Let’s take a deep breath
 

Getting thumped by a team like the Jags is never easy to swallow, and I understand that the knee jerk reaction is going to be fire them all and burn the building to the ground. But, let’s be honest. No one can be hugely surprised by the loss.

On Offense, we have a rebuilding OL, and one of the pieces, at LT, is a guy who’ll never be confused with Anthony Castonzo. We have a thin WR corps that was missing its two most talented pieces; and the Jags have always been willing to sell out to stop Taylor.

On Defense, we have a lot of nice pieces, but we’re just not wired to stop a QB who takes a quick drop and gets rid of the ball.

On Offense, I’d be lying if I said there was much to like. The nearest thing to a glimmer of sunshine was Dulin’s performance. 79 yards on 5 catches was respectable.

Against the Defense, Jacksonville only ran off two chunk plays…a 26 yard pass to Kirk and a 37 yard run by Robinson. Beyond that big run, they held Robinson to 27 yards on 22 carries. I’ll be the first to admit that that’s not much of a peg to hang your helmet on, but when you sift through a crap pile of a loss like this, it’s nice to find a couple of nuggets that aren’t manure.

If it was just a loss, I could be on board here.

But this loss wasn't just a loss. It was a loss played by a team who didn't even want to be out there. I don't understand that and how that happens to professional football players Week 2 in the season. I mean, if you don't want to play football for a living, fine. I get it. Then retire. But if you do, you should take some pride in your craft. While I wouldn't say every player out there wasn't taking pride in their craft, the collective unit didn't.

Let's not even mention Week 2 against a team that knocked you out of the playoffs in humiliating fashion last year. Week 2 against anyone. A lot of times in football games you'll see a team lose but at least either play with some heart in the beginning of a game or at the end of a game. This team just went in, laid over and died, and didn't seem to give a flying fuck that they laid over and died.

That is what is concerning to me.

It's not knee jerk...when is the last time the colts won?

Why do we have thin WR corps with all this cap money. Other teams brought in some nice options.

I agree with your last stmt. ;)

I actually agree with both of you. It is just one week, but it's Groundhog Day all over again, and with players that never seemed to get pissed that they were sucking all day. I mean, where was the fire to get at Lawrence? Not from our pass rushers, or our DC. Where was the fire to create lanes for the RBs? Definitely not from our high;y paid OL. Where was the fire to stop turning the ball over? Certainly not from Frank or Matt.

Probably the most disappointing is the line play. 5 sacks and 11 hits allowed by the O-Line and I think only 2 pressures by the D-Line.

That’s where Ballard has spent the most draft capital and by far the most money and they flat out got bitch slapped yesterday.

F that

4 Straight ass beatings, just ass beatings by really some not so great teams (Raiders deserve credit, they played very well down the stretch to make the PO's last year...still we had a chance to clinch and even rest some guys- and we SUCKED ASS).

Worse yet:
6-30
Jags record in their last 36
6 FUCKING WINS
4 AGINST THE COLTS!
AND I BELIEVE 2 OF THOSE HAVE BEEN SHUT OUTS!

NO, fuck taking a deep breath. Let's fire the joke that we are letting continue to pretend to be an NFL head coach! SEND A FUCKING MESSAGE THAT THIS SHIT HAS TO STOP!

I saw rush stat, too. Even with the 37yd td, it's like 2.5ypc. Without it, it's like 1.5ypc. Literally the only good thing from the game was Grover and that stat.

But that stat doesn't mean shit because A.) that 37 yarder cost 7 points, and B.) our defense once again allows pitch-and-catch to the tune of fucking 85% completion rate. Who needs to run when you can just take a completely free 7 yard completion all the way down the field? The dumbest thing Jacksonville could do all day was run on 1st and 2nd down.

These defensive schemes 100% do not work without a pass rush. And we do not have one. Our guys push sleds all day.

I won't pretend to be any sort of mastermind at football, but I really don't understand the cushion coverage.

