Take a Step Back and Breathe

Go to Indianapolis and I am sure you will find more than a handful of disgruntled Colts fans. But go to New England and you will find a plethora of furious Patriots fans. Unlike the Colts who played it safe and will enter the playoffs without any new injuries, the Patriots will enter the playoffs without one of their key players. Wes Welker suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans, and the stud wideout will be unavailable for the playoffs and maybe for part of next season. Now I understand that few Colts fans will have sympathy for their nemesis, but Welker is a great player and you hate to see anyone suffer an injury especially one of that magnitude, so keep Welker in your thoughts. However, other than the effects that this injury will have on the playoff picture, this injury should show Colts fans exactly what Jim Caldwell was trying to avoid. 

Imagine Reggie Wayne along with the other starters playing the entire game against the New York Jets, and inevitably the Colts win that game and go on to win their next game against the Bills. However, in the Bills game, even though they are victorious, Reggie Wayne goes down with a torn ACL. He is out for the playoffs and even for part of next season, and ultimately the Colts end up losing their first game in the playoffs finishing the year with a 16-1 record and nothing to show for it. I have a feeling that most Colts fans would be calling for Jim Caldwell’s head, because he ruined the chance of a Super Bowl by playing the starters throughout the season. I mean a perfect season is great, but if you don’t have a Super Bowl to go with it then it is kind of meaningless. Even though he would have chosen to go for the perfect season, like Colts fans wanted him to, he would have cost this team a Super Bowl trophy, and I assume that a Super Bowl is still the ultimate goal for this team and the fans. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I agree with Caldwell’s decision or that I wouldn’t have played my starters to finish the season perfect. But what I am saying is that an injury to an essential player can happen on any snap, and Coach Caldwell knows that and did not want to jeopardize the Colts’ chances at a Super Bowl. So while Colts fans criticize and berate this franchise, I think it is necessary to take a step back and reevaluate the choices made. It is human nature to hold a double standard, but at the end of the day I think leaving the football decisions up to the football people is the best route. However, if the Colts don’t make it to the Super Bowl then playing it safe really didn’t pay off at all, and then we can criticize and dissect the decisions made the entire offseason. As great as this team has been over the past decade they have never been a standout playoff team, and they have bet the house this season on making a Super Bowl run. With the way they have managed to simply win games week in and week out, can you really blame them for rolling the dice on another Super Bowl? I think not.