Indianapolis Colts May Have Won Their Way out of Andrew Luck

            Just seven days ago, the Indianapolis Colts were 0-13 and many believed Indy was on its way to a 0-16 record. The Colts would then get the number one overall pick, draft Andrew Luck, let Luck learn from Peyton Manning, and then dominate the AFC South for the next ten to fifteen years with another great franchise quarterback. However, Indianapolis managed to pull themselves together with a 27-13 win against the Tennessee Titans thanks to a huge rushing performance by Donald Brown. Then they had to turn around and face the division-leading Houston Texans on a short week. No one expected the Colts to win against one of the top defenses and rushing attacks in the league. With late game heroics from Dan Orlovsky and Reggie Wayne, the Colts pulled off the upset in the final minute to win consecutive games for the first time all season. While the Colts organization and all of Indy's fans must be thrilled that they finished the season strong, the team may have played its way out of Andrew Luck.

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             The Indianapolis Colts never would have expected that they would have to "compete" for the number one pick. The Colts are 2-13 with the Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Rams also having two wins on the season. It is very unlikely that the Vikings would draft Andrew Luck since they selected quarterback Christian Ponder with their first round pick last year and he has had a lot of experience from this season. Plus, Minnesota has two winnable games left--at the Washington Redskins and at home against the Chicago Bears. The Rams, on the other hand, could really use Andrew Luck. Sam Bradford is struggling in his second year in the NFL, completing just over 50% of his passes, barely broke the 2,000 yard mark this season, has had twice as many turnovers as touchdown passes, and is too prone to injury. The Rams have also tested A.J. Feely and Kellen Clemens at quarterback but neither one is a long-term solution to their quarterback problems. St. Louis plays the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49'ers, both playoff-bound teams, in their final two games, which are almost guaranteed losses. If the Rams finish the year 2-14 then they have a shot at drafting Luck. The Indianapolis Colts have one game left in Jacksonville against the Jaguars, which will decide the future of Andrew Luck as well as the AFC South and NFC West for the next fifteen years. The only way the Colts can guarantee the #1 overall pick is to lose on New Year's Day. If I were Jim Caldwell, I would tell the defensive coordinator to draw up new schemes that the Colts players have no experience with and try them against the Jags. Then, "accidentally" punt the ball on third down because you "thought" it was fourth down. Maybe they should play very conservative and run on 3rd & 11 to not run the risk of throwing an interception. Whatever the in-game solution is, Indy needs to lose on purpose but disguise it very well so that there is not serious backlash. The best case scenario for the Colts is for Jacksonville to come out strong so that Indianapolis could not win the game even if they tried their hardest. But then, why should the Jaguars try at all? They know if the Colts lose, then they have to face Andrew Luck twice a year until the mid-2020's and I doubt they want that. I'm not sure who would want to watch Indianapolis play at Jacksonville in the first place, but I would strongly recommend against watching them in Week 17, because it will be a game with both teams trying their hardest to lose.
            The Indianapolis Colts need Andrew Luck. Peyton Manning is 35 and his best years are behind him. The owner of the Colts, Jim Irsay, said that Manning would play next season if he's healthy, but what if he's not. Or even if he is, there is no guarantee that he will throw for 4,000+ yards and 30+ touchdowns. The Colts have a solid receiving core, their backfield is above average, and they drafted offensive linemen with their first two picks in last year's draft. Now all Indy needs is a quarterback to lead them back to the Super Bowl. Andrew Luck has gone to Peyton Manning's football camps and they have had interactions in the past, so it would be ideal for Manning to teach Luck the in's and out's of the NFL so that Andrew Luck is the next Peyton Manning. The Indianapolis Colts are in a very rare situation where they can have two All-Pro, franchise quarterbacks and draft the second when the first's career is winding down. They need Andrew Luck, which means they need to lose at all costs against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even if the St. Louis Rams and the Minnesota Vikings finish 2-14, the Colts have a statistically easier schedule, so they will have the advantage and get the number one draft pick.

