Could Peyton Manning Injury Be A Blessing In Disguise?

[hockey878]

I know this is a big hypothetical, but im just trying to look at the silver lining here. If peyton were to miss the entire year I honestly think we would get a top 5 pick. I really dont think andrew lucks is the way to go. If peyton had 3 or 4 year contract that would be fine, but luck wouldnt take over til his 5th year in the NFL. not worth it.

But, we could pick up a few big time players in round 1 and 2, seeing as our 2nd round player would be darn close to where we normally pick in round 1. In a weird way peyton missing a year could almost help him have a better shot to win a SB before he retires than continually overachieving into the playoffs but being just short on talent to win and then not getting high picks in the draft to replenish the roster effectively. How?

Well, as we know our top picks have struggled as of late. And yes polian has done well later in drafts to find gems. The problem is most of those great steals become solid starters. Not bona fide superstarts, those are usually found in round 1. Having a early round 1 pick and in round 2 as well could give the colts the opportunity to draft instant impact players.

Imagine peyton getting justin blackmon as a WR, that could totally reinvigorate the colts O. Grab a really good guard or center in round 2, give nevis costanzo and ijalana a year to develop. The team could be really good given one year with high draft picks. Blackmon could allow reggie wayne to see more single coverage effectively prolonging his career (if we resign him). Maybe if the colts feel comfortable at WR, they could get a stud DT DE or maybe a CB (Im not real knowledegeable about upcoming draft at this point).

I guess, im just trying to find a way to make what is possibly going to be a long, painful season into a good thing.

With some new highly talented players around him, maybe peyton could get a few late career 'ships a la john elway.

anyone else agree with my odd, distorted view of what I could see happening?

Please dont take anything in this post as negativity bashing or question my fanhood. I say this, because i can see people interpreting it this way, and i dont mean it like that at all.

anyway, tell me what you think! (try to be nice )

[hockey878]

and i mean please please please dont take this the wrong way. i am excited for football. i love the colts. i just dont think we are that good of a team without peyton.

[justcolts]

A season ending injury to our best player can in no way be a blessing, atleast thats what i think.

[hockey878]

I mean I agree, for this year. But long term.... idk. i have a feeling i conveyed my point poorly. I tend to be a poor writer.

[presto123]

You are totally underestimating Kerry Collins and for that matter the rest of the team.

[justcolts]

I got your point, i think its just too early to try and put a positive spin on this. If he is indeed out for the season then maybe 3-4 weeks down the line we all will accept this and then if what you outlined transpires we will take this not as bad as right now.

[Gonzo]

I kind of get what you mean. I'd rather have had Manning set the consecutive starts record and put it so far out of reach noone could ever touch it. That's not going to happen now, so might as well hope for the best.

Personally I'm a bit more optimistic. This season may well prove me wrong, but at this point I'd take Collins with two weeks of practice over Mcown and Hasselbeck, especially considering the talent Collins has around him. If it doesn't work out and we go 0-16, well, at least it proves Manning is . WE CAN'T LOSE!!! rotfl

[hockey878]

You are totally underestimating Kerry Collins and for that matter the rest of the team.

strongly disagree with that statement. if they won 10 games with peyton last year i cant see us winning more than 4 without him. Especially considering the amount of deficiencies he masks.

[hockey878]

I kind of get what you mean. I'd rather have had Manning set the consecutive starts record and put it so far out of reach noone could ever touch it. That's not going to happen now, so might as well hope for the best.

Personally I'm a bit more optimistic. This season may well prove me wrong, but at this point I'd take Collins with two weeks of practice over Mcown and Hasselbeck, especially considering the talent Collins has around him. If it doesn't work out and we go 0-16, well, at least it proves Manning is . WE CAN'T LOSE!!! rotfl

I would rather have manning healthy too and break every record in the world. im just trying to find positive out of negative.

[Coltsman1788]

Well every cloud has a silver lining. Either the rest of the Colts shut up all the Manning is the whole team non-sense, or they suck and get a good draft pick for next year. Can't lose either way really.

Hopefully, Manning's injury isn't career ending and he is back next year with a fully reloaded Colts squad behind him for his final push for at least one more Lombardi.

I think the more Collins plays and learns the system we will eventually come to realize & appreciate having a competent qb to lead us through this season. We probably start out slow and start improving as the season progresses. Schedule is brutal though.

