quick thoughts on the gayders game
 

1) Jones can play. this wasn't a great game from him but you can win a lot of games with his ability

2) downs, warren and Dulin are great players at what they do. championship level players. downs was amazing today

3) our lbers are terrible

4) we really need to get some more dudes at dt. draft or free agency. we need more dudes here. grover may be out for awhile and that will kill us

5) blackmon needs to stay on his feet

6) cross is a really good player and we need to pay him. he isn't bob sanders but he makes some plays like him

7) nelson pulling is just beautiful

8) JT has really improved his catching and blocking. love to see it

9) pass rush is just not good. paye can't get home at all.

10) really want to see us upgrade our dt's, lbers and guards next year. for guards more depth depending on what we do with goncalves and smith

11) great win. this team is a legit playoff team.

Need better DTs and an elite pass rusher at EDGE to pair with Latu. Would've been nice to get more than Tim Smith out of last year's deep DT class.

Agree with everything in this post. Where are the Ballard haters now?

Regarding pass rush help:

I've seen a few names mentioned in the last few days.

Drake Jackson - drafted in the 2nd Round by the 49'ers. Had decent production when he was healthy...but staying healthy has been a problem. However...supposedly he is fully healthy right now and he has a few visits lined up with teams this week (Wash, NYJ, Balt, etc). He is a free agent...so there is really no downside to bringing him in for a look. If the visit goes well, sign him to the practice squad and slowly ramp up his usage and hope he can make it to the end of the year.

Jaelan Phillips - drafted in 1st Round by the Dolphins. The Dolphins aren't going anywhere this year and they have already indicated that Phillips is available since he is on the last year of his contract. Again, his injury history isn't great. But might be worth a gamble if the asking price isn't too high. Could potentially receive a comp pick if the Colts don't intend to re-sign him next year.

-One of those anti-stats games.

-I cannot believe the CB room this year. Absolutely merc'd over and over. Are we going to have to call Stephon Gilmore again at this point? My God.

-Trujillo tried out for the Falcons... is that the call? Shrader went straight for his knee and the early word seems to be that it's not good.

-LB will need to be a priority next season. I think Franklin is playing fine-to-good mostly, but even he is about to be 30. McGrone is already gone, Bachie is not a starter. Rewatching Leonard this week makes it more apparent.

-Agreed on DT. And where was Latu today? Weird to say because he got an INT.

-Nick Cross may be the #1 re-sign priority ahead of Pierce and Smith (depending on Travis). He should've had that INT.

-Josh Downs doesn't have wow-stats... but he's awesome. There's not a stat for the value of a catch-and-conversion that he gives you.

He needs to name that little loopdy-loop move he does, because he's been fucking defenders up with it for a while now.

-I'm glad Dulin is on our team. Mitchell coming in and not seeing AR audible the route is why his all-world talent is on the bench.

-Did anybody else feel it when AR and Mitchell came in? It was brief, but it was like... man, I remember what the past few years have felt like.

-Jones is just efficient as hell in this offense. And he hangs in there under pressure. Not panicking.

-At this point, JT seems like he'll get the elusive third contract as a RB. There's a BUNCH of interesting contract decisions to be made for '25 and '26.

Mike Badgley is available, considering the injury to Schrader, I think the Colts should give him a call....if they haven't already!

I think Indianapolis Jones might be higher priority than them.

5 is an understatement, he has seemed decent much of the time, but he need to reaccess his cleats or something.

7. It truly is, amazing how quickly he can get there and his nonstop motor, love that guy.

8. It is amazing to see a RB at this point in his career add so much to his game.

I agree Jones can play but I always feel like he’s very limited physically and relies very much on his brain and his supporting cast. It doesn’t seem to me like he can win a game outright just on his physical talent alone like all the great quarterbacks can.

He’s still a helluva lot better than AR. And he’s fun to watch when he’s dealing.

Blankenship?

Nah, forget that. I don’t miss that squirrelly bastard.

I would love to have him back if the NFL bans >45 yard FGs.

CBs will be an issue all season

Linebackers will be an issue all season. Bachie was awful today.

Stopping the run in general is an issue. Especially if Stewart misses games.

I'm worried about the kicker now. Badgely would probably be okay, but we're going to have to rely on one to win a game eventually.

I'm loving the offense. All of it except for AD. Warren looks like a superstar in the making. Downs is only getting better. Dulin was great.

When AR and company played in the 4th, it looked like last year. Circus act.

