I say this not in 20/20 hindsight, but last night’s comedy of season-opening errors at Lucas Oil Stadium just didn’t feel right. From the very beginning, the Colts looked alternately rusty, uninterested, and totally out of sorts – and that was before the safety, fumble, botched big-plays and pass drops that plagued Indy in its opening-week shellacking at the hands of the Bears.
The stadium, first of all, is like a tomb. I don’t get the domed arenas in places that shouldn’t have domed arenas – and Indianapolis is the most recent example. The Luke combines Texas Stadium and Ford Field, and the atmosphere on TV is cryptlike. The gameplan appeared nonexistent on both sides – and where was Jim Caldwell or Ron Meeks? Never saw ‘em.
Manning reverted to numerous plaintive sighs and chicken dances, Bob Sanders mostly flexed his muscles, and though Marvin Harrison appeared more emotional than ever – he made more mistakes than ever. Just a bizarre, off-kilter night.
Granted, it’s week one, but Indianapolis already has its work cut out for it this season. Manning was predictably rusty, but still effective. The offensive and defensive lines, however, were blown off the line of scrimmage by each Bears unit repeatedly. With only two starters on the Colts’ O-line – Tony Ugoh and Ryan Diem – the second-stringers pass-blocked fairly well. However, the Colts ascended to recent success because of their transformation into run-first team – and the line couldn’t handle the Bears. Neither Joseph Addai nor Dominic Rhodes had any running lanes all night. In the passing game, even on slant and gos, Manning, Harrison, Wayne, and particularly Anthony Gonzalez looked out of sync.
On the flip side, the Colts front seven made the Bears look like All-Stars. For all Madden’s blustering about Dwight Freeney, the Bears’ O-Line – not exactly a whole unit itself – manhandled not only Freeney, but also Brock, Thomas – and Robert Mathis wasn’t mentioned till late in the game. Despite one massive hit, Bob Sanders played a poor game, and Antoine Bethea missed tackle after tackle. If the Bears looked this good (Granted, replacing Grossman and Benson with actual pulses was a great move for Chicago), imagine the slippery Colts facing Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor in the next two weeks. The Colts have to figure some things out, and fast.
And certainly, they have the capability to do just that. Maybe Bill Simmons will be proven right – as the Colts attempt to assimilate all these missing, moving, or recovering parts, they may struggle before righting the ship. On to Minnesota, where they’ll face a fairly ferocious defense – although, like the Byron Leftwich/Jax years, the Colts will be spying Peterson with Sanders, and daring the Vikes to throw for the win. And we’ll see what happens.
Still, our rival faces a much more daunting task than we, even though they are 1-0 and we are 0-1. Too bad for Tom Brady and Patriot Nation. I, for one, prefer to beat those guys when they don’t have an excuse, and prefer to see America’s sweetheart whimper and pout from the podium. Today, the national media wrings their hands, but, as always, injuries happen. (For what it’s worth – I can’t believe Bernard Pollard’s hit is even questioned. Practically tackled by Patriot Sammy Morris, Pollard only blitzed. I also can’t believe he won’t shut up – it wasn’t an accident! It was legal, unfortunate, and too bad! You’re sorry – quit incriminating yourself in front of bleating bobbleheads.)
But today, the Colts face a myriad of questions. The Patriots, conversely, face one large, haunting question. And perhaps, somehow, some way, when three teams appeared so certain as the NFL’s bourgeois – maybe the world has changed. And maybe, it’s two good runs come to end. Maybe.
