[Passing On Luck Would Be Foolish]

Other teams go to the playoffs and win Super Bowls without a "once-in-a-generation" QB. The Ravens do pretty well with Joe Flacco and he's not even the best player on their team.

But it's foolish to freak out and dump a guy who legitimately is legendary (Peyton) in favor of a guy who might be (Luck). Assuming Peyton heals up, he's not at a greater risk for neck injury than he was before the surgery. We can still expect him to play like Peyton for the next four years. If in four years we can't get a Luck but instead have to settle for a Rodgers or a Brees, I'm okay with that.

If Peyton is healthy, they have to trade the pick.

[Fisher Not Available (Schefter)]

No tears from me. I like Fisher a lot but I consider him a good-not-great coach, much like Dungy. For me Fisher made the most sense if Peyton was definitely coming back because I had real faith in his ability to compliment Peyton's strengths. Unfortunately we still don't know for sure that Peyton will be back.

I don't mind the idea of going after a lesser-known guy who might be a great coach.

[Maybe We Should Keep Caldwell.]

Caldwell is by all accounts an incredibly intelligent man and a fantastic motivator. His players love and respect him. That counts for a lot. The "best" coach in the world can't win if he loses the locker room.

But the 2011 Colts had some real problems that rest on Caldwell:

• Inability to build an offensive gameplan around anyone but Peyton. None of the three backup QBs were able to run Peyton's offense effectively and the coaches absolutely should have known that.
  
• Overly conservative play calling and game management. Playing conservative only helps you meet your potential. That wasn't good enough with this year's talent level; they needed to exceed their potential.
  
• Mis-use of Donald Brown. The guy finally starts to break out only to be stuffed back down into the RB committee. Why? It doesn't make sense.
  
• Same for Anthony Gonzalez. Dude was a beast his first year and he's finally healthy again. Why is he the Invisible Man?
  

Caldwell strikes me as an excellent assistant but a medium-poor head coach. Unfortunately that wasn't clear until he got a shot at the head coach job. I wish we could have him back as an assistant but that won't work now, too bad.

Irsay is letting the next GM fire Caldwell so that it's about the new boss wanting his own guy. He wants Caldwell to find a good job somewhere else without being too tarnished by this stinker season. It's a very graceful move and I applaud it.