Pitts' play by play: Colts for the win
Emily Pitts
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Sports
|
This season the Colts had the opportunity to make history by becoming the first team to ever go 16-0 during regular season play. The last team to accomplish an undefeated season was the 1972 Miami Dolphins coached by Hall of Famer, Don Shula. The Dolphins went 14-0 that season and finished 17-0 with a win in Super Bowl VII. Since then, no team has had a perfect season.
These days, football is practically a different sport than it was in 1972. With teams playing more games in the regular season, it's harder for players to endure the extended season. It's also hard for players to put up with Mercury Morris and his big mouth every time a team gets close to breaking his undefeated season record. You've got to love Morris though; he loves his teammates and their history making season.
This season the Colts head coach, Jim Caldwell, received much criticism for resting his starters in the last two regular season games against the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills. The Colts resembled a bunch of grade school boys sitting in timeout when they were taken out of those games.
Sitting by and watching your second string lose is one of the hardest things, especially when you believe you could have won. The Jets should send the Colts a gift basket for resting Peyton Manning, Jeff Saturday and the rest of the starters. In beating the Colts, the Jets were able to squeeze into the playoffs, only to lose to the Colts in the AFC Championship game.
Of course, a coach cannot blink without being criticized by every NFL analyst. On ESPN, practically everyone in a suit and tie criticized Caldwell's decision to rest the starters. Caldwell obviously knows what he is doing, otherwise former head coach, Tony Dungy, would not have chosen him as his successor.
Before going 14-2, the Colts had won their division and received a first round bye week and home field advantage, which is crucial to any team that plays in a dome like the Colts. Going undefeated does not get you to the Super Bowl, these accomplishments do.
Let's say Caldwell had played his starters in all four quarters in the last two games and Manning, Joseph Addai or another key player had gotten injured. Every analyst would be eating his or her criticism on a silver platter. Just look at the New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker. In the week 17 game against the Houston Texans, Welker tore his ACL and MCL as he slid to the ground trying to get the first down. No one even touched him, yet he will miss the majority of the next season.
In the big scheme of things, going undefeated is not as important as the health of the players. Let the Dolphins keep their place in history. Only one team, the 2008 Patriots, have come close to this feat, but the New York Giants beat them in Super Bowl XLII.
Maybe it is not in the cards for a team to go undefeated. Until a team makes history, knocking the Dolphins off their pedestal, we will analyze and criticize every team that comes close.
In all seriousness, leave Caldwell alone. What he has accomplished as a rookie head coach is, in my opinion, awesome. Even though this is "Dungy's team," Caldwell has managed to make it his own. The players respect him and his decisions, which is difficult for a first year coach. He will also become the fourth African American head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl. If he can take the Colts to a Super Bowl in his first season, imagine what he can do in the seasons to come. As a devout Colts fan, I can't wait.
Be the first to comment on this story