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Report: Peyton Manning quits on season, tells team it is OK to "coast" until technology allows us to clone non-brittle Bob Sanders

By Brad Wells

Hi. I'm BigBlueShoe, and this is your

Friday Night Open Thread!!!

My job this fun-filled Friday is to inject a little humor into the news cycle, especially in light of all the WONDERFUL injury news we've gotten today. In case you've been living under a rock, or are too lazy to scroll down the blog frontpage, here is a quick recap of the wounded:

  • Tyjuan Hagler, done for the year; biceps
  • Marlin Jackson, done for the year; knee
  • Bob Sanders, likely done for the year; biceps
  • Anthony Gonzalez, out until December; knee
  • Kelvin Hayden, out until December; knee

All these injuries were reported to us in less than 24 hours. As a result, Peyton Manning, Dwight Freeney, and Jim Caldwell have declared that it is OK to quit on the season. All players, fans, and bandwagoners can officially stop thinking about football and focus on Thanksgiving travel plans, Christmas shopping, and whether or not an animated Jim Carrey "playing" Ebenezer Scrooge on the big screen is worth a $10 investment.

Season over. Quit now. We'll see you next year for our pre-draft coverage. Pack it up. Bye-bye season. Bye-bye happiness. Hello off-season loneliness. I think the 2009 season's gonna die.

Or...............................

We can look at the team depth chart, take a breath, and look at this logically and intellectually.

  • Bob Sanders and Marlin Jackson barely played a lick this season, and the Colts still had the #1 scoring defense without them.
  • Anthony Gonzalez's injury is not season-ending, and like Brandon Stokley in 2004, Gonzo could come back and make a big late-season difference. His injury also hastened the development of Pierre Garçon and Austin Collie, which was a big positive.
  • Tyjuan Hagler was playing well, but the Colts have Philip Wheeler waiting in the wings. If Wheeler isn't ready, then that's on him and the Colts will simply plug into another backer.
  • Kelvin Hayden is expected back.

So, before you slice a razor blade across the throat of the Colts 2009 NFL season, know that the Colts have sustained injuries that are on par with injuries other teams have had to deal with.

The Bears lost Brian Urlacher in Week One. Half of the Packers offensive line is gone. Injuries to the Vikings secondary have made their defense swiss cheese. The Texans lost Owen Daniels. The Giants lost their safety as well. The Chargers lost Jamal Williams, the best player on their defense. The Steelers lost Aaron Smith.

Welcome to the NFL, fellow football fans! Injuries are as much a part of the game as the pigskin ball, the field goal bars, and stupid pontificating from idiot TV announcers. Before you give up, take a look around the NFL and look at the injury reports for other teams. Shockingly, I bet you'll see their situations are the same as ours.

Go Colts!

Click after the jump to see the text from Bullard47's open thread, which I have combined with this thread to make your disco-tastic Friday night as injury-free as possible.

From Bullard47's thread, which was combined with this one:

For a week leading up to a game against a common opponent that nearly everyone expects us to beat, this one has been just about as stressful as you can ask for. Let's recap the stupidity first:

  • Tyjuan Hagler somehow ruptures his bicep(again), out for the season
  • Marlin Jackson hurts his other kneee, out for the season
  • Bob Sanders hurts his elbow, out for the season
  • Anthony Gonzalez goes under the knife, out for at least 3 more weeks
  • Hayden aggravates a previous injury, out for about a month
  • Jackson's injury happens in a practice that according to the Colts, he didn't participate in

So, with that out of the way, there was some good news. Let's take a second to recap that:

  • Donald Brown practiced, looks healthy
  • We have great cornerback and safety depth
  • Hank Baskett has yet to get acclimated to the offense, and could shine as the year moves on
  • Kyle DeVan is more than likely going to get more playing time
  • The Star wrote a really great story on the awesomeness of our O-Line
  • The media thinks we are done for

With all of that said, I think that should be a lot to talk about. This might even be a majority-on-topic open thread, but the usual open thread shenanigans are welcome. I will be running a few errands for a bit, but should be full on into the conversation later tonight.

WAAAHHHH!!!

I can hardly concentrate at work today – not good. But ultimately, we’ve really only lost 1 player who had been contributing, and 2 who hadn’t made it back to contribute significantly (yes, I know, what about Bob’s INT? that was a tipped ball that he happened to catch).

Just hoping that Gonzo and Hayden can complete the journey back and that the only reason their return is meaningless is because we’ve already got the #1 seed locked up.

NEXT MAN UP!

How can you not love a team that does this?

by LovinBlue on Nov 6, 2009 4:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

To open this on a lighter note

Captain O’Hagan: I swear to God I’m going to pistol whip the next guy who says, " Shenanigans."
Mac: Hey Farva what’s the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy shit on the walls and the mozzarella sticks?
Farva: You mean Shenanigans?
Mac: OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Thorny: OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
[as they hand the Captain their pistols]

I also wish I had time and motivation to blog at Speed Blue Nation

by Bullard47 on Nov 6, 2009 4:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

They're making another one?!?!?!?!?!?

Freakin sweet!

As long as we have Peyton we will always have a chance to win.

by skywalker on Nov 6, 2009 4:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

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