The AFC South, 2024 Season
 

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At (approximately) the 1/4-mark of the season, the Colts stand at 2-2 overall.



THE TEXANS lllllllllllt, 3-1

THE COLTS lllllllllllllllll 2-2

THE TITANS llllllllllllll 0-3

THE JAGUARS llllllllll. 0-4




Colts Solidify Resilient Foundation With Win Over Steelers as Critical AFC South Stretch Looms

(By J.J. Stankevitz)

https://www.colts.com/news/afc-south...eek-4-analysis

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By god is the south shit. The AFC South is pretty bad at football also.

Rofl. Spit my coffee.

Texans got bills next week

Bills got worked.

Texans don't have the Ravens defense.

Huge opportunity for us next week vs the Jags and the Texans with a tough game. Two division variables we need to have go our way if we are serious about this stuff.

If we neat the 3-0 steelers and cant follow that up with a division road win, well, maybe the Texans should be getting all that man-love...

We have terrible history at Jags. For whatever reason.

I don't like catching a winless Jaguars team in Jacksonville, we may be catching these guys at the wrong time!

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Teams with winning mentalities don't think that way ...... they don't fear teams, and hope that they get the path of least resistance in order to secure enough wins for a playoff berth.

I don't know if the Colts have that winning mentality or not, but they aren't going anywhere if they don't. If they are afraid of an 0-4 team taking their frustrations out on them, and/or if they fear some perceived historical jinx, then they totally suck in the first place.

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Just pointing out I would rather catch them off a win rather than face a totally desperate team that has nothing to lose and will likely be willing to pull out all the stops in front of an angry home crowd! Not sure where you got all the fear and jinx bullshit from what I said, but I bet the Colts are fully aware that a winless Jaguar team at home will a very dangerous animal!:rolleyes:

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The jinx bullshit is what has been stated ad-nauseum here on ColtFreaks in regard to the Colts' losing streak playing on the Jaguars home-field. The Colts have lost 9 straight games to the Jaguars in Jacksonville, and many posters have not only pointed that out, but have asserted that the Colts will necessarily lose to them again this year because of that. If you are not in that party of posters, and if you never, ever stated anything like that in any of your posts, then I'm sorry.


In regard to the original point, teams that look to be catching their opponents coming off of a win rather than a loss are going nowhere. None of the teams that perennially make it to conference championship game or the Super Bowl ever worry about things like that. If the Colts are worried about catching the Jaguars because the Jaguars are angry and frustrated about losing their most recent game, then the Colts are not in the same stratosphere as the teams that are bona-fide contenders to make deep playoff runs.

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I smell a win in the works as long as Gus keeps his head out of his ass and changes up a bit maybe with some additional blitz packages for example.

Also hoping Trey Sermon can step it up more to give Taylor a light load or longer rest.

Mixing a bit of AR and Old Man Flacco here or there may also add a twist that catches the Fagwires unprepared. :D

Just sayin...

I think it is just the fans that think that way. Yes, coached acknowledge when a team is desperate, but they don't prefer a team coming off a win.

If a team is just bad and lacks talent, I agree, playing them after win or a loss is meaningless. But when a team has talent, has lost a number of close games, and is on the verge of elimination from any hopes of a post season....it's a bad time to catch them! And no, coaches aren't going to say that out loud, players are not going to say it either, but the Jags are due to have break out game!

Just my opinion of course, I hope it doesn't happen, but it isn't superstition or a jinx, it's just how bad do you want it. Playing a talented, desperate, and winless team at home is going to be a challenge!

Add in the fact that I just got a call from 56th Street and was asked if I have time to suit up on Sunday because no one else is available to suit up for this game and it doesn't look good for the shoe tomorrow.

I agree with everything here. But, then we would be operating under the assumption that the Jags players have not at least partially chalked this up as a lost season.

They are saying my man Joe will be starting, now, and Anthony is downgraded to doubtful. Will be interesting to see who steps up as depleted as da Coats are.

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That's 10 straight losses in northeastern Florida for the Colts, now.

More significantly, instead of being having a fairly solid 3-2 record after 5 games which is what a win would have brought, the Colts now have a precarious and shaky 2-3 record after the loss.

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Salvation, at least for the time being.




Joe Flacco Throws 2 TD Passes, as the Battered Colts Beat the Titans 20-17

(By Teresa M. Walker)

https://sports.yahoo.com/joe-flacco-...202020779.html

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The Colts are playing the Jets on November 17th, in northern New Jersey.

Adams will be reuniting with l Aaron Rodgers, l who played together for the Packers for 8 seasons from 2014 through 2021.




Raiders, Jets Agree on Trade for Star Wide Receiver

(By Vincent Bonsignore)

https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports...eiver-3189867/

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llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllll (MID-SEASON EVALUATION)



What we know: ) They compete. The Colts aren't contenders, but they've managed to stay relevant in the AFC despite underperforming on defense and being plagued with injuries to top performers such as QB Anthony Richardson, RB Jonathan Taylor and DT DeForest Buckner. They have been in every game, and their three losses have come by an average of 3.7 points.


