Horseshoe Hero: A Place in Canton
On Sunday, the Colts recorded their 13th loss in as many outings this season, falling to the Baltimore Ravens, 24-10. The Colts have left themselves with only three more chances to win a game and avoid the fate of becoming just the second winless team in NFL history (16-game schedule division). Despite the return of the dynamic Dallas Clark, the offense could not get any momentum going against the third-ranked Ravens defense. After a promising first outing against the Patriots last week, quarterback Dan Orlovsky was sacked three times, fumbled the ball an additional three times, and threw in an interception for good measure. Although he led a nice drive late in the fourth quarter that culminated with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Tamme, overall Orlovsky recorded a horrific 53.4 passer rating. He completed just 17 of his 37 throws for only 136 yards.
The defense, however, provided some bright spots. Rookie Joe Lefeged recorded an interception, and Dwight Freeney, voted by the players as the 15th-best football player in the National Football League in 2011, recorded two sacks on Joe Flacco. The first of these sacks marked a significant accomplishment for Freeney that not only makes him worthy of Horseshoe Hero honors this week, but that also makes him deserving of an enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
When Freeney literally jumped on Flacco’s back and brought him down in the second quarter, the Colts DE recorded his 100th career sack. Freeney is only the 26th player in history to reach such a milestone.
A 10th-year veteran from Syracuse, Dwight Freeney has been a model of consistency for the Colts. With 101 sacks and counting, he’s the Colts’ all-time sack leader, and he’s also the only Colt in franchise history to record seven double-digit sack seasons. This could be part of the reason why the defensive end has been voted to six Pro Bowls and deserves to go to his seventh (vote for him!). Freeeney plays hard even though the Colts are far from playoff contention. He’s a true leader on this Colts team and will only build upon his current records, for his current contract will keep him with the Horseshoe through 2013.
The Colts will round out their season against their three AFC South rivals, the Titans, the AFC-South-clinching Texans, and the 4-9 Jaguars. I still firmly believe the Colts are a better team, at least somewhat better, than their record suggests. They definitely have a chance to win a game or two, especially if a Horseshoe Hero rises to the occasion.