocre for a decade.

QB play is FAR from the only limiting factor in Ballard’s tenure. Doesn’t believe in the value of veteran leadership, his coaches will set the tone. Leaving gaping fucking holes in the roster to be filled later. Inability to draft, sign or develop players for a pass rush. Constantly putting measurables over playing ability. Gifting players positions they haven’t earned instead of creating true competition. Yes he’s loved by old school football guys because he still believes he’s GM of a team in the 70s or 80s. Grigson sucked at talent evaluation and he was an asshole but his philosophy was much better than Ballard’s. Ballard is a much better scout but he’s a bad GM.

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles (Post 353424)

o


I'm a Ballard supporter, and I always have been.

That said, if Daniel Jones, Anthony Richrdson, and Riley Leonard all have season-ending injuries in the first 3 games and we have to play the last 14 games of 2026 with a 45 year-old Uncle Phil Rivers, I cannot defend keeping Ballard around for another season if the Colts fail to go at least 9-7-1 or better this season ...... even if I still think that he is a good GM, I can't defend the decision to fire him if the Colts finish 2026 with a mediocre record again.

o

Originally Posted by Chromeburn (Post 353438)

I’m not really interested in defending Ballard, eventually all GMs tenure comes to an end ...... but I thought I would throw in my thoughts on the matter.

QB health is not a unique problem to the Colts, a huge majority of the league has issues. The league keeps extending the season and they wonder why they have a QB health problem. Kind of how they change the practice times and put caps on them and wonder why they aren’t developing players as much as they did 20 years ago. But I do want a GM that emphasizes oline quality if I have a choice especially now.

I understand why they went with uncle Phil, I doubt AR could even see well. I will say uncle Phil damn almost beat the superbowl champs and played better than a lot of the other QBs I saw in the playoffs against them.

By the way, that was a beautiful block on Hamilton.

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc (Post 353443)

Where’s KRAY with the optimism? We need some up in here.

This team is worse than I thought. Jones is Jones. He just sucks.

Originally Posted by Chromeburn (Post 353438)

I’m not really interested in defending Ballard, eventually all GMs tenure comes to an end. But I thought I would throw in my thoughts on the matter.

QB health is not a unique problem to the Colts, a huge majority of the league has issues. The league keeps extending the season and they wonder why they have a QB health problem. Kind of how they change the practice times and put caps on them and wonder why they aren’t developing players as much as they did 20 years ago. But I do want a GM that emphasizes oline quality if I have a choice especially now.

I understand why they went with uncle Phil, I doubt AR could even see well. I will say uncle Phil damn almost beat the superbowl champs and played better than a lot of the other QBs I saw in the playoffs against them.

By the way, that was a beautiful block on Hamilton.

Originally Posted by Mr. Session (Post 353445)

Last year was the exception to the rule. Historically for the last decade +, this is how this organization starts the season.

I think it's kind of fucked up on a pretty meaningful level that the people that buy tickets are subjected to this shit. I feel like an ass for buying Sunday Ticket every year so I can watch these games but I'm thankful I'm not paying for tickets too.

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 353435)

And there it is, Ballard is a good GM. Just unlucky. Exactly why the team has been mediocre for a decade.

QB play is FAR from the only limiting factor in Ballard’s tenure. Doesn’t believe in the value of veteran leadership, his coaches will set the tone. Leaving gaping fucking holes in the roster to be filled later. Inability to draft, sign or develop players for a pass rush. Constantly putting measurables over playing ability. Gifting players positions they haven’t earned instead of creating true competition. Yes he’s loved by old school football guys because he still believes he’s GM of a team in the 70s or 80s. Grigson sucked at talent evaluation and he was an asshole but his philosophy was much better than Ballard’s. Ballard is a much better scout but he’s a bad GM.

And that doesn’t even get into the QB search has been conducted in Ballards method and philosophy. And then when Irsay forced the high pick by tanking with Saturday, Ballards veteran philosophy was on full display with AR. Rawest QB ever drafted that high and he was started with no true veteran mentor on the roster.

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 353448)

There are three opening day starters this year that were on their current roster when Luck retired. That is the issue with the QB argument for Ballard - pretending needing to find a QB is unique to Ballard. It’s not. He chose the build the team and rotate thru cast off method the team has used. Even if you Believe it was Irsay that forced them to start AR, Ballard chose the roster that didn’t provide him a mentor. Again matching his stated philosophy that his coaches are the mentors not veteran players. I wonder why the team always seems to have a culture issue?

Originally Posted by Chromeburn (Post 353450)

Yeah don’t put words in my mouth, I never said anything about luck.:confused:

The veteran leadership comment is dumb, sounds made up in your head. There is literally a leadership group on the team made up of veterans.

Every team has gaping holes in their team, the cap forces you to prioritize position groups. Teams fill groups with rookies and udfa all the time. You expect the colts to be done exceptionally well to the rule.

Every team places athletic measurables as a high priority. Everyone loves the Rudy story, reality is athletes dominate the league. Despite that Latu was not the most athletic choice but he was the most skilled.

The fact you dismiss the opinion of guys like Bill Polian tells me all I need to know. You should sit down and listen, you might learn something. The fact you dismiss their collective opinions because you don’t agree says a lot.

Ballards drafting has been fine and last I looked was above league average and has a high amount of guys retained in the league.

No Grigson’s, philosophy was not better. He thought he could build a oline on the cheap. You can’t do that today. He was so bad at it he had to spend a 1st on a center, the safest position to draft. Ballard just filled it with what? A third? And now he’s one of the better centers in the league.

AR started because Jim wanted him to start because ARs biggest weakness is game experience and starting right away worked for Manning and he is an advocate of it. The front office said he was raw almost every chance they got. And im not convinced sitting him would have developed him either. Guy was always a gamble, QBs have a low success rate, it’s not surprising he has developed, especially with his injuries.