Indianapolis Colts Daily Digest: On overtime, Tim Jennings and Ryan Lilja (part 2)

(2 of 2) PREVIOUS 1 | 2

 There's a consensus in the NFL that it needs to be more difficult for a receiving team to win in overtime.

What's also clear is while the groundswell for this has been swelling for several years, the buzz about the issue picked up its greatest momentum about 14 months ago, when the Colts lost in overtime to the San Diego Chargers in an AFC Wild Card game without getting possession in the overtime period.

It's far from the only reason, and it was never, ever something about which the Colts complained publicly or privately, but the notion that the Chargers won that game in January of 2009 without the Colts and 2009 National Football League Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning having an overtime offensive possession pumped up a discussion in the blogosphere that never completely lost its momentum in the last 15 months.

There was discussion last offseason, but no proposal gained enough momentum to generate any serious buzz entering the NFL Owners' Meetings.

This year, it's different.

And while there certainly is no guarantee that this proposal will get passed, it easily has the best chance to pass of any overtime proposal in the last 15 seasons. One reason is that it's just for the postseason, which takes away the possibility that the rule will drastically increase the number of plays and therefore the number of injuries. That increased risk is often overlooked by observers in issues such as these, but it weighs heavily in the thoughts and votes of the thinkers and voters on such issues.

Also, with this one the timing just feels right.

As Atlanta Falcons President and Competition Committee co-chairman Rich McKay said Wednesday, the game has changed in the nearly four decades since the current overtime rule was implemented, and it even has changed in the last decade and a half.

Kickers are better – much better than they were in 1974. The league also moved back the kickoff line from the 40- to the 35- to the 30-yard line. Those two factors have combined to drastically increase the advantage of the team receiving the opening kickoff overtime. For the first two decades of the current system, statistics showed that the team receiving and the team kicking at the start of overtime essentially had an equal chance of winning.

Now, the edge to the team receiving is about 20 percent.

McKay said that was enough to tell the committee something had to be done, and while there's no guarantee the owners will pass the rule – they are, history tells us, a group reluctant to change, particularly when a system works, as is the case with overtime – there's a good vibe about this proposal.

Enough time has passed since the Colts' loss in San Diego where the owners needn't worry that they're reacting in a quick-twitch capacity. The league's thinkers and trigger-pullers have had a year to digest, discuss and determine a prudent course of action, and when that's the case, usually the course of action is voted upon and passed.

That may nor not be the case with overtime this year. If it is, and it does get passed, no doubt there will be a chorus protesting that the league has changed its rules all because Manning didn't get a chance to touch the ball on a January night in San Diego 14 months before.

Don't believe it. While that may have been the genesis of the proposed change, the bigger picture is that this is a rule – and a change – that if not overdue, is certainly due. . . .

There was little negative vibe about the Colts not signing OG Richie Incognito Wednesday.

In fact, the reaction was pretty darned positive.

The fine Colts blog StampedeBlue weighed in heavily on Tuesday, when it was reported by Mike Berardino of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel that the Colts were interested in Incognito, who was voted by his peers the NFL's dirtiest player in 2009.

“One of the things we Colts fans enjoy hanging our hats on (much to the annoyance of other fan bases) is that (Colts Owner and Chief Executive Officer) Jim Irsay and (President) Bill Polian do not spend money on dirt bags,” the blogger BigBlueShoe writes, adding, “They don't draft players with questionable or sketchy pasts. They don't sign free agents with serious baggage. They don't look for me-first showman more interested in their Twitter friends than touchdowns. And, they do not field a dirty team.

“So, if that is the case, why the hell are they actively going after the scum wad that is Richie Incognito?”

After the Dolphins signed Incognito Wednesday, the blogger LovinBlue weighed in on StampedeBlue:

“It might have been nice to have a huge, bruising guard up front, but I think many of us will be tallying from afar the penalties he racks up this year as a member of the Dolphins.”

To wrap this up, I'm not sure in retrospect how serious the Colts' interest was in Incognito. Reports were the extent of the free-agent process from the Colts' end was expected to be a phone interview, and there was never much local reporting on this. He certainly wasn't the logical fit considering his extracurriculars, and while any interest in him was continued evidence that the Colts indeed want to get bigger up front, this feels more like one of those offseason blips than anything else. . . .

A final thought on Tim Jennings: The Chicago Bears on Tuesday signed the oft-criticized cornerback, who spent four seasons with the Colts. I won't get into a whole don't-know-what-you-got-'til-it's gone lecture, but despite the fans and media who long criticized Jennings, he wasn't the liability many believed. Yes, he allowed a lot of cushion at times, but he had a knack for making an interception now and then, or at least getting his hands on passes, and that's a bit rarer in the NFL than many realized. Also, he was durable and rarely gave up big plays, which is what the Colts teach. He may not ever have fulfilled his second-round drafted potential, but he was a solid reserve corner and the Colts will need to replace him this offseason."

A final thought on OG Ryan Lilja: Actually, not too much to say here that already hasn't been said. Great guy. Good player. Tough guy. A guy who defined the Colts in the locker room and on the offensive line for a long time. When I think of the Colts' Super Bowl team, and a lot of of successful seasons around it, I'll think of Lilja a lot of the time. He's what you wish a lot more NFL players were – a down-to-earth guy who understands that he's a grown-up kid kid playing a kid's game. The Colts have a lot of guys like that. Dallas Clark. Dwight Freeney. Marlin Jackson was one. There are others, but Lilja got it and he'll be missed.

 (2 of 2) PREVIOUS 1 | 2

DAILY DIGEST: TOO EARLY TO JUDGE OFFENSIVE LINE CHANGES. HERE.

DAILY DIGEST: ON SORGI'S MOVE TO NEW YORK. HERE.

BRACKETT. "WE HAVE UNFINISHED BUSINESS. HERE. 

COLTS ADDING TURNER AS ASSISTANT COACH. HERE. 

COLTS FREE AGENCY: PLAYER BY PLAYER BREAKDOWN. HERE.

DEPARTURE OF BROCK, JACKSON SHOWS REALITY OF NFL. HERE.

NFL SCOUTING COMBINE

THE QUARTERBACKS. HERE.

THE RUNNING BACKS. HERE

THE WIDE RECEIVERS. HERE.

THE TIGHT ENDS. HERE.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE. HERE

THE DEFENSIVE ENDS. HERE. 

DAILY DIGESTS:

COLTS C JEFF SATURDAY ON COLTS PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN'S POST-SUPER BOWL OL COMMENTS. HERE

BILL POLIAN WEIGHS IN ON NFL DRAFT. HERE 

SUNDAY DIGEST: TOM MOORE. HERE.

A REFRESHINGLY ACCURATE READ ON PEYTON MANNING. HERE

CASSERLY: BEST DRAFT CLASS IN 30 YEARS. HERE 

OFFSEASON PRIMERS:

THE QUARTERBACKS. HERE.

THE RUNNING BACKS. HERE.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS. HERE.

THE TIGHT ENDS. HERE.

THE OFFENSIVE TACKLES. HERE

THE OFFENSIVE GUARDS. HERE

THE CENTERS. HERE

THE DEFENSIVE ENDS. HERE.

THE DEFENSIVE TACKLES. HERE.

THE LINEBACKERS. HERE.

  POLIAN: THE PAST IS PROLOGUE. HERE.