Critique Of Colts Fo And Caldwell

[Larry Horseman]

I usually don't agree with a lot of what Howard Bryant says, but the below article really sums up what I've been saying and thinking for the better part of the season now. I'm glad to see some national media actually calling out Polian and Caldwell. The lack of ability and/or willingness to adjust offensive and defensive schemes in the absence of Peyton is embarrassing...I can only hope Irsay (who is also part of this mess) agrees and addresses this after the season. With respectable coaching and tweaking philosophies, this team would have at least 4 wins at this point in the season and could even be .500. I actually don't think the personnel is as much of an issue as Polian and Caldwell's refusal to change when the circumstances dictate that we do so (don't get me wrong, there are personnel issues but there is way more talent than 0-12). For the record, I think Caldwell has to go and I'm on the fence about Polian. He's still an asset in many regards, but I'm beginning to question if his insistence on running all aspects of the franchise isn't beginning to outweigh his positives.

Here is a link to the article: http://espn.go.com/e...-winless-season

Here is a long excerpt from it:

"The worst offenders in the Colts' long list of suspects are owner Jim Irsay and general manager Bill Polian. Manning has undergone three neck procedures in the past 15 months, and his prognosis for the 2011 season was bleak as far back as May. In a death sport like football, neck injuries, after all, are not just season-threatening but potentially career-ending. The lockout came and went, and the Colts still did not seem to have a plan to replace him. Vince Youngwas available; the Colts didn't move. Finally, in desperation, as though hearing about Manning's injury for the first time, management signed Kerry Collins in late August, two weeks before the season began. Some of the team's own veterans, starting with Wayne, scoffed.

Indianapolis didn't even make a move on Manning, who wouldn't practice a meaningful minute this season yet never was placed on injured reserve. Meanwhile, Irsay sent out cryptic tweets about the "wild ride" on which the Colts were embarking, imploring patience from fans.

The explanations -- both for the Colts' lifelessness and the front office's apparent lack of concern about it -- leave much to be desired. Manning might be the greatest quarterback of his time, but he isn't so much better -- if at all -- than Tom Brady, and the Patriots won 11 games in 2008 withMatt Cassel at quarterback after Brady was lost for the season in the first quarter of the first game. Yet once it became clear Manning would not return any time soon, the expectations for the Colts waned as though losing every game is commonplace when a team is without its quarterback.

Then there is the excuse that Indianapolis is so far on the downside that even a full season with Manning wouldn't have saved the Colts from a 6-10 season. Mathis is 30, Freeney is 31 and Wayne is 33. Manning is 35, and the Colts' window, or so went the thought, was closing even faster than it is for the bygone Chargers.

Football, with its nonsensical paramilitary culture, is ostensibly the sport in which each member of the unit awaits selflessly for his turn to support the cause. But the leaders of the Colts folded up and surrendered.

Should Caldwell fail to survive the season, it will be hard to suggest that he is actually real coaching material, based on this year. Wayne did not scoff at the signing of Collins because Collins is incapable but because that particular quarterback was incapable of running an offense designed by and for Manning on two weeks' notice. Caldwell and the Colts not only seemed unable to adjust emotionally to the challenge of winning without Manning but also failed to adjust strategically by putting the players he had in the best positions for success.

And that supposedly is the reason the guy in charge wears the headset.

The best evidence of Caldwell's failures can be seen through the prism of John Fox's success in Denver, where the Broncos are tied for the AFC West Division lead with a quarterback whom Fox and his ownership team -- led byJohn Elway -- had slated to be third-string. Tim Tebow is not a great pro quarterback; in a traditional offense, he is hardly even a good one. But instead of tanking the Broncos' season by letting Tebow drop back and throw into a defensive maze he can't yet read, Fox did something novel. He actuallycoached, devising a run-heavy, deception-laden offensive game plan tailored for what his personnel can do.

Many coaches would be complaining about all that Tebow can't do, but Fox subjugated his ego, took on the challenge personally and provided Tebow with a structure that makes it possible for him to complete all of two passes and win a game (as Denver did against Kansas City in mid-November). Had he given Tebow the playbook for Kyle Orton's offense, there is little question that Fox, Tebow and Denver would've failed. Today, they are, at least now, dangerous. Fox and his offensive staff are the unsung architects of Denver's success."

[Buck Showalter]

" Caldwell and the Colts not only seemed unable to adjust emotionally to the challenge of winning without Manning but also failed to adjust strategically by putting the players he had in the best positions for success.

And that supposedly is the reason the guy in charge wears the headset."

exactly

[Douzer]

" Caldwell and the Colts not only seemed unable to adjust emotionally to the challenge of winning without Manning but also failed to adjust strategically by putting the players he had in the best positions for success.

And that supposedly is the reason the guy in charge wears the headset."

exactly

+1

[Slick_Rick]

It just really saddens me that the front office has completely given up on this season. I understand that Peyton is not playing, but look at the surrounding cast. Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Antoine Bethea, Robert Mathis, Dallas Clark, and Jeff Saturday, these players are season vets who have each been to a couple of Pro Bowls so obviously they are great players. Then you look at players like Pat Angerer and Pierre Garcon, who have really come on as of late. I remember Peyton's first surgery when we brought in a few qb's just for the preseason, I know they weren't big grabs, but at least it seemed as though we were trying to be prepared. Then you look at this season with the Kerry Collins fiasco....ill prepared just doesn't seem to describe this situation. Other teams have lost their starting quarterback and have not completely given up. I just don't understand.

[Buck Showalter]

It just really saddens me that the front office has completely given up on this season. I understand that Peyton is not playing, but look at the surrounding cast. Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Antoine Bethea, Robert Mathis, Dallas Clark, and Jeff Saturday, these players are season vets who have each been to a couple of Pro Bowls so obviously they are great players. Then you look at players like Pat Angerer and Pierre Garcon, who have really come on as of late. I remember Peyton's first surgery when we brought in a few qb's just for the preseason, I know they weren't big grabs, but at least it seemed as though we were trying to be prepared. Then you look at this season with the Kerry Collins fiasco....ill prepared just doesn't seem to describe this situation. Other teams have lost their starting quarterback and have not completely given up. I just don't understand.

The number one draft pick is Andrew Luck, what is not to understand. Media & NFL fans have already crowned this guy...

How else could coaching proceed without making ANY adjustments, they are not even TRYING to be competitive...