It’s Popular To … Kill the Indianapolis Colts
NFL January 7th. 2009, 9:00am
It hasn’t even been 90 hours since the Colts’ season ended. The toe tag has been applied, but the body is barely cold. So far, the outcry has been laughable:
* The Colts are underachievers
* The Colts should part ways with Tony Dungy
* Peyton Manning is a postseason choke artist
Maybe we’re the only ones not surprised by the loss to San Diego because we thought Indy was a 9-win team. By our count, the Colts were extremely fortunate (read: lucky) to beat: the Texans (Sage!), the Vikings (Childress!), the Patriots (one penalty!), and the Steelers (Big Ben’s picks at the end of each half). At the same time, people seem to be treating the Chargers’ 8-8 mark as if the Bolts were some vastly inferior team. Didn’t this identical squad (sans Michael Turner and injured Shawne Merriman) go into Indy last January and rally to win with a backup QB and LT doing as little as he did Saturday?
Altogether now: Breathe. Say it quietly: Bring Dungy back. Find a DT. Keep Addai healthy. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
50 Responses to “It’s Popular To … Kill the Indianapolis Colts”
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January 7th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Funniest thing I’ve heard today… the radio guys were just trashing Whitlock on the Ball St. beat down.
“Somewhere, a Kansas City columnist is crying tears of bbq sauce this morning.”
January 7th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Don’t forget about the Chargers (Norv!)
January 7th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I agree with all of those statements, you’ve gone soft TBL. Give them a different (can’t say better, Dungy is good) coach and they have several more playoff wins and probably another ring.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:08 am
When teams in the NFL are close to evenly matched, the outcome of games are often decided by which team gets the most “breaks.” Or what you call luck. The Colts this year simply weren’t that much better than their opponents, but Manning, Freeney and Mathis seemed to always make a big play at the right time. Free agency has picked away at the nuts and bolts of this team (read: offensive line, defensive line, linebackers) and this year it finally showed up in a big way. The Colts and Chargers are, essentially, about as close to evenly matched as two teams can get. In November, the Colts got a play at the end of the game. Last weekend, the Chargers did. Not sure why everyone in the media is all doom and gloom.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:09 am
I used to hate the Colts and wished they never won a SB and then they beat my Bears. But I don’t hate these guys anymore for people to throw Tony Dungy and Peyton under the bus is ignorant.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Complete bullshit.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Bill Polian is to blame
/Bills fan
January 7th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Where’s Mike NYC? There is no such thing as luck in sports. Everything that happens on a field, diamond, or court can be attributable to one team doing the things it needed to do to win games.
/conventional wisdom’d
January 7th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Definitely bring Dungy back. Certainly get a DT that plays the run. I’m not sold that Addai is that good, a hard runner like Rhodes looked better most of the season. They also need help at the WR position. Harrison is too and slow to get open anymore and Gonzalez is a slot receiver at best.
Btw, that GMAC Bowl last night was sad. It really wasn’t that bad until the 3rd Qtr when it started raining it’s ass off and what little crowd was there seemed to vanish. Just didn’t seem right to be watching that in January.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Easy to say when it’s impossible to prove. But I know insanity when I see it. And that’s insanity.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Sorry bsanders, its true. In the playoffs the Colts just never match the intensity of the other team and have been routinely outcoached. Dungy’s a great coach, but its time to move on (although I would prefer a new coach, not some career assistant).
January 7th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Agree with the first three points, but Gonzalez should slide to the outside opposite Wayne. When subbing for Harrison or lined up on the outside, he’s a beast. He was killing the Chargers until he fucked up his hip again in the second quarter. Addai, it appears, has regressed. He doesn’t finish runs like Rhodes and he jets for the sideline way more than he did his first year and a half. Sure, he’s trying to save his body because he gets banged up so much, but it’s also not like they’re running him into the ground with 350+ carries like they did with Edge.
Of course, Addai ain’t no Edge.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:17 am
It’s funny how everyone is saying that the Colts are frauds after a loss to a team that many in the pre-season were predicting to be in the SB. It’s not like the Colts lost to a scrub team.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:21 am
That’s absurd. In 2003 and 2004 he lost to a better TEAM. In 2005, his son offed himself and they ran into a Steelers team that was on fire and was 15-1 the year prior with a rookie QB. In 2006, he took probably the third-best team in the AFC to a championship. In 2007, his usually reliable WR’s turned the ball over THREE times in plus territory against a very good Chargers team. Saturday, the Chargers got a game-changing performance from their punter and the Colts o-line couldn’t pick up two yards when they needed it to seal the game.
But yes, it’s all Dungy’s fault. And let’s go ahead and blame Manning for it, too. We should get rid of both of them. Let’s throw tons of money at Bill Cowher and trade for Jake Delhomme.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I think one really needs to look at what the Colts and Bucs were like before the arrival of Dungy. He took a team led by Shaun King at QB and almost led them to the Super Bowl.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:23 am
The Chargers are going to get creamed this week.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:23 am
bsanders - You think Gonzalez is better on the outside? I’m sure you watch a lot more Colts games than me.
And Addai looks broke down. He didn’t break tackles at all this year. They really may need to address the RB situation in the draft this year. Get a larger back.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Oh, it’s true, it’s damn true
January 7th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Things you can attribute to “luck” during a football game:
1. fumble recovery
2. a FG hitting the goalpost and bouncing either way.
3 ….. ?
4. The Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl
/Nick P’d?
