THE ISSUE:Colts coach Jim Caldwell’s benching of starters.
OUR VIEW:A chance at an undefeated season might never visit Indianapolis again.
It’s a good thing the Indianapolis Colts’ final regular-season game is in Buffalo Sunday. Were it at home, the game wouldn’t be a sellout. Only the most die-hard fan would pay to watch a game in which the starting Colts undoubtedly will be benched, as they were in the 29-15 loss to the New York Jets this past weekend.
At 14-0 and with two winnable games remaining on the schedule, Colts’ president Bill Polian and coach Jim Caldwell pulled their best players in the third quarter Sunday.
The Colts’ brain trust had a chance at doing something historic: finishing the regular season without a loss. They tossed it away like Christmas dinner leftovers.
“The perfect season has never been one of our goals,” Caldwell said after being booed by thousands of fans at Lucas Oil Stadium and in bars across Indiana. “It’s never been anything we focused on or anything we talked about. Obviously, we were placed in this situation, but you still have to look at your objective and keep an eye on what’s most important.”
The Colts’ “objective” is a Super Bowl victory. Fans know that. But the Colts weren’t “placed in this situation” – an opportunity for an unbeaten regular season. They earned it.
They withstood season-ending injuries to receiver Anthony Gonzalez and safety Bob Sanders. They got the best out of rookie receiver Austin Collie and rookie cornerback Jacob Lacey. They strung together comeback victory after comeback victory.
Polian and Caldwell wouldn’t give their players a chance at being the best team to have every played the game.
An opportunity such as this might never visit Indianapolis again. The Colts’ leadership squandered it.
