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Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
I hope you all get the opportunity to celebrate the holiday with family, friends, and good food - with perhaps a little football too. I know that I, for one, have a ton to be thankful for on a personal level, but I got to thinking - what do Colts fans have to be thankful for this year? I came up with a quick list of just a few things Colts fans can be thankful for:
- Colts fans can be thankful for such a quick turnaround. Just 2 years ago, the Colts were 0-11 at this point of the season and were on their way to a 2-14 year where they got the first overall draft pick. They blew up the front office and the team, getting rid of longtime general manager Bill Polian, head coach Jim Caldwell, and legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, as well as several other notable players such as Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai, Gary Brackett, and Jeff Saturday. They built a team as well as they could with their cap issues, but weren't expected to do much last year. But then, in 2012 they had the magical season familiar to everyone by now, and at this point in the season they were 7-4 on their way to an 11-5 season in which they made the playoffs - just one year after being the worst team in the NFL and blowing everything up. They've proved that last year's success wasn't a fluke, either, as the Colts are currently 7-4 this season as well. Such a quick turnaround just doesn't happen often in the NFL, and Colts fans should be thankful for that.
- Colts fans can be thankful that they have Andrew Luck as their quarterback and not Robert Griffin III. Remember last year when people were really wondering which of these two players was better? Remember when RG3 won the rookie of the year award over Luck? Yeah, that seems ridiculous now. RG3 is having a terrible year and Luck is having a very good year. Colts fans should be thankful that they have Luck. Very, very thankful.
- Colts fans can be thankful that David Reed isn't on the team anymore. The least favorite Colt who was about as bad of a kick returner as you could get was finally released a few days ago. While many will say it was way too late, Colts fans should be thankful that Reed isn't their kick returner anymore.
- Colts fans can be thankful that the AFC South is beyond terrible. If the season ended today, the Jacksonville Jaguars would have the first overall pick and the Houston Texans would have the second overall pick. The second place team in the division, the Tennessee Titans, are just 5-6. With the Colts playing like one of the worst teams in the league in the past month, Colts fans should be especially thankful for a very weak AFC South. If they win on Sunday against the Titans, they would need just one win in the final four games or one Titans loss in the final four games in order to clinch. In other words, with a Colts win Sunday, they would have to finish 0-4 and the Titans would have to finish 4-0 in order for the Colts not to win the division. In other words, it would be pretty much guaranteed because, really, counting on 8 games to go a specific way is pretty improbable. The AFC South is terrible and it allows for the Colts to play bad while working through their issues and still have a tremendous shot at making the playoffs. That is something to be very thankful for.
- Colts fans can be thankful (maybe...) that they have an owner who tweets pictures like these (ok, maybe this isn't the best thing to make Colts fans thankful, but the pictures are pretty hilarious, so you can be thankful for pictures that make you laugh...):
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>It's time to let The Monster get out of it's cage to feed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <a href="http://t.co/MxEb3N7P">pic.twitter.com/MxEb3N7P</a></p>— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimIrsay/statuses/286700230966128640">January 3, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>FIRE UP Colts Nation 4 Sunday! Loud n Proud! Stay tuned for 10 winners-2 free tics,$100,Colts Hat! <a href="http://t.co/o6KTH6iWGN">http://t.co/o6KTH6iWGN</a></p>— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimIrsay/statuses/385946120381165568">October 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
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We want to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving to all of you from us here at Stampede Blue. What are you thankful for, Colts fans?