2011 NFL Regular Season: One-man dependence cost Indianapolis Colts 14 games - Part 1
No other season of the National Football League (NFL) will probably be remembered to be as miserable for any team around the nation as was the 2011 regular season for the Indianapolis Colts.
Not for one but many reasons.
The worse of their worst was their record of losing 14 games straight without a break.
They opened the season on a losing note, courtesy of their loss, with a margin of 7-34 to the Houston Texans.
Indianapolis closed the season on a losing note too, with the final score at 13-19 against Jacksonville Jaguars.
All in between are their 14 games, which they lost consistently and almost to all teams around the league.
At one point, they were feared to end up with a score of 0-16 on the league table.
This could have made them the only side in NFL history, after St. Louis Rams, to become total losers in a season.
However, they finally managed to protect themselves from such a tag, becoming the second worst team in NFL history, recording their first win in game 14 of the season, which came courtesy of their performance with a score of 27 to 13 points in their favour.
The Colts then went on to record a straight win against the American Football Conference (AFC) South champions, the Houston Texans. They beat them at a close margin of 19 to 16 points.
Even before, they could celebrate their out of the blue two wins, but there emerged a controversy, which was whether they should aim for a win in their next and final game of the season, which was against Jacksonville Jaguars and miss their chance of signing
the top draft pick in the 2012 NFL season, or do the exact opposite.
Despite this, their coach, Jim Caldwell, and owner, Jim Irsay, said that they would go and aim for win in the game, even if that affected their top draft prize chances.
Irrespective of the controversy, the Indianapolis Colts lost their final game of the season against the Jaguars with a score difference of 13 to 19 points.
This left them with the eligibility for signing the top draft pick in the next draft season, when it starts in April, later on this year.
Andrew Luck, the Stanford College’s quarterback, stands out to be an undisputed top draft pick so far, and has already confirmed going pro.
However, there is no confirmation from the Colts, if they are going to sign him or not, officially that is.
Nonetheless, reports in some sections of media have claimed that the side is definite about signing him.
The only hurdle in the Colts' way seems to be the matter of their choice between their veteran, Peyton Manning, and the rookie, Andrew Luck.
Both players are known for their game skills in their respective leagues and are of equally high stature in the football rankings.
The Indianapolis Colts, apparently, do not want to lose any of the two and according to their former vice chairman, Bill Polian, financially are able to keep both of them.
They, however, are not certain about the return of Peyton Manning, who has been out of the team with a neck injury.
It was for the first time that Manning has not started for the Colts in his quarterback position, which has badly affected their performance.
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