Sunday Nfl Countdown Is Ripping The Colts, And I Love It

[LUVTHESHOE]

Not so sure it is stupid...

I was only able to go to ONE game that year & it was the Jets game, I paid GOOD money for that ticket & I was ROBBED...

I think many fans heavily object to the theory of resting starters because the year we won the SB, we didn't have home field wrapped up throughout & we actually played the entire season out...

and if the point of resting starters is to rest them then why even start them???

you can get hurt in the first quarter as easy as the fourth, but Manning was starting to keep his active starts streak in-tact & if i remember correctly Dallas & Reggie both had to get one or two receptions a piece in that buffalo game to accumalate some personal stats (just forget what the stat was...)

so why start players for personal stats, if the overall team record is 'Meaningless'

This has always been my problem with the whole thing, trying to keep people healthy wa salways the excuce. So then you go out in a blizzard a let em play to go after records, meaningless at that. It sure didnt help Reggie get extended.When you have a first round bye, week 16 is way too early to shut it down.

[Buck Showalter]

& had the team gone 18-0, the player mentality would've been HUGELY different...

so no one can say what the outcome of the SB would've been under different circumstances...

[MAC]

They are talking about the Packers and all the undefeated talk. Basically Ditka said we were afraid of it and tried to avoid it. Keyshawn said kind of sarcastically, that the Colts want to prove that their way always works and they want to be different. I'll never forgive them for 2009.

The thing is, you are talking about Ditka and Keyshawn Johnson. The first is one of the worst GMs in the history of the sport, the second is an arrogant obnoxious clown who I've been actively rooting against since he was in college. Ditka may well have a primitive "win if it kills you" mentality that served him well at times - but then you are supposed to grow up and use your head more as you get older. He has not. Johnson is Terrel Owens with a lot less talent. Did you applaud him when he was making derogatory comments about Marvin Harrison while miked up on national TV during that famous Bucs/Colts game? The man can only be described by words that aren't allowed on this forum.

In short, holding them up as an example does nothing to validate your opinion. Quite the opposite actually.

[Jason_]

Not so sure it is stupid...

I was only able to go to ONE game that year & it was the Jets game, I paid GOOD money for that ticket & I was ROBBED...

I think many fans heavily object to the theory of resting starters because the year we won the SB, we didn't have home field wrapped up throughout & we actually played the entire season out...

and if the point of resting starters is to rest them then why even start them???

you can get hurt in the first quarter as easy as the fourth, but Manning was starting to keep his active starts streak in-tact & if i remember correctly Dallas & Reggie both had to get one or two receptions a piece in that buffalo game to accumalate some personal stats (just forget what the stat was...)

so why start players for personal stats, if the overall team record is 'Meaningless'

There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with the decision or thinking it was a bad call...what's stupid is claiming they pulled the starters because they're not competitive, because they were scared or one of the other many reasons that people use just to validate the hate they have for either Caldwell or Polian. I wasn't a fan of the decision either but I understand the logic behind it. That doesn't mean I agree with said logic but I understand it.

IMO, you did not get robbed. If you'd watched the Colts at all in the past decade prior to that game then I don't think you could have reasonably expected the starters to play for the entire game. I was surprised the starters were in the game for as long as they were. However, I do understand the frustration of paying for a game only to see the starters pulled...I just wouldn't call it being robbed. That's why the league altered the scheduling this year to include as many inter-divisional games as possible in the final few weeks of the season. This was their best way to try to prevent teams from pulling starters and to keep those late season games more competitive and the only thing really that I think they could do further is put all 6 divisional games at the end of the season. Beyond that they'd have to actually punish a specific team for resting starters and I don't see that happening.

To some of the other points:

-why have starters play at all? to maintain some semblance of continuity

-why go keep players in until certain stats are reached? I agree though it could have been more about meeting the criteria for a performance bonus in the contract than actually the stats themselves. Not saying that makes it any better or worse.

[colts_mp]

Did anyone even watch the SB in 2009? Whether we were 18-0 going in or 16-2 made no difference. We got outplayed and outcoached and were beaten by a better team. When it came down to it, Manning threw a pick 6 and we lost. NO made more plays.

Btw, NO started their season 13-0 that same year and finished with 3 straight losses to end the season. Somehow they managed to put it together and win the SB (for those that think the Colts lost momentum by pulling starters at 14-0).

[Malakai432]

Useless thread

[wirymo]

I'm sure if we would have won the SB that year then no one would have cared about those last two games. I know I wouldn't have.

[GoColts8818]

They are talking about the Packers and all the undefeated talk. Basically Ditka said we were afraid of it and tried to avoid it. Keyshawn said kind of sarcastically, that the Colts want to prove that their way always works and they want to be different. I'll never forgive them for 2009.

so you are enjoying see the team you say you cheer for being torn apart on TV...

