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Originally Posted by rm1369
The pinnacle of success after 9 years - a stretch going 8-2 yet still missing the playoffs. Maybe we should hang a banner. We’ll see what the new excuse is.
It’s funny how many other teams have found more success than Ballard’s teams. In your mind he has somehow, through no fault of his own, been unusually restricted at the QB position. While other teams are lucky, Ballard is skilled but ohh so unlucky. I’m very curious, since it wasn’t Ballards philosophy that led to Minschew, Flacco, Wentz, and Ryan, what is it that you think led to them being QBs for the Colts? I’ve said before if it’s all luck then why do you want such an unlucky GM controlling everything?
The Rams got pretty damn lucky too. And let’s add SF and TB to the list of teams successfully replacing QBs very recently. Hell for fun I’ll go through how many teams have made the playoffs after changing QBs since Lucks retirement. We already have two SB winners. Bet there have been quite a few playoff teams. All of them I’m sure got lucky or experienced some degree of difficulty beyond what Ballard has though. Right? Shit edited to add Denver. So all 4 teams in the conference finals this year have replaced QBs in less time than Ballard has had. And I’m sure you have an excuse for each one.
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Yes, a few teams found a Quarterback then achieved greater success than the Colts. Cincinnati found Joe Burrow, Buffalo found Josh Allen, Chicago got Caleb Williams. But, I think you underestimate the years, the decades, of futility that preceded the moment they snagged their golden ticket..
Between the day that Jon Gruden hoisted the Lombardi Trophy untl Tom Brady brought them another, the Buccaneers had 5 winning seasons in 17 years. At Quarterback, they shuffled from Johnson to Simms, from Griese to Gradkowski, from Rattay to Garcia, McCown to Leftwich. From Freeman to Johnson to Glennon to Winston, and Fitzpatrick.
Same story in the bay area. In the 16 years before Jimmy Garaffolo came along, the 9’ers made the playoffs 3 times.
In the quarter century before Joe Burrow arrived in Cincinnati, they managed four division titles.
From 1996 until 2020, Buffalo was the poster child for futility.
Heck, any Colt fan should be able to attest to the difficulty of winning without a QB. Between Bert Jones and Peyton Manning yawned a gulf of frustration. I won’t provide a list, but names like Gary Hogeboom, Mike Pagel, and Marty Domres populate my nightmares.
The bottom line is that Quarterbacks, at least good ones, don’t grow on trees. Finding one is like fishing in a septic tank. 9 out of 10 times, you reel in a turd; but, every once in awhile, you cast your line and hook Tom Brady.
Chris Ballard and the Irsay sisters obviously thing that they pulled the handle on the slot machine and it turned up all cherries. If they did, then a decade of dappled sunlight and fields of wildflowers stretch before us. Summer in Westeros. But if they’re wrong, Chris Ballard will find himself in the midst of winter, on the wrong side of the wall, pursued by slavering white walkers.