[tfunky14]

strongly disagree with that statement. if they won 10 games with peyton last year i cant see us winning more than 4 without him. Especially considering the amount of deficiencies he masks.

Sure, add the 21 guys hurt last year minus a Manning and add a Collins is not a bad mixer.

[OLD FAN MAN]

strongly disagree with that statement. if they won 10 games with peyton last year i cant see us winning more than 4 without him. Especially considering the amount of deficiencies he masks.

we have shored up in our weak spots and we have our other injured players back. collins is good i think we will win the division

[DalTXColtsFan]

Day 1 post 2 - 18 more to go

I just posted that 52 players are going to be steamed at the press for saying that the Colts are Manning and 52 scrubs. When they find out their own FANS are saying the same thing they'll come off screaming "Go root for the Browns ya fairweather fans!"

[geinsteder]

I agree with you dallas fan. It's just a shock right now. It's like Christmas with no Santa Claus! We have some great guys on this team and it's their time to shine. Next man up! Will I watch the games? Yes but it won't be the same it will be like a whole in my heart. Manning is one of a kind. And they do not make QB like they made him!

Okay that's my last post for he day. Only allowed 3

[Guitar Villain]

I agree with you dallas fan. It's just a shock right now. It's like Christmas with no Santa Claus! We have some great guys on this team and it's their time to shine. Next man up! Will I watch the games? Yes but it won't be the same it will be like a whole in my heart. Manning is one of a kind. And they do not make QB like they made him!

Okay that's my last post for he day. Only allowed 3

I agree. The Colts are going to see just how good a coach Caldwell is. Prior to now, it's really been Manning who has carried the bulk of the mail in the leadership department. He was literally a coach on the field and more or less the de facto offensive coordinator. No single player anywhere in the league means more to his team. I think we're going to find out whether the Colts relied too heavily on him. Is he the keystone and without him the whole structure comes tumbling down, or are we underrating the team Polian has put together? I have a pretty strong feeling that it's the former. I'll still watch but I won't have any expectations of a winning record much less a playoff berth.

I think this will be a good lesson to team brass. Manning may be able to do it all himself, but is it wise to force him to have to? Given the beating he's taken in recent years due to poor pass protection and a largely non-existent running game, his recent health issues are no coincidence.

To me the biggest question is what to do with what is sure to be an unusually high pick in the upcoming draft. Do we select the heir apparent at QB and allow him to develop behind an all-time great like Green Bay did with Aaron Rodgers, or do we learn our lesson and finally give Peyton more help? That might have been an easier decision to make were it not for Aaron Rodgers and Super Bowl XLV being so fresh in our minds.

[ReMeDy]

I'll be anxious to see how Caldwell performs with a more true-to-life offense. He wont have Manning to hold his hand, although I suspect Manning will still be on the sidelines, just as he was in preseason.

Caldwell will need to put out an A+ coaching performance though... our suspect o-line, poor run game, and defense that relies on being up on points, will be huge hurdles to overcome.

[ruksak]

A season ending injury to our best player can in no way be a blessing, atleast thats what i think.

If we win, then yes it most certainly is a blessing. You'd be talkin about turning around a perception that the Colts begin and end with Manning, all while still retaining Manning on the roster. What a boost this would be to morale. Not to mention the confidence exuded from such a feat.

What I mean by winning, simply put, would be making it into the playoffs and making a respectable showing. Winning a SB? I'm not even gonna go there for fear of the dreaded jinx.

[Manning2Wayne]

there is no silver lining, until we loose more than 10 games,

you are truly not a colts fan,

so is half the people on make threads about draft picks in the top 5, or not making the playoff,

this is my team, with or without manning, i have confidence in our defense, and confidence in our running backs, wayne, clark, collie,

its getting annoying, seriously,

the season hasnt started, and threads like this is out again, go back to hockey and that weak sport ;)

[ruksak]

there is no silver lining, until we loose more than 10 games,

you are truly not a colts fan,

so is half the people on make threads about draft picks in the top 5, or not making the playoff,

this is my team, with or without manning, i have confidence in our defense, and confidence in our running backs, wayne, clark, collie,

its getting annoying, seriously,

the season hasnt started, and threads like this is out again, go back to hockey and that weak sport ;)

Gettin real sick of this.

We have thousands of opinions being vollied around, and people have a right to their own opinion, even if it doesn't jive with your candy 'n' roses prism that you and others wish to peer through.

