Pop the Champagne

Somewhere in the country Don Shula and his Miami Dolphins are popping champagne, as another year goes by and another NFL season fails to produce a perfect record. On Sunday, December 27, the Indianapolis Colts lost to the New York Jets 29-15. Even though this loss does not change anything on paper for the Colts, who are still the one seed in the AFC with home field advantage throughout, it may have a lasting mental impact on this team going forward. On Sunday coach Jim Caldwell established the precedent that this team is more concerned with Super Bowl titles, opposed to possible perfection. Although I agree that a Super Bowl title is more important than a 16-0 regular season, just ask the Patriots, I disagree with Caldwell’s decision on Sunday. 

Caldwell elected to pull Peyton Manning and other key starters with around 5 minutes left in the third quarter when the Colts had a 15-10 lead. Curtis Painter took the field for the MVP caliber quarterback, and quite frankly looked like a deer in the head lights. The Colts were barely holding onto a 5 point lead when Painter entered the game, but with the way the Jets offense was playing Caldwell may have felt that a five point lead may just have been enough. However, his hopes did not come to fruition, and the Colts were shut out for the remainder of the game. Granted Caldwell was just looking out for his starters, and in all honesty had a player, such as, Manning or Wayne been injured on Sunday we would all be cursing Caldwell. So while I cannot completely fault him, I can argue that with one more Manning drive the Colts may have been able to put themselves in a much better position to remain undefeated. 

If Manning and company would have been left in for one more drive, and understood that they had one more chance to put this game out of reach of the Jets, then maybe they could have moved down the field and supplied Painter with a two possession lead and with less time for the Jets to work with. Instead Caldwell placed Painter right into the heat of the action, and with only a five point deficit the Jets knew that they were right in the game. Not to mention the simple fact that the Jets had almost a full quarter and a half left in the game, which is plenty of time for a desperate NFL team trying to make the playoffs. 

As I have stated before, the Colts’ legacy for this decade will be shaped on how they do in this year’s playoffs. They are fighting against the New England Patriots for the franchise of the decade, and for all Colts fans knowing that their franchise was the best over a ten year span would mean a lot. Another Super Bowl title would also do wonders for the legacy of Peyton Manning, who has produced statistically better than any other quarterback, but has struggled to make it to the big game. Although I understand that today’s loss was a major disappointment to most Colt’s fans, it is unfair to criticize this organization, especially without seeing the end results of this move. But I will quote one thing that I believe every coach and organization in the NFL should live by, “You play to win the game.” – Herm Edwards