Indianapolis Colts Archive

The ‘I told you so’ post died with 4 minutes to go

By
Zuri
Published: February 7, 2010Tags: , , , , ,
The ‘I told you so’ post died with 4 minutes to go

The New Orleans Saints' Tracy Porter returns an interception for a touchdown. It was the deal breaker.

Man, it sucks to be wrong. But I’m glad I am.

There’s no way I should take a loss well after my last post, but I think I can accept this one. The New Orleans Saints were galvanized by the soul of their city (no laughing matter) for a 31-17 win in the Super Bowl. It showed when they came out in the second half, immediately puncturing the placidity of the game with a successful onside kick. (Surely an instant addition to the best plays in Super Bowl history.)

The scrum in that pile was some of the most inspiring stuff I’ve seen in a long time, with players grappling and fighting with one another for almost five minutes. Five minutes.

Five minutes.

Tracy Porter’s interception on Peyton Manning’s go-to play (a three-step drop and slant pattern to one of three receivers) was the obvious deal breaker. But it was the constant poise of quarterback Drew Brees — an accurate 32-of-39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns in the game — that paced an almost methodic New Orleans team. He was much better than I could have ever expected. (A whopping 114 quarterback rating.)

And it was because of his long passes to Marques Colston, two-point conversion to Lance Moore and dump offs to Jeremy Shockey and company, that the Saints were able to keep the Colts and Manning off the field long enough to stunt Indianapolis’ fast start.

I’m just glad the Saints won in this fashion. Because it was suspenseful. It was inspired. It was a culmination of an amazing season and an even more amazing Cinderella story for the city of New Orleans. Prospects of a Saints win were doubtful all the way up until Shockey scored that touchdown. It was pretty much a guarantee that the Colts were going to beat the spread (-6).

Everything unraveled on that onside kick. That Saints recovery meant everything to the team — its first break of the game. And it kept Manning off the field long enough for Brees and company to finally put six on the board the old fashioned way.

Amazing.

And yes, I’m glad to be wrong about the outcome.

Not drinking the Saints kool-aide (or daiquiri)

By
Zuri
Published: February 6, 2010Tags: , , , , , , ,
Not drinking the Saints kool-aide (or daiquiri)

Somehow, you knew this was coming.

You had to. Otherwise, you’re just some fair-weather reader and you’ll be naturally disgusted one way or the other with my reasoning.

Boo hoo.

The New Orleans Saints are not going to win the Super Bowl. Sorry dad, mom, grandma, granddad, and everyone else in the family who is pinning their hopes on some Miami miracle. It ain’t happening. (Or, as I almost titled this post, “Who dat say they gonna beat dem Colts?” Thank God for sanity … and a journalism instructor that drilled into my mind the wisdom to shun abnormally overused clichès.)

Indianapolis Colts (-6) over New Orleans Saints

Chalk it up to the tale of two defenses. One is sketchy beyond measure, while the other (while healthy) is manageable and decidedly the game changer. All week you’ve been inundated with talks of Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush, Reggie Wayne and Dwight Freeney. Of all of those amazing names, and much more unnamed, only Freeney will ultimately shift the makeup of this game and alter its outcome simply by his presence.

Because out of the five names, we know exactly what four of them will do. And yes, they will all have amazing games, as we’ve grown accustomed to. But it’s Freeney (not Wayne) who we worry will play in any decent shape.

There’s a reason for all of the Freeney hype you’ve read in the last two weeks.

When Brees is pushed to the limit — I’m talking about hurried, hit and sacked — like all good quarterbacks, he steps up to the plate. Taking a closer peek at the numbers reveals. In what should be a heralded offensive line, Brees has gone through the entirety of the 2009-10 season being sacked only 20 times, which was seventh best in the NFL among 32 qualifying quarterbacks. (Based on games played and passes attempted. Also, his counterpart, Manning, was ranked second behind only Vince “I played half a season” Young.) Coupled with a great arm, amazing accuracy and above solid wide receivers, he’s exploded this season, completing 70 percent of his passes and throwing 34 touchdowns to only 11 interceptions. His quarterback rating is off the chart, so to speak (109.6).

But in games where No. 9 took on two or more sacks, the Saints’ margin of victory (11.27) increased to (14.4). That’s right, increased.

