Colts' Embarrassing Loss

I know you're not supposed to blog when you're angry. But, I'm going to do it anyway. It has been a long time since I have been this embarrassed to be a Colts fan. The highly favored Indianapolis Colts just lost at home to the San Diego Chargers. This game was supposed to be a cake walk for the Colts.

If you're a Colts fan there a lot of things you can blame this loss on. The 3 turnovers, some dropped passes, injuries, the lack of any kind of pass rush, the mysterious disappearance of the 3rd rated defense in the NFL, or some very obvious "no calls" by the referees. But, I'm not going to blame this loss on any of those things.

I'm going to blame this loss solely on Tony Dungy and the rest if the Indianapolis Colts coaching staff. Once again, the Indianapolis Colts found themselves favored to win a huge game and once again they looked totally unprepared. With all due respect to the San Diego Chargers, there is just simply no excuse for the way the Colts played today. The part that makes me sick is that this isn't the first time a Tony Dungy led Colts team has looked ill prepared in the playoffs ( not to mention the regular season). I don't claim to know what the problem is, but there very obviously is a problem. The Colts have repeatedly just looked "flat" come playoff time.

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In 2003, the Colts lost their first playoff game under Tony Dungy 41-0 to the NY Jets.

In 2004, the Colts fell behind the Patriots 15-0 in the AFC Championship game before the Colts even managed to score a point. The Colts ended up losing that game 24-14.

In 2005, the Colts again lost to the Patriots, this time in the Divisional round of the playoffs. The final score was 20-3. This was the year that Peyton Manning set just about every single regular season passing record known to man, but the Colts could only manage 3 points against the Patriots defense in a playoff game.

In 2006, the Dungy led Colts laid one of the biggest eggs of all time with their 21-18 loss at home in the Divisional round of the playoffs to the wild card Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers were up 14-0 in the 1st quarter before the Colts knew what hit them. The Colts played so bad in that game that I still can't watch the tape, even today.

In 2008, well, it was more of the same. The Colts defense looked so bad against the Chargers that I think even Jim Sorgi could have led the Charger offense to the end zone.
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I know Tony Dungy really is a nice guy. And I think Tony has done a fantastic job, along with Bill Polian, of drafting talented players into the Colts organization. It has taken me awhile, but I have finally begun to like the philosophy behind the Cover 2. I just can't remember the last time I thought the Colts coaching staff actually out coached anybody on a Sunday.

This past Sunday, the Colts defensive plan to start the game was obviously to bring Bob Sanders up into the box in order to stop Tomlinson. I thought it was a great call on Dungy's part. The problem with this decision soon became apparent, however, when the Chargers were so successful in the passing game. The Colts couldn't get any kind of pass rush without Dwight Freeney on the field, and the Colt DBs were simply over matched in coverage. The Colts chose to blitz in obvious passing situations and the Charger offensive line did a magnificent job of protection against the Colts' blitzes. I would have liked to have seen the Colts use a little more Cover 2 in the second half, but I don't know that it would have worked any better. But, at least I would have tried something different.
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There are rumors circulating out there that Tony Dungy is planning to announce his retirement within the next couple weeks. I have to say that I don't think I will be too upset if Tony does decide to retire. Don't get me wrong, I really do like Tony and I would really like to see him stay. Tony has put a very strong foundation in place in Indianapolis. There are a lot of good people and good football players on the Colts roster. I just think maybe the Colts have achieved all they can under the leadership of this coaching staff.

The Colts won the Super Bowl last year and I will forever be thankful for that. Tony Dungy deserves most of the credit for last year's championship. But, maybe it is time to let somebody else take over the reins. Or, at the very least bring in some different assistant coaches to gain some new perspective.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in the first year after Jon Gruden was brought in to replace Tony Dungy as the head coach for the Bucs. The players that won the Super Bowl for Jon Gruden that year were pretty much the same guys that Tony had on the team the year before when the Bucs came out "flat" and lost to the Eagles 31-9 in an NFC wild card game.

Maybe it is time the Colts go out and find their own "Jon Gruden."