Deja Vu For The Colts

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus
http://www.thespish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/manning-as-a-colt3.jpg

Peyton Manning

For 13 seasons Peyton Manning was the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts and he was also the face of their franchise. Manning would set numerous team and National Football League passing records while in a Colts uniform as he was asked to carry the team which somewhat limited what he could accomplish in the postseason. When Manning sat out the entire 2011 National Football League season as he was recovering from neck surgery, the Colts would go on to have the worst record in the league as they were 2-14. The Colts had the first overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft which they used on quarterback Andrew Luck and they would subsequently release Manning who would go on to sign with the Denver Broncos.

In three seasons as the Colts starting quarterback, Luck has a regular season record of 33-11 with three postseason appearances under his belt. But Luck’s brief tenure with the Colts has been eerily similar to that of Manning’s time there as the organization is simply asking him to do too much by himself.

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Andrew+Luck+Indianapolis+Colts+v+New+Engalnd+KJoFUxbUL0Ll.jpg

Andrew Luck

The Colts were destroyed last night in the AFC Championship Game at the hands of the New England Patriots 45-7. The loss to the Patriots makes Luck 0-4 in his career against New England and in those four games Indianapolis has been outscored 189-73. When facing the Patriots, the Colts have found themselves consistently fighting an uphill battle as they fall into early holes that they have been unable to recover from.

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/283/files/2014/12/ryan-grigson-nfl-tennessee-titans-indianapolis-colts-850x560.jpg

Ryan Grigson

Unlike his predecessor as Colts general manager in Bill Polian, Ryan Grigson has attempted to surround Luck with talent on both sides of the football whether through free agency or trades, but it just hasn’t worked out. In 2013, the Colts traded a first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for running back Trent Richardson. But in 29 games with the Colts, Richardson has only gained 977 rushing yards which is less than what he was able to do in 17 games with the Browns. For this season’s playoff run, Richardson was inactive for all three games for the Colts. In 2013, outside linebacker Bjoern Werner was a first-round selection by the Colts. Werner came to the Colts fresh off of being named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in his final year at Florida State University. But in two seasons with the Colts, Werner only has 6.5 sacks and after being benched during last Sunday’s victory over the Broncos, he was inactive last night versus the Patriots as he was declared as a “healthy scratch”. At Florida State, Werner was a down defensive end in 4-3 system. But now the Colts are asking Werner to be an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme as he is asked to stand up which is something that he has been unable to adjust to. A few seasons ago wide receiver Hakeem Nicks was putting fear into secondaries around the National Football League. In 2011, Nicks had 76 receptions for 1,192 yards and 7 receiving touchdowns as a member of the New York Giants. That postseason Nicks would have 28 receptions for 444 yards and 4 touchdowns in helping the Giants win the Super Bowl. A knee injury bothered Nicks throughout 2012 and he hasn’t been the same player since. The Giants allowed Nicks to walk in free agency last off-season and he landed with the Colts. But this past season Nicks only had 38 receptions for 405 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Colts are still searching for a young wide receiver to take some pressure off of wide receiver T.Y.Hilton.

The Colts can hang their hat on the fact that they have advanced an extra round in each year with Luck which is a building block for them heading into the off-season. The Colts play in the AFC South which is not tough division for them to win as they are the gold standard there which means that there most difficult task will be to get it done in January and that brings with it a gauntlet of tough teams. This postseason the Colts did defeat the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos which did come as a shock due to Indy’s inability to run the football in the regular season along with their struggles against postseason teams. This past season the Colts were 2-4 versus playoff teams, but it was how they were outplayed in those four defeats which was further illustrated in their loss to the Patriots.

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Julian+Edelman+Divisional+Playoffs+Indianapolis+Y0ZeSimluDjl.jpgWhen teams lose in the playoffs their flaws tend to be exposed and last night it was evident that the Colts lack play makers around Luck on both sides of the football. Colts head coach Chuck Pagano has shown in his brief time in Indianapolis that he can coach, motivate, and change the culture. But Pagano and Grigson must improve this team through the draft and free agency in order to give Luck his opportunity to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Luck is the future of the National Football League and that future is now or else he will hear the same questions that have haunted Manning for the majority of his career.

Source: Pro-football-reference.com

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus
By | 2015-01-28T17:17:29+00:00 January 19th, 2015|Categories: National Football League|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

About the Author:

Leave A Comment