Watching the Colts game Sunday was such a painful experience that I couldn't post about immediately. Now that time has dimmed the memory and I can almost get back to an "oh, well, it's only a game" mentality, I can finally say what I think happened (if the opinion of a mere fan counts for anything).
The Rams embarrassed the Colts, handing them their worst home loss in the Luck and coach Chuck Pagano era, 38-8.
“They beat us in every single phase,” Pagano said. “We just didn’t do anything. And I take full responsibility as the head football coach, did not have this team ready.”
Now, I have some flaws that show up occasionally in my writing. I can write some very long sentences. I fail to catch a typo or two. I can be overly fond of using italics for emphasis. Like that. If I go back and read an old column or editorial and see that I've let one of my flaws through, it doesn't bother me much. But a writer always dreads the day when he picks up and old piece and sees that it contains every single flaw he's capable of. That's the writing equivalent of being "beaten in every single phase."
The Colts have been having a good season despite being a team with many flaws. They've had some close games, including some cliffhanger comebacks, because they've managed to display only one or two flaws a game. But on Sunday, every single flaw the team has showed up, and the cumulative effect was just too much.
Some sportswriter types have said this was a "wake up" call for the team, and I'm not sure what that means. Maybe they just have to admit they have a lot of flaws, and when "one phase" sin't kicking in the way it should the members respoinsible for the other phases will have to pay attention and step up their games.
Or something.
