The Colts

For good reason, the stature of each and every team in the NFL has been up for grabs each and every week of this NFL season. All teams are one mistake-ridden loss from being counted out. By the same token, they are one impressive win away from inclusion in Superbowl discussions.

Despite what critics would have you believe, the Colts are an elite football team second only to San Diego. Moreover, from at least one light (the one I am holding), the criticism of Tony Dungy and co. is ill-conceived and unfair. As the Colts have dropped the ball in the playoffs in previous years, when seemingly invincible during the regular season, naturally, we look for them to do the same at some point this year. Their recent three game skid provided convenient justification of this prediction.

Tony Dungy is supposed to be a defensive mastermind. Similarly to Brian Billick in Baltimore, an "offensive mastermind" with no offense to speak of (until recently this year) and a dominant defense, Dungy's floudering run defense is well-documented and even highlighted as his team's most glaring weakness, and ultimately, fatal flaw. This is seen as Dungy's failure. People cannot reconcile a "defensive" head coach with a faulty, to put it lightly, run defense.

However, in an age of salary cap and bottom feeding parity, teams are forced to cut corners somewhere. An NFL team superior on both sides of the ball is very difficult to find. Obviously, the Colts strength is found on the offensive side of the ball. Peyton Manning is a wizard. He's fundamentally flawless and as versed in the nuances of quarterbacking as anyone I have ever seen play the position. Between Dallas Clarke, Brandon Stokely, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dominique Rhodes, and Joseph Addai, the Colts O is irrefutably STACKED. Their concession is made on the defensive side of the ball where personnel limitations (stemming from salary cap limitations) are designed to be overcome by their juggernaut offense.

The inability of the Colts to stop the run should surprise no one. Expecting to play the majority of their games with a lead established during their first two possessions, the Colts do not afford most teams the opportunity the run the football for very long..... and teams playing from behind throw the football. The earlier and more oppressive the lead, the more accurate this addage becomes. Dungy, who I think is a really good coach, has a defense geared for an all out attack on the pocket passing quarterbacks of the opposition who are forcibly throwing the ball substantially more frequently than they are able to run it. This is a concession Dungy willingly makes, wagering his offensive arsenal is good enough to establish the leads that justify his defensive approach. It's difficult to argue with their regular season performances.

And if the Colts win the Superbowl, people will begin to talk about the forsight of this concession isntead of about the shortcoming of their run defense. Conversely though, if the Colts exit the playoffs early, as they have done in recent years, Dungy will continue to hear the same old criticism. I, for one, don't see how you can blame a coach for building his team and game plan around the virtuosity of a quarterback like Peyton Manning. It SHOULD only be a matter of time.