Some gridiron pundits have expressed surprise at the Indianapolis Colts' firing of the Polian lads, but evidently, they stopped paying attention when the Colts won the Super Bowl five years ago. Peyton Manning had covered up so many of the Colts' problems by himself, a disaster like their 8-Strength (2-14) season this year was inevitable. All it took was an injury through which even Manning couldn't possibly play.
Here's an interesting, little noted aspect of Monday's management purges in Tampa Bay (16 Strength, 4-12) and Saint Louis (9 Strength, 2-14) the Buccaneers, Rams are related by ownership to English soccer teams. By that, I don't mean little third-division outfits -- I mean Manchester United and Arsenal. The Cleveland Browns (17 Strength, 4-12) are similarly tied to a third Premier League side, Aston Villa. It's probably a nasty coincidence, but all three NFL teams just finished horrible seasons.
As for the Chicago Bears, whose collapse lef them to fire general manager go and lose vaunted OC Mike Martz, Yahoo!'s "Shutdown Corner" column pretty well encapsulated their problem:
Maybe Martz wanted capable, productive wide receivers, while the Bears organization wanted Roy Williams. [Or Sam Hurd, who turned out to be as incompetent at dealing drugs as catching Jay Cutler passes.]Trust me, Chicago and its environs are celebrating. I'm celebrating, too
- Denver would miss the playoffs. San Diego would host the Steelers in their place. It's too bad, really; I'd like to have seen a stake put through Tebowmania™ a year early.
- Despite a better winning percentage than Seattle, Arizona would finish third in the NFC West behind the Seahawks, because the Cardinals have a lower Strength.
