Brandon Marshall proved why he is one of the top wide outs in the league Sunday against the Colts. He and quarterback Kyle Orton pretty much played pitch and catch as the young receiver pulled in a record breaking 21 pass receptions and 200 of Orton’s 277 passing yards. While this individual accomplishment is worthy of a little attention so are the records which the Colts broke.
And oh yeah- they won.
Indianapolis’s shot at perfection lives on for another week with a pretty commanding win over the Denver Broncos Sunday, 28-16.
What us making these wins a thing of beauty is the way in which they are being earned. When New England went on their winning tear a couple seasons ago it was pretty much on the backs of Brady, Welker, and Moss. Their running game was average and the defense was good, but not spectacular. They pretty much just outscored anyone and everyone they came up against (except the Giants when it mattered most).
The stat lines for the Colt stars on Sunday are not something that will make many of their fantasy owners real happy. Manning did throw four touchdowns, but the three interceptions and yardage total just a shade above 200 kept his value low. Dallas Clark might have grabbed three of those TD bullets, but had only five catches and 43 yards. No receiver got more than 49 yards and that guy was a running back who barely cleared 60 yards of action on the ground himself. The defense would not be worth much either having allowed 16 points and only getting three sacks and one pick.
While the Colts are not scoring points with fantasy nuts they are doing it on the field. Mistakes are being made as is evident with Peyton’s picks, but the team has done a tremendous job of rallying when it matters most. You don’t hear stories about egos getting out of control, guys whining about not getting the ball, or accusations that the QB has favorites. Guys are not questioning their coach’s sexuality or taking trips to Vegas in lieu of watching film.
Instead you have a group of guys doing it the old fashioned way- as a team. Everyone on the offense contributes. The defense has played extremely well, especially when the offense needed it most. There record setting 22 win is proof positive that when you care more about the team first then good things happen.
Now fans of some of the whiny, poor excuses for professionals that I alluded to earlier will respond with something pithy like,”uh…well, it’s easy for everyone to get alone when you are winning. I bet they’d fall apart if they lost just like anyone else!”
It might be awhile before we can test that theory since the Colts have also broken the record for most wins in a decade with 114 since the turn of the century.