What does this say? Or, more precisely, what doesn’t it say? When Drew Brees has time to think, he doesn’t make quick decisions, getting rid of the ball and therefore putting more points on the board for the Saints.

What else does it say? That if I’m right, and Freeney (13.5 sacks) is less than 100 percent (wondering if he’ll take one of those shots in the rear) than the state of Indiana wants him to be, the Colts will lack the pass rush they think is necessary. In a confused, round about way, this will work to the Colts’ advantage. Brees will over-think things, tossing into the wild. (This is, as I would presume, the one game where you don’t want your players to think too much.) And make no mistake about it, Freeney is someone you have to think about, account for and put in the gameplan. He’ll keep Brees’ mind off of any sort of awkward throws he would concoct in his own right. But without him, the question mark on Brees’ game will only bolden without the pressure.

We’re talking mind games here people.

And let me tell you something else, that Manning fella is pretty good about not letting anyone get into his head — for any reason. Plus, every time I’ve bet against Manning I’ve lost. So I won’t suggest to you such an idiotic expenditure of your precious coin without toying with some other concocted reasoning. I know, it sucks. But so does NASCAR. Wait, whaaaa?

Will Jim Caldwell be coach of the year?

By
Zuri
Published: December 31, 2009Tags:
Will Jim Caldwell be coach of the year?

Jim Caldwell has had to answer a lot of tough questions this week. Here's one more.

Could the decision of the brass, affect the decision of the voters?

I’m not so sure Jim Caldwell, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, was 100 percent on board with benching his starters and taking the week 16 loss against the New York Jets, thereby ending what was probably a perfect season. My suspicions were somewhat confirmed after the Colts’ president made these dumb remarks. So I’m wondering if that decision, whether complicit or not, will loom over the votes cast for the NFL coach of the year.

Will that even weigh on the voters’ minds? (Hell, who are the voters???)

Surely we’ll all take into consideration 14 (maybe 15) wins, the fact that he’s a rookie coach and the luck of having Peyton Manning to make him look good. So we’ll make sure to scrutinize his decisions and stack him up against the best — Sean Payton, Mike Singletary, etc.

So, who do you think gets it?

Answer below.

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The Colts were simply afraid of greatness

By
Zuri
Published: December 28, 2009Tags:
The Colts were simply afraid of greatness

Jim Caldwell can talk all he wants about how the Indianapolis Colts have bigger goals than perfection.

I just want to ask him one question: Does practice make perfect? Does it really?

I wouldn’t know from watching the Colts’ 29-15 loss to the New York Jets.

What’s the point of working hard, if you’re not going to go all out, all the time?

This whole business of sitting players, resting players, cheapens the game of football. Woe unto the fan who paid the absorbent prices to see the best of the best, Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne, sit the second half against the hapless Jets. You couldn’t pay me to watch a game like that.

It was painful — even for the non-enthusiast of Indy sports.

Here, the Colts had a legitimate shot at 16-0 — and the ultimate goal of 19-0 with Buffalo on the schedule next. Instead, they decide to rest the stars on a fractured principle. One which is based on fear and is comforted by weakness of character.

So what if the New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl in 2007!! They’ve gotten over it. Every team in the NFL needs to get over it too. This silly mindset that injuries could sideline Peyton, Reggie, Dwight Freeney or any other major player who hope to win the Super Bowl, is bullshit.

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Edgerrin James has a Super Bowl ring?

By
Tim
Published: January 12, 2009Tags: , , , ,

As it turns out, you do not need to win a Super Bowl to get a Super Bowl ring. Arizona’s Edgerrin James, who did not win a Super Bowl while playing for the Colts, did receive a Super Bowl ring from the team. Pretty classy move by that organization, although it’s not the way I would’ve played it.

James signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in March of 2006, and less than a year later the Colts were champs. Instead of sending him a ring, I would’ve sent a picture of the ring with a note that said “Suck it!”

I don’t have a big problem with him getting a ring, I just didn’t know this was possible. Was it a spare ring? Are there usually extras to give out? Why don’t we know more about ring distribution? Will my support of the Cowboys someday lead to a ring in the mail from Jerry Jones? And why not? I want answers to my Super Bowl ring questions.

Over the weekend, announcers also revealed that Pittsburgh’s Willie Parker bought his dad a new car after winning the Super Bowl, and hid the ring in the trunk as a bonus. Let’s hope he got him a good home security system too.