The Indianapolis Colts are going to fire Jim Caldwell at the end of the season, right?
They have to, don’t they?
Rhetorical questions aside, I’m not sure how they can’t fire him. Although as of right now, Colts team president Bill Polian doesn’t seem to think it’s Caldwell’s fault the Colts are 0-7.
“How you evaluate [Caldwell] is what you do with what he has,” Polian said. “You can’t hold him responsible for injuries. You can’t hold him responsible for an unforeseen surgery [to Peyton Manning] that no one anticipated would happen. The things that he can control, I think he’s done a terrific job of, given where we are from a standpoint of personnel.”
There are a million and one ways to rip that comment to shreds, but we’ll just start here: Caldwell’s done a terrific job? Is Polian watching the games? Coming off a 62-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints? That was a terrific job? If it is, how is bad game planning and a porous defense described? Stupendous?
These aren’t the Detroit Lions that went 0-16 a few years ago – the Colts are just two short seasons removed from a Super Bowl and have made the playoffs for a decade. They can’t be this bad without Manning, can they?
Peyton Manning is invaluable, to be sure. He’s worth many more wins than any replacement player, obviously. But the New England Patriots lost Tom Brady in 2008 for the season in the opening game and still went 11-5. Was his backup better than Manning’s? Turns out, Matt Cassel was better. But we didn’t know that at the time – Cassel had not started a game since high school.
Maybe all this does prove Manning is better than Brady and that even in a season where Manning missed the entire year, he’s still league MVP. We can argue about that at another time.
But maybe the Patriots “system” and head coach are vastly superior. Maybe the Colts problem isn’t injuries to front line, but the incompetence of the front office and coaching staff.
The Colts have the worst defense in the NFL. That’s not a statement or a claim – it’s a fact. They have allowed the most points in the NFL. Does Peyton Manning affect the defense? In some ways, perhaps he does – it was always a defense built upon the notion of playing ahead and rushing the passer. But even with that, did Manning affect the defensive side of the ball that much? Can the defense be this bad?
Call me crazy, but I think it’s perfectly acceptable hold the head coach responsible for the complete failure of the entire team to win a game against a schedule that’s included Cincinnati, Kansas City, Cleveland and an underachieving Tampa Bay team through the first seven weeks.
Some, including me, think that you can hold a coach responsible for lackluster effort and poor game planning. Some nut jobs out there think you can hold a coach responsible for mismanaging his timeouts (last year’s playoff game against the Jets, anyone?). What did Caldwell have on Tony Dungy and Polian anyway to secure the job a year before Dungy retired?
Much like his stoic demeanor and his blank expression in any situation – he’s very Art Shell-ish that way – Caldwell’s resume includes a head coaching stint at Wake Forest where he went 26-63 in eight seasons. The highlight of his tenure with the Deamon Deacons was a 7-5 record and a trip to the prestigious Aloha Bowl in 1999. It was also his only season with a winning record. And for those that may not know, the ACC was pretty weak in the 1990s. Those are the makings of an elite NFL head coach? That and a stint coaching the quarterbacks for Tampa Bay under Dungy?
One would imagine that after Manning’s injury, Polian and owner Jim Irsay would have talked to Caldwell about expectations.
“Look, Jim, we know it’s going to be awfully tough without Peyton this season. As you might expect, reasonable outcomes of the season have been altered. We’re not expecting a Super Bowl or even the playoffs. We’d be thrilled with a winning record, but it’s not like we’d fire you for a losing record. However, just to be clear, you know you have to win a couple games, right? I mean, we can’t rightfully face the fans and media come January and tell them we’re keeping you after a 2-14, 1-15 or 0-16 season, without or without Manning. I mean, Jim, we can’t keep you if don’t squeeze out a few wins.”
But apparently, that didn’t happen.
It’s obvious the Colts have been held together by Peyton’s abilities over the past decade and little else. Reggie Wayne isn’t elite. If he were, he wouldn’t have completely disappeared. Apparently, Austin Collie won’t even be in the league if it weren’t for Manning. Dallas Clark was once among the best tight ends in the league and some sort of hybrid slot receiver-slash-tight end. Now he has stone hand. Freeney and Mathis apparently are only good in a certain defensive scheme where they can pin their ears back and take some risks after Manning’s given them a 21-10 lead.
The other night, during the Sunday Night Football telecast, Dungy defended Caldwell. Of course he did. Caldwell is a Dungy man. But perhaps it was more than that. Perhaps Dungy realized what the rest of us are just coming to realize: that without Peyton Manning, the Colts would have been a dumpster fire the past 12 seasons.
So he has to protect Caldwell because doing so masks the fact that he also benefited from being the head coach of the team Manning played for. Without Manning, Dungy doesn’t win a Super Bowl and his faith and leadership abilities aren’t quite as lauded. His books aren’t best sellers without Peyton Manning.
Dungy is a good man, without question. I’m sure Jim Caldwell is a good man, too. But that’s not the point. The question is, were and are they good coaches without Peyton Manning under center and shredding defenses?
I’ve been highly critical of the Colts for not winning more Super Bowls with Manning. I’ve said they are akin to 1990s Atlanta Braves. But that’s not really accurate. Manning masked the fact that the Colts shouldn’t have been in position to win one title, let alone contend for a decade.
Look, someone has to be the fall guy if this continues and the Colts finish with less than four wins. It’s the way things work.
For example, if Apple sales drop to record lows not seen in over a decade and people revolt on the product, the company can’t just say it’s because they lost Steve Jobs. They can’t afford to just sit on their hands.
It’s the same with Indianapolis. The Colts can’t afford to do it. The fan base, as I predicted, is already cracking.
I’ve eavesdropped on many conversations – at my son’s football practices and games, at work, at the grocery store, at restaurants – and heard the same thing: fans are turning off games. And to my surprise, it’s not all because No. 18 isn’t on the field, it’s because of what else isn’t on the field – effort, desire, heart, and some semblance of football talent.
People are fed up. After seven weeks of the season, they’ve moved on from Manning’s injury for the time being and just want to support the team and see it compete. They too, have little expectations of a Super Bowl or a playoff run. But what they see is a team using Manning as an excuse, not in their words, but on the field. They see a team that embarrassed a city on national television and got beat 62-7 – giving up three touchdowns after the Saints pulled most of their star skill players and stopped throwing the ball.
Someone has to pay. Those are the rules.
And if it isn’t Jim Caldwell, then maybe it should be Bill Polian.
Because maybe you can’t anticipate injuries, but you kind of have to plan for them. It’s the NFL. Injuries happen to every team, every year. This one happened to be a big one, to the Franchise (large “F”). And Manning, clearly after all this, is the entire Franchise.
So perhaps the guy who put the franchise (small “f”) together for the last decade is the fall guy. Perhaps the guy who, by all accounts, has whiffed in the draft and free agent market for the past four years should take some responsibility. He’s been duct-taping the franchise around Manning for several years in an effort to save money, no doubt. Well, now the waiter has brought to check to the table.
And someone has to pay the price.
Because someone always has to take the blame for something this bad.
worldbetweenlines.com 