Quote:
Originally Posted by Racehorse
You can't tell me that if Luck hadn't retired and if we had stayed healthy that this team couldn't have competed with the top of the league this year, or at least the top of the AFC. Ballard did it right, but things went very south for us from the day Luck retired all through the myriad of injuries, from Turay to TY.
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Racehorse, when I said the team is further away regardless of Luck I think I should have clarified. I didn’t mean with Luck on this current team they are further away (yes that would be a ridiculous statement), I meant if Luck had never came back from the shoulder injury. That was the concern at the time Ballard took the job - that Luck would never recover and was done. IIRC there were rumors of him considering retirement then. That’s what I’m referring to. And again, that wasn’t so much a knock on Ballard (I understand he wouldn’t be looking for a QB if he expected Luck to return) as a comment on the perceived optimism because of the mediocre season and facing an offseason with no QB, possibly no LT, and huge question marks on the pass rush.
I disagree that Ballard did it right though even when I agree Lucks retirement screwed him. They lost to KC in the playoffs largely because of holes that were evident before the season started. Ballard did little to address them because of his long term plan. And if Luck had played this year IMO Ballard still was rolling with the long term over what was lacking for this season. If they went to the AFC title game with Luck but lost because of a lack of a pass rush and poor interior DLine play, you’d be saying the plan was all working. I’d see it as a missed opportunity. Just the difference in our views.
Again, I’ll point out that the exact reason I believe in being more aggressive is because of how quickly it all changes. Did I expect Luck to retire because of an off season leg injury? Of course not. But I absolutely did realize he was always one play away from not being the Colts QB going forward. That’s why wasting seasons banking on guys like Tyquan Lewis, Terrell Basham, and Quincy Wilson pissed me off. It’s why I thought it was stupid to cut guys like Simons and Hankins. You don’t gift guys spots, you make them earn it. But Ballards plan wasn’t to put the best team he could out there last year or this year. It was to do exactly what Chaka said - build that supposed base for long term success. Sounds great, but don’t use the unpredictable nature of the NFL as an excuse when it’s the very reason I argued against that method.