Colts to LA

How ‘bout them Colts!???Well I can't ignore this subject any longer. But really, what about them Colts. Are they leaving for the coast? Are they ever going to win a playoff game? Will they at least get tough and stop being this so-called finesse team? Do we have the players to get it done in the NFL?

Let's start at the end and work backwards through these questions.

So far this season it has become apparent that the Colts are a relatively soft team. Soft being that they do not come out and control either side of the line of scrimmage. Offensively we are allowing entirely too much pressure on Peyton Manning and giving Edgerrin James little or no room to run. Manning seems to press more and more each game to try to get the job done, but in doing so he seems to commit more errors. How many ill-timed, momentum killing interceptions does this guy have to throw before he stops forcing the ball where it will not be caught by our guys?

I don't, and I don't think anyone else, questions Manning's heart and desire. If we had 50 guys with that much heart we would answer the toughness question right now. Unfortunately talent comes into the equation too. Heart can only take you so far before you simply have to have more talent on your team than the other team. Manning has heart and I believe talent, but he has to use that talent to make plays that middle-of-the-pack QB's. I'm not sure if he is really calling all those audibles at the line of scrimmage, but he needs to get back to the basics and call the play in the huddle or, as has been suggested, go to the no huddle to keep the defense off balance personnel wise.

As for the Edge, well I still think he is tops. Right now I don't think a combination of Jim Brown, Walter Payton and OJ could run behind that line. It is obvious we miss Steve McKinney. I am of the impression that losing Ken Dilger doesn't hurt us as much, but the Wiggins fiasco at the start of the season set us back and the injury to Joe Dean Davenport is making matters worse. I suppose I just took Dilger for granted-always there and you rarely heard his name. That usually meant he wasn't missing his blocks. My solution? Stick a fullback in the mix for blocking purposes and for God's sake Tarik Glenn, quit false starting!

Defensively I really hate how soft we are. I just don't see any real keepers there. We scare no one and that ridiculous middle linebacker has got to go. Rob Morris is reacting, slowly I might add, instead of anticipating the plays, let alone controlling what the offense is able to do. He is horrible. Our president, Bill Polian continues to defend this boob, but it is obvious that Morris simply can not play at this level.I've heard this crap about our lack of toughness comes from being a “dome team”. What a load of crap. It doesn't mean shit where you play your home games. Toughness is a state of mind, not a location. The Bengals play outside, are they tough? What about the Cardinals? How about the Cowboys? They've been tough and they've been pussies. Inside, outside just doesn't matter. Until we get some players who want to hit the other team until there is no fight left in them, we will struggle.

So here we sit, a nice 4-2 record right? Sure the record is good enough, but we could easily be 1-5 and in the cellar looking up. We're not thankfully. A lot of people, the eternal optimists, will tell you we could easily be 6-0. They tell you that without the turnovers and mistakes we would have come back on Miami and Pittsburgh. Well we made the mistakes and we paid the price. We didn't against the Texans, Bengals, Ravens and Jags and we won, but we aren't dominating anyone. That brings me to the final points.
Jim Irsay has made no secret that he needs more money to keep the team competitive. Los Angeles is just waiting for a team and the NFL is salivating over the idea of a team there. I don't see the Colts as a good SoCal fit but hey, who knows. This team has a season ticket base of 36,000 people. That is about 65% of the dome guaranteed each week. That also means the Colts have to beat the bushes to the tune of 20,000 extra fans each home game for the sellout. When teams like the Dolphins and Cowboys, the Bears and Packers come to town it's no problem getting the sellout. But it is because they have so many fans here and many that are willing to travel. The other games we seem to always be up against that Thursday noon deadline for TV.

If this team were to start beating the crap out of teams you would see the fan base grow. We are now and have been mired in mediocrity for 18 years. I guarantee though that fan interest would rise immensely if the fringe fans really believed they could go to that dome and see a win for the Colts. As long as we are mediocre those fans will stay away and watch on TV. The product just isn't good enough RIGHT NOW to bring more fans in. The time is right too. Our two closest teams, the Bears and Bengals both suck and we are in a crappy division. Yet we seem to play to the level of our competition when they are bad and just not show up against the better teams. Reason? We're not that good.

No one wants to see this team stay more than me. I think they are good for the city; they bring intangibles such as prestige, which in turn brings business here. The team and players contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to local charities. But are those good enough reasons to renovate the dome, again, or build a new stadium? No they are not. Until we get a consistently good product on the field and build a good fan base off we will always be in danger of losing the Colts to LA or wherever.