January 7th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Saturday, the Chargers got a game-changing performance from their punter
That really shouldn’t be over-looked. Scifres really was the game changer, other than Sproles.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Also, his kicker missed a gimme for the win. Fuckin’ kickers.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I think so. He looked really good subbing there for Harrison this year, and he’s played there quite a bit this season when they’ve moved Wayne into the slot. The only knocks on Gonzo are he’s a bit brittle and he still hasn’t gotten the knack for knowing where the first-down marker is. I can’t count the number of times he picks up seven on third and eight. I think if they have Wayne and Gonzo on the outside, draft a slot receiver and still have Clark, they’ll be fine. Their passing game is fine, it’s the line’s inability to run block that allows teams to always play two deep against them that killed Manning’s YPA this year.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:29 am
I think it was for the tie.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am
You’re right. It was 21-18
January 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am
1. Forcing fumbles is a skill, but fumble recoveries are pure luck.
4. Yes. Of course. The Fluke Jersey QueerFags suck. Sorry Roman.
I mean this moreso for baseball (what started this all), where the variances are way higher and it’s much skill. Read Fooled By Randomness.
Maybe if we call it variance instead of luck, people will pay it more heed. I think people try to equate “luck” to “not earning it,” which is of course wrong.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am
/clown’d, too
January 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Whatever happened to Vanderjagt? Now that guy was a choker.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Um, we are 3 days from the division round games and last time I checked the Colts were eliminated. Let it go, no one cares, it’s over!
January 7th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Fair enough, I don’t know anything about baseball.
Oh and I did forget: losing the coin toss in overtime.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:32 am
The ending of that game was one of the weirdest I’ve ever seen. First, Troy makes a pick that gets wrongly overturned. Then, Bettis fumbled on the goalline and Nick Harper (who was stabbed in the leg by his wife the nigh prior) inexplicably runs directly at Big Ben instead of going straight down the sideline. Then, the most accurate kicker in NFL history when not kicking a pressure kick, shoots a 47-yarder just east of Ohio.
Weird, weird ending that set a lot of things in motion. The Bus’s fairy tale ending, Vandershank being tossed aside for Vinny, and Nick Harper’s wife being the Colts own version of Bill Buckner (hyperbole, obviously).
January 7th, 2009 at 9:32 am
and it was a 40+ yarder
January 7th, 2009 at 9:32 am
agreed.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Panthers -10 over Cards
Gaints -4 over Eagles
Ravens +3 over Titans
Steelers -6 over Chargers
January 7th, 2009 at 9:35 am
I would love to see a Ravens-Steelers AFC Title Game. The last game they played was one of the best displays of football all year. Of course, fans who only want to see points called it a “shitfest” but screw them.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Kravitz cares, Kravitz cares again, Whitlock cares, and coop cares.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:35 am
ill, I have Eagles +4, but for the rest I agree with you.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:37 am
@bsanders and @TBL — Do you guys read Football Outsiders regularly. From the Week 17 “Audibles at the Line”. Apologies for the length, but I think the context of the entire comment helps.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Peyton “choked” because he started every drive on his freaking goal line!
Dungy, on the other hand, is more of the issue, imo. He is a good coach, and most likely better than Caldwell or whoever would replace him. I just wonder if it isn’t time for him to go, and not because of “game decisions”, etc. Just think he’s ready to do something else, and the players are left in limbo waiting for an announcement that he’s retiring.
Indy will turn into Favre and the Pack if this keeps going on. Dungy said this is the 5th year in a row he’s gone through this decision process. Don’t you think at some point the organization and players hope he just goes, so they can move on?
January 7th, 2009 at 9:40 am
cracker - I think that’s the toughest game of them all. If Jacobs doesn’t play, I may switch. I may also play the under in that one.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Sometimes you squeeze the titties, and sometimes the titties squeeze you.
/Philosophical’d
January 7th, 2009 at 9:45 am
and sometimes the titties squeeze you.
If your fuckin’ with a fat bitch.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:47 am
*you’re
/for the grammar fags
January 7th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Playing Madden requires luck, the actual game of football is almost entirely skill. And on that note, since PSU is covered in ice and the town is still dead and dry, it’s time to run a Madden/NHL 09 marathon. Time to party
/required Eagles chant…..
January 7th, 2009 at 9:56 am
COLTS FIRESALE!!!! TRADE THE WHOLE TEAM, FIRE THE COACH! DO IT AND DO IT NOW!!!!
- Sincerely, the rest of the AFC South
January 7th, 2009 at 10:02 am
I figure the Eagles lost the first game by 5, with Plaxico, and with a hobbled Westbrook. Then basically controlled the 2nd game with a fluke blocked field goal for TD making it look closer than it was. I actually love this bet.
January 7th, 2009 at 10:18 am
They also barely beat the Browns. The offense was shut out of the end zone, and the only touchdown was on the “lucky” DA fumble that was returned for a TD.
January 7th, 2009 at 10:19 am
August
- That was pretty f’n funny, I have to say. You bastards are party to blame. You took two guys we REALLY miss (Thornton and Scott) and another one who could’ve really helped this year when Marlin Jackson’s ACL blew up. Shame Corey Simon didn’t work out there, though. What a waste of space, literally and salary cap figuratively.
January 7th, 2009 at 10:30 am
bsanders: no joke on Simon… I’m convinced we just brought him in to try and figure out what in the hell Peyton’s chicken dance means.
January 7th, 2009 at 10:36 am
MIKE NYC - You see Alabama-Clemson result in college hoops?
January 7th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Hmmm, bombastic, dickishly-contrarian lede… I wonder who penned this?
(hint, its a Fox Sports link)