I didn't like what happened in 2009 but at some point move on. If the players can move on and come out and get to a Super Bowl it's not asking too much for us as fans to move on two years later.

[Moose Of Woe]

Did anyone even watch the SB in 2009? Whether we were 18-0 going in or 16-2 made no difference. We got outplayed and outcoached and were beaten by a better team. When it came down to it, Manning threw a pick 6 and we lost. NO made more plays.

Btw, NO started their season 13-0 that same year and finished with 3 straight losses to end the season. Somehow they managed to put it together and win the SB (for those that think the Colts lost momentum by pulling starters at 14-0).

Dwight Freeney, HEALTHY, would have made all the difference in the world. Let alone the onsides kick debacle, garbage special teams and head coach.

Who knows what would have happened if we didn't lay down? The Jets wouldn't have been in. Freeney PROBABLY would not have gotten hurt and, ergo, we'd have knocked the Saints' blocks off.

The big question would be what would happen if we ran in to SD again? We may not have gotten past them.

It's all a bunch of what ifs but still - we should NOT have just spit in the eye of greatness.

[No 1 Manning Fan]

I wanted to go for it and wished we had. but the truth is that resting our starters was the smart thing. the goal is to win the sb. 16-0 means nothing in reality. the sb is the goal and if one of your players got hurt in a meaningless game (like welker in 09 for the patriots) than that is unforgiveable. the goal is to just win the sb, not look sexy on the way to doing it.

The only reason that we have professional sports is because fans pay to see it. You play for your fans. Therefore, you go out there and try your best to win EVERY game. You don't keep or build a fan base by pulling your starters and losing a game on purpose. You and Polian can spin it any way you want to, but it was a gutless move that betrayed the players that wanted to play to win and fans that wanted to see an undefeated season.

[GoColts8818]

Dwight Freeney, HEALTHY, would have made all the difference in the world. Let alone the onsides kick debacle, garbage special teams and head coach.

Who knows what would have happened if we didn't lay down? The Jets wouldn't have been in. Freeney PROBABLY would not have gotten hurt and, ergo, we'd have knocked the Saints' blocks off.

The big question would be what would happen if we ran in to SD again? We may not have gotten past them.

It's all a bunch of what ifs but still - we should NOT have just spit in the eye of greatness.

You right we could have played the Chargers in the AFC Title game and a team who is a horriable match up for us and we could have lost that game and never made the Super Bowl.

Freeney's injury was a fluke injury, had it been a close game vs. the Jets he might not have gotten hurt either. That's why it's a bad idea to play coulda woulda shoulda. it's what happened, no amount of going to back and talking about it is going to change it. Like I said it's time to move on.

[JoKeR]

I don't love it. Mike Ditka said the colts were afraid of perfection? Wth is he talking about? The Colts FO was afraid of injury but afraid of perfection? And then no one bothered to ask what he meant and just acted like they understood.

And then throw the "playoffs" rant on top of it.

They just wanna kick us when were down.

You know how Manning is all jokes when he's around them types, I'd like to see Manning face to face with Ditka and ask if he thought he was scared of perfection.

[coltsblue1844]

The Colts front office (Polian) can NOT say that they were doing it to avoid injuries...they also can NOT say that they're not worried about meaningless records...because they put ALL of the starters out there in the Buffalo game, in TERRIBLE weather conditions, and left them until Peyton/Reggie/Dallas etc had secured their various milestones

[Jaric]

If preventing injuries was the concern, then why was Reggie Wayne out catching passes to achieve personal milestones?

[Coltssouth]

I can understand the Reggie Wayne situation. I made a huge difference in the amount of money he would make, and I don't begrudge him because of it in the least.

I don't think this was any of the players decisions and I don't want to see their livelyinhood affected because of it.

[coltsblue1844]

I can understand the Reggie Wayne situation. I made a huge difference in the amount of money he would make, and I don't begrudge him because of it in the least.

I don't think this was any of the players decisions and I don't want to see their livelyinhood affected because of it.

No offense, but its just silly to think that Polian decided to put Wayne out there to reach his milestone, so that we would have to pay him more money...are you even thinking before you post such things?

So its ok to put them out there to reach milestones to make more money...but its not ok to put them out there to try and win a football game?

[JoKeR]

Can someone please explain to me what Mike Ditka meant when he said " they(the colts) were afraid of perfection "?

Wth does that mean? Its devoid of logic and reason.