I'm not a huge Steichen fan, but he's been mostly okay. I don't want a change or anything at HC.

Most of this has already been covered, and I never do these, but I'm happy with the big win today. Long my it continue.

Here are some crazy stats from this game / season:

https://x.com/mchappell51/status/1974941074033701241

https://x.com/ColtsConti/status/1974963828459987051

https://x.com/ColtsConti/status/1974961821703668189

https://x.com/ColtsConti/status/1974958396089753774

https://x.com/ZachHicks2/status/1975165206113219065

I'm not sure who on this board would qualify as the most optimistic fan, but I am sure that the Colts have exceeded even that persons expectations. They only need 3 more wins to reach what I thought would be the total number of wins for the season.

o


Me.



https://www.coltfreaks.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=200232

o

I’d also like to go on record and say that the touchdown pass to Pittman was as good a throw as you will ever see from any quarterback. That was a thing of beauty.

it was perfect. on the run and put it in pretty much the perfect spot.

I noticed it on replay. DJ has been very accurate

I picked them to win 4-7 games, and closer to 4 than 7. I've been VERY surprised and pretty ecstatic as far as I usually go!

Moving right and throwing across his body like a fastball laser beam. Looked like a Mahomes throw (when he's locked in and on).

That throw was on a rope and fit into a tight window. Pay the man!

I agree. At this point, it is not a fluke, and the sooner we extend, the better deal the Colts get. However, I am not sure how soon he can be extended. I am thinking it won't be until the end of the season, but I am not sure.

I may be in the minority here but I say wait. It’s only been 5 games. If we get to late November/December and he’s still cooking, go for it.

But it’s still a pretty small sample size right now.

I'm with you in this, but would go a steep further. If this continues for the rest of the season, franchise him. If he then dies it again next year, THEN give him the big money deal. 2023 Daniel Jones is a thing that happened.

no need to pay the guy right now.

hell we could slap the tag on him next year if we wanted. I wouldn't do that if he keeps playing well but we could

I saw someone say that the more film teams get on Jones in Steichens offense, the harder it will be for him to keep this up. Which is true.

I also think Jonathon Taylor’s role in how well Jones is playing has been seriously understated. Taylor is playing as well as he ever has and it puts an extreme amount of pressure on defenses.

If he got hurt, I think Jones would suffer tremendously.

A lot of information is still needed before we crown the guy, that’s all I’m saying.

For sure, and we don't seem to have a decent backup like when we had Moss.

Warren. Warren has changed the entire dynamic of this offense. TE went from being entirely absent to a if not the focal point. This guy is special, a unicorn as they say in the NBA who is exceptional at everything it seems. Brings a mentality we needed. Everyone looks good when you are winning but Warren stands above and is a freaking rookie.

I am with the group that wants to see DJ navigate this offense when we have several players out. Can he elevate his game and carry a team? If he can give him whatever he wants, if he can't still sign him but not at the absolute top level. If he needs top talent to win you need to be able to retain top talent.

He's just going to get more expensive, the longer you wait. Not only that, but we will certainly get out bid for Jones services, if he hits the free agent market.

Ehhh, it’s gotta be a fit for Jones. He doesn’t wanna end up back in a situation like New York.

There is a world in which Minnesota wants to resign him if Mcarthy doesn’t work out, in which case I would be concerned.

This is assuming he continues playing at a high level.

We have the ability to tag him and work out a deal.

maybe that is right. more film and the defense will catch up. but my question is, what are they going to really stop?

our oline is keeping him clean. and he was blitzed a lot early in the season. are they going to just drop into zone? JT time. pretty sure Warren and downs will eat in that scenario. but maybe. I am not a DC but if our line is healthy, how are they going to disrupt this offense to a point where we are bad?


he has been very on point with his accuracy up to 25 yards I believe. they going to bring all there guys in close? I like our odds here even if his deep ball isn't great. chuck that shit up to pierce and Pittman.

this offense is legit pretty much across the board. sure I could see him coming back to earth some but I really don't see a scenario where we aren't a top 8 offense in this league.

Exactly. What are you going to stop? In the passing game we have multiple options, and then some. You going to stack the box and stop JT? Sure go ahead, and we will still beat you with our passing game.

Tyler Warren is our X-factor that no team can account for. Let's not forget that we have not even used the Daniel Jones running game, or a whole lot of the things that we can do with Tyler Warren, or AR. Show me a defense that can stop us? We stopped ourselves vs the Rams,. so that doesn't even count.

Keep it up 44 That's why you have a C