Formerly Unbeaten Colts Lose to the Jets, Fans say Colts are Cowards

Colts, Jets, Indianapolis, New York, NFL, football, playoffs, peyton manning

Many Indianapolis Colts fans had to be a little bit unhappy as their undefeated team lost to the quasi-lowly New York Jets. The final score was 29-15. Fans in Indy were none too happy. Many people in the stands were raining boos down on the Colts as they played in the second half. Indianapolis Business Journal says:

Hard telling what’s going through the minds of Colts coaches and administrators playing marionette master during the New York Jets game, but from the paying customers’ and casual observers’ view, it looked for all the world like the Colts threw the game. Yes, threw the game.

Colts President Bill Polian and Coach Jim Caldwell are smart guys. You can’t tell me they couldn’t have predicted what was going to happen when they benched all-world quarterback Peyton Manning and replaced him with a deer in the headlights. Really, you can’t blame Curtis Painter for what happened. The results were predictable.

The Colts had a streak of 23 straight wins. They lost to the Chargers in the postseason last year. USA Today says that Peyton Manning was relieved in the third quarter. Curtis Painter made his NFL debut:

 

On his second series, he fumbled when sacked inside his own 20-yard line. Jets defensive tackle Marques Douglas recovered in the end zone for the touchdown that put New York ahead to stay at 18-15. The Jets put the game away with 11 more points in the final quarter.

The booing continued until fans began heading for the exits with about five minutes left.

Painter completed four of 11 passes for 44 yards with one interception against the top-ranked Jets defense.

“We certainly put Curtis Painter in a tough position,” said Manning. “That’s an excellent defense, and that was a tough spot for him to be in.”

Manning hit 14 of 21 passes for 192 yards, good enough to make him the fourth NFL quarterback to surpasses 50,000 career passing yards.

Sportingnews has an entire interview with Cus Paintertir.

The reason why Manning was relieved in the second half is because the Colts wanted to give their starters a rest, which may have been the primary reason why the Colts ended their winning streak.