Jim Caldwell Deserves Much More Of The Blame

I was talking with my brother about the revelation that Peyton Manning had a 4th procedure done on his neck that hadn’t previously been reported, and how that’s not going to help his stock in the free agency market.

We were talking about what the Colts’ record would have been with Manning last year, and he said Manning would have thrown for 5,000 yards, they would have won 9-11 games and maybe have made the playoffs. I can’t disagree with any of that. Three guys threw for over 5,000 yards last year, so it’s not crazy to think Manning would have, too.

I was thinking, though, how it’s been talked to death about how Manning was SO valuable to this team that his not being there plummeted them to a two win season. And, of course, Manning is incredibly valuable to the Colts. No doubt at all about that.

But, I go back to a point my brother made when the question was asked: How many Super Bowls would the Patriots and Colts have won had Brady and Manning been switched? He suggested the most important variable in that equation might actually be Bill Belichick, not Brady or Manning.

Which leads me to my question: How many games would the Colts have won without Manning last year if Belichick was the coach, and not Jim Caldwell? Why does the fact that the Colts plummeted to a two win season rest solely on the fact that Manning wasn’t there? Why doesn’t Caldwell get some, or at least more, of the blame? Yes, he was fired, but you don’t hear the argument that Caldwell was the reason they went 2-14. No, the reason they went 2-14, according to most people, was the absence of Manning, not the incompetence of Caldwell.

Caldwell just happened to be an innocent bystander who was taken out by the loss-of-Manning shrapnel. Poor fella.

Is Caldwell a good guy? By all accounts yes. But, was he a guy who could lead a team through a tough situation and keep them afloat? Obviously not. He made a desperate move by starting Kerry Collins when he should have started the year with Painter. He then stuck with Painter way too long after it became painfully obvious that Painter’s tenure with the team wasn’t going to translate to real world success.

The defense continued to flounder all year, which had very little to do with Manning. We saw no creativity, no imagination from Caldwell. Throughout it all, he stood there like a lump on a log while everything crashed down around him. Not a lick of fire. Not a bit of spunk. Not a moment of obvious leadership.

Meanwhile, Belichick had Julian Edelman, a wide receiver, returning kicks, playing on special teams and playing defensive back. He was running Aaron Hernandez, a tight end, out of the backfield for 66 yards versus the Broncos in the Divisional Playoff round. Belichick was making things happen with the guys he had, not standing on the sidelines letting the world pass him by.

The loss of Manning was huge. There’s no getting around that. But, no way would a quality coach like Belichick have let that team devolve into a 2-14 team. Let’s hope Chuck Pagano is a major step up from Caldwell and is prepared to lead this team, not just go along for the ride.