INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -The Indianapolis Colts bristled when they saw a bye in Week 4.
Nobody’s complaining now.
With a sluggish offense, a struggling defense and an expanding injury list, the Colts are now thanking the schedule-makers for their brilliant foresight.
“I thought it was a little early when the schedule came out, but what are you going to do?” two-time league MVP Peyton Manning said this week. “I think now, maybe, it’s a good thing. I hope it’s a good thing. I hope we can turn it into a positive.”
This could be the best chance Indy has to turn around its uncharacteristic season.
Traditionally, the Colts (1-2) have been one of the NFL’s best starters. They opened each of the previous three seasons with at least seven straight wins, an NFL record, and built big enough leads in the division race to propel them to five straight AFC South titles.
This time, they’ll need a new strategy.
‘s rookie year, they’ve lost two September games, their first two home games and look like anything but a perennial Super Bowl contender. The running game has been grounded, the passing game is out of sync and the defense can’t get off the field.
Not enough?
Safety Bob Sanders, the run-stuffing 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, is expected to miss up to six weeks with ankle and knee injuries. Manning is still recovering from knee surgery in July. Left tackle Tony Ugoh didn’t play last week because of a groin injury and isn’t expected to practice this week, either.
The injury situation has become so precarious that Dungy had only six offensive linemen practicing Wednesday.
As a result, seven players, including three offensive linemen, have already made their first NFL starts this season, and the Colts have been a mess.
So having a week to work out the kinks, rather than worrying about another opponent, may be the perfect remedy to get jump-started.
“For us, it’s probably coming at the right time,” coach Tony Dungy said. “We get a chance to do some things and concentrate on straightening some of our situations out. We get a chance to get some guys healed up, which is good.”
Not long ago, the consensus around Colts headquarters was very different. Everybody from team president Bill Polian to Manning expressed reservations about the early bye.
t a late one as long as Manning is calling plays because, as Polian recently noted on his weekly radio show, November is television sweeps season and the Colts typically draw some of the largest ratings.
But there may be more benefits to taking a week off now.
The bye has given Manning extra time to resolve any lingering timing issues with his receivers without spending countless hours watching game film. Sanders will miss one fewer game, and the Colts could get two key starters back in just a couple of weeks. Left guard Ryan Lilja (knee) and linebacker Tyjuan Hagler (pectoral muscle) have been on the physically unable to perform list since training camp opened and may return by mid-October.
And rookie guard Mike Pollak, Indy’s top draft pick, finally returned to practice on a limited basis Wednesday. He’d been out since Aug. 24 because of two bad knees.
Plus, the break provides a welcome respite from the growing sense of frustration.
“It gives us time to reflect on what’s going on and what we need to do better,” running back Dominic Rhodes said. “Some people say you want to wait until later in the season, but getting it now should help us get on a roll later.”
That is the hope.
Houston next week.
So Manning, Dungy and the rest of the Colts have cast aside their early concerns and embraced a bye week that has come at the perfect time.
“We started talking about just focusing on the Colts and not necessarily preparing for an opponent or worrying about this blitz or coverage and just worrying about how the Colts can get better,” Manning said. “Hopefully, we can get better this week and use it to our advantage and try to get on some kind of winning streak.”
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