Once Again, Nice Guys Finish Last

Indianapolis Colts: Thanks for ruining the entire month of January for me, fellas. Bang up job.

Ben Lee - Float On

It's things like this that threaten to turn me into a sorry sadsack, an invective-spouting sore loser. Games like the Colts vs. the Steelers. Games where players who used to seem untouchable become all-too-mortal for about 3 hours.

Dr. K's Diagnosis: The Colts lack an emotional leader. They are a team of nice, respectable, level-headed football players. They need a guy who will get in people's faces and inspire them or scare them. The problem isn't Peyton, necessarily. The problem is that he's getting paid "leader" money, but he doesn't have the personality for it. Too many times when something goes wrong for the Colts, Peyton just hangs his head and gets that "Peyton-Face" that I hate. It's like he's baffled by what's going on, like he can't wrap his head around the problem or what to do to fix it. He mopes and I hate it. He's so caught up in his job as the technician that he ignores (or is unable to fulfill) his role as an emotional leader. Dan Marino wasn't either, if memory serves me correctly. The Colts need to focus their offseason on aquiring a tough-as-nails free agent linebacker, like Ray Lewis, who can provide an emotional boost when Peyton is too busy talking on the phone or looking at pictures of the defense. Even if it takes trading a draft pick or something, they need an emotional leader NOW. Between now and then, let Edgerrin go and draft a running back.

Until my Colts get to the Super Bowl, I'm gonna try to keep floating on. Enjoy this cover of Modest Mouse modern-day classic, "Float On", by Claire Dane's ex-boyfriend, Ben Lee.