While I know everyone is riding high over yesterday's win over the Jaguars, the reality is that the Colts are not out of the woods yet when it comes to securing a playoff spot. If anything, the woods just got thicker and much more treacherous to navigate.
As we've seen all year long, whenever the Colts get onto any kind of roll or establish an inkling of consistency, injuries derail the whole thing. Yesterday, the man who seems to make this offense move, second year wideout Austin Collie, sustained his third concussion in seven weeks.
Let's not kid ourselves, folks. Three concussions in seven weeks. How is Collie's season not over?
National Football Post is saying Collie's season is likely over. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it seems pretty clear that Austin still has not fully and completely recovered from the hit he took in Philadelphia several weeks ago. Since then, the Colts have not made Collie available to the media, a violation of NFL rules (though, it's doubtful the NFL will do anything about it because the league is very selective about which rules they enforce).
Since the hit in Philly, Collie has been unable to play a complete game. He was knocked out of the Patriots game back in November, and yesterday he got knocked out against the Jags.
At a time when concussions and their lingering effects are at the forefront of the NFL's priority list, the sensible thing for the Colts to do is to IR Collie.
If they do have to IR him, it only highlights the continued bungling of the Colts active roster this season. As you all know, Anthony Gonzalez is apparently healthy. However, he was placed on IR after the second Texans game so the Colts could keep Bob Sanders (torn bicep), Clint Session (broken arm) and Joseph Addai (nerve damage in shoulder) on the active list despite all three having significant injuries. None have played since sustaining those injuries. Sanders was IRed two weeks ago, and Collie is likely next.
I know hindsight is 20-20, but these personnel guys are paid lots of moola to make these calls so that, in hindsight, people like me don't second guess. Having Gonzo now would be critical right now. Instead, we get Blair White, Taj Smith, and a very uncertain future ahead.
I cannot underscore how losing Collie kills this team's effectiveness on offense. If you watched Sunday's game, the Colts looked like the Colts of old. They ran the ball and used play-action to hit wide open receivers down the seams. Without Dallas Clark and now Austin Collie, these plays don't work. In the second half, after Collie left the field, the Colts struggled to throw the ball. They converted only four total first downs in the third and fourth quarters.