"What if" Colts moments

[GwinnettColt]

A few for me (bear with me as I didn't keep up with the Colts much before Peyton Manning):

 

What if Nick Harper steered himself the other way after picking up Bettis' goal line fumble?

 

What if Peyton would not have been pulled in that game against the Jets and Indy finished 16-0?  Could momentum have helped them in the Super Bowl against New Orleans?
 

The dreaded, What if Ryan Leaf would have been drafted by Indy?

 

An addendum to the previous question-What if Lucas Oil Stadium could not have been built?   (San Diego, Oakland, and St. Louis would probably be safe right now.  

[GwinnettColt]

We would be doomed with rg3!!!! I still think luck would've fell to 2nd though. Redskins were probably more hyped about rg3. Or browns are cursed so rg3 would've been their guy...

 

RG3 would have done better here than in DC as I don't think Pagano would have put him back in still injured.  But yes, we may have been 7-9 or 8-8 with him as opposed to Luck.  Man, I'm glad we got him.  

[The Old Crow]

I hear ya on this one, buccolts. Thank God, Irsay chose Indianapolis! I cannot imagine another city worthy to have inherited all of the above. I've stated before in other threads that I would've followed the Colts anywhere. However, the great state of Indiana, beautiful city of Indianapolis, and it's fantastic citizens have made the Colts' organization something to be extremely proud of over the last 31 years.

So grateful and appreciative (and lucky : my age) to have witnessed my Colts in both Baltimore and Indianapolis! Proud. Very proud.

And we wouldn't have had the Ravens and the opportunity to create a second great era of NFL history in the great state of Maryland. Seen some great football.

[The Old Crow]

A few for me (bear with me as I didn't keep up with the Colts much before Peyton Manning):

What if Nick Harper steered himself the other way after picking up Bettis' goal line fumble?

What if Peyton would not have been pulled in that game against the Jets and Indy finished 16-0? Could momentum have helped them in the Super Bowl against New Orleans?

The dreaded, What if Ryan Leaf would have been drafted by Indy?

An addendum to the previous question-What if Lucas Oil Stadium could not have been built? (San Diego, Oakland, and St. Louis would probably be safe right now.

I'll give you guys one thing, you sure give the civic support to stadium building projects . Owners like Irsay, and many of the others, love you guys. I'm not sure about San Diego, but St. Louis and Oakland was much like Baltimore in the 1980's. Bad politicians, low tax base because they've driven out business, etc. They have trouble getting stadium bills passed because they get voted down, because these politicians put the money towards wasteful projects, not realizing the stadiums and teams create jobs in the community. Usually, only when the state becomes involved, do you ever see movement in cities like these.

[Gramz]

What if Peyton never suffered that neck injury against the redskins?

I often think about this..... but in the end, I am just thankful it didn't completely end his career.

[ColtRider]

What if Peyton would have learned to effectively use his RBs to dump the ball to or use for screen plays.  IMO for a guy as smart as Peyton, he has never been comfortable or effective at checking down to a relatively uncovered running back.  Just seems the teams that have won multiple Super Bowls had QBs who knew when to gamble and try to force something or knew when to just check down and let the RB make some positive yards.  IMHO the Colts would have won at least a couple more Super Bowls.

Peyton learned everything effectively a long time ago. And, I mean everything. The guy would run circles around many NFL coaches as it stands now. Trying to keep up with his mind capacity for the game would be extremely difficult and frightening.

[aaron11]

We would be doomed with rg3!!!! I still think luck would've fell to 2nd though. Redskins were probably more hyped about rg3. Or browns are cursed so rg3 would've been their guy...

 

What if CAT really spelled Dog?    Anyone know the movie?

 

 

On a serious note, what if MJD didn't run all over us and the Jags didn't end up beating us back in 2011? Probably no Luck for us.

actually we would have dropped to the third overall pick due to tie breakers with the vikings, so no rg3 for us.  later in the season Grigs said he would been ok with taking wilson in the second or third round.  no word on if he would have taken tannehill in the top 3 picks, or if he would have traded back a few picks then taken RT.

 

it does make you wonder if he would have jumped on RT or waited for wilson

[bap1331]

actually we would have dropped to the third overall pick due to tie breakers with the vikings, so no rg3 for us. later in the season Grigs said he would been ok with taking wilson in the second or third round. no word on if he would have taken tannehill in the top 3 picks, or if he would have traded back a few picks then taken RT.

it does make you wonder if he would have jumped on RT or waited for wilson

I'm really interested in what would've happened if we had Russell wilson....

[GoColts8818]

I'm really interested in what would've happened if we had Russell wilson....

4-12 and kicking ourselves for not taking Luck unless we kept Peyton and used Wilson as a back up. Then I think 9-7 or 10-6 and being an older team who was clearly declining.

[Lucky4Us]

How did Edge catch over 350 passes in less than 7 seasons if Peyton didn't know how to use the dump off?

Point taken.  I should have been more specific and said "in the big playoff games".  The reason I typed this "what if" comment was because I remembered during the Colt's Super Bowl win that Peyton used Addai a lot better than he ever did Edgerrin in all those painful playoff losses.  I suppose I should also clarify that by "effectively", I mean being more unpredictable and forcing the D to play things more honestly.

[Indianapolis-Colts-Fan]

What if we never had that playoff hump? Dynasty baby!

[JH8788]

What if we score from the 1 yd line vs NE back in our 03 RS matchup as oppose to getting stuffed all 4 times?

 

What if our defense stops Miami in regulation in the 2000 playoffs?

 

What if we convert on 3rd & short vs SD in the 08 playoffs?

[JH8788]

What if WR Austin Collie would have never sustained so many concussions in his INDY career & he was allowed to blossom to his elite potential? He was destined for stardom & I was so sad to see head trauma sideline his promising NFL trajectory. 

Anthony Gonzalez too. Still kinda bothers me that we wasn't able to have those 2 healthy alongside Wayne, Clark, & Garcon.

[pacolts56]

What if Robert Irsay and GM Ernie Accorsi in 1983 had simply told John Elway..."be my guest, enjoy playing baseball for George Steinbrenner or QB for some other team"....and then selected Dan Marino 1st overall instead?