The joy of watching this amazing Indianapolis Colts offense over the past 4 years rests on two pillars of success:  Peyton Manning`s remarkable efficiency and the refinement of the hurry-up offense.

No scheme lasts in the NFL for very long:  the level of coaching is at the purely genious level,  led by the leagues mad equivalent to the Unabomber:  Bill Belichek.  He dresses and acts like  he lives in a shack, wearing his hoodie and cooking up elaborate schemes to thwart the efforts of his erstwhile opponents.  And he is about 80% successful.  There are no secrets in the NFL either,  so any team that gains success against a particular opponent is immediately emulated until the formula becomes the standard approach.

The league`s braintrust discovered this season that the way to beat the Colts was to limit the number of possessions they had by running the ball as much as possible against them.  This sorely tested the injury depleted Colts defense and led to the Colts having the fewest number of offensive possessions in the league.   Most teams coupled this ball control template with a soft nickel package that offered up short gains but refused to allow Peyton to beat them with the long pass.   This too, was largely successful.

In order to achieve the incredible level of success the Colts found under these circumstances, it was necessary to put together multiple 8 to 12 play drives requiring a level of  execution that has not been seen in this league before.   Sooner or later, a receiver will drop the ball, or the quarterback`s delivery will be off the mark, or a defensive player can make a saving play.   Not with this machine-like Colt`s offense, however.  The receiver`s run their routes crisply and almost always catch the ball!  Peyton`s throws are where they should be, whether the receiver shows up there or not.  (Hence, Baltimore`s two picks on rare Marvin Harrison missed routes.)  And the defense, rocked back on its heels and hurrying to the line after every play,  is simply reacting and more often than not, running out of gas.

Belichik developed the art of the tired defender flop.  In previous years, we saw Willie McGinness use this ploy again and again.  After a quarter or more of trying to keep up with the Colts flying freak show, defensive lineman and linebackers start  to become unable to get back off the ground after a play-often leading to an injury time out.   This is either a facade desiged to get the defense a breather and to break the Colts`s momentum, or a genuine indication that the defender`s bodies are breaking down.   We saw this in both the Patriot and Raven sideline shots during the playoffs.   Trainer`s and assistants  were seen working feverishly on tired defenders, trying to help them with cramping and fatique.  We heard Phil Simms` compassionate cries in last Sunday`s Colts-Patriots classic match-up, regaling us with descriptions of how hot it was in the RCA Dome.  Funny that is was only hot for the Patriot defenders.

At least once a game, Peyton catches defenders trying to change personnel and gains a 12 men-on-the-field penalty.   The refinement of "The Lightning Offense" (so named by the Colts) enables Manning to be at the line of scrimmage observing the defense`s attempted changes, and with his players at the ready, he can call for a quick snap and prevent the changes on the other side of the ball.  Or at least he can gain his team another 5 yards and this is often enough to move the chains.

Look for the surest of signs that the Lightning Offense is working come Super Bowl Sunday.  When you see the first injury time out for a Bear defender unable to get back to his feet, you know that the Lightning Offense has begun to take its toll.  The Thunder of Dominique Rhodes and Joseph Addai will soon follow.

Colts 35 Bears 10. 

 

 

 

 

    In a simpler time, our favorite athletes played for the same team for most of their careers.  Of course Roger Maris was shuffled off to St. Louis to quietly diminish, and the Babe wobbled out in Brooklyn, but for the shelf life of their magnificence, they served consistently in  glorious Yankee pinstripes.  Jim Brown debutted and hastily retired from the once-proud Browns.  Al Kaline will always be a Tiger and Brooks Robinson will always be an Oriole.  George Mikan will always be a Laker either in Minneapolis or Los Angeles.

    The only consistent symbol representing today`s athlete is the $ sign!  A kid`s only hope is to root for the uniform!  Rarely is there a chance that your favorite player will stay put.  Or out of jail.  Or off drugs.  Or out of the closet.

   Was it a simpler time because athletes in the public eye held themselves to a higher moral standard?  Or is it simply the intrusive and unforgiving eye of the modern media revealing pecadilloes that went unreported years ago?  No doubt, today`s press hounds would never have allowed Mickey Mantle to slip quietly into alcoholism.  Yesterday`s athletes certainly had their share of frailty, but how do they compare to today`s athlete?

   My review of the moral turpitude infecting the modern athletic scene falls into several distinct categories:

    The Cheaters.  Bubblehead Barry Bonds and the Enhancers for instance.  How did his head get that big?  Does human growth hormone stimulate the ego?

      The Reprobates.  I know the Bambino was known to play loose and get a little wild now and then, but how does that compare to someone like Steve Howe? Howe put  a whole new twist on the concept of rehabbing!

       The Thugs.  Guys like Jamal and Ray Lewis are quasi-criminals, while guys like Jose Canseco and Allen Iverson just skirt around on the edges of the law. 

     The Morons.  There are a passel of hebetudes out there who can barely tie their shoelaces together,  yet they make it onto the pro scene anyway.  Time and again, agents, owners and promoters attempt to steer them into the athletic arena, hoping their immense physical talents can overcome their inability to understand what it takes to fit into sporting society.    Maurice Clarett, Ron Artest and Ricky Williams immediately come to mind.

  See my blog over the next few days for an in depth look at what`s left for our kids to look up to (or down at!)

I can`t be the only member of the "Anybody but Tiger" club!   Just before the Master`s Golf Tournament I was asked by a friend:  "Who do you want to see win the Masters?"  My reflexive response provides the title to my first blog entry. 

 One of my first sports heroes, Wilt Chamberlain ,claimed that "Nobody roots for Goliath." But its not simply the fact of Tiger`s superior physical ability that makes him such an anti-hero for many fans.

  Golf, for me,  has always been about class and a sense of fair play and respect for one`s opponents.  With the rabid sports writers in tow, every tournament seems to be about Tiger, regardless of his position in the field.   Tiger`s post round analysis always seems to dwell on what he could have done to win, without offering kudos to the player who beat him.

   Tiger simply doesn`t show the rest of the Tour players the respect they deserve nor does he approach the hallowed Nicklaus major tournaments win record with the humility and aplomb one would expect from a player who cares about the game.  Compare his response to winning a major to that of Ben Crehshaw, for instance.

    And Tiger has played the race card a time or two.  Most notably, when he helped drive the bus over Fuzzy Zoeller over a joke made regarding the Master`s dinner selection.  Tiger could have been supportive, but chose to leave ol` Fuzzy hanging  instead.

  Needless to say, I will be rooting for Phil Mickelson, or Davis Love III or Freddy Couples or anybody else but Tiger in the remaining major tournaments this year!