I mean, I'm guessing the philosophy is let the other team get their 7-8 yard chunks until they get to the red zone, and then the field shrinks up so you can hopefully hold them to FGs. I just hate it as a philosophy.

I'm also guessing the argument against not giving a cushion is it allows your guys to get beat on big plays. I understand that, but after some point when the other team is just eating you alive, isn't that worth the gamble?

EDIT: Ok, once you mentioned the pass rush I'm also guessing the philosophy works more when the QB has less time to throw the ball. Still, once it was figured out he did have all day, it seems like mixing it up would have been called for.

Its a chicken or egg type of argument to be made, but to be certain- the job isn't getting handled. Our pass rush seems decent based on the eye test but FAR from great. They get a nice initial jump of the line, but don't seem to have anyone breaking the point of contact with a spin move or bull rush that dominates. Paye has nice intangibles and is a good football player but it no pass rush specialist. He's vanilla here, but will rack up athletic sacks I'm sure. Where the HELL has Yannick been? Bucker is not worth his $ Tag and should be an immediate trade candidate for us.
As for the secondary, they are brutal. Kenny Moore looks washed up. Rodgers absolutely should be player ahead of him right now.
But if we are all watching these games it is painstakingly obvious what is crushing our D- its our scheme. We are too often giving too large of a cushion to all of the receivers. The only thing opposing QB's need to do is drop back and have it out quick with 2 predetermined reads and watch their completions rack up. We are used to this dogshit horse and pony show as Colts fans. The D-line will not get any sacks when the ball is out in one second, and the corners will give up a lot of productions if opposing QB dinks and dunks. It's what Mills did to us and it's what Trevor Lawrence has done to us now a few times.
I have news for whoever is watching Jags film on our Defensive coaching staff- Lawrence has not proven at all to be a long ball threat. We should have been blitzing the hell out of him and played with way more urgency instead of playing right into the only thing he has proven he can do in the NFL up until now.
We need to start jamming up receives and buying an extra few seconds for our d-lineman to work- and the sacks will come.

I prefer to watch the panic, it is far more entertaining

We have stupid players. I can recognize when the screen pass is coming why can't they?

The screen pass was there all day for the Jags, for big chunks of yards.

Then there is the question why the fuck don't we use the screen pass and slow down the rush. WTF does it take to execute some NFL concepts?

Guess what Matt Ryan is mobile enough to use him in the rollout passing attack. He did it last week. Not once against the Jags did Frankie and the Farters think of doing that?

Hines involved early...with success, then disappears?

Patmon gets more snap than Strachan and can't catch a cold?

Fire Frank Reich

I admire your ability to take a positive approach but I've sifted the crap pile. The only nuggets I found were undigested corn. I just can't wrap my head around how this team has "competed" the last two weeks.

Derrick Henry has 15 yards on 10 carries. So much for him being a “king”. Titans aren’t as good as advertised, either. This whole division is the new NFCEast.

I'm not sure about the Colts but I enjoy seeing the Titans get whipped. Especially because all the shit Titans fans talk.

Looks like Siriani has the Eagles up and running. Whooping the tacks 24-7 at halftime. Meanwhile, the Colts are a trash fire.

They're playing the Vikings. Titans are being disemboweled by the Bills.

You're right, I had them reversed. That's even worse though.

Tom Brady would look like shit behind this oline.
I’m so sick of their QB being able to stand back there all day and our QB being under duress constantly.


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Blasphemy! Mr Tom Brady is the greatest ever to play any sport of any kind and doesn’t even need a oline.

They haven’t competed since the Raider game and they haven’t been good since Arizona. That’s 4 straight games of absolutely shitty play, with everything on the line.

At what point do we concede that they just ain’t getting it back?

Maybe they’re just bad?

o


(vs. CHIEFS, 9/25)


The Colts' defense was excellent.

The Colts' new kicker was 2-for-2 in field goal attempts, and 2-for-2 in extra point attempts.

The offensive line was horrible.

