Fox Sports does the midseason dance too

Hench says the pundits goofed on the Colts.

4. The Colts will slide back to earth.

Is there any surer sign that a team’s long reign among the NFL elite is about to end than the departure of the still relatively young, super-successful head coach?

var userStatus=’vote’;
// if this poll is the one for which they have answered, show results
if (typeof(pollsVoted)!=”undefined”) {
for (var i = 0; i < pollsVoted.length; i++) {
if (pollsVoted[i] == 10348042) {
var userStatus = ‘results’;
break;
}
}
}
// has to have retry because hitbox code is defered.
function hitBoxVote(m,p) {
}
var pollHeight = 0;
if (pollHeight == 0) {
pollHeight = Math.max(140 + (4 * 45) );
}
var flashPollQuery=’choices=4&questionId=537098&pollId=10348042&cUrl=&pgCode=null&categoryId=null&isNarrow=true&userStatus=’+userStatus;
var tag = new FSFlashTag(“/id/8796869”, 250, pollHeight); // movie path, last two arguments are width and height
tag.setId(‘flashPoll’);
tag.setFlashvars(flashPollQuery);
tag.setWmode(‘transparent’);
tag.setWmodeFF(‘transparent’);
tag.write(document);

When Tony Dungy decided it was time to turn over the reins to assistant Jim Caldwell it could only mean one thing: the Colts’ decline phase was under way. Place your bets accordingly.

Whoops.

On Sunday, against all logic, Caldwell became the first coach since 1930 (Potsy Clark) to start his rookie season 8-0.

The Colts have won in every conceivable fashion. They’ve won squeakers (two points over the Jags, three over the Texans and four over the Niners and Dolphins) and they’ve won blowouts (31-10 over the Cardinals, 31-9 over the Titans and 42-6 over the Rams). They won a game in which they had the ball for less than 15 minutes. They’ve won when Peyton Manning has thrown three or more TD passes (3-0) and when he’s thrown one or zero (3-0).

Indy was supposed to be ripe for the taking this season with the Texans as the new trendy pick in the AFC South. But instead the Colts have a four-game lead in the division and, with 17 straight victories dating back to last season, they have their sights set on the Patriots’ all-time record of 21 straight wins.

Some decline phase

Schein likes 18 for MVP and Caldwell for CoY

MVP: Peyton Manning

I can give you his glowing and dominant stats and cite the five-game streak of 300-yard passing games to start the season to support my argument. Or I can simply cite the injuries to Anthony Gonzalez, Donald Brown, Bob Sanders, Kelvin Hayden, Marlin Jackson, among others. Whether it was the clutch play in Miami or the domination in Arizona, no player defines the word “value” quite like Manning.