What matters and what doesn’t

I was up until 4 AM after the game tonight because I was so frustrated. Here are my thoughts on about 5 hours sleep:

• while it would have made the night a lot more fun and the week a lot easier if AV doesn’t push that kick. It probably doesn’t matter much in the big picture. The Colts finished the hell stretch of the schedule 2-2 after losing two brutally frustrating games. They will likely finish 13-3…
• Unless the injuries are too much to overcome. We didn’t lose that game last night because of injuries. We lost because of horrible play by Manning and Adam Vinatieri and the special teams. That being said, there are now so few healthy guys, that it makes you wonder how we’ll field a team next week. We might remember this game for a long, but not for the reasons you think.
• This season couldn’t feel more like last season. Was this loss really any worse than the stupid Dallas game, the Tennessee game, the Jacksonville game, or the Houston game?
• San Diego won but should be very concerned. They are not a good team. With as many mistakes as the Colts made, they should be embarrassed at how the game turned out. Phil Rivers is an utter disaster.
• This Indy defense is legit. With their backs against the wall all night, they played with passion and pride. Gary Brackett is playing the best football of his life.
• Hopefully, Toudouze is the temporary answer at LT until Ugoh gets back. The protection was much cleaner after he came in the game.
• Manning was clearly pressing early. A couple of those picks were really great defensive plays, but the first, fourth and fifth ones were absolutely unforgivable throws.
• All of the little annoying things about this game aren’t worth focusing on. The officiating was spotty, with missed horse collar tackles (on both teams), blow interference calls (on both teams), and the idiot who randomly blew his whistle when he didn’t have a look at the play in the end zone. The Colts did enough to piss away this game on their own without whining about that stuff. Dungy taking a timeout to get an explanation of the call was odd, but I really don’t think he could have imagined that AV would miss that kick.

I’m not relishing another week of “will they or won’t they play”.

Demond Sanders: I totally agree. The defense is playing amazing football. The performance last night was maybe the best I’ve ever seen from a Colts defense. Even more than Manning, they were dead set on winning despite the odds. This is last season in reverse. This time the offense is in shambles.

I think we’ve seen the last of Special Teams Coach Russ Purnell after this year. His failures have become impossible to ignore. Again, we are in for a depressing week, but last season has prepared Colts fans for this. Nothing will ever be worse than Jacksonville. Last night showed the entire NFL that the Colts are a lot like zombies. You have to cut off their head or they keep coming back.