Unadulterated and uncalled for negativity is a bummer, but there is a difference between being a negative nancy and just flat out keeping it real.

Bear in mind that many of us are torn, disappointed, crushed, hurt and flat out angry about the way things came out of the wash for the 2011 Colts.

Allow us to vent. We need to get it all out. This hurts, at least for those of us that realize the severity of whats transpired.

Just because some of us have drastically lowered our expectations does not suggest that we are bad, fickle fans. I am preparing myself emotionally for disappointment because, undoubtedly, we are about to be treated to something far less than what we've experienced over the last 10 years. Of course the fools that suggest throwing in the towel and diving for the Andrew Luck pick are utterly unintelligent and football stoooopid. Do not even acknowledge them with anything more than clicking that little red negative rep button on the lower right hand corner of their irrelevant post.

We have entered uncharted waters for the Manning era Colts. Personally, I am excited and crushed about the seasons beginnings. As are many of my fellow members. This will manifest itself with some inconsistent, back and forth emotional posting. So long as this is done reasonably, it is healthy to get it off our chests.

Think of the unique issues facing avid Colts fans. We had the lockout, as did all NFL fans. The seemingly eminent threat of no football in 2011. We have the SB here in Indy and we all dealt with the what-ifs of having our season canceled, as well as the first ever Indianapolis SB canceled. That issue was resolved and the excitement began to boil over. As perennial SB contenders for the last decade, we stood poised as being the first team to play a home SB in NFL history, given our history, we had more reason to believe this could happen than any other team in history.

Then the surgery, followed by an exponentially increasing flow of negative info about the prognosis. With all this excitement, history making feats, potential canceled seasons and the SB, we get hit with he prospect of losing the NFL's most accomplished player in history (Manning) for the season, even some possibility of permanence to his absence.

We are a diverse crowd. We got our "rah-rah bleeding blue gonna win the SB no matter what" crowd. We got our "chicken little" crowd. We have our "lowered expectations" crowd. We can be diverse, but we should not be divisive. Respect peoples opinions so long as they are being respectful. Sorry if your feelings get hurt by hearing GOOD fans poising themselves for some unflattering Colts football.

Best of luck to us, we're gonna need it.

[aavmarine]

You seem to be having a conspiracy theory going...How about this:

How good is Andrew Luck? Is he worth the Colts to lose and get in the top 5 picks and try and trade up? Why is it that Dungy said Manning got the neck pain in 06' against the Skins on the brutal hit. But in the mean time, he has seen numerous hits on himself, been sack alot, and also been to a SB. But every game I have watched the last two years, he seems to be coming of the field or taking a hit without once seeming to have any pain in his neck. Why didn't he get the surgery right after the last game this past year? Why did it take so long to get his contract done? Once it got done, why did he have his surgery 1 month before the season started? Where is the scare on his neck? How much money can a billionaire give a millionaire to sit out a season? Why say he is out the first game, when you say he needs a second surgery?

[ruksak]

You seem to be having a conspiracy theory going...How about this:

How good is Andrew Luck? Is he worth the Colts to lose and get in the top 5 picks and try and trade up? Why is it that Dungy said Manning got the neck pain in 06' against the Skins on the brutal hit. But in the mean time, he has seen numerous hits on himself, been sack alot, and also been to a SB. But every game I have watched the last two years, he seems to be coming of the field or taking a hit without once seeming to have any pain in his neck. Why didn't he get the surgery right after the last game this past year? Why did it take so long to get his contract done? Once it got done, why did he have his surgery 1 month before the season started? Where is the scare on his neck? How much money can a billionaire give a millionaire to sit out a season? Why say he is out the first game, when you say he needs a second surgery?

I think George Bush shot Manning in the neck with a shoulder fired missle and passed it off on the Redskins.

[aavmarine]

I think George Bush shot Manning in the neck with a shoulder fired missle and passed it off on the Redskins.

Can you explain why it seems that Manning hasn't had a problem with his neck the last four years? Why didn't he get this surgery right after the Jets game earlier this year,if he knew about it in 06'?

[ruksak]

Can you explain why it seems that Manning hasn't had a problem with his neck the last four years?

My response to that would be...I believe there is much that we don't know. I don't hang out with Manning very often so I have no idea if he was pocketing the pain and marching forth. From what I've heard, it has bothered him for some time. In typical Colts fashion, it was kept hush hush. Dungy knew about it and never spoke of it until it was out in the open.

