The Colts don’t owe you guys a damn thing. However, I do think it’s a self-defeating practice. Every time they sit players in Weeks 16 and 17, they wind up coming out flat in the divisional round and losing.
I agree. If the Steelers miss the playoffs it won’t be because Indy didn’t help them out it will be because they lost three games that should have been slam dunks.
I think the Colts (and other teams in a situation) arguably do owe the sport in general something. Our system for determining playoffs relies on a win/loss system and tie breaker comparisons that essentially assume that everyone is at least trying to win their games in good faith, which makes comparing the records of different teams fair. If one team isn’t really trying, and wins come due a game happening to be scheduled on week 16 instead of week 5, then it damages the integrity of the whole system. Again I’ll ask - what if the Colts just followed their idea to its logical conclusion and simply refused to show up after they had the #1 seed locked up and forfeitted the games? Would you feel differently then?
Anyway, I’m not saying they’ve violated a contract with me, I’m saying that I hold their franchise in contempt for this stupid practice. And this is especially because they are likely hurting their team in the process - they are thumbing their nose at the NFL and their chance to make history, upsetting the playoff race, and in the process probably worsening their own chances for further success. Every relevant factor suggests this is a bad decision - so considering that it’s both stupid and wrong, I would say it’s a perfectly valid reason to have disdain for a franchise.
Remember how bad Carney was this season, including all the clanging of goalposts against New England?
That was Hartley’s first career miss inside of 50 yards. IMHO, it was absolutel a psychoogical miss. Hopefully, he’ll bounce back.
It’s not the Colts’ fault they’ve already clinched and have nothing to play for; your beef is with the NFL. I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with the Colts putting forth a minimal effort or no effort at all, at least from a football standpoint.
I do think they owe it to their fans to play for the win, though.
ETA: Go Bucs!
Chalk up another guy not happy with the Colts blowing off a shot at 16-0.
Then again, I’m one of the few guys that hopes the '72 Dolphins do the rumored toast thing. Kinda wish they’d do it at half time of the Monday night game. Have Morris, Czonka, et al arrive at the stadium in a stretch limo, decked out in tuxedos, escorted to a private suite, and pop the bubbly live in prime time. 
The only issue I have with the Colts decision is that I think it is not a good decision for the team, especially if they play the starters barely at all next week. They then get a bye and then they will be expected to come out and play playoff football? Very risky in my opinion.
I’m not sure it would be practical to fly the entire surviving '72 Dolphins squad into Washington D.C. just in case the Colts lost.
I have to believe this is Jim Irsay or Bill Polian’s policy. I just don’t see any reason for Caldwell to follow it just because Dungy did; Caldwell’s done a lot of things quite differently from Dungy, even though his coaching style is similar (soft-spoken, “players’ coach”, etc.)
Can someone please explain to me why it was OK for the Colts to essentially throw the game/perfect season under the pretense of “resting?” There’s no resting in football!!! I’m sure there were millions of people of betting on on the game (either legally or not) and there appear to be no repercussions for not giving it 100% and actually trying to win. How is it any different from intentionally throwing a game for gambling purposes? How do we know that that’s not what actually happened? The whole thing disgusts me and I hope they get their collective asses handed to them in the playoffs.
Surly (who did not bet on the game but if she had she would be even surlier.)
It should be mentioned that the '72 Dolphins used their backup quarterback (Earl Morrall) for over half of their games that season. The team still ran the table because they were a complete team. Regular starter Bob Griese went down in week 5 and didn’t start again until the Super Bowl. The '09 Colts are great, but can you imagine them pulling themselves out of a similar situation?
The champagne may not taste as sweet this year, but I personally love the tradition of the “celebration” in Miami. I would expect anyone to be proud of such a singular achievement & to cherish the memory.
The '72 Dolphins also had one of the weakest schedules…EVER.
I’m a Colts fan and when they first pulled Manning with a 5 point-lead in the 3rd Q. I sighed and shook my head but thought. Oh well. I guess that was they game-plan all along and they all knew it. Let’s see what the rookie QB can do, and hope our defense stays sharp.
Then I noticed it wasn’t just about protecting Manning-- they were taking out most of the other big-time starters as well–on both sides of the ball! That’s when I really started to get mad. And then, when young Painter showed he wasn’t going to be effective (not really his fault, he was put in a really tough spot) I was actually naive enough to believe that Caldwell might put his first team back on the field and have a go at it. You know… as in he was just making a bit of a feint–trying to rest starters early and see what happened, then make adjustments if needed. I guess seeing Payton on the sidelines with his helmet still on and his chin-strap still fastened help lead me to believe this.
Nope. He never intended to do what it would take to win–no matter what happened. The more I thought about it, and the more the Jets scored, the madder I got.
