In sports, people are always looking for that feel good story. A team rising up against the odds to overcome some insurmountable obstacle. There seems to be one team almost every year that, from a neutral perspective, you can cheer for. The team this year is the Indianapolis Colts.
Before discussing their off the field story, let's examine their play on the field. I mentioned obstacles before, but that was only brushing the surface of this team. Their 2011-12 campaign saw their franchise quarterback miss the entire season, caused their head coach to get fired, and saw their season reach an 0-13 mark (they finished 2-14). Their defense, while never great, looked horrendous at times even with the likes of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, both four time pro bowlers. Their star wide receiver Reggie Wayne had a down year, leading some to question if his skills had declined as rumors circulated that he might leave the team, especially if Peyton Manning left.
As if turned out, with the Colts holding the number one pick in the draft, Manning decided to leave. Owner Jim Irsay hired a new head coach in Chuck Pagano and a new GM in Ryan Grigson. Wayne, surprisingly decided to stay to help lead in this new era for the Colts. The Colts selected Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who was considered by many to be the most NFL ready of all the quarterbacks in his draft. While he may have had the skills, his players around him were a disaster. Jeff Saturday, Peyton's longtime, Pro Bowl center, left to join Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Outside of Wayne, they did not have a decent or known wide receiver on their roster. Their starting running back was Donald Brown, entering his fourth year in the league but never eclipsing more than 645 yards or 5 touchdowns in one season.
The Disney movie script for this is they went undefeated and Luck threw for a record number of yards. Well, not quite. it certainly did not help to face the Bears in Chicago for Luck's first game, especially seeing how well their defense has played this year. Having said that, even in a 41-21 loss, Luck did not look lost out there. Sure he threw three interceptions, but Tony Romo threw five against this defense. Luck threw for 309 yards, more yards than Romo, Rodgers, or Matthew Stafford threw against the Bears this year. There was a fair amount of pressure on him throughout the game, but he stayed strong in the pocket and made some good, strong throws. So while it might not have been Cam Newton's 422 yard rookie debut, it still showed signs of promise and growth.
The Colts first win came the following week against the Minnesota Vikings. While passing yards might have been his most impressive stat in his debut, his zero turnovers were the most impressive part in the Vikings game. He only threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns, but paced the game and seemed in more control than a rookie should be. In the meantime, he became comfortable with Wayne to the tune of 71 yards and a touchdown on seven targets. He also discovered a formidable number two receiver in Donnie Avery who gained 111 yards on nine catches. The Vikings had actually tied the game with 31 seconds left, setting up Luck's first game winning drive. He was able to get the Colts into field goal range as Adam Vinatieri knocked in a 53 yard field goal for the win.
After a heartbreaking loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars (Jags scored an 80 yard TD pass with 45 seconds left) the team received more bad news. New head coach Chuck Pagano had been diagnosed with promyelocytic leukemia and would be undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. It is a serious condition with a high risk of remission, which could cause treatment to last for years. The players had rallied around Pagano, as he was able to keep the ship afloat even after the loss of Peyton Manning while installing a new coaching scheme. Unlike the Sean Payton situation in New Orleans, the Colts rallied around their situation and gave an emotional effort the likes of which had not been seen in a while.
Their next game after this incident was against the Green Bay Packers. The Pack were 2-2 going into that game, but their record was slightly misleading. They had played arguably the best defense at the time in the 49ers and lost their first game. Then they beat the Bears pretty soundly with the final score being 23-10. They followed that up with a loss in a hostile Seattle environment on Monday Night Football and may or may not have been robbed by the replacement officials. Their game before the Colts saw them fend off a desperate Saints team that seemed to give everything they had. The Saints came up short, however, 28-27.
Enter the Colts. Even though the emotion and desire to win for their coach was there, this seemed like quite the task. The Packers offense had struggled early on, but looked like they hit their stride against the Saints. Some might say that everyone can score on the Saints, but it's not like the Colts defense was doing all that well either. They let the Bears hang 41, the Vikings to post 20, and the lowly Jags to post 22. Now they faced MVP Aaron Rodgers who puts up video game numbers in the passing game. Oh boy.
The game started out like everyone thought. The Packers dominated on both sides of the ball and led 21-3 at half. Then in the third quarter, the Colts had an offensive explosion. Luck threw a TD and ran for one in the quarter as the defense posted a shutout. Add on a field goal and it was a 21-19 game. The Colts managed to actually grab the lead with a fourth quarter field goal, but Rodgers had the response. After a long Alex Green run, Rodgers found James Jones for an eight yard TD, although they missed the two point conversion. It was Packers 27, Colts 22 with 4:30 left to play.
Luck then drove the Colts 80 yards while missing only three out of eleven passes on the drive, ending in a four yard touchdown to Reggie Wayne. The crowd was going crazy, especially after Donald Brown was able to run in the two point conversion. The Colts now led 30-27 with 35 seconds left. Unfortunately, that's about all the time Rodgers needs. He went from his own 20 to the Colts 33 in three plays, not counting the spike to stop the clock. This set up a Mason Crosby 51 yard field goal, a lengthy kick but not unreasonable in the domed stadium of the Colts. Instead Crosby missed it wide right and the Colts won an improbable victory. After the game, they found out that Pagano had been released from the hospital and watched their win from the comfort of his own home. A great ending to a great day.
Fast forward to today. The Colts sit at 5-3 and are the 5th overall seed in the AFC. Bet no one saw that coming. Unfortunately Houston plays in their division so they would likely need to secure a wild card spot to get into the playoffs. Is it possible? Given the recent play of Andrew Luck (passed for a rookie record 433 yards yesterday against the Dolphins) I wouldn't count them out. Their remaining schedule is at Jacksonville, at New England, home against Buffalo, at Detroit, home against Tennessee, then a home and home with Houston with a game at Kansas City sandwiched between. The New England and two Houston games would be the only ones where it might be a stretch to pick them. Still, New England has lost to Arizona this year and the Houston games are at the end of the year. This may result in Houston resting some of their starters if they have the number one seed in the AFC locked up.
Not just that, but Coach Pagano was well enough to be able to give an emotional post game speech to his players in the locker room after their Dolphin victory. Doesn't get much better than that. So if you're not with the Bears, given up on the Cowboys (myself), or a diehard Jaguars fan, consider rooting for these guys. Luck is making people ask "RG-Who?" and their story with their coach is awesome. They might not win the Super Bowl, but they could have more fans than any team in the playoffs.
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