Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning (David Duprey/AP Photo)
Bill Polian said he believes the Indianapolis Colts will be fresh entering the postseason.
And that, he said, is vitally important.
Polian, in his 12th season as the Colts' President, said while the team's starters may not have played their best game in their last extensive action – the first three quarters of a 29-15 loss to the New York Jets on December 27 – he said a 10-day layoff wasn't the reason.
But he said fatigue and the wear and tear of a long season may have been.
“I would attribute it to the fact that we were a very tired team,” Polian said Monday on his weekly radio show on Hank 97.1 FM in Indianapolis. “We had expended all of the energy we could to get that 13th win and secure the home-field advantage, which is so critically important and we need the fans to provide that advantage.”
The Colts' 13th victory came over the Denver Broncos on December 13. That was the game in which the team clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Four days later, they traveled to Jacksonville for a 35-31 victory on a Thursday night.
“We had a short week – an incredibly short week,” Polian said. “Think about this: all-out game Sunday, Monday off, Tuesday practice, Wednesday practice, get on a plane, play Thursday night – almost impossible to do. Then, we played a knock-down, drag-out game against a team that really, really wants to beat us. That game at their place (in Jacksonville) is one of the highlights of the year for them. It was the only sellout they had all year. Part of that is that it's a division opponent and one they feel they absolutely have to beat.
“Emotion was running high. It took a lot out of us. We were a pretty beaten-up and beaten-down football team when we came into that Jets game. You're seeing and I'm seeing the same symptoms. I'm just saying I think the cause is fatigue as opposed to rustiness.”
Polian said the Colts' approach in the final two regular-season games – playing only healthy players and playing them three quarters against the Jets and one quarter in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Bills – was a way of combating that fatigue.
“One of the ways you deflect and do away with rustiness is to do what we did Sunday – play as many people who are healthy as long as you reasonably can keeping mind that you don't want to risk injury, but get them enough to keep them sharp and keep them humming,” Polian said. “I think we did that Sunday. We certainly did it for two-and-a-half quarters against the Jets. Really, when you boil it all down, what we're discussing is probably one series against the Jets. Then of course, had we beaten the Jets, what would we have done Sunday with all of those guys out?
“As I said the past is prologue. The fact of the matter is I believe we'll come into this game in good shape, healthy and playing our best football.”
Polian on Monday also discussed :
* Having played the Jets and Baltimore (two of the potential Divisional Playoff opponents) in the regular season and Cincinnati (the other) in the preseason: “What it does is it gives you at least a working knowledge of their personnel. We saw Cincinnati's first club for about a quarter (in the preseason finale) and it was obvious they were a playoff team at that point in time. I said that after the game. This is a group that we have not seen in anger, if you will, in a regular-season game where they substitute critically the way they do normally. That's going to take some getting used to and I suspect the vast majority of us will be glued to the television set when they play the Jets. Our focus will largely be on Cincinnati. We played the Jets very recently and they didn't deviate a whole heck of a lot (Sunday) night against Cincinnati from what they did against us. That's pretty recent. (The regular-season meeting with) Baltimore is a little ways away. (Running back) Ray Rice is playing a larger role now than he did then. That's plenty of reason to lose sleep, because he's a great back, but there is some familiarity there. There will be some carryover, but Cincinnati is the one team we didn't play recently that we need to pay close attention to. They're a very good football team and they will have (RB) Cedric Benson back and they will have (defensive tackle) Domata Peko back. They will be at full strength, too.”
*On roster rules in the postseason: “We're allowed four moves starting Monday all the way through to the last game of the season. You can not make any more than two moves in a given week. It's the regular rules prevail – an hour and a half before the game on game day.”
Reviewing Bill Polian's weekly radio show . . .
* Part One: "The past is prologue." Here.
* Part Two: Pursuing milestones "right decision." Here.
* Part Three: Colts could be fully healthy entering postseason. Here.
* Part Four: Difficulties against New York fatigue, not rust. Here.
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