Magnificent Myths

Oehser does it again with another brilliant Magnificent Seven.

7) Leave it be. You wonder sometimes what Joseph Addai has to do satisfy fans. The Colts’ four-year veteran running back played through injuries last season and never complained. As it turned out, maybe he should have. Fans throughout the offseason criticized him after he rushed for about half of his production in his first two seasons. Addai is healthy this season, and performing well. He has rushed for 210 yards on 62 carries and also has 153 receiving yards. Those numbers won’t put him in the Pro Bowl for a second time in three seasons, but they are solid and from all accounts around the Colts, they are exactly what the team needs from the starting running back in a two-back rotation they like very much. That second running back, Donald Brown, has rushed for 154 yards on 44 carries — a 3.5-yards-per carry average compared to Addai’s 3.4 — and has 138 yards receiving. Still, a fan called into Colts President Bill Polian’s weekly radio show Monday asking if there were plans to switch the backs’ roles. Polian said there aren’t, and his reasoning is sound. Rookies tend to wear down late in the season and the Colts would like to avoid that scenario. Plus, this sort of rotating back plan not only worked in 2006 when the Colts won the Super Bowl with Addai and Dominic Rhodes splitting time, it’s exactly what the Colts envisioned when they drafted Brown in the first round in April. There’s another reason Polian didn’t mention: it’s working and Indianapolis is ranked No. 3 in total offense. Don’t fix if it ain’t . . . you know.