What happened to the Colts

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Remember how good they were last year in the regular season? They were coming off a Super Bowl run, playing great defense, and looked like a better team than even their one that won the Super Bowl. If not for a blown 4th quarter 10 point lead against us and then Vinatieri shanking a gimme, they would have been the 16-0 team last year.

Got off to a great start in the divisionals against SD, then a Marvin Harrison fumble and after that they haven't been the same on either side of the ball. Despite their 9 game winning streak this year I think they just weren't the same team, should have lost more games and some to realy bad teams. No run game to speak of. Is their O-line aging/deteriorating or what? I can't see what else it could be, obviously Marvin's not what he was but they didn't have him most of last year either.

 

[ALP]

"The colts time is over"





...sounds familiar

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

They relied on two starting defensive linemen this season who were out of football by midyear. One, Ed Johnson, had drug issues and was kicked off the team. Of course he had drug issues all through college and the Colts got him as an undrafted free agent because no other team wanted to take a chance on him.

The other guy they lost, a second year 3rd rounder named Pittkock, simple quit football-- just decided he didn't like playing anymore. Think about that the next time Bill Belichick drafts somebody and one of the first things he says is "he really loves football, it's very important to him and he works hard at it." There's apparently not such an effort to gauge those things by Polian in Indianapolis. Of course, in an interview you can find at colts.com, Polian was quick to say the team lost both of those guys "through no fault of our own".

Riiiiight...

They have a goofy philosophy of making big plays on offense and defense, to overcompensate for constantly losing the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That could be a Dungy strategy, but I think it's all on Polian. Maybe I think that way because Polian is such a whiny beyaaaatcch and I can't stand him always acting like they never get a call and the refs are always out to get his beloved team.

 

[Cartwright]

Remember how good they were last year in the regular season? They were coming off a Super Bowl run, playing great defense, and looked like a better team than even their one that won the Super Bowl. If not for a blown 4th quarter 10 point lead against us and then Vinatieri shanking a gimme, they would have been the 16-0 team last year.

Got off to a great start in the divisionals against SD, then a Marvin Harrison fumble and after that they haven't been the same on either side of the ball. Despite their 9 game winning streak this year I think they just weren't the same team, should have lost more games and some to realy bad teams. No run game to speak of. Is their O-line aging/deteriorating or what? I can't see what else it could be, obviously Marvin's not what he was but they didn't have him most of last year either.

Pretty fine line between winning and losing in the NFL. Through all the roster turnover, they have been able to keep a core set of guys, fill in the gaps, and win 12 games a year for a record 6 in a row. That said, in the past 2 seasons, they have lost a 10 year vet at Left Tackle in Tarik Glenn, they chose to sign Ryan Lilja to a contract and let Jake Scott go. Turns out that Jake Scott starts 16 games for the Titans (who wind up allowing, IIRC, the least number of sacks in the league, not to mention pretty stout run game), and meanwhile, Lilja has multiple surgeries on his knee and ends up IR'd for the season. That was a vet line that got flipped in a hurry. Stokely leaves, Marvin gets injured, Addai regresses, lost DOM to the Raiders, and suddenly you have a lot of parts on the offense missing and filled with replacements. Even so, as stated, they still won 12 games. On defense, obviously they lost Pit**** (which he was slated to start, apparently Polain and Co. thought he started to get it late in his rookie year-not sure I buy that) and Ed Johnson, who was the real difference maker last season up the middle at DT. Besides Brackett, they are young at LB'er, but that is no excuse, same with corners. It was addition by subtraction with Harper and David leaving. No excuses, no whining, everybody has turnover, injuries, etc... Obviously, PM was not right to begin the year, all in all, remarkable achievements, but still, IN MY OPINION, underachieved last 2 seasons with the early exits. Either game, Colts played well enough to win (just as the Chargers did), they did it, we didn't. Actually, in reference to underachievers, it's probably the Chargers that take that crown with all that talent and nothing to show for it. Looking forward to next season, to see what Caldwell and Polian can do to soldify run game, and beef up the interior d-line.

 

[workhorse]

They relied on two starting defensive linemen this season who were out of football by midyear. One, Ed Johnson, had drug issues and was kicked off the team. Of course he had drug issues all through college and the Colts got him as an undrafted free agent because no other team wanted to take a chance on him.

The other guy they lost, a second year 3rd rounder named Pittkock, simple quit football-- just decided he didn't like playing anymore. Think about that the next time Bill Belichick drafts somebody and one of the first things he says is "he really loves football, it's very important to him and he works hard at it." There's apparently not such an effort to gauge those things by Polian in Indianapolis. Of course, in an interview you can find at colts.com, Polian was quick to say the team lost both of those guys "through no fault of our own".

Riiiiight...

They have a goofy philosophy of making big plays on offense and defense, to overcompensate for constantly losing the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That could be a Dungy strategy, but I think it's all on Polian. Maybe I think that way because Polian is such a whiny beyaaaatcch and I can't stand him always acting like they never get a call and the refs are always out to get his beloved team.

They lost both of those guys before week 2.

 

[N.Eman]

I could care less what happened to them. As long as they are out of our way to that Lombardi Trophy