This was as poorly coached a game as I have ever seen Tony Dungy do. No excuses. The Colts were simply not ready. Peyton Manning, clearly, was NOT ready to play. All this stuff that he was fine and ready to go was complete and total crap. Peyton looked fatigued, rusty, and had to do extra exercises on the sideline in order to keep loose. Being "ready" and "healthy" means Peyton has to be able to be Peyton. And tonight, he wasn't. You knew there was something wrong when Peyton didn't come out prior to the game and run "the tree" with Reggie, Marv, and others. You could see he was uncomfortable, off balance, and his coaches did very little to take some of the burden off him. He wasn't 100% healthy.
Therefore, he was not "ready." And Mike Lombardi was right.
This Peyton knee surgery thing should have been done in May, not late-friggin-July. By the Colts screwing up yet another big player injury, it has cost Indy the first regular season game in their new building. If this game comes back to bite Indy later in the season, the Colts moronic medical staff needs a gigantic pink slip.
To all the people who paid big money to watch a game in this brand new stadium, Tony Dungy should apologize to them. Boneheaded challenges, going for it on fourth down when it wasn't needed, and a AWFUL game plan. I don't want to hear the crap about 80-man rosters and lengthy pre-season. Bottom line, the Bears were better prepared. That's got nothing to do with 80-man rosters or lengthy pre-season.
That's coaches coaching. Lovie Smith did his job. Tony Dungy didn't.
This was a major embarrassment for the Colts, the city, and the fans. A garbage game played by a garbage team (the Colts). Give credit to the Bears, and especially Lovie Smith. And before anyone suggests it, no...this is not an over-reaction. The Colts should have won this game. They are more talented than the Bears, have better coaches than the Bears, and are playing at home. But that's the NFL. Teamwork and coaching beat talent. That's what makes this league great.
Hats off to the Bears. Big screw job by the Colts tonight. We did not pay $720 million to witness an opening night performance like that. We fans deserved a better game.