Where We Were and Where We Are Now...

Take a moment to think back to the very beginning of this season. During the off-season the Colts had undergone massive change, with the departure of future Hall of Famers Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison, along with long time coaches Ron Meeks and Russ Purnell. Add to this the early departure of Ed Johnson, and injuries to key personnal such as Bob Sanders, Marlin Jackson, Adam Vinatieri and Anthony Gonzalez and many outside the Colts complex questioned how the team would respond to the changes, with many predicting that this would be the year in which the Colts would finally take a step back.

Four months on and the Colts are busy preparing for the New York Jets and the AFC Title Game. Despite all the changes, the Colts won a franchise record 14 straight games to start the year, 23 straight regular season games, and claimed the most wins by a franchise in a decade of 115. Along with this 5 Colts made it the Pro Bowl and Peyton won a league record 4th MVP.

Before everyone digs in and starts to analyze and discuss the up coming title game I believe that we should reflect on and acknowledge the key components that have been integral to the success of the franchise this season.

Bill Polian

Although his decision in week 16 angered many fans and despite his extremely poor public relations skills, there is no doubt Polian is one of the elite GMs in the league. He is responsible for putting the pieces in place that allow the Colts to succeed. We all know of his amazing draft history, and one only needs to look at the rookies who have contributed this season to understand why he is the best. As much as we hated his decision not to pursue perfection, just think that he is one of the primary reasons why were even in that position in the first place. Without him there is no way the Colts win 14 games this year.

Ray Rychleski and Special Teams

Although the Colts have not had the most dynamic special teams in the league, they have been exactly what this team need: solid. During the off-season the Colts lost punter Hunter Smith and special teams ace Darrell Reid to free agency, Adam "Money" Vinatieri to injury for much of the season and coach Russ Purnell who is now with the Jacksonville Jaguars. To replace these loses the Colts brought in Ray Rychleski, veteran Matt Stover and drafted Pat McAfee who has be a large improvement over Smith. The results have been great kick-off and punt coverage (I believe only 1 TD allowed all year), and an average return game. The special teams unit doesn't need to win games, they just can't lose them. All the special teams unit needs to be is consistent and solid, which it has been all year.

Larry Coyer

As noted by emiller17 Larry Coyer has not received enough credit for the effect he has had on this team. This defense has been one of the best in the Peyton Manning era. Unlike past years, the defense has been unpredictable and more aggressive this season, and the results have been outstanding with Colts ranking 8th in points allowed. emiller17 sums it up best:

His schemes were well designed and superbly executed. That is the mark of a great coach. Plans are key, but transferring that knowledge to the players and getting them to execute is paramount for coaches. Coyer has been successful at that all season.

Jim Caldwell

Caldwell had one of the toughest assignments this year replacing one of the best coaches in the league in Tony Dugny, whilst ensuring that the Colts continued to experience the success they have become accustomed to. So far so good and although he has had a lot to work with his affect on the team cannot be ignored. The transition has been seemless. Caldwell has made the team his own without making dramatic changes. He has left his ego out of the equation when it comes to making changes, changing only what he believed could be improved upon, such as hiring Larry Coyer and Ray Rychleski and the way the Colts handled the bye week (something that I personally believe was the reason for why the Colts looked so good against the Ravens).  He has been similar to Dungy and yet different at the same time. He has been more aggressive at times, such as his decision to go for it on 4th down against the Ravens then Dungy, whilst still remaining even keeled emotionally. Unlike our fearless leader, BBS, I believe it was a great injustice that he didn't win coach of the year.

Rookies and Other Key Contributors:

As mention earlier a number of rookie and second year players have contributed greatly this season and it is thanks to Polian that they are all here.

OFFENSE: Firstly during the pre-season this was some debate about the decision to bench Ugoh for Charlie Johnson. Many including myself and BBS questioned this decision, however as the season wore on it became more and more apparent that the decision was the right one as the Colts finished the year having allowed only 13 sacks! Charlie Johnson was not the only new starter along the O-line. Mike Pollak began the season as the starter, then split time with Kyle DeVan and then finally lost his job to DeVan. Since DeVan has become the starter he has been a more aggressive and solid player then Pollak. In week 1 of the season Anthony Gonzalez went down with a knee injury and rookie Austin Collie, and second year man Pierre Garçon were forced to step up and fill the void. Both responded with 107 catches for 1441 yards and 11 touchdowns combined. Donald Brown has been a good when given the chance although there were some issues against the Ravens (what I find so funny about it is that in the space of two seconds, Peyton Manning is still alert enough to know who screwed up where, and still have enough time to curse).

DEFENSE: Although Larry Coyer has been vital to the improved play of the Colts defense there have been a number of players who have stepped up and contributed significantly. Firstly there was Melvin Bullitt who stepped in for Bob Sanders, then rookies Jacob Lacey and Jerraud Powers who started in place of injured starters Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden. When a secondary loses 3 of its 4 starters there should be a major drop off in play, but for the Colts there was little to no drop off. The consistency and mature play by Bullitt, Lacey and Powers was vital in ensuring that the Colts remained successful. One thing that has noticablly improved under Coyer is the Colts run defense. Throughout the season the Colts were outstanding against the run (excluding the last 2 games in which the starters didn't play and the shocker against Miami) and it is primarily because of the drastically enhanced play from the DT position, specifically Daniel Muir and Antonio Johnson, and the improved play from third year linebacker Clint Session, who is consistently among the tackle leaders week in, week out.

SPECIAL TEAMS: When Vinatieri went down injured, Polian went out and signed Matt Stover who has been consistent and reliable, and done everything the Colts have asked of him. One of the best additions this off-season was punter Pat McAfee. At first I was unsure how to react when Polian drafted him, but it made sense given the departure of Hunter Smith. McAfee, who received some coaching from Aussie punter and ex-AFL star Ben Graham, has excelled this year, booming kick-offs for touchbacks and punting the Colts into good field position, whilst remaining consistent at the same time.

Looking Ahead

The Colts are healthy and hungry, two things that don't bode well for the Jets. Given the similarity between the Ravens and Jets, the Colts should win comfortably this weekend setting up a tilt at a second Super Bowl title in 4 years.

Go Colts!!!!!!!!