Psychologically, it just doesn’t do the the Colts any good. They all knew that bullshit might be coming, but when it actually went down, that had to have crushed the spirit of the team (not to mention 99% of the Colt’s fans–99% of ALL NFL fans, actually–except the Jet’s fans, most Patriots’ fans, and the '72 Dolphins).
That sort of thing just comes back to bite you in the ass in the playoffs, and the Colts should know that better than anyone. So what IF Manning had had a season-ending injury? Or Dwight Freeney, Reggie Wayne, or Dallas Clark? Is this a chmpionship-caliber TEAM, or just a primadonna surrounded by a group of Star Trek red-shirts?
There is a risk of injury at any given point in the season–it is a rough game. But less-drastic adjustments could have been made to mitigate the chances of a crushing injury. The Colt’s were up five-- so, for example, they could have kept Clark on the line more than usual to help block and protect Manning (who is already supremely well-protected).
And they could have avoided all the dangerous crossing slot-routes unless absolutely necessary. They could have tried to build up the score some and if successful, THEN pull Manning in the 4th Q. As for Reggie Wayne, have him run safer routes. Marvin Harrison made a Hall-of-Fame career playing only along the sidelines avoiding every single hit he could… have Wayne play that way the rest of the way.
Just play real-man, full-strength, NFL football through at LEAST the end of the 3rd quarter and if the Colts are up by enough points (or down by enough points) THEN consider bringing out SOME of your starters.
Like many others, I think this has only hurt their Super-Bowl chances–not helped them.
Sad.
Interesting stuff, but it just points to why an undefeated season is so special. We can argue back & forth forever about who really is the greatest team ever, who would’ve beaten whom, who got lucky or was unlucky, etc. Greatness will always be subjective. But a perfect record is an objective fact & can never be taken away. Incidentally I think the '07 Patriots were truly awesome, but you couldn’t really (even if you had a time machine) play them against the '72 Dolphins because the two teams would be accustomed to completely different blocking, holding, & pass interference rules.
I’ve been a Charger fan since Dan Fouts. All I can say is I’ve seen them make it to the playoffs and forget to bring their A game more than once. Now that they have made the post season, I just hope they all bring their A game. Please, let them bring their A game o Football God.
That raises the central issue; why do professional athletes play? It’s an entertainment business so in that sense they do owe their audience something.
What’s the goal of the team? Is it to maximize its profits? It would seem an undefeated season would have sold a lot of tickets for them. And a huge amount of merchandising.
Is their goal to pursue glory or build up the legacy of the team? Again, go for the win.
Is their goal to promote the best long-term prospects of the team? In that case, they shouldn’t have played for the win. But they also should never play for the win. They’ve already signed their current roster so that’s set. The best plan for improving the team in the future is draft prospects and a 0-16 record gives them the best picks.
Same with the goal of keeping the team healthy. Why play Manning ever? Every time you put him on the field you risk him being injured. You follow the logic of protecting him and you should bench him all season. But Painter is also a Colt. When you pull Manning away from the risk of injury, you expose Painter (or Willy) to that risk instead. So why pull Manning? Because of his value as a player. But how does he have playing value if he isn’t playing?
If anyone bet on the game and didn’t know there was a 50% chance that Manning would be pulled by the third quarter they are stupid and deserve to lose their money. It’s been the biggest story of the final quarter of the season.
Is this a serious question/argument? Manning played in the first 13 games because the Colts had not yet locked up the first seed. Now that they have locked up the first seed, winning more games will not do them any good.
The Colts have made it very clear that their only goals are to win their divison and the Super Bowl. Playing Manning in the final three games does nothing to help achieve the first goal, and the Colts believe (arguably wrongly) that it doesn’t help them achieve the second either.
The Bengals are going to be in a similar position this week, and since their game got flexed they’ll have the luxury of knowing whether or not they can keep the Steelers out of the playoffs. Not sure what they do.
What sucks though is that the Jets may end up winning their last 2 games of the year against teams who aren’t trying to beat them. It’s unfair that one team gets into the playoffs of another equally or more deserving team, based on the fact that they were lucky enough to catch other teams not trying to win at the end of their schedule instead of catching the same teams in the front. In that case the results come down to coincidence rather then merit.
The Colts owe the people paid to see a football game a football game.
The Bengals are still playing for the #3 seed, aren’t they? Not that it makes much difference; heck, they’d probably rather play Indy than San Diego again.
They are, but since their game got moved to Sunday night, they’ll know before the game starts whether they can get it or not. I read somewhere that Marvin Lewis had exchanged a couple texts with a writer that indicated that the Bengals were going to play to win the game. I hope so. I can see maybe taking Palmer out of the game by the second half, but not anybody else.