Like most Super Bowl champions, the Indianapolis Colts had a rather busy offseason. Peyton Manning did a star turn, hosting “Saturday Night Live” and extending his ongoing record of appearing in every commercial filmed since 2005.
While the quarterback was playing thespian, coach Tony Dungy engaged in more weighty pursuits. First, leading a group of the NFL’s African-American coaches in putting pressure on CBS to fire Don Imus in the wake of the former shock jock’s controversy involving the Rutgers women’s college basketball team, then touring the country to push his new book, “Quiet Strength,” which indeed spent a fair amount of time atop The New York Times’ best-seller list.
But in the midst of all the entertainment and social change, the team didn’t seem to do much in the way of addressing its roster. While other potential usurpers such as Denver and New England made significant personnel changes, the Colts appeared content to spend the summer sitting on the front porch sipping lemonade, “Back Home in Indiana” wafting softly in the background as they waved goodbye to key members of the 2006 squad.
“The worst thing you can get involved in is watching what other teams are doing,” tight end Dallas Clark said. “None of it matters; all you can do is focus in on your job and let everything take care of itself. Worrying about anything else is a waste of energy.”
That philosophy includes defending the title. Yes, the Colts are hosting tonight’s NFL season opener vs. the New Orleans Saints, an honorarium that goes to the team that hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the conclusion of the previous season. But as far as the team is concerned, the win over the Chicago Bears last February in Miami was so very XLI ago.
“We’re trying to win back-to-back, but that’s different from repeating,” Dungy said during training camp. “Repeating means the same people doing the exact same thing. This is different people, we’re taking a different journey.”
Getting better from within
Instead of Nick Harper lining up tonight against Marques Colston, it will be Kelvin Hayden. Later in the year, the man trying to keep Richard Seymour and the rest of the Patriots off Peyton Manning’s back won’t be the retired Tarik Glenn, but rather Tony Ugoh. Running back Joseph Addai can’t repeat his 2006 trick of becoming the first NFL player to rush for 1,000 yards without starting a game because now he has replaced Dominic Rhodes as a first-stringer.
When you include Cato June, Brandon Stokley and Anthony McFarland among those who won’t be playing with Indianapolis this season and realize that there weren’t any high-profile free-agent signings like New England did with Randy Moss, or the Broncos did with the recently acquired Simeon Rice, the idea of winning another title while going through the weekly wars within the AFC South and the conference as a whole, seem unlikely.
But the Colts counter that their offseason losses are really no different than a year ago, that in fact it may be easier to cope with because they’ve all come in a concentrated period.
“Last year we lost a lot of guys, we just didn’t lose them at the same time,” Dungy said. “We lost guys in free agency, like Edgerrin James, and over the course of the year we lost Corey Simon, Montae Reagor, Brandon Stokley.
“We had to replace those guys, and most of them were replaced by guys who were already here. And those guys played better than they did the year before, and that was how our team got better. There are a number of ways to improve. The fastest way is for the guys who are already here to get better. And they should, just through natural progression.”
The Colts argue that one of the best performances in their AFC championship victory over New England was turned in by Freddy Keiaho, who was a rookie reserve linebacker at the time. And the game-clinching touchdown in the Super Bowl was a 56-yard interception return by Hayden, then a second-year reserve.
Now, both are starters and the expectation is that whether it’s through last season’s brief experiences, or the confidence that comes from being a part of one of the NFL’s most talented teams, there won’t be any drop-off.
“Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson (another first-time starter at defensive back) can’t help but get better in camp covering (all-pro wide receivers) Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison every day,” Dungy said. “You have to get better or you’re not going to survive. There won’t be a tougher task for Tony Ugoh in the regular season than going against Dwight Freeney every day in practice.”
Leaving the past behind
Another factor Indianapolis feels is working in its favor is its past failures. While the Colts have been one of the league’s elite teams for years, before last year there really wasn’t much more than gaudy statistics to show for it. In 2002, the team lost a 41-0 wild-card game to the New York Jets; in 2003 and 2004, the Colts lost to the Patriots.
In 2005, Indianapolis won its first 13 games of the regular season, only to fail to reach the AFC championship game when it was upset at home by Pittsburgh, the eventual Super Bowl winner.
“We thought that was going to be our year, or this was going to be our year,” Clark said. “Most teams would have shut it down, started pointing fingers and listening to the bad things that everybody on the outside were saying. We stayed on course.”
Added center Jeff Saturday: “We’ve always been a team that’s done a good job of putting what’s happened in years past behind us. When we lost to the Jets, we didn’t let it affect us. When we lost to Pittsburgh, we didn’t let it affect us. So when you win it, you can’t let it affect you either.
“It was our time, everyone did a good job, but now you have to go out and try to do it again.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
New Orleans at Indianapolis
6:30 p.m., KUSA-9, Colts by 6
Last meeting: Colts won 55-21 in New Orleans on Sept. 28, 2003
Peyton Manning, the best in the AFC, vs. Drew Brees, the best in the NFC. You’re right, Flounder, this is gonna be greaaaat! … Manning 31 TD tosses, 9 INTs in ’06. Hey, everybody has a bad year now and then. … True, but strange: Saints played in NFC title tilt despite minus-4 turnover ranking. … N’Awlins coach Sean Payton’s first game vs. Indy. … This just in: Colts won the Super Bore last year. Previous defending champs 26-13-1 in next season’s openers. … DE Charles Grant a key figure for Saints. They were 6-0 in ’06 when he had at least one sack.
* Prediction: Colts 27, Saints 25
– Jim Armstrong
