Final Record: 10-6 (0-1)
Finished: 1st Place in the AFC South; Lost in the Wild Card Round
2011 Draft Position: 22nd
Preseason Letter of Misfortune:
You really disappointed me last year,
Why?
What reason could you possibly have for not striving for history?
You say you were playing for the Super Bowl victory, not a perfect season. 44 other teams have won the Super Bowl. Of those 44 teams, only one has done so undefeated and they only went 17-0. 19-0 would have been a greater achievement. Heck, 18-1 would have been far nobler of an end to your season, because then you would have failed trying in dramatic fashion.
Bold failure can be forgiven. By losing the Super Bowl to
Nothing can be done about all that now. You have one hope to forget about the nightmare end to what could have been a magical season. You have to win the Super Bowl – and just once won’t cut it, unless you do so by being perfect. You have to win two or three more Super Bowls and finish with at least as many as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Anything less and you will forever be remembered for “what could have been in 2009.”
You must strive for greatness this year. Don’t settle for just being good enough. Last year you were good enough to win the division, good enough to make the playoffs as a #1 seed, good enough to go to the Super Bowl… but what did good enough get you?
Your road to redemption begins on September 12th at Reliant Stadium. Don't let your fans down again. Play to be perfect.
Week 1: Lost at Houston
Ranked – 16
Uh oh. Looks like the Texans learned how to knock the blue and white monkey off their back.
Week 2: Defeated the New York
Ranked – 7
Big Brother remains undefeated versus Little Brother and the Colts have discovered they can run the ball. Scary.
Week 3: Defeated the Denver
Ranked – 5
Manning makes everybody he plays with better. Practice squad players on other teams don't score key touchdowns on their own recommended "slant-and-up" calls. A tip of the hat to Manning who continues to use all the weapons available to him to keep the Colts on the winning track.
Week 4: Lost at Jacksonville
Ranked – 13
Avoid the key mistakes early and then there is no need for a 59-yard miracle kick to ruin your magnificent comeback.
Week 5: Defeated the Kansas City
Ranked – 7
Playing just good enough to win will only work in October.
Week 6: Defeated the Washington
Ranked – 5
A balanced attack that results in three touchdown passes for Manning spells certain doom for defenses.
Week 7: BYE WEEK
Ranked – 7
Idly preparing to face the Texans.
Week 8: Defeated the Houston
Ranked – 5
Great quarterbacks make bit players better. Manning is a great quarterback.
Week 9: Lost at Philadelphia
Ranked – 9
Sometimes even Manning is off his game. But consider this - in a game on the road against a top defense, with no-name receivers, a running back nobody had heard of and an uncharacteristic day where Manning threw more picks than touchdowns, the Colts only lost by 2 points and were in position to drive for a game winning field goal.
Week 10: Defeated the Cincinnati
Ranked – 7
Javarris James, the second coming of Edge, has the Colts suddenly establishing a running game in the red zone. Sure this bodes well for a Super Bowl run, but what about my fantasy team? C'mon, Manning! Starting chucking TDs in the red zone again.
Week 11: Lost at New England Patriots, 31-28
Ranked – 9
MANNING, NO! Sure, it's one thing for one of your practice-squad wide receivers to make a bad read and cut left when they should cut right, but the superstar quarterback can't make a big mistake like that... in the final minutes of a game... against Tom Brady... and Bill Belichick... and, and.. You just can't do that, Manning.
Week 12: Lost to San Diego
Ranked – 14
Manning, 4 touchdowns - two to the Colts and two to the Chargers. The Patriots may be Manning's arch-rival, but San Diego
Week 13: Lost to Dallas
Ranked – 17 (ROCKY WEEK!)
[Following the Colts’ devastating loss to the Dallas
Tony Dungy: Hey, uh, Peyton. It's three in the morning. I went up to your house there and they told me you was here. It's a 3:00am, Kid. You know that loss last week was pretty hard. Me, you know I'm sorry for ya. There's nothing I can do about it. Except, uh, I wanna tell you this once and then, uh, I ain't gonna say it again. But, Peyton, you got another shot, still a second shot at, uh, I don't know, the biggest championship in the world, and you're gonna be dropping back and throwing passes against some of the most dangerous football players in the world.
And just in case, you know, your brain ain't workin' so good, all this happens pretty soon and you ain't ready. You know your team’s no where near in shape. So I say, for God's sake, why don't you stand up and play these guys HARD? Like you done in seasons before. That was beautiful! But don't lay down like this! Like, uh, I don't know like some kind of mongrel or something. ‘Cause they're gonna kick your team to pieces!
That's right! These guys don't just wanna win you know. They want to bury ya. They want to humiliate ya. They want to prove to the whole world that you was nothin’ but some kind of freak the first seasons of your career. They said you were a lucky bum! Well, now I don't wanna get mad in a biblical place like this, but I think you're a hell of a lot more than that, Kid! A hell of a lot! But now, wait a minute. If you wanna blow this thing, if you wanna blow your shot at the playoffs, then darn it, I'm gonna blow it with ya. If you wanna stay here, I'll stay with ya. I’ll stay with ya. I'll stay and pray. What do I got to lose?
Week 14: Defeated the Tennessee
Ranked – 15
The game against Jacksonville
Week 15: Defeated the Jacksonville
Ranked – 13
That's how you take back control of the division. Now, can Manning and company hold serve and make it into the playoffs?
Week 16: Defeated the Oakland
Ranked – 10
One more win and the division, once again, will be theirs.
Week 17: Defeated the Tennessee
Ranked – 8
The Colts had to fight tooth and nail in week 17 for the first time in years. Will that elevate their post-season game to a new level? The opener against the Jets will let us know.
Wild Card Game: Lost to New York
Final Rank - 10
Tomorrow, the 2010 Philadelphia
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