No NFL Team Will Finish with a "0" in Its Record

            Most football fans had taken Green Bay's 13-0 record and Indianapolis' 0-13 record for granted. Everyone assumed for the first time in NFL history there would be an undefeated team and a team that lost every game. However, the Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts had different intentions on Sunday.
            Entering their game on Sunday, the Packers had impressively won nineteen games in a row. Also, Green Bay is widely considered the current Super Bowl favorite, which begged the question, "When would the Packers lose again?" While the media may deserve part of the blame for shoving microphones in the players' faces and asking them about their chances on an undefeated season, Green Bay got caught looking too far ahead of themselves. They had three winnable regular season games left. One at Kansas City, followed by home games against the division rivals the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions. The Chiefs were having a horrendous year, losing five out of six entering the game against Green Bay and their only wins came against the Vikings, Colts, Raiders (Carson Palmer's first game where Oakland's quarterbacks threw six interceptions), Chargers in overtime, and the Bears with their depleted offense. Green Bay would win handily against the Chicago Bears at home with Jay Cutler and Matt Forte out for the season with injuries. The Packers would then go on to beat the imploding Lions to finish the season. Green Bay would be the #1 seed in the NFC and own the luxuries of a first round bye and home field advantage. However, this scenario is overlooking win number fourteen against the Chiefs.
            Arrowhead Stadium has historically been one of the worst stadiums for opposing players, so Sunday would be no walk in the park for the Packers. The Chiefs has nothing to lose. They are last in the AFC West and were three games below .500 before beating Green Bay. Kansas City has played three different quarterbacks and have unsuccessfully been trying to establish an identity this season. They have two standout players in wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and linebacker Derrick Johnson, but the rest of the Chiefs players are by no means stars. While Kansas City may not have an abundance of individual talent, as a whole they showed real character when their season is over but they still compete for four quarters. The Chiefs were playing to prove themselves against the best team in the league, to be the one blemish on Green Bay's probable 19-1 season. That's something Chiefs players can tell their grandchildren someday--that they were the ones who ended Green Bay's 19-game win streak an perfect season bid. After watching game film, football analysts are still trying to figure out how an underdog like Kansas City was able to knock off the unbeaten giant of the NFL. The biggest explanation to take away is time of possession. The Chiefs had the ball for 36 minutes to Green Bay's 24 minutes.  The Chiefs were able to run seventy plays against the Packers and maintained an even distribution between passing and running the ball. While no single Kansas City running back had a great statistical game, the Chiefs were able to pound the ball down the field on the ground for 140 yards and take a lot of time off the clock. In addition to rushing the ball, newly acquired quarterback Kyle Orton was able to spread out the field on offense by finding ten different receivers for three-hundred yards. The key was to run the ball often and keep Aaron Rodgers on the sideline for as long as possible. Other teams will break down the film of this game and develop similar game plans to limit Green Bay's scoring opportunities.
            Similar to Kansas City, the Indianapolis Colts had a pride factor kick in against the Tennessee Titans. It is absolutely embarrassing to step onto the national spotlight every week and come out on the losing side each time. The Colts had a great opportunity to record their first win against the struggling Titans at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Colts defense stepped up to force two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and they knocked Matt Hasselbeck out of the game. On offense, they took the pressure off of Dan Orlovsky by running the ball for the majority of their offensive plays. Running back Donald Brown had a huge game for Indy, rushing for 161 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. It was great to see the Peyton Manning-less Colts come together and win a game. They may have the opportunity to double their win total against the Texans if Houston decides to rest their starters or on the last game of the season against the dismal Jacksonville Jaguars. 
            It would have been quite a season to have a 16-0 team as well as an 0-16 team, but in the big picture these games will have little to no impact on the playoffs or Super Bowl champion. Green Bay will learn from its mistakes against the Chiefs and will face the Bears on Christmas Day with a whole new energy we have yet to see from the Packers. The Colts will most likely lose their last two games, have the number one overall draft pick and select Andrew Luck.