Thursday, August 25, 2011

"We Don't Practice Fucked"

Yesterday, the Colts announced that they signed recently retired QB Kerry Collins.  I was happy to hear this, as I've been a big Collins fan since he took the Giants to the 2000 Super Bowl.  I wasn't ready to say goodbye to him yet.  But this is awful news for Indianapolis fans, because, for the first time in 13 years, there's a real chance that Peyton Manning won't be behind center for a Colts game.

Given his passion and competitiveness, I think it'd take nothing short of a tranquilizer dart from coach Jim Caldwell to keep Manning off the field.  So I do actually expect to see Number 18 start against the Texans on September 11th.  But Collins' signing already gives Indy fans enough reason to be mad at their team's management for an irresponsible lack of a contingency plan for this situation.
I just finished reading Ron Jaworski's The Games That Changed The Game (I highly recommend it if you have any interest in the history of football strategy).  In it, Jaworski tells a story about a time he visited Colts practice prior to a Monday Night Football game:
As we watched, we were surprised to see Manning taking virtually all the reps in the session.  Jon [Gruden] asked Tom [Moore, the Colts offensive coordinator,] why he wasn’t giving some snaps to Peyton’s backups…He looked at us both in the eye, paused for a moment, then said in that gravelly voice of his, “Fellas, if ‘18’ goes down, we’re fucked.  And we don’t practice fucked.”

As poetic a statement as that was, it is a testament to how negligent the Indianapolis staff has been over the past few years.  Obviously, no one can replace Peyton Manning.  But for the money and attention that is poured into the organization, it’s downright irresponsible that the team has no contingency plan for an instance where it’s best player gets injured.

The Patriots have an equally-irreplaceable quarterback who will also retire as one of the 10 best of all time.  And yet, when Tom Brady went down midway through the first game of the 2008 season, Bill Belichick didn’t panic.  He didn’t bring in a veteran to take a crash course in the New England offense.  Instead, he stuck with his contingency plan, a backup who he'd been grooming for two years, and helped Matt Cassel guide the Patriots to an 11-5 record.

Jim Caldwell is no Bill Belichick.  And perhaps Indianapolis really thought that Curtis Painter, despite his 47.62 passer rating in the last two preseasons, could be the next Matt Cassel.  But it’s clear to me, given the Collins signing and Moore’s quote above, that the Colts’ Plan B involved little more than crossing their fingers and saying a Hail Mary every time Manning fell to the ground.  Even if Peyton laces up for Week 1, Colts fans should be livid at their team.  And if the unthinkable happens, and a 38-year-old Kerry Collins is starting in Week 1, then you won’t have to ask Tom Moore what word describes Indianapolis’ chances.
Image found here.

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