In spite of the atrocious performance from the offensive line, Matt Ryan still managed to have a QB rating of 105.9 ...... that included 2 TD passes, 0 INT's, and a game-winning touchdown drive late in the 4th quarter.

o

This is pretty much the story so far.

The defense is OK, I wouldn't say excellent, but the run defense is solid, the secondary gradually improving from awful to below average, the pass rush likewise. Also special teams is playing well and really when it comes down it I think that was the difference in the game. Their muffed punt, missed FG and failed fake are the real reasons we won that game.

The offensive line went from a strength in recent years to being about as bad a unit as I can recall. Ryan will be OK as long as he has Pittman and Pierce on the field, those 2 made some big time catches vs the Chiefs. Glad to see Jelani Woods showed up. Those weren't exactly hard ones, but he did his job, and its good the 6'7" guy is actually useful in the end zone.

The Chiefs WERE averaging 35+ points per game. The Colts held them
to what MAY be their low for the yr

This D is legit They were outstanding!!!!!!
And we don't even have Leonard out there!!!!!!!!!!

September is NEVER a time to over react NEVER

Division is won in Oct and Nov Same as the conference. Get the kinks worked out in Sept then roll

Jags are better than we thought. They may challenge us for the division and one of us will be a wild card team.

We are 1/2 game out of 1st place in the division 1 1/2 games out of 1st in the conference.

The oline took about 3 weeks to gel last yr. It will come around.

A young O group will take a few games to get it together. They are learning and will get better.

Some of you are just ridiculous with your takes on this team. (YOU KNOW WHO I AM TALKING TO!!!!)

Frank is NOT getting fired Ballard is NOT getting fired. Deal with it and stop the nonsense!!!!

Otherwise we can start a Fire Frank/Ballard thread and all those comments can be moved there. Or you can start one and bitch all ya want. As long as it doesn't take over every thread. (Again. you know who I am talking to)

Am I happy with the 1st 3 weeks? Nope. I expected better. Can I show patience? Yep.

Give it a chance to play out. There are a lot of new pieces and some missing pieces right now. Lets let it play out.

I own the site and almost dread reading the drivel some of you are posting.

I don't expect anything But the constant doom and gloom is getting old. I wont stop any of you from that. Cause this is Freaks. Say what you want. I just might not read it.


I have hope for this team. And as a fan that's all you can have. Nothing is carved in stone and nothing is given to you Unless It's Chris Clarke's blunder then yea he handed us the win. We'll take it!!!

Have some hope. that builds excitement.

This is still a very good team with a chance.

Switch things up on the O-line. Institute many more quick hits vs all the drags and crosses that take forever to develop. Keep playing press D (they asked Gilmore the difference between this week's D and last, and he said "we played tight coverage". Simple shit.

Critical for the team mentality- Maniac needs to come back in a huge way this week, cause some chaos, wreck Henry and end their season right now. Then I will say we are something more than I think we are. Lose this one and all that grinding Sunday- and it was a fucking Grrrrrrinnnd, is all out the window.

If Henry gets more than 100 I will be surprised. Maybe 110. I dont know. But I think he will be shut down (Ha at 100-110 is a shut down) Especially if Leonard is back

Jags might not be a bad team. Trevor Lawrence was a generational QB pick and could still develop. Pederson is a much more competent coaching hire after the Urban Meyer debacle. Plus he knows Frank pretty well.

If I am being honest, in some ways, I would have preferred a loss to KC.

We can say all we want that JAX may be better than anyone thought or that we were close to a win against HOU but we were also, most likely, one stupid Chris Jones penalty away from being 0-2-1.

There is a fundamental weakness to this team. Coaches...players...GM...heart...too nice....grit...I don't what it is but there is something that needs to change if we are ever going to be SB contenders.

The roster is talented enough to win some games. The coaching is bad enough to lose some games. The heart and soul of the team is...soft...enough to just lay down and get kicked on some games. There is a fundamental flaw to this team.

Alas, my guess is that we will stumble along again this season winning enough games to save everyone's job but being nowhere good enough to contend. I think we need a near complete rebuild from management to coaching to roster construction in order to build a contender and the KC wins neans, most likely, that it will be pushed down the road.

