After the lockout many teams had high hopes for the 2011 football season and it was no different with the Indianapolis Colts. Even though the Colts had more questions surround them than most.
During the offeseason last year, their injury free quarterback, Peyton Manning, had neck surgery. So all the talk coming into the season was if Manning would be able to play and how effective would he be.
After the lockout, training camp and preseason started with the status of Manning still in the air. A few weeks later the season started and for the first time since 1998 the starting quarterback was not Peyton Manning. The Colts went through three different quarterbacks this season. Starting with Kerry Collins then Curtis Painter and finally, Dan Orlovsky. Orlovsky was the only quarterback to achieve wins this season, beating the Titans and the Texans in back to back weeks. The Colts finished 2-14 after going 10-6 the year before.
Could Peyton Manning mean this much to the Colts? The Colts averaged 15.2 points per game which was close to half of what they were averaging with Manning as a starting quarterback previous years. The running game was not there, just as it has not been there in the past. The only difference is the Colts had Manning to make up for the rest. Reggie Wayne had 70 receptions with only one touchdown that came in a late, fourth quarter win against the Texans. With Manning not playing it truly showed their weak points and you understand just how important Manning is to the Colts.
The defense was just as bad as the offense. They struggled to keep games close, which is what needed to happen with a young, in-experienced quarterback. When you have Dwight Freeney coming off the edge, it is a weapon they needed to use. But, when you are behind and the opposing offense is running the ball, the speedy rushers can just tee off on the quarterback. In the years past, Manning would get a good lead and opposing teams would have to throw the ball to keep the game close. That did not happen this year.
In this horrible season there were some good points. Â The Colts had a comeback win in week 15 against the Texans with Reggie Wayne catching the game winning touchdown. One player on the Colts was selected to the Pro Bowl and that was Dwight Freeney. In a season full of losing, those are a few things to build on.
The facts are there for the season;  a 2-14 record, a 38 year old quarterback with an unsure future, and a standout wide receiver that is a free agent this off season. Due to having the worst record in the league, the Colts will have the number one pick in April’s draft, so the question is who do they select? With these questions there needs to be answers and fast.
The Colts owner, Jim Irsay, fired the Polions and hired Ryan Grigson to run the front office. There have already been so many changes throughout the team and there are only more to come. With the Grigson hire it begs the question of how long before Jim Cadwell will be around?
There are so many questions when it comes to these Colts and only time will tell what will happen. The biggest question is with the 35 year old quarterback, Peyton Manning and whether or not he will be healthy enough to play in the 2012 season.
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