The Colts Lucky Day (The Andrew Luck Project)

[jshrolltide]

So while I've been waiting on my new laptop to come in, I've started several new careers, among them Jets, Pats, and Lions, none of them really exciting me, until I thought of this. Why not try to rebuild the Colts around a new, young #1 overall quarterback, like Andrew Luck? And since Andrew Luck is from Stanford, and had comparisons to John Elway, why not do it with Jack English? This has been a fun project I've been working on, and I'm already several seasons into it. I'll catch you up with what I've done so far.

[jshrolltide]

I'll start you with the basics: I'm using default rosters (starting in the 2008 preseason). For offense, I'm using the Tom Moore Pass Attack, in the spread scheme. On defense, I'm using the Patriots Pressure (3-4) playbook, just like the Colts now, under Chuck Pagano, have switched to a 3-4. On defense, the first thing I did was edit philosophies. I made all of the front seven 3-4 oriented (3-4 DT, DE, 3-4 passrushing OLB, 3-4 tackling MLB). I changed CBs to balanced, but left FS as centerfielder and SS as run support. Kickers are both balanced. On offense, I left all of the philosophies as the Colts' default, except HB, which I changed to balanced. I moved several defensive linemen around to adjust to the 3-4, most notably Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis to OLB and Raheem Brock and Ed Johnson to DE. I'll put up a depth chart soon (I had it all typed up, nice and neat in an excel file, but it wouldn't let me attach it).

[jshrolltide]

Indianapolis Colts Depth Chart - 2008
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Reggie Wayne 94/94	Anthony Gonzalez 82/89	Pierre Garcon 60/69
TE	Dallas Clark 90/90	Marcedes Lewis 71/82	Jacob Tamme 67/74
LT	Tony Ugoh 87/89	Michael Toudouze 76/78
LG	Ryan Lilja 87/87	Dylan Gandy 76/80
C	Jeff Saturday 91/91	Steven Justice 74/85
RG	Ruben Brown 85/85	Mike Pollak 76/79
RT	Ryan Diem 88/88	Brady Bushell 78/90
WR	Marvin Harrison 87/87	Courtney Roby 61/70
QB	Peyton Manning 98/98	Josh Betts 74/87	Josh Betts 74/87
FB	Kris Wilson 79/80
HB	Joseph Addai 89/93	Travis Henry 75/75	Mike Hart 67/82	Kenton Keith 66/68
Base 3-4 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Ed Johnson 76/78	Josh Thomas 74/76
NT	Grady Jackson 79/79	Rod Coleman 78/78	Antajj Hawthorne 76/78
RDE	Raheem Brock 77/77	Keyunta Dawson 71/72
LOLB	Robert Mathis 82/84	Calvin Pace 77/82
LILB	Gary Brackett 80/80	Cashmere Cass 76/83
RILB	Philip Wheeler 77/81	Clint Session 74/77
ROLB	Dwight Freeney 85/85	Tyjuan Hagler 75/79	Geno Hayes 73/78
CB	Marlin Jackson 85/88	Ty Law 83/83	TJ Rushing 70/77
SS	Bob Sanders 91/92	Matt Giordano 71/74
FS	Antoine Bethea 85/89	Jamie Silva 73/80
CB	Kelvin Hayden 83/88	Tim Jennings 74/81
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	Adam Vinatieri 89/89
P	Hunter Smith 88/88

[jshrolltide]

As long as Peyton was on the roster (which wouldn't be much longer, just the rest of the season), I knew the offense would be good. I wasn't sure about the defense though, mainly the weak defensive line, so I only promised to make it to the playoffs. Here are the season results.

Week 1 vs Bears - W 38-7
Week 2 @ Vikings - W 38-35
Week 3 vs Jaguars - L 7-27
Week 4 - BYE
Week 5 @ Texans - W 45-17
Week 6 vs Ravens - W 41-10
Week 7 @ Packers - W 38-20
Week 8 @ Titans - W 38-22
Week 9 vs Patriots - L 26-36
Week 10 @ Steelers - W 21-11
Week 11 vs Texans - W 38-31
Week 12 @ Chargers - L 14-21
Week 13 @ Browns - W 21-14
Week 14 vs Bengals - W 28-20
Week 15 vs Lions - W 49-14
Week 16 @ Jaguars - W 23-20
Week 17 vs Titans - W 34-14

2008 record : 13-3

I had expected about 11 or 12 wins, so I was very happy with this season. Next I'll post 2008 team stats, then a recap of the playoffs.

[jshrolltide]

Indianapolis Colts Stats - 2008
Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	YDS/G	LONG	TD	INT	RAT
Peyton Manning	342/555	4710	8.4	294.4		42	22
Josh Betts	8/16	76	4.7	4.8		1	0
Rushing	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	20+	TD	YDS/G	FUM
Joseph Addai	270	1193	4.4			11	74.6
Travis Henry	77	408	5.2			7	25.5
Mike Hart	23	95	4.1			1	5.9
Peyton Manning	18	35	1.9			0	2.2
Receiving	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	20+	YDS/G	YAC
Reggie Wayne	103	1624	15.7	13			101.5
Marvin Harrison	94	1543	16.4	9			96.4
Dallas Clark	52	533	10.2	6			33.3
Anthony Gonzalez	47	621	13.2	9			38.8
Joseph Addai	28	195	7.0	3			7.6
Marcedes Lewis	15	147	9.8	2			9.2
	Tackles			Sacks		Interceptions
Defense	SOLO	AST	TOT	SACK	TLOSS	PD	INT	TD
Dwight Freeney			108	3	8		2
Gary Brackett			78	3	7		3
Philip Wheeler			69	0	2		2
Robert Mathis			52	6	8		1
Antoine Bethea			46	0	0		6
Bob Sanders			39	0	2		2
Kelvin Hayden			50	0	1		4
Ed Johnson			34	0	7		0
	Field Goals				Extra Points
Kicking	FGM	FGA	PCT	LONG	XPM	XPA	PCT	PTS
Adam Vinatieri	17	23	73	44	57	57	100	108
Punting	PUNTS	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	BP	IN20	TB
Hunter Smith	47	2030	53	43.1			2

[jshrolltide]

2008 Playoffs:

Wildcard

Chargers 17
Jaguars 14

Giants 31
Vikings 24

Bengals 20
Chiefs 22

Eagles 29
Seahawks 22

Divisional

Patriots 23
Chiefs 9

Cowboys 17
Giants 14

Colts 24
Chargers 10

Bucs 24
Eagles 10

Conference

Colts 38
Patriots 17

Bucs 13
Cowboys 3

Super Bowl

Colts 20
Bucs 17

So yeah, Peyton got that second super bowl with Indy, before he leaves. I was very happy with this season. We didn't win any individual awards, but we won what mattered: the Lombardi Trophy. That's all I have time to post for now, but soon I'll be putting up the next offseason, which will include lots of overhauling of the roster. Thanks for reading, and as always, ROLL TIDE!

[jshrolltide]

Now to the 2009 Offseason. Tom Moore retired, so I promoted Jim Caldwell to OC and hired a new QB coach. Two players retired.

Adam Vinatieri- 328/401 81% long 57 511/520 EPs, 98%
Marvin Harrison- 1,136/15,487/132 13.6 long 80

No FA signings.

[Mike3207]

I'm very surprised Harrison retired the first year-he seems to stick around forever. I think the WRC would have been a better choice.