INDIANAPOLIS -- We'll call this wrapping up the Indianapolis Colts' weekend, which the astute reader will recognize as code for, “Catching up with the news after not doing much all weekend.”
The astute reader would be right.
But there's plenty on which to catch up, so rather than bore the reader with details of the weekend – family obligations; need for rest; shortcomings of a one-man, many-tasked operation, blah, blah, blah – we'll instead catch up on the cuts and the news with an eye toward the regular-season opener.
That's a week away. Hard to believe.
And for the Colts, that game's against the Houston Texans, a team very, very ready for the matchup and a team that believes it can with the AFC South.
In a roundabout way, that brings us back to the Colts, a team that has won that AFC South six of the past seven years, and a team that trimmed its roster to 53 players Saturday.
The Colts made a slew of roster moves on Saturday, and while there were a few eye-catching moves, it actually was comparatively uneventful. That's not surprising, considering this is a team that entered the preseason with few holes on its roster.
We'll try to come back Tuesday with a complete position-by-position breakdown, but while Indy Football Report is getting caught back up to speed and continues preparing for the regular season, here's a look at the weekend's events:
1) Curtis Painter. He's the backup quarterback entering the season, something that should surprise no one who has followed this team closely in the last decade. While third-team quarterback Tom Brandstater had some impressive moments – most notably with three touchdown passes in the preseason finale Thursday – team officials never wavered throughout the preseason in their support of Painter, who made fans uneasy with three interceptions in the first preseason game. The Colts believe in continuity and in drafting and developing, and that is as true of the backup quarterback position as it is any other. Painter has a season – and notably, two off-seasons – in the Colts' system and the Colts continue to speak of believing in his talent, his potential and that he will continue to develop. Their stance is not dissimilar to their approach with Jim Sorgi, whose ability often was questioned by fans and media, but who spent 2004-2009 entrenched as the Colts' backup quarterback.
2) The Hangover. The Indianapolis Star on Sunday wrote the obligatory blowout breaking down why Super Bowl losers struggle the following season. It's a necessary story, considering the striking number of Super Bowl runner-ups that fail to make the playoffs the following season, but in the Colts' case, it's doubtful history will apply. Not say the Colts are infallible, it's just that the major trend for the franchise since 1998 – the year quarterback Peyton Manning and President Bill Polian each arrived – has been the ability to defy such trends. No other team in NFL history has won 12 more games seven consecutive seasons as the Colts have done, and no team in the NFL currently has a streak of postseason appearances as long as that Colts' eight. The Colts in 2005 traveled to Tokyo for the American Bowl, a trip that historically teams followed with sub-par seasons. They won their first 13 games that season. In 2007, they followed their Super Bowl title-winning season with a 13-victory season that was overshadowed by New England's 16-0 season and was derailed by defensive end Dwight Freeney's season-ending injury in November. The point here is that while many NFL teams do indeed struggle with complacency or player losses or something the season after losing the Super Bowl, the Colts are a franchise built on consistency, and everything in their approach focuses on that. They may or may not be a league power this season, but if they're not, the guess here is that injuries or some such factor will play more into it than complacency.
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