2026 Pre-Season Game Thread (Consolidated)

[sherck]

The really sad part of the Colts 2026 season is watching us earn the #1 pick in the 2027 draft....

...and watch the Jets draft Arch Manning...

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by ChoppedWood

Are you watching ANY of these other PS games? Perhaps this Eagles Patriots game? Same scenario- scrubs sort of up and down the roster for both teams. You know what is different- players on these teams are executing, they look like competent football players who are coached to do this shit.

Our 2nd and 3rd level players, look absolutely fucking horrible.

And what does that mean exactly? Did you ever watch the Peyton Manning era Colts get thrashed in every pre-season game?

Not to mention that when they played the Bengals in the final pre-season,up until a few years ago, the Bengals always played to win the game, while the Colts were evaluating individual performances of their young players.

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

And what does that mean exactly? Did you ever watch the Peyton Manning era Colts get thrashed in every pre-season game?

Not to mention that when they played the Bengals in the final pre-season,up until a few years ago, the Bengals always played to win the game, while the Colts were evaluating individual performances of their young players.

In the Peyton era it always felt like it was just some guys out there scrapping for some very tail end of the roster spots in pre-season. I always felt in those days that we pretty much had a grasp on 95% of the roster until the final PS game. I remember trying to do the final team rosters and being pretty comfortable with a lot of the names being in the 2nd and in some cases 3rd level.

Now, fuck, man from what I've seen, there are guys that from what I have seen, they shouldn't even be on semi-pro teams out there and in a couple weeks, they are going to be a pulled hammy away from being a starter for this team. Some of these guys on the OL- holy shit they couldn't block me. Not only do a big chunk of these guys not look capable, but in many cases they look confused and not prepared. Several of the AR passes late- there were guys that weren't even looking back for the ball as it was thrown their way. Like he was throwing one route and they were running another. Him, them? Not sure I care because at some point that's a coaching flaw more than a player issue.

[Oldcolt]

I'm probably as down on this team and especially the management as anyone. This game, if anything, makes me feel fine. It was obviously used to evaluate the end of the roster. Nobody, nobody in this league wins with that, but ithey can and do lose games from the bottom of the roster. The evaluation of the first/second stringers happened in the joint practice where you can put your players in exactly the situation you want to see them handle. And a ton more of them. Good teams do this all the time and nobody gives a shit. We have sucked for so long that a game like this makes us 'feel' like it is going down the tubes. Not true, not yet. If we play like this when it counts, Ill buy the first pitchfork. We wont.

[IndyNorm]

While it's true that you can't put much stock in the outcome of preseason games there can still be some concerns and red flags pop up. IMO it's definitely concerning that our 2s and 3s look like complete dogshit against other teams' 2s and 3s, which probably means that our depth across the board is god awful. So when we get a few injuries to our 1s (and we will) then we're probably going to be in deep shit.

[Kray007]

Top 10 things to like about the game

1)

[Kray007]

Originally Posted by Hoopsdoc

Looks like a 6-7 win team to me. A team that CAN be good if everything goes perfect, everyone stays healthy, and they get some luck.

Unfortunately, that’s most likely not going to happen. Not with a quarterback who has only played 16 games once in 7 seasons. Not with a running back who has been one of the most overworked players in the league for several years. And if either of those guys goes down, it’s basically over because there is zero depth behind them.

I’m sure Kray will be along to paint a rosy picture of what COULD be but I’m just not buying it.

Sorry. I sent this turd out to be bronzed, but it hasn’t come back yet.

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

While it's true that you can't put much stock in the outcome of preseason games there can still be some concerns and red flags pop up. IMO it's definitely concerning that our 2s and 3s look like complete dogshit against other teams' 2s and 3s, which probably means that our depth across the board is god awful. So when we get a few injuries to our 1s (and we will) then we're probably going to be in deep shit.

I disagree. Everyone on the field was a second or third string. Put one or two of them in the middle of first stringers and my guess is they can pretty much hold their own. Start putting 4 or 5 on the field and you have issues. Nobody in this league has the depth to replace the whole team. Maybe our depth does suck (I happen to think it does) but I don't think this game proves that quit yet.

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

I disagree. Everyone on the field was a second or third string. Put one or two of them in the middle of first stringers and my guess is they can pretty much hold their own. Start putting 4 or 5 on the field and you have issues. Nobody in this league has the depth to replace the whole team. Maybe our depth does suck (I happen to think it does) but I don't think this game proves that quit yet.

I think the first 2 games pretty much prove it. Think about this for a minute. The guys that are competing for a 2nd string role are playing for a chance to earn ~$1.5M in a year, vs being in the public sector at say $70K. Man, that's a 20X multiplier.

To see what we have seen already, the disparity between what our 2nd and 3rd tier looks like vs peers, man they look fucking dreadful.

So the word is our 1st team has looked good in controlled scrimmages, that's good. But, and this is sooooooo easily glossed over by Colts fans for whatever reason--- and LAST fucking year is about the greatest proof you could ever have... in about 60 days, some of those 1st stringers are going to be on the training table! Last year we lost Danny Dimes on offense and Buck on defense, and the entire team collapsed (I know, corners, I know, OL, I know...). From what I have seen so far, the ability to survive any type of first line fall off, is not even close to being in place.

Again, for those arguing the poor play isn't that big of a deal, that we are taking it easy, that the Falcons came to play after not playing well in practices this week. Again, again these guys are playing to basically get over a million dollars in earnings for the next 9 months, and almost to a man, the guy opposite them on the other team, looks a hell of a lot more committed to earning that cool million vs the mehhh $75K insurance sales job.

To me, looks like Ballard has as usual, not stocked the shelves with survivable talent and it doesn't look like Steichen and co, spend a fucking minute of time developing any of the non-top-shelf players.

[YDFL Commish]

The lowest of the low played in this game.

https://www.colts.com/news/5-colts-t...eseason-week-2

The following players did not participate in Saturday's game, either due to injury or rest after two days of physical, competitive joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons: QB Daniel Jones, RB Jonathan Taylor, RB DJ Giddens, RB Ulysses Bentley IV, WR Alec Pierce, WR Josh Downs, WR Ashton Dulin, WR Keenan Allen, WR Anthony Gould, TE Tyler Warren, TE Mo Alie-Cox, TE Drew Ogletree, TE Will Mallory, T Bernhard Raimann, T Jalen Travis, T Luke Tenuta, T Nolan Rucci, G Quenton Nelson, G Matt Goncalves, G Jalen Farmer, C Tanor Bortolini, DE Laiatu Latu, DE Arden Key, DT DeForest Buckner, DT Grover Stewart, LB Akeem Davis-Gaither, CB Sauce Gardner, CB Charvarius Ward Sr., CB Justin Walley, S AJ Haulcy, S Cam Bynum.