Original thought, yes, I know. But I don't know that there's much original to say about why these Colts have lost 3 of 4. They can't stop the run. And they haven't been able to stop the run all season. Nor have they been a good defensive team for a long, long time. Somehow, though, the media seems to construe this Week 15 Colts team as fundamentally different from the one that started the season 9-0 before losing to Dallas. Except it isn't.Granted there are some integral injuries right now--Corey Simon, Bob Sanders, Dallas Clark, Brandon Stokley, to name just a few. But fundamentally this is the same team that doubled up Philly a few weeks ago. Yeah, Philly doesn't have McNabb, but they did have Westbrook for that game, and that didn't stop the Colts from winning. People also seem to forget that the Colts had been playing--and winning--close games all season: 26-21 over the Giants, 31-28 over the Jets, 14-13 over the Titans, 34-31 over the Broncos, 17-16 over Buffalo. Before the wheels fell off last Sunday, they happened to lose a couple of close games: 21-14 to Dallas and 20-17 to Tennessee on a last second field goal. And now they find themselves at 10-3. Ten and three, for Christ's sake, and people are falling over themselves to write this Colts team off. Dipshit Bob Kravitz was on PTI tonight arguing that if the Colts lose to the Bengals Monday night, they're "doomed." He said this with a straight face. I kid you not: "doomed." Doomed to 10-4 and another Division championship on the horizon, maybe.
Here's all I'm saying: the Colts have essentially the same damn team they've had for the past several years. Are they going to the Super Bowl this year? Maybe, but probably not. Losing 3 out of 4 has nothing to do with that, though. Just ask Bengals fans--they were writing the season off after losing 5 of 6 before winning their last 4. Crazy shit just happens in the NFL from week to week. So get over it. And stop inundating me with all-too-typical half-brained doomsday sports analysis. Wait until the playoffs roll around and then talk to me about how the Colts suck.
4 comments:
I think people are really concerned about a team going into the playoffs slumping vs. teams getting hot (see last season). But really, nobody talks about the Cardinals playing like garbage at the end of the regular season and then turning it on in the playoffs. I dunno, maybe baseball's different, but still. Despite what you've heard there's more than one way to win a championship.
That said, I feel pretty good about the Bengals chances Monday, but I'm totally afraid of Manning having one of those 5td games.
Yeah, baseball I suppose is different... but I would also point out that the 2005 White Sox sucked going into the playoffs too.
(Once again) this Colts team isn't built for playoff success, but you never know. I'm skeptical about any difference between being "hot" and "not," particularly when two of those losses came by a total of 10 points. The Jacksonville blowout doesn't look good, but it's only one game.
DOOMED! I say, DOOMED!!!
Slump or not, the disappointment is palatable any time a team does this. With the Colts, however, the feeling is steadied somewhat by this being a yearly occurrence. It's like a post-Thanksgiving suck and run plan. Except the run is on them. They just keeping sucking.
First, the new site design is sweet. Looks really good.
Now, onto the requisite Horeshoe Bashing:
Plain and simple, the Colts don't deserve to win the Super Bowl. Any team that has had an obvious weakness for this long and refuses to adequately address it deserves to be mocked, ridiculed, derided, and put on the shelf next to Dan Marino.
I think this happens because Bill Polian never takes the responsibility to do what needs to be done. He's always bitching about field conditions and snow and "if we played at home" and officials instead of what actually happens on the field. Instead of fixing his defense he whined like a bitch to the NFL that the Patriots' DBs were too manly for the delicate Colts' receivers. So the NFL changes the rule and the Colts still can't seal the deal because they keep trying to climb the same mountain the same way even though it fails over and over and over and over.
And even with all that, this still might be the Colts best chance to win the Super Bowl. They'll go in a little under the radar and none of the other AFC teams are as complete as the Steelers last year or the Patriots the years before that. The Colts have had a few bad weeks, but they're still an amazingly good offensive club.
Also, and I think this is really important, they will be the most battle-tested team in the playoffs this time around. Other than the Pats no other AFC team has been to the playoffs as much recently as the Colts and the Patriots' roster has had a lot more turnover than the Colts.
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