[supremecoltsfan300]

The only reason that we have professional sports is because fans pay to see it. You play for your fans. Therefore, you go out there and try your best to win EVERY game. You don't keep or build a fan base by pulling your starters and losing a game on purpose. You and Polian can spin it any way you want to, but it was a gutless move that betrayed the players that wanted to play to win and fans that wanted to see an undefeated season.

there are professional sports because there is money to be made. the owners of teams want to make money and ultimately winning a sb earns the most. owners also have a second goal of winning a sb. resting the starters gives the owners the best chance to earn money and win a sb. going for 16-0 is a sign of hubris. and like i said i still wanted to go for it but that wouldnt have been the smart decision.

[Jay305]

The team that went for the perfect season got the perfect ending also had we not let the Jets into the playoffs Freeney wouldnt have gotten hurt against the Jets in the AFC championship.

[supremecoltsfan300]

Can someone please explain to me what Mike Ditka meant when he said " they(the colts) were afraid of perfection "?

Wth does that mean? Its devoid of logic and reason.

ditka was never one of the smartest people. ditka also has a huge ego.

[JoKeR]

No offense, but its just silly to think that Polian decided to put Wayne out there to reach his milestone, so that we would have to pay him more money...are you even thinking before you post such things?

So its ok to put them out there to reach milestones to make more money...but its not ok to put them out there to try and win a football game?

Don't shoot me down right away but that might have been a way for Polian to make it up to his players. Think about it. He knew they were mad about the previous game, imagine how much more angry they would've been if they felt Polian was trying to rob them of their chance to get bonuses? He let it happen to calm his star players down.

[Jaric]

I can understand the Reggie Wayne situation. I made a huge difference in the amount of money he would make, and I don't begrudge him because of it in the least.

I don't think this was any of the players decisions and I don't want to see their livelyinhood affected because of it.

My point is only that it's inconsistent with the message the front office used to justify laying down to the Jets.

As to effecting their livelihood, well I'm not buying that. Mercury Morris is still cashing checks off that one "perfect season." If it weren't for that, the only people who would know who he was were dolphins fans who remember that one running back who did time for being a coke addict. That could have been Joseph Addai. (well, hopefully minus the coke addiction.)

[Jaric]

there are professional sports because there is money to be made. the owners of teams want to make money and ultimately winning a sb earns the most. owners also have a second goal of winning a sb. resting the starters gives the owners the best chance to earn money and win a sb. going for 16-0 is a sign of hubris. and like i said i still wanted to go for it but that wouldnt have been the smart decision.

Well, first off I don't think hubris is the word you're looking for.

And second, it's only hubris if you fail.

[Coltssouth]

My point is only that it's inconsistent with the message the front office used to justify laying down to the Jets.

As to effecting their livelihood, well I'm not buying that. Mercury Morris is still cashing checks off that one "perfect season." If it weren't for that, the only people who would know who he was were dolphins fans who remember that one running back who did time for being a coke addict. That could have been Joseph Addai. (well, hopefully minus the coke addiction.)

Believe me I am still not happy with the decision either, and I am in no way trying to justify what they did. What I am saying is although I don't agree with it I can understand them playing the players they did.

[JoKeR]

Jaric, your right the decision to allow players to play for bonus milestones isn't consistent with the reasoning to pull players the game before.

But at that point, that wasn't what was important anymore. Polian had a locker room of angry players and wanted to get their heads right before the playoffs. He didn't expect the angry reaction from the fans or his players. The players tried to hide their frustration but really could not.

So Polian allowed them to play for their bonuses to lift moral.

[21isSuperman]

Can someone please explain to me what Mike Ditka meant when he said " they(the colts) were afraid of perfection "?

Wth does that mean? Its devoid of logic and reason.

We can't really expect much from Ditka. Just let him ramble, give him a nice bottle of warm milk, and let him have his nap

[JoKeR]

We can't really expect much from Ditka. Just let him ramble, give him a nice bottle of warm milk, and let him have his nap

and throw in a Ricky Williams rookie Jersey? He'd probably make some sort of 1 sided deal.

[shecolt]

I have read enough in this thread and numerous other threads to know that there are some who can not let this go and will probably never be able to let this go. And, that is fine. As a fan, you have every right to be upset.

The only objection I have is the references to "the decision" as being cowardly or gutless.

Now, I was just as upset as any of you when I watched that game.

At the time, one of my favorite quotes came to mind: "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is."

I wanted the Colts to go out on that limb and reach for the fruit of a perfect season.

After I had calmed down and had some time to reflect, I realized that the Colts had gone out on a limb.

However, I don't think they anticipated the vast amount of uproar (and some may say that Polian didn't care); but they had to have known that there would be angry fans if that game resulted in a loss. Yet, they made the decision to do what they thought was best to give them a better chance to reach for the fruit of a SB win.

Although I still don't agree with that decision, in no way do I view it as cowardly or gutless. I think it took a lot of guts to pull those starters.

