(05-29-2022, 05:44 PM)Bullseye Wrote: As the dreaded dead period of the offseason quickly approaches, here are some of the things running through my mind...

1.  I wonder if the Colts had beaten the Raiders in week 17 last year, making the playoffs, and still lost to us in exactly the same way they did, would they have made all of the changes they did?  Would Irsay have been so pissed afterward? Was it the loss of two straight games that got him, was it missing the playoffs that got him, or was it losing to the Jaguars in such a fashion that rankled him?   Would Wentz have been scapegoated and traded like he was?  Would they have made the moves for Matt Ryan and Ngakoue?  These questions make me go back and forth as to whether the Colts overreacted to the loss to the Jaguars.  Wentz hadn't thrown an INT on the road all year prior to the Jaguars gamem and the Colts beat an impressive array of teams along the way, including Buffalo, New England and Arizona.  By the same token, they had some deficiencies on the roster.  LT was a problem by season's end, as was a lack of speed at WR.  Nor were they able to generate much of a pass rush.  I think it was the loss to the Jaguars that pissed him off as much as anything.  The team could have concluded on its own it needed help in the other positions like WR, TE, and DE but it's fun to think we could have created a panic driven meltdown.
2.  This division gets a lot of crap from national media pundits for not being particularly strong, but as far as head coaches are concerned, I think the AFC South ranks maybe 3rd overall behind the AFC North and NFC West.  Going by division, the AFC East has an all time great coach in Belichick, a very good coach in Buffalo, and two relative unknowns in Saleh and McDaniels.  The NFC East is not very good in terms of coaching, IMO.  Ron Rivera is a good coach.  McCarthy?  Not so much.  Daboll is unproven, and Sirianni surprised last year, but I'm not yet sold on him.  The AFC North is loaded with good coaches with Tomlin and Harbaugh at the top.  Taylor seemed to be on the hotseat after his first two years, but then got the Bengals to within a play of winning the Super Bowl.  Stefanski is a good coach, but being the one guy in the division that has yet to reach a Super Bowl, he has to rank at the bottom.  In the NFC North, LaFleur has won in the regular season with the Packers, but has flopped at home in the playoffs.  Eberflus is well respected and comes from the Colts, but has no HC experience on the NFL level.  The Vikings' new guy comes from the Rams, and Campbell hasn't won yet, but seems to have the Lions headed in a good direction.  The NFC South is in transition.  Gone are Super Bowl winning coaches in New orleans' Sean Payton and Tampa's Bruce Arians, both of whom were replaced by defensive coordinators (Bowles in Tampa and Allen in New Orleans).  I see no way Rhule can save his job with no QB, and Smith is in his second year.  I think the NFC West is the other division that boasts better coaches from top to bottom than the AFC North.  Seattle's Pete Carroll and the Rams' McVay have noth been to two Super Bowls winning one.  Shanahan has been to a Super Bowl, just barely losing to the Chiefs.  Arizona's Kliff Kingsbury has brought a pass happy attack to the Crdinals and got them to the playoffs, but I'm still not sold on him.  All four of the guys in the AFC South have proven to be able to take a team at least to the playoffs.  Pederson won it all in Philly.  Lovie Smith took the Bears to SB XLI, Vrabel has taken the tacks to multiple playoff appearances, and Reich has done a good job with the Colts. 

3.  By season's end, I think the Jaguars will have the best QB and the best LB corps in the division.

4.  I think the Texans will have a sneaky good OL.  Tunsil is currently the best LT in the division.  Cann has been a steady veteran throughout his career.  Nothing great, but steady.  Kenyon Green could be a very good rookie.  To me, the big question comes at RT.  Still not sold on either of the guys they drafted 2-3 years ago- Tytus Howard or Max Scharping.

5.  Getting back to coaching, I think Vrabel is a much better coach than Jeff Fisher could ever dream of being, and he does it without coaching cheap shots, having a mullet or a unibrow.

6.  How long will the Colts continue on this merry go round of geriatric QBs?  If they are not careful, they could end up like the Schottenheimer era Chiefs in this regard-having devent to good vets behind C, but none good enough to quite get them over the top.  Maybe Reich being a former QB, can manage to be more inventive in the passing game and get more out of their QBs than Marty did.  But if the Colts manage to falter short of the playoffs again this year, we may not find out long term, especially if they lose again to the Jaguars.

7.  Last year in week 18, we had the pleasure of knocking the Colts out of the playoffs.  This year in week 18, we host the tacks.  While I think the tacks have a chance of dropping off considerably this year, there is still a chance they could hold on to contend for the playoffs this year.  Wouldn't it be great if we knocked them out of the playoffs like we did the Colts last year?

I enjoy the musings. 

1. With Irsay at the helm, anything is possible in terms of motivation. Either way, I enjoy our Jags being part of the equation for any sense of panic in Indy. 

2. There are quality coaches in this division. No doubt. The Pederson hire really rounded it out with some certainty.
I hate that I like respect Vrabel, but I do. He's done well.

3.

 

4. I'm glad we've added run stuffers and pass rushers

5. 




6. 
Watching the Jags sack a statuesque Ryan 5 times in a game would make me giddy. 

7. It will be interesting to see who wins the war of attrition the NFL season brings to every team in our division, and this contest will be telling in that regard.

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