Lady Thief Weighs In!

The Monday morning quarterbacking is behind us, but Thief (aka my husband) asked that I weigh in on the call heard round the NFL world this week, namely Coach Caldwell’s decision to sit the Colts starters in the middle of the third quarter, up against the Jets 15-10.  I’ve been an avid Colts fanatic since 1995-96 when Jim Harbaugh, the Comeback Kid, led a wildcard team into the AFC Championship Game. 

It’s been “interesting” dating and now being married to Thief who grew up in Boston and therefore roots for the Patriots, a team I happen to hate with a passion given the Colts’ previous membership in the AFC East.  Thief and I have done our best to maintain a civil relationship by instilling a (my) rule that we not cheer during Colts-Pats games.  It works pretty well except that lately, the Colts keep finding a way to win and it’s really hard to not get excited by improbable comebacks like the AFC Championship game in January 2007….

So Thief asked me to comment on the benching of Peyton, Dallas, Reggie, Dwight, et al.  I’d personally rather discuss Coach Belicheat’s decision to go for it on 4th and 2 against the Colts back in week 10 which is still a wonderful topic to bring up at the dinner table.  But I’m a company woman (both for the Thief and the Colts), so I’ll do my best to stick to the script.

By my estimate, 80% of legitimate sports commentators and writers (this does not include Tedy Bruschi) think this was a bad decision and 110% of the people writing in on the IndyStar comment boards are demanding Caldwell’s head (even though this obviously was a management decision a la Bill Polian).  Naturally, I was watching the game and I felt deflated that we called it in but I didn’t walk around sulking or decrying our playoff chances.  I have to say, I was a little surprised by the overwhelming denunciation of the move.  So I’ve looked over much of the rationale and would like to quickly weed out some of it –

1. “It’s not fair to people betting on the games (legally or not) or playing fantasy football.”  Seriously?!  Look, I love fantasy football and I appreciate that people might have dinero riding on the game.  But the Colts have and should have absolutely no obligation to people who want to throw money around on sports.  It’s funny that these very same critics go on to suggest…

2. “Letting the Jets win hurts the integrity of the game by diminishing the playoff chances of teams like the Texans.”  Two points here.  First, going back to complaint #1, fantasy football and betting on games if anything demeans the integrity of the sport.  (Remember MJD apologizing to fantasy owners when he smartly took a knee to win the game instead of making a meaningless touchdown?  Walter Payton is rolling over in his grave.)  Second, the Colts have no obligation to teams like Houston and Pittsburgh.  The Texans and Steelers should have won games when it mattered (instead of losing to Jax twice and Oakland(!), respectively).  Hey, Coach Tomlin, you might want to use a thesaurus before you threaten to “unleash Hell” – make sure you actually know what that requires, ok?

3. “The Colts gave up on the undefeated season, depleting us all of a chance to witness history.”  This one is a little tougher to instantly debunk.  Putting Painter in when we were up 15-10 wasn’t exactly handing the game over.  But not having the starters return after a couple possessions that reminded me of my high school football team (which set a national record for most consecutive losses) definitely secured the defeat.  But once again, I don’t buy the line that the Colts owe “us” the chance to witness history.  At the end of the day, the Championship ring is the goal.  And as the biggest Colts fan you’ll know, I would much rather have another Superbowl notch than a perfect 16-0 regular season with a loss in the playoffs.  (Before you say, “But losing now doesn’t guarantee you a Superbowl ring,” keep reading.)

So that leaves only two legitimate gripes. 

1. I feel for the fans at Lucas Oil Stadium.  They paid good money (legally) to see a (real, not fantasy) football matchup.  And they were hoping to be a part of a historical run.  I would be behind a Colts organizational decision to provide some sort of compensation to attendees of that game – signed jersey, chance at playoff tickets…something.  And let’s go ahead and extend some sympathy to Curtis Painter here.  It’s not every day a rookie QB arrives on the field to overwhelming boos in front of the home crowd of a 14-0 team.

And 2. Does the loss (possibly another coming with Buffalo) and resting the starters hurt our chances in the playoff hunt?  History isn’t overly comforting here – Dungy rested key players in late games during the 2005-06 season and again in 2007-08, and the Colts were bumped in early games by Pittsburgh and San Diego (a team that’s unleashing hell right now, Coach Tomlin).  And our Superbowl ring came in a year we had to fight till the end of the regular season for a better playoff position. 

This weighs heavily with me.  I do worry that this move will affect negatively the edginess of the Colts.  (And I’m aware we get an entire week off before we hit the field again.)  But on the other hand, it might get our starters to play mad as hell as opposed to nervous.  And there’s no way we’re going to have a shot at a second ring this decade if we lose one of our big stars in the fourth quarter of a meaningless game.  (I don’t think the big star we would lose would be Manning given his protection.  But losing Dallas Clark or Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis would be devastating.  And they’re the kind of guys who are getting pounded every down.)

Ultimately, I’m a company woman.  I put my trust behind Bill Polian, Jim Irsay, and Coach Caldwell that they made the best call.  They certainly thought it through more than any of us did.  And they’ve earned my trust by running one of the most successful franchises of the last decade.  Plus, it helps me sleep better at night.

So to all of you Buffalo Bills fans out there, enjoy week 16.  Everyone else, see you in the playoffs!!!