[21isSuperman]

and throw in a Ricky Williams rookie Jersey? He'd probably make some sort of 1 sided deal.

I dunno, the Ricky Williams jersey might excite him too much

[No 1 Manning Fan]

there are professional sports because there is money to be made. the owners of teams want to make money and ultimately winning a sb earns the most. owners also have a second goal of winning a sb. resting the starters gives the owners the best chance to earn money and win a sb. going for 16-0 is a sign of hubris. and like i said i still wanted to go for it but that wouldnt have been the smart decision.

Where does the money come from? The market, AKA the fans. Supply and demand. No audience = no show business. Keep the fans happy and keep the money rolling in. How do you keep fans happy you ask? Win! And play to win EVERY game.

[colts_mp]

No offense, but its just silly to think that Polian decided to put Wayne out there to reach his milestone, so that we would have to pay him more money...are you even thinking before you post such things?

So its ok to put them out there to reach milestones to make more money...but its not ok to put them out there to try and win a football game?

Pulling players to keep them from reaching milestones is probably a labor issue. I would think that somewhere in the contracts the owners and management are prohibited from deliberately keeping players stats down to insure they don't reach a bonus plateau.

[objectivecoltsfan]

Can someone please explain to me what Mike Ditka meant when he said " they(the colts) were afraid of perfection "?

Wth does that mean? Its devoid of logic and reason.

Mike Ditka is a man, he believe football is meant to be played a certain way, 100% all day every day. The Colts laid down for their last team games because Polian was afraid.

[billpolianx]

i just hope jim irsay is listening to the national media about polians failures, because he doesn't seem to be listening to fans

[Superman]

Dwight Freeney, HEALTHY, would have made all the difference in the world. Let alone the onsides kick debacle, garbage special teams and head coach.

I've contended since that game that Freeney's health was a non-factor, made that way by our corners playing 8 yards off the line of scrimmage (sound familiar?) and allowing Drew Brees to hit his underneath receivers with impunity all game long. Freeney got a sack in the second quarter to end a drive, and from that point forward, the Saints didn't give our line a chance to get near Brees. And we made it possible by allowing their receivers do what they wanted underneath, and Drew Brees and Sean Payton said "thank you," and never looked back. When the quarterback is throwing the ball in less than two seconds to wide open receivers, your pass rush is rendered moot.

And that's exactly what we've being doing all season long. I can't imagine for what reason.

[Malakai432]

Mike Ditka must've spilled his Appletini all over the duvet, twaaaa, ohhhhmg!

[supremecoltsfan300]

Well, first off I don't think hubris is the word you're looking for.

And second, it's only hubris if you fail.

i meant what i said. hubris = self-destructive pride

[supremecoltsfan300]

Where does the money come from? The market, AKA the fans. Supply and demand. No audience = no show business. Keep the fans happy and keep the money rolling in. How do you keep fans happy you ask? Win! And play to win EVERY game.

not going for 16-0 did not affect what the fans did. colts made about the same money they would have. hlad a star player went down then the colts would have lost more money because fans would not watch/purchase as much.

[since 1960]

So the Colts could have went 18-1 like the Patriots did? The Patriots will always be remembered as the team that won all regular season games and lost the Super Bowl. Sure, when the Colts were 14-0, we didn't know they would lose the Super Bowl, but I would have done the same thing. Freeney got hurt at the end of the Jet game which really hurt the Cotls in the Super Bowl. So you never know when that can happen. I had no problem with the Colts playing backups.

I remember Freeney getting hurt after we had the game won. He should have been on the sidelines.

[Blue Horseshoe]

there are professional sports because there is money to be made. the owners of teams want to make money and ultimately winning a sb earns the most. owners also have a second goal of winning a sb. resting the starters gives the owners the best chance to earn money and win a sb. going for 16-0 is a sign of hubris. and like i said i still wanted to go for it but that wouldnt have been the smart decision.

As if a perfect season were not the greatest pro football marketing opportunity imaginable.

Why do you think a shrewd businessman like Robert Kraft trademarked "19-0" and "19-0 The Perfect Season"?

Most fans can't even name a quarter of Super Bowl winners but very few can't name the only perfect team.

[Blue Horseshoe]

So the Colts could have went 18-1 like the Patriots did? The Patriots will always be remembered as the team that won all regular season games and lost the Super Bowl. Sure, when the Colts were 14-0, we didn't know they would lose the Super Bowl, but I would have done the same thing. Freeney got hurt at the end of the Jet game which really hurt the Cotls in the Super Bowl. So you never know when that can happen. I had no problem with the Colts playing backups.

So being a gutless 16-3 is preferable to 18-1? What possible sense does that make? What is so horrible about winning 18 football games? This 18-1 nonsense is just ridiculous.