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Colts' Polian looking like a genius
Posted: Thursday November 04, 1999 01:34 PM
The young Indianapolis Colts triumvirate of Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James has captured the imagination of fans around the league -- and with good reason. From a 3-13 rookie season for Manning, the Colts are now 5-2 as they host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9. These Colts are making their president, Jim Polian, look like a genius. Polian decided to take Manning in the 1998 draft, instead of Ryan Leaf. Events have shown that to be the correct move, with Leaf contributing nothing this season and continuing to act like a big, dumb kid. Then, the move this year to draft James instead of Ricky Williams also appears to be a stroke of genius. With fourth-year receiver Harrison maturing and gelling with Manning, the addition of James has put them over the top. With the rushing and receiving ability of James, the Colts can use play action and protect Manning better than last season, when he was sacked 22 times. He's only been sacked four times thus far this season. To help Manning, they are using slide protection, which slows down the rush and allows people to break free. That's what happened with Marvin Harrison against Deion Sanders in the Colts-Cowboys game in Week 8. Deion came up to respect the play action to James, and Harrison slid out as if to block, then just blew past Sanders for an easy touchdown reception. James had 205 combined yards in the Colts' 34-24 win, 113 rushing and 92 receiving. He came close to being the first Colt ever to gain 100 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing in the same game. Considering that Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk wore Colts uniforms, that would be quite a mark to obtain. Crusty old Tom Moore, the offensive coordinator, deserves credit for molding this unit as does head coach Jim Mora. But it was Polian who ensured the Colts got the right personnel. Indianapolis has a tough one this week with Kansas City, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Colts continue their winning ways.Johnson's system finally working in MiamiThe Dolphins are finally feeling the impact of Jimmy Johnson's restructuring program. They are winning without Dan Marino, (who would have expected that?) and they are winning with a rookie fifth-round draft choice running back in Cecil Collins, who looks extremely good to me. I like Miami (6-1) in its matchup with the Tennessee Titans (6-1), even though the Titans are solid with Steve McNair and Neil O'Donnell at quarterback. No. 1, the Dolphins are at home, and No. 2, they have an excellent defense, third-best in the league. I predicted the Titans would make the playoffs and they may go further than that. Even if they lose to the Dolphins, with their relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, the Titans should make the playoffs. Tennessee plays the Bengals, the Steelers twice, the Ravens, Falcons and Raiders, with the Jaguars the only real strong opponent. Ron Meyer, a former NFL head coach, is a pro football analyst with CNN/SI and appears weekly on CNN's NFL Preview. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
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