Did the Colts suck for Luck? You be the judge.

[Mike]

If there ever was a team that knew the value of a great QB, it's the Colts. The Johnny Unitas days were great and what followed afterwards was decades of mediocrity. Then in 1998 the Colts lucked into Manning and go on to become the winningest team for the next 15 years... Until, at age 35, he gets injured.

Knowing the value of a top QB and having Luck stare them in the face was a no brainer....
"Let team go 2-14, draft Luck and be a contender for next 15 years or squeak into the playoffs and be in QB purgatory for next 15 years?"

I believe ownership did everything possible to suck for Luck. Losing in the NFL is easy, even when you have loads of talent that is desperate to win; just ask last season's Cards after going to Ryan Lindley.

In order to lose in the NFL, you only need 1 thing: a really ****tty QB and then the Colts had their own version of Lindley, his name was Curtis Painter. And ownership made sure it stayed that way.

http://yourteamcheats.com/IND#SuckForLuckgate-2011

[Mace]

Hard to say. Irsay isn't a real good hands on owner. Polians were deep into their power trip, and Indy really did suck without Manning and with Jim Caldwell, no o-line and their crap bendy Tampa-2 defense. So Irsay really didn't have to do anything on purpose, and deep in his cups, no real way to tell.

They DID Suck for Luck, but on purpose ? Dunno, I think they lucked into Luck by bumbling, not on purpose.

[Novacane]

I don't think they started out the season sucking for Luck. Once they started losing and it was obvious they were going to be in contention for him of course they did everything they could to assure the #1 pick.

[Mike]

I don't think they started out the season sucking for Luck. Once they started losing and it was obvious they were going to be in contention for him of course they did everything they could to assure the #1 pick.

Out of all the explanation, I think this is most likely.

After going 0-4 then 0-8, all the air was out of the balloon.

Winning takes a lot of emotional energy, a lot of focus. Once you go 0-8, all that energy & focus is down the drain.

In order for an NFL team to tank, only the owner need to meddle.

[Mr. Pink]

Of course they did.

They knew Peyton wasn't going to play in 2011 and did absolutely nothing to even attempt to replace him.

They went into the the 2011 season with Curtis Painter as their starter who completed something like 28% of his passes in 2009 and didn't even play in 2010.

[feldspar]

I don't think they started out the season sucking for Luck. Once they started losing and it was obvious they were going to be in contention for him of course they did everything they could to assure the #1 pick.

Exactly WHO did everything they could to get the #1 pick? What exactly did they do?

Did all the people make themselves look bad and endanger their future career earnings for the Colts to get a pick they wouldn't even be around to enjoy? The coaches were fired. Lots and lots of people let go in a restructure. Why would they make themselves look bad on purpose right before seeking future employment? Hell, even Bill Polian was fired after that year...I don't recall him or anyone making drastic changes to the roster or elsewhere later in the season to ensure the Colts deliberately lose games.

If you think they tanked late on purpose, be more specific as to how.

[BillsImpossible]

Exactly WHO did everything they could to get the #1 pick? What exactly did they do?

Did all the people make themselves look bad and endanger their future career earnings for the Colts to get a pick they wouldn't even be around to enjoy? The coaches were fired. Lots and lots of people let go in a restructure. Why would they make themselves look bad on purpose right before seeking future employment? Hell, even Bill Polian was fired after that year...I don't recall him or anyone making drastic changes to the roster or elsewhere later in the season to ensure the Colts deliberately lose games.

If you think they tanked late on purpose, be more specific as to how.

Feldspar, I think you would make an excellent GM for the Buffalo Sabres.

They tanked but they didn't do it on purpose.

They really did suck. End of story.

[feldspar]

They knew Peyton wasn't going to play in 2011 and did absolutely nothing to even attempt to replace him.

They went into the the 2011 season with Curtis Painter as their starter who completed something like 28% of his passes in 2009 and didn't even play in 2010.

Wrong.

The Colts weren't sure if Peyton Manning was going to be able to play until late in the offseason.

Then they signed Kerry Collins in late August. Collins was the starter in the beginning of the season, and then he got hurt. THEY SURE AS HELL DID DO SOMETHING TO TRY TO REPLACE HIM.

[feldspar]

Feldspar, I think you would make an excellent GM for the Buffalo Sabres.

They tanked but they didn't do it on purpose.

They really did suck. End of story.

Nah, the Sabres did it largely on purpose. I don't follow hockey that closely, but they fired their GM early in the season, and then made moves to ensure they sucked. Hockey is a different beast. That's why they have the lottery.

[Mr. Pink]

Wrong.

The Colts weren't sure if Peyton Manning was going to be able to play until late in the offseason.

