| Anthony Holds. 6th October, 2008 - 4:10 pm
 The enigmatic Indianapolis Colts treated their fans to another unbelievable comeback on Sunday. This time, almost five years to the day after their unforgettable Monday Night comeback against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Colts became the first NFL team to come back from a 17-point deficit with under 5 minutes remaining in the game. When
the smoke had cleared, the Colts walked out of hurricane-damaged Reliant Stadium in Houston with a mindblowing 31-27 win.
You’ve seen the highlights, and as improbable as the victory was, it may have saved the Colts season. Enough can’t be said about the opportunistic grit displayed in taking full advantage of a couple of miscues by Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels late in the fourth quarter, and much credit must be given to Peyton Manning and the
offense for coming through when it counted and putting two daggers in the heart of the Texans’ defense.
But what of the previous 40 minutes? From the beginning of the 2nd quarter until there were five minutes left, the Texans completely dominated the Colts – particularly their beleaguered defense.
Houston ran off 27 straight points as Rosenfels found wide receiver Andre Johnson and tight end Owen Daniels repeatedly and running back Steve Slaton ran the ball extremely effectively.
Then the incredible comeback began and made it all moot. But going forward all the questions that have been in place for the Colts over the first quarter of the new season remain. Namely:
- Why can’t the offense, stocked with an array of gifted
skill position players, seem to find a consistent rhythm?
- Is the defense even physically capable of making an
opposing running game look anything but outstanding?
On the offensive side of the ball, there is cause for cautious optimism. The Colts have appeared on the edge of “getting it” on offense for two games now. They have been the Indy offense we’ve come to expect over the years for a few drives a game. The miscues are lessening, though not entirely going away, and the protection is improving, though not yet good enough. Manning looks to be about 90%
of his regular self, which represents slow but steady improvement from Game 1 against the Bears, where he looked to be at about 55 or 60%. And they’re getting healthier. This week they were fielding 3 of 5 preseason projected starters on the offensive line, and next week they should be at 4 of 5 as Tony Ugoh is expected to return to
his spot at left tackle. The running game, still ranked last in the league, has shown some meager signs of life in the last two games, as Joseph Addai’s production has crept up. After averaging a discouraging 2.4 yards per carry and scoring one touchdown in the first two games, he has managed a solid 4.5 yards per carry and has scored three times in the last two. This trend needs to continue, and
some consistency be established, for the play action passing game that has served the team so well in the past to hit its peak efficiency. The offense must continue to improve, and next week would be a good time to hit something near 100%, as they face the NFL’s number one-ranked defense in the Baltimore Ravens.
The Colts defense continues to be a massive frustration for all fans. Those who’ve followed the team closely for years know to resist the urge to question Tony Dungy and Bill Polian’s conservative, “do what we do” philosophy toward addressing problems, but when game after game the team gets gashed on the ground, it’s difficult. The Colts D is now 24th in the NFL, after finishing 3rd last year. Against the run, they are dead last, allowing 188.5 yards per game on the ground. Against the Texans, they were marginally
better statistically, allowing “only” 156 yards rushing. But… at a 4.9 yard per carry clip, and considering the success Rosenfels was having for much of the game throwing the ball, that’s hardly reason to break out the bubbly.
So what to think? One feels like a broken record talking about this team, which has yet to resolve its issues or establish its true identity for this year. Four games into the season it is no easier to pin down where this train is going than it was coming out of game one. At 2-2, they’re only one iffy illegal contact call removed from a 3-1 record… but only a couple plays away from 0-4, as well.
The level of talent on the offense makes it seem terribly unlikely that they will never get completely on track, assuming that the unit’s health continues to improve and then holds up from there. Historical precedent would tell us that the Colts Jekyll & Hyde defense (which has been 99% wimpy Dr. Jekyll so far in ’08) could show virtually unexplainable improvement at any time. One assumes
the return of Bob Sanders would engender this improvement, but the unit got run over in games one and two this year with him on the field. In 2006, a defense that was, unbelievably, worse than this one so far against the run had trouble with and without Sanders. It was only when he returned to start the playoffs that they suddenly
became all-world and led the march to a Super Bowl Championship. The most apparent problem in this unit is that defensive tackle depth, due to the unexpected departures of Quinn Pitcock and Ed Johnson, is at an all-time low. The situation, again, seems to parallel ’06… when the Colts acquired Booger McFarland from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the shore up the inside of the line at mid-season. He did not have an immediate impact, but ended up being a huge contributor in the playoffs and Super Bowl. It is not apparent whether there is anyone out there that can help this team in that way, though, no matter what Polian and Dungy say publicly (which is mostly that there’s not anyone), I’m sure they’re vigorously looking. The only other key move that was made in 2006 to stem the tide of rushing yards was replacing strongside backer Gilbert Gardener, who had been the poster boy for missed tackles, with veteran Rob Morris. Morris brought toughness and solid tackling that had been missing. Fans can only hope that the return of Tyjuan Hagler in Week 7 will do the
same thing for this year’s defense.
The situation is, undeniably, confounding. Colts fans may be three to four weeks away from forgetting all about these troubles, or, just as possibly, three to four weeks away from wondering what on earth happened to a team that showed such promise.
For now, those fans can only hope and believe. Hope and believe that the offense will fully return to form. Hope and believe that the coaches and front office know what they’re doing. Hope and believe that historical precedent is relevant in this case. And, finally, hope and believe that the defense might be able to go from bad to
average (or better).
But, hope and belief aside, any way you look at it there’s no doubt that at some point here -- for better or for worse -- something’s got to give. |