You hit the nail on the head on this one. Like usual, we will be just good enough for anyone to get fired and yet again have a mid-round pick in the first. We need to create the scenario of getting an early first round QB instead of letting it happen organically, as this is certainly not the Kerry Collins led Colts that were destined for a top 5 pick from the get-go.
I honestly don't think Ballard has the stones to move on from somebody like Leonard, Nelson or JT to reset the clock on a roster reconstruction. That is my concern. Maybe we won't need to do that (only if we can enjoy 5 years of a QB on a rookie deal), and order to do THAT, we need one in the first round. See where I am going with this? Something is going to have to happen to turn the tide and I am sick of re-treads. Our current roster can't afford any more 20 million + QB's as of now.
Target your guy and go after him at all costs this offseason Ballard. It is very likely that your job could very well depend on it anyway, and a rookie QB can afford you another 3 years at the helm if he even shows admirably in his first campaign.

Glad I'm not the only one who saw how good of a defensive performance the Colts got yesterday. Special teams certainly helped, but also KC may not have scored a TD had they not been gifted two very short fields from bad turnovers, one of which saw them nearly start in the red zone.

They're the reason for optimism. It was only one week's turnaround to go from tissue paper in JAX to what we saw against KC. The level of D against KC is what our talent should represent going forward. By the way, our best player has yet to take the field.

This gives me hope that the issues on offense can also take a sharp turn in the right direction with some tweaks. I still think a personnel move on the OL (Pinter) is necessary. But also factor in the boost your rookie pass-catchers just gave you and it could be a domino effect it could have on confidence, trust, timing, etc.

it isn't overreacting in september. it is the same damn thing we have seen for years. an unprepared team that loses games it should win.

everyone should be able to understand a fans disappointment in this team. we all knew the holes and issues with the team going into the season. they didn't do enough to fix them. why be happy with failure?

Puck I sincerely hope you are right about this team this year. I’ll keep watching and rooting but expect zilch from this group until they actually do it. It seems like every year in recent memory we hear something like this, just wait, they are getting better. Last year kinda took it out of me. It will take a lot for me to believe in this team now. I do think we have the physical ability, something just seems to be missing.

Yea, I agree with this.... it's like when we beat the Patriots last year. Every single person on the planet knew we were running the ball and JT still broke it for a touchdown.

Every single person in the planet knew our receiving corps was sh**.... when our offense cant function without the likes of Michael Pittman (who is having a Very good year) and Alex Pierce (who had a great game), we are in trouble down the stretch. Meanwhile Julio Jones and TY Hilton are just sitting out there looking for a team (They should both play for us now). This is on Chris Ballard.

The OL I dont think was as obvious. I think by the time it became known that Smith was a step under where he was last year and that Pinter was not working out at guard, we just didn't have any other options to address from a personnel perspective, so we have to figure out how to make what we have work. This is on Frank Reich.

I agree with Puck, I have patience and optimism. At the same time, I think we can all agree that we would have been blown out by the Chiefs if we had played anywhere near the level we played in HOU or JAX. But we weren't because our team found a way to win.

So what team shows up against the Tacks? To be honest, I believe that Chris Ballard, Frank Reich and I are in agreement, we have absolutely no idea.

o


If the Colts can get even a modest improvement on their offensive line (from awful to average), then Matt Ryan, Jonathan Taylor, and Michael Pittman Jr may very well be the super-dangerous trio that everybody expected them to be ...... and if we get back one of the best defensive players in all of football (Shaquille Leonard), the already solid defense may wind up being one of the 5 best of all 32 teams in the NFL.

That said, those are 2 huge "Ifs" ...... it's not necessarily so easy to upgrade an offensive line during the season, and it's quite possible that Shaquille Leonard may wind up missing half of the season.

o

We will spank the Tits Sunday... that is my story and Imma stickin with it!!!:D

I hope so or we're in deep shit.