It’s playoff time, and we as Colts fans have gotten more than our fair share of playoff games to watch in recent years — 11 out of the past 14 seasons. For that alone we should be thankful. It means that we have gotten to watch our team win a ridiculous percentage of their regular season games. 85 wins over the past seven years versus 27 losses; a win rate of 75%. That is gaudy. Of course it will always feel a little disappointing if we don’t win that last game as we did in 2006. (I say “we” as if I had anything to do with it.) Still, we should always appreciate what we have, even if we really want more, more, more.
This season didn’t look like it was going to be a good one. Golfing with some buddies who had been at a preseason game, I was told that the team looked awful and we would be lucky to win 9 games this year. The first 7 games did not do much to disabuse me of this assessment. The Colts were 3-4 and of those 3 wins only the one against the Ravens was convincing. The one against the Vikings was last minute and the one against the Texans was positively miraculous. There had been disappointing losses to the Packers and the Titans and the Colts were looking at tough games against the Patriots and Steelers. A mostly insurmountable 3-6 hole seemed likely. But then the Colts beat both of those teams, bested the revenge-minded Texans, eked games out against the Chargers and Browns before finally steamrolling the Bengals. After that, they were running downhill, beating the lowly Lions, putting up a strong performance to clinch a playoff spot against the Jaguars, and winning a satisfying – if meaningless – game against the Titans, the only team in the NFL with a better record than the Colts.
Now the regular records are meaningless and the Colts travel to play the Chargers at 8:00 p.m. tonight. At game time, the forecast currently calls for a temperature of about 48 degrees, light winds, and a 30% chance of rain. The Chargers are in the playoffs by virtue of coming back from the dead and winning the AFC West with an 8-8 record, having won the last four in a row including a decisive pounding of the Broncos to win their division. (This game should be the Lazarus Bowl considering that both teams experienced late season resurrections.)
The Chargers scored the second most points in the NFL with a good passing attack and an average rushing attack. How good their running game is tonight might depend on how health LaDanian Tomlinson is. The eternally underestimated Phillip Rivers was their quarterback with 34 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Their run defense was 11th in the league and their pass defense was dead last.
Meanwhile, all the Colts really did was win. Their stats weren’t gaudy this year. They had the 5th best passing game coupled with a running game that was dead last in the league. Manning’s season QB rating wasn’t as good as Rivers. He had 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Our run defense has been typically bad, but our pass defense was 6th best in the league (at least in part, I suppose, because everyone ran on us as much as possible to exploit our run defense and to eat up clock to keep the ball away from Peyton.)
But, the Colts’ 2006 Super Bowl run reminds us that past performance does not guarantee future results. That year our run defense was sieve-like and our run offense was fair-to-middling. In the playoffs, however, our run defense was smothering and the Rhodes/Addai combination was punishing; grinding out first down after first down.
Hopefully the Colts will put it all together for the next four games. If the Colts only win four more games, I’ll be happy. GO COLTS!
Who did Rivers blow to get exempted from the intentional grounding rule?
ouch! the Colts choked and the Chargers stormed home to take the game.
Great game, nice intense each of your seat stuff but an amazingly poor last couple of minutes by the Colts.
see ya
ET
http://tariksport.com/nfl-blog/
COLTS fans read Bob Kravitzs column in the INDY STAR today if you have time calling the COLTS “classic underacievers” and “the ATLANTA BRAVES in the 90’s” of the NFL. True indeed. I also hear the phrase often now one and Dungy. Lets face it Manning is probably going to own every NFL quarterback record but in the playoffs he’s average to poor.
For all of their record seasons of making the playoffs and winning 12 games the COLTS are not a good playoff team. Yeah they won a superbowl but come on. Look at what Brady has done and the other teams like the COWBOYS and 49 ers did on similar runs multiple SUPERBOWLS.
Yesterdays loss is on the MVP and the high priced offense. 17 points against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. CHARGERS missing pro bowlers Shawn Merriman,LT ineffective,Gates playing on one good ankle,last year all over again.
The defense even got two turnovers,no this loss is on the offense and the MVP !
Now if Dungy leaves we get Dungy part two in Jim Cadwell good grief !
A stop on any of several 3rd and longs would have made a difference.
But our defense played well and made San Diego underachieve, also, for most of the game.
We’re usually a play short. A few years back, against the Steelers, Big Ben made the tackle of his life to beat us. That and a close-range choke from an otherwise great kicker.
A couple of years, our season ended in New England because they were allowed to bear hug our receivers while the ball was in the air.
This year, if one of San Diego’s punts goes one more yard, we probably win. But at the same time, you really have to figure out their scheme before one guy gets 325 yards.
It’s a game of inches, and 29 other teams are trying to win, too.
We’ve been consistently excellent. The only team that has been consistently as good–but won the big one more often– was cheating its ass off. Just look at the performance of their “offensive genius”, now at Notre Dame, now that he doesn’t know what the defensive signals are. They also have the benefit of free agents willing to play there for a discount in pursuit of a ring.
I haven’t read the column, but I would rather have been the 90’s Braves than all but a couple of teams like the Yankees.
The Sunday morning guy on ESPN radio was pretty critical of the column, basically saying that Indianapolis should feel lucky to have the Colts; they stole the team from Baltimore; Indy ain’t got no other contender in pro sports, get happy, etc.
I kinda/sorta agreed with ESPN guy that the column was too harsh, but I have told my brother and others that Colts fans would have been calling for Dungy’s head–Manning’s too–a couple of years ago had they not won the Super Bowl. Right or wrong, for most fans it is not good enough to get into the playoffs year after year if the team can’t bring home championships.
@T: Do they ever enforce the intentional grounding rule?
Manning got hit with one in a critical situation last year. Don’t remember when specifically, but he was closer to being outside the tackles than Rivers was.
Rivers lucked out because the guy he bounced the ball to, who he wasn’t throwing to, was “eligible”, whereas Peyton’s wasn’t.
It’s a killer penalty because it’s a loss of down penalty.
Not as big as completely negating an interseption runback. But big, nonetheless.
Different era of course, but when I was growing up it seemed as if Fran Tarkenton of the Vikings threw the ball away all the time with receivers nowhere in the area. He almost never called for intentional grounding. He was pretty popular and charming, and I always wondered if he received preferential treatment.