Sunday predictions.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

Honestly, for me, mediocre is the last place I want the Colts to be. Championship favorite, Division champion that has a chance to contend for a championship, Top 5 pick bad, Top 10 pick bad, and mediocre would be my order of preference of the state of the franchise. Mediocrity is a self-perpetuating state of irrelevance. Being at either extreme will get you to the other extreme quicker than being mediocre.

o


"Badness" does not necessarily soon evolve into "goodness."

The Colts went 4-12-1 in 2022, and the went 9-8 and then 8-9 over their next 2 seasons.

The Detroit Lions went 2-14, 3-13, 5-11, 6-10, 5-11, 6-10 3-13, 7-9, 0-16, 2-14, and 6-10 for 10 consecutive seasons between 2001 and 2010 before finally breaking through for a winning season and a playoff berth in 2011 with a 10-6 record ...... and promptly followed that with 2 more bad seasons in 2012 (4-12) and 2013 (3-13.)

The Cleveland Browns went 5-11, 5-11, 4-12, 5-11, 4-12, 7-9, 3-13, 1-15, 0-16, 7-8-1, and 0-16 between 2011 and 2017 ...... that was 7 straight seasons in which they were bad for 5 out of the 7 with 2 mediocre season (7-9 in 2015 and 7-8-1 in 2016) sandwiched in there ...... then they had 2 mediocre seasons in 2018 and 2019 (7-8-1, and 6-10) before finally breaking through with an 11-5 season and a playoff berth in 2020.

The Kansas City Chiefs had 3 bad seasons in a row from 2007 through 2009 (4-12, 2-14, and 4-12.) They did follow that with good season in 2010 (10-6), but dropped back down to mediocrity in 2011 (7-9), and then badness in 2012 (2-14.)


Yes, there are examples in which terrible teams subsequently wound up drafting a great player who almost single-handedly turned a franchise around (Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck), but there are many other examples throughout football history that are contrary to that ...... so like I said, the equation is simple for me ...... I'd rather be mediocre than be bad, I'd rather be good than mediocre, and I'd rather be great than good. I was unhappy with the Colts' mediocre 9-8 season in 2023 when they were one completed pass away from winning the division, but I was a lot less happy with their 4-12-1 record the season before.

o