Then they signed Kerry Collins in late August. Collins was the starter in the beginning of the season, and then he got hurt. THEY SURE AS HELL DID DO SOMETHING TO TRY TO REPLACE HIM.

Yes, they signed a guy who was gonna retire but decided to get one more paycheck instead. Peyton had serious surgery on his neck back in May of 2011 and was allegedly being treated for a neck injury after the week 1 game in 2010.

The Colts absolutely knew that Manning wasn't gonna play in 2011 and their attempt at replacing him was signing an over the hill guy who was going to retire? Apparently they took til about 1 week before the regular season started to sign him, maybe it took that long to coax Kerry into signing one more paycheck for himself and his family.

Then said over the hill guy plays into week 4 and ends up on the IR for a concussion.

Not that that really matters because Collins was god awful terrible and looked like a guy who had no interest to learn the Colts offense nor play.

In a league where the most important piece is your QB, the Colts did everything they could to not acquire even a competent QB to replace Manning for 2011. You can try to argue otherwise all you want but coaxing a guy out of retirement a week before the season starts or relying on Curtis Painter isn't attempting to replace him.

And the funny thing is I won't even hate on them for doing it. It was absolutely brilliant. They suffered one season of football hell while other teams are just happy to get 5-6 wins a year for a decade.

[BillsImpossible]

It's the same beast called Sport.

The Sabres did it largely on purpose and so did the Colts.

Can you blame them for doing the right thing?

[Mike]

Remember, the Sabres players didn't lose games on purpose!
A very Good Cards Team didn't fizzle after going 9-0 and lose in the playoffs on purpose.
And the Colts players didn't intentionally play poorly and tank..

All of these situations point to a simple fact:
1. A few key positions make a tremendous difference.
2. Ownership can easily manipulate a season end result by having players like Painter play QB for an entire season, trade players, fire coaches mid season, etc.... Owners are Powerful!
3. Even if the Cards or Colts players did everything they could, it was never going to be enough. The Undefeated Miami Dolphins would have had a hard time winning with Lindley or Painter

[SpikedLemonade]

I have no experience or expertise on this subject matter.

Please seek the opinion of a Sabres fan for a definitive answer.

[feldspar]

You can try to argue otherwise all you want but coaxing a guy out of retirement a week before the season starts or relying on Curtis Painter isn't attempting to replace him.

Kinda like the Bills did last year with Kyle Orton? Were they trying to tank as well when they coaxed him out of retirement right before the season last year?

I don't think the Colts knew Manning wasn't going to be cleared to start until WAY into the summer, anyway. They didn't have very many options by then, really.

I certainly don't think that they intentionally created a bad roster, or even knew how bad it was going to get without Manning.

If they really wanted to suck they wouldn't have benched Curtis Painter after his 8 starts. Again, he was benched after 8 starts and replaced by Dan Orlovsky, who went 2-3 as a starter. The Colts came within one score of winning the final game of the season too, which would have put them **** out of Luck, if you will. They won the tie-breaker for the worst record in the league. Benching Painter could EASILY have cost them the first-overall pick, and it almost did. Good Lord, Painter was bad.

Also, was it a slam-dunk that Andrew Luck was going to even DECLARE for the draft in 2012. I don't think he really HAD to, to way I remember it. Could be wrong.

Anyway, TONS of players, coaches, and executives were FIRED because of the way the Colts performed that year. I don't think for a second they did that on purpose...sacrificed their careers or reputations like that. Stupid concept to think they even might do that.

[Mike]

Kinda like the Bills did last year with Kyle Orton? Were they trying to tank as well when they coaxed him out of retirement right before the season last year?

I don't think the Colts knew Manning wasn't going to be cleared to start until WAY into the summer, anyway. They didn't have very many options by then, really.

I certainly don't think that they intentionally created a bad roster, or even knew how bad it was going to get without Manning.

If they really wanted to suck they wouldn't have benched Curtis Painter after his 8 starts. Again, he was benched after 8 starts and replaced by Dan Orlovsky, who went 2-3 as a starter. The Colts came within one score of winning the final game of the season too, which would have put them **** out of Luck, if you will. They won the tie-breaker for the worst record in the league. Benching Painter could EASILY have cost them the first-overall pick, and it almost did. Good Lord, Painter was bad.

Also, was it a slam-dunk that Andrew Luck was going to even DECLARE for the draft in 2012. I don't think he really HAD to, to way I remember it. Could be wrong.

Anyway, TONS of players, coaches, and executives were FIRED because of the way the Colts performed that year. I don't think for a second they did that on purpose...sacrificed their careers or reputations like that. Stupid concept to think they even might do that.


If your looking for certainty you won't find it in Life.

Nothing is for sure, however there is such a thing as high probability!

[OpIv37]

I think they did but who cares? It's not against the rules.