Predict your Final 4

[cdumler7]

And no scientific proof for Luck and Indy. But last year might be that "hiccup year" I guess you could call it early in a lot of good QB's teams. Like Brady 8-8 after the SB or Manning the year Mora got fired, or Ben the year after his first SB or Elway after that SB loss to SF, Brees' 2nd year in NO, or Montana that first strike season. Just that year where things fell apart then picked right back up.

Again no evidence to say it will... Probably will look like a dumb choice but oh well just for fun.

Oh like you said as good a choice as any at this point to really rebound. My biggest thing is I just look at the team around him and just don't see a Championship caliber roster. Now realize I know that many times young guys come out of nowhere to shock us and some team is much more improved than people think and maybe that is Indy. For me though I have seen a history of relying way too much on the QB and very poor drafting at times that has really hurt them. They also haven't always made the best moves FA wise as lately they seem more about the big splash name than filling in the spots they actually need. Sometimes a really bad year though humbles a team and they can rebound quickly.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

Oh like you said as good a choice as any at this point to really rebound. My biggest thing is I just look at the team around him and just don't see a Championship caliber roster. Now realize I know that many times young guys come out of nowhere to shock us and some team is much more improved than people think and maybe that is Indy. For me though I have seen a history of relying way too much on the QB and very poor drafting at times that has really hurt them. They also haven't always made the best moves FA wise as lately they seem more about the big splash name than filling in the spots they actually need. Sometimes a really bad year though humbles a team and they can rebound quickly.

Agree, top paid defense last year and it surely didn't play like that. Then they go out and sign every ancient guy they can find to put around Luck.

 

[cdumler7]

Agree, top paid defense last year and it surely didn't play like that. Then they go out and sign every ancient guy they can find to put around Luck.

For me it was not so much that they went out and signed every ancient guy they could. It was more the signings just didn't seem necessary. Andre Johnson was putting strength on strength. You already have a very good WR in Hilton. You already had a guy showing incredible promise in Moncreif. And then you draft a WR in the 1st round and then sign Andre Johnson on top of that. Just doesn't seem like great use of your resources especially if you think you are a major contender that year which most thought Indy would be.

On top of that it was the ridiculous lack of resources put towards the trenches. Luck already had taken quite the beating in his career before last year because they continued to ignore the trenches but last year especially we saw that there is a breaking point. To me I would rather invest in a very good OL to put in front of my QB than that of the skill position players. A great QB can make those skill position players look better than they are but if you have a terrible OL and you are depending on your QB to go out and win games eventually that is going to come crashing down.

Really both sides of the line they struggled. We saw the year before that in the Championship game where New England just ran down their throats. Not like NE had a great run game by any means but they knew that was the weakness of Indy and they exploited it perfectly. Have to wait and see if their moves this off season helped shore up some of those problems.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

For me it was not so much that they went out and signed every ancient guy they could. It was more the signings just didn't seem necessary. Andre Johnson was putting strength on strength. You already have a very good WR in Hilton. You already had a guy showing incredible promise in Moncreif. And then you draft a WR in the 1st round and then sign Andre Johnson on top of that. Just doesn't seem like great use of your resources especially if you think you are a major contender that year which most thought Indy would be.

On top of that it was the ridiculous lack of resources put towards the trenches. Luck already had taken quite the beating in his career before last year because they continued to ignore the trenches but last year especially we saw that there is a breaking point. To me I would rather invest in a very good OL to put in front of my QB than that of the skill position players. A great QB can make those skill position players look better than they are but if you have a terrible OL and you are depending on your QB to go out and win games eventually that is going to come crashing down.

Really both sides of the line they struggled. We saw the year before that in the Championship game where New England just ran down their throats. Not like NE had a great run game by any means but they knew that was the weakness of Indy and they exploited it perfectly. Have to wait and see if their moves this off season helped shore up some of those problems.

Yeah, bad moves all around. Of course with Peyton you could have Tony Ugoh as your left tackle and he'd be the least sacked QB in the league somehow still.

 

[cdumler7]

Yeah, bad moves all around. Of course with Peyton you could have Tony Ugoh as your left tackle and he'd be the least sacked QB in the league somehow still.

True but what we saw with Peyton is when he did go against some of the better teams who could take away those quick throws he struggled. Not every team had the players to stop that. So when Peyton couldn't get it done the problem was they didn't have anything else to lean on. Earlier in his career they had a run game but then they had some terrible defenses that put them in some bad holes in the playoffs forcing them to become one dimensional. Right now unfortunately I see Luck heading down that same path. A team that leans way too much on him and struggles to build the all-around team needed to win a championship. Not saying he can't and I'm guessing at some point he does get it done but the Colts organization is a far cry from how the Patriots have worked to build a very good team around Tom Brady to make sure that he isn't expected to win every single game.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

100% there..

But now that line isn't just about the QB having to throw quicker and maybe struggle, but actually keeping him standing and not getting hit every down.

I've always thought there's two things I really wouldn't want to pay to get via trade or FA. A Shanahan running back or a Peyton Manning offensive linemen.

I agree the Colts really need to start getting those things fixed. If they can draft well, this year looks like they worked to address it (3 OL, DT and ILB in their first 6 picks). But they've got to hit on more than just skill positions on offense which has been an issue post-Polian.

That was one of the things they did extremely well in the early Peyton years there. I was trying to think off the top of my head who their big FA pickups in the Manning years were, and all I could come up with was Vinatieri, Corey Simon, and McFarland. Simon and McFarland were done (Simon had issues with the coaches and I think it was arthritis, McFarland played half a season). A kicker is really the only impact big name FA I can think of them getting. Polian pretty much completely ignored FA.

 

[Rex Racer]

NE - Cincy
Carolina - Dallas

 

[Davis_Mike]

Jacksonville
Denver

Minnesota
Giants

 

[Wamu]

AFC: Browns & Jags
NFC: 49ers & Bucs

 

[Southieinnc]

Seattle vs. Dallas
New England vs. Pittsburgh

 

[Clayton]

3 expected teams and 1 unexpected team is probably the average. I'll guess:


Kansas City Houston
Arizona Seattle

 

[NWPATSFAN]

I don't give Indy a good chance, I wouldn't bet a dime on my teams there, just was going for one surprise team ( a-la Car 15-1 after a 7 win season last year for example when everyone had Sea, GB, Dal, Det, etc figured ahead of them).

Come on Rockin don't be like that. Indy fans really want to raise another runner up banner.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

Not taking a safe pick for either CG. I like the odds one unexpected team makes it this year.

NE vs HOU
MN vs AZ

 

[Scapegoat]

Panthers-Cards
Pats-Steelers

Cards-Steelers rematch

GB, Denver and Seattle could prove me wrong.

 

[BloodType49]

9ers vs Bears
Browns vs Chargers

 

[rmilia1]

Atlanta/Minnesota
Kansas City/NYJ

Just to be different

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

Jets @ KC

Giants @ GB

 

[J-Rod]

AFC: Pittsburgh vs. New England

NFC: Arizona vs. Green Bay

 

[TP76]

Arizona - Green Bay
KC - New England

 

[tducey]

Colts/Steelers
Panthers/Vikings

Steelers over Panthers in Super bowl.