Horseshoe Hero: Anger is a Good Thing

Following Sunday’s performance at Tennessee, the Colts surpassed all other teams to attain sole possession of the lead in…the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes. Despite having more yards in the air (250) and on the ground (158) than the Titans on Sunday, mistakes on special teams caused the Colts to lose to Tennessee, 20-10. At 0-8, the Colts have more losses than any other team in the league, including the winless Miami Dolphins, who stand at 0-7 due to the fact that they’ve already had their bye week. Indy and Miami are the only remaining winless teams in the NFL.

Although the offense at times sputtered, and Curtis Painter reverted back to his former preseason self, throwing two interceptions, the defense stood strong. Titans’ star running back Chris Johnson was held to just 39 yards on 20 carries. This was largely due to the efforts of this week’s Horseshoe Hero: the emerging defensive monster, Pat Angerer.

Angerer, a second round draft pick in 2010, led the defense with 10 tackles, including two for aloss, on Sunday. Throughout the season, Angerer has quietly established himself as one of the most fearsome linebackers in the league. In fact, Angerer leads the NFL in tackles with 90, 22 more than second-place NaVorro Bowman of the San Francisco 49ers. The former Iowa Hawkeye is one of the few Colts players to have consistently played at a high level this year, stepping up when defensive captain Gary Brackett was lost to the IR with a season-ending shoulder injury. In Brackett’s absence, Angerer is having a Pro Bowl-worthy season (The ballots are up, by the way, so go cast your votes!).

To further impress, Angerer played this week with both a nagging knee injury and a lack of sleep, for Angerer’s wife Mary gave birth to their first son, Cael Patrick Angerer, on Tuesday, just five days before game day. Angerer announced the birth on his Facebook page, “Official Fan Page of Pat Angerer,” calling his wife “so bad ass.” How can you not love a guy who respects and admires his wife enough to consider her bad ass? Angerer is clearly a role model both on and off the field.

Following Sunday’s loss, Angerer had this to say:
“Another rough one yesterday. It put a lot of things into perspective coming home and holding my bad ass son. We won’t give up and we will keep on fighting. You just got to believe!”

The Colts’ chances at winning a game this season are becoming bleaker, but there’s still hope. If Horseshoe Hero Angerer believes, I do too.