[swflacoltsfans]

I know this is a big hypothetical, but im just trying to look at the silver lining here. If peyton were to miss the entire year I honestly think we would get a top 5 pick. I really dont think andrew lucks is the way to go. If peyton had 3 or 4 year contract that would be fine, but luck wouldnt take over til his 5th year in the NFL. not worth it.

But, we could pick up a few big time players in round 1 and 2, seeing as our 2nd round player would be darn close to where we normally pick in round 1. In a weird way peyton missing a year could almost help him have a better shot to win a SB before he retires than continually overachieving into the playoffs but being just short on talent to win and then not getting high picks in the draft to replenish the roster effectively. How?

Well, as we know our top picks have struggled as of late. And yes polian has done well later in drafts to find gems. The problem is most of those great steals become solid starters. Not bona fide superstarts, those are usually found in round 1. Having a early round 1 pick and in round 2 as well could give the colts the opportunity to draft instant impact players.

Imagine peyton getting justin blackmon as a WR, that could totally reinvigorate the colts O. Grab a really good guard or center in round 2, give nevis costanzo and ijalana a year to develop. The team could be really good given one year with high draft picks. Blackmon could allow reggie wayne to see more single coverage effectively prolonging his career (if we resign him). Maybe if the colts feel comfortable at WR, they could get a stud DT DE or maybe a CB (Im not real knowledegeable about upcoming draft at this point).

I guess, im just trying to find a way to make what is possibly going to be a long, painful season into a good thing.

With some new highly talented players around him, maybe peyton could get a few late career 'ships a la john elway.

anyone else agree with my odd, distorted view of what I could see happening?

Please dont take anything in this post as negativity bashing or question my fanhood. I say this, because i can see people interpreting it this way, and i dont mean it like that at all.

anyway, tell me what you think! (try to be nice )

Your logic is pretty much if someone loses their job it can be a good thing because they would pay less taxes.

[IndyTrav]

Absolutlely it's a blessing in disguise. This gives us an opportunity to see who the Colts franchise is going to be in the very near future. I believe this injury will force the Colts to act, rather than waiting for Mannings retirement to overhaul the organization, which I felt was going to be the case.

[hockey878]

people really dont get it. didnt expect them too. oh well, not everyone can think about a problem intelligently. Most people just resort to telling me that I am not a colts fan because im looking for positive, and i dont believe this team will be that good without manning.

To the person who said my thing is like a person losing their job to pay less taxes. What im saying is actually more like a person losing their job, only to find a better job with better people that pays more a year later. And that actually happened to my dad 10 years ago and worked out great.

[dynasty13]

Is his injury a blessing in disguise? Absolutely not. In no way, shape, or form is the Colts organization, or the NFL for that matter, 'better off' with Peyton Manning on the sideline. When a guy like this only has a few short years left to play anyways, you want to see him out there every chance you can. Im sorry to tell some of you, but 'getting a preview of what things will be like after hes gone' isnt a blessing. You're going to get that soon anyways, theres no reason to need to see it first. What...you think you need to prepare yourself for life without Peyton before it actually happens? No. When it happens it happens, and you'll get used to it real quick. Also, tanking a seasonin order to get a top pick isnt a blessing either. The Colts are supposedly run well enough to not need to count on a top pick down the line to be successful. Peyton worked out well for you at #1 a few years back...but you shouldnt count on a top pick to help make the 'transition' period of life with and life without Peyton easier.

Im honestly baffled by some of the posts on here this week. It sucks that Peyton isnt in...but can we be honest? That doesnt mean your season is over. As a Patriots fan I lived through it a few years ago, and believe me when I tell you...Sundays are still exciting. Its exciting to (for the first time in seemingly forever) go into each week not knowing whether you're going to win or lose. Its interesting as a fan to watch your team win in ways you arent used to seeing them do it. Its fun as a fan to actually be in a division race from day 1 on. Its different than what we have become used to it...but different doesnt mean bad. You're spoiled by Peyton...but 31 other teams in this league get by every week without Peyton leading their team. In fact, both Superbowl participants last year played a few games without their starting quarterbacks...and the Champion won with injuries that would cripple 95% of the league. The season starts tonight...its time to get excited.

[doogansquest]

How in the world is a top 5 draft pick a "blessing" in any capacity when compared to having the best QB in the world, a trip to the playoffs, and therefore, a chance at a Super Bowl?

This idea just baffles me. It's almost like the tank-the-season advocates.