What we don't know yet: ) There's still no clarity on the long-term prospects of Richardson, who was benched Tuesday in favor of veteran Joe Flacco. Richardson has started just 10 games but now faces at an uncertain future after performing more unevenly this season than in his four starts in 2023. The Colts' 2025 QB outlook is now murkier than ever.


Stat that defined the 1st half of the season: ) The Colts rank 12th in points allowed (21.3) despite ranking 29th in opponent yards per game. That has allowed the Colts to hang on even when their defense is seemingly struggling to stop opponents. The Colts have found ways to get late stops or produce timely turnovers that have loomed large.


Biggest injury concern: ) Jonathan Taylor has made significant progress with his right ankle injury, but his difficulties with that same ankle date back to the 2022 season and seem to have become a recurring issue.



Stephen Holder


https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...critical-stats

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NEW YORK JETS lllllllllllllllll - 21


HOUSTON TEXANS llllllllllll - 13

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I am starting to think the 2023 QB class is an all-time stinker. Stoud is looking not like the guy we thought he was.

But, he's looking a lot better than AR !

So far this year, he's regressed, but yesterday he played without his two primo WRs. I still think he's elite. I know a lot of QBing is being able to read the D etc., but IMO, only Mahomes has more IT factor. By that I mean, being able to improvise when a play breaks down.

He got really beat up last night, he is not that good when he is pressured....Colts really need to make a premiere DE their first pick in the next draft!

Go look at the Texans remaining games and tell me the Colts can’t win the division, I challenge everyone

I agree, but losing last weekend made it oh so much more unlikely.

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The Colts can win the division.


The Colts can make it to the AFC championship game.


The Colts can beat the Chiefs in the AFC championship game, and make it to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2009.



What the Colts ACTUALLY DO is often not the same story as what they CAN DO.

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I still believe Richardson is the QB if the future but there’s a hell of an opportunity to win now this year. So sit the rest of this season, watch how Flacco operates and next year be ready to roll. Similar to how the chiefs had Mahomes sit while Alex smith had a nice playoff run that year

The Colt's are 3 games behind the Texans, they can't win the division.

Did you watch the Texans play last night? They may not win another game. That entire game was painful to watch. Both teams seemed disinterested in even playing football. It was as bad or worse than a preseason game.

Technically they're 1.5 back currently, and will stay 1.5 back with a win on Sunday (1 plus tiebreak is effectively 1.5). If the Colts can get out of the next 4 games at 2-2, they could run the table on the last 5. If that happens, the Colts are 11-6, and likely the 3-5 seed. Lions, Cowboys, Dolphins with Tua, Chiefs, and Ravens are all very loseable games for the Texans, and the Titans or Jaguars usually upset them once per year. The Texans could easily lose 7 or 8 games. That would open the door for the Colts if they don't completely shit the bed over the next month.

This OL is not going to hold up. Rookie LT starting Sunday night. Flacco will not be the QB for the remainder of the season.

So then AR comes back in and continues to develop? You seem to like being angry.

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The Colts are 4-4 ...... you should have seen him when they started the 2011 season at 0-13.

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Well, I am just putting out there my prognostications- from what I have observed, this OL is not going to give Joe sufficient protection to make it another 9 games.

If Joe does go down, I would love nothing else than for AR to come back and develop. However, there just isn't a track record to lean on where we can say there is precedent for this. This is a 22 year old dude, given the keys, told he was the chosen one, stamped with the C on his chest, and all of it taken away from him in an instant.

We also cannot lose track of the fact that the narrative was- HE IS A DEVELOPMENT PLAYER- HE WAS GOING TO HAVE THIS LONG RAMP TO GROW AND LEARN THROUGH HIS MISTAKES.... that had to be part of his psyche as well- probably never admit it but there had to be some element of "okay, that was a bad mistake but I still have runway to work with"- had to be in his head....NOPE- "these MF'ers lied to me" also has to be in his head now.

No the far greater likelihood is he never bounces back from this. That's why I keep saying move him, move him now. If he goes the route of a lot of other dudes that have been down this well beaten path, right now is the high water mark for his market value. If you don't have faith in his ability to perform, then get what you can from somebody that is willing to take a flier (Browns?) and begin rebuilding.

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The only saving grace with that is that Flacco has done a complete turnaround since the early portion of his career in a vital area ...... pocket-presence.

When Flacco played for the Ravens, he had AWFUL pocket-presence.

In the few games that he has played for the Colts this season, he has had EXCELLENT pocket-presence.

There have been numerous occasions in which he averted what looked like a sure sack, and managed to instead throw an incomplete pass ...... it's like he's a completely different QB in that area compared to earlier in his career, and that's vital if your offensive line is erratic.

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Yes, he has been exceptional in that capacity so far for us. I was just really disappointed in the OL in pass pro last week. These next 4 are going to be tough. I am not impressed at all with the Jets, particularly on O, but that defense can get real nasty- they put some wicked hits on Stroud last night.