[Colts And Orioles]

o


Whenever the topic of NFL teams tanking comes up, I always immediately think of what the 2011 Colts did in their final 3 games of the season.


In 2011, Peyton Manning was out for the entire year with a neck injury. The Colts started the season at 0-13. They seemed well on their way to getting the #1 overall pick (the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes) when they won 2 games in a row, and went right down to the wire in the final game of the season ........ a game in which it would have cost them that 1st overall pick had they won it, as the St. Louis Rams also went 2-14 that season. In that final game against the Jaguars, I remember the Colts scoring a touchdown late in the 4th quarter to cut the deficit to 19-13, and then calling timeouts on defense to try to get the ball back when the Jaguars were trying to run out the clock.

What the Colts did in those final 3 games of that season (and especially what they were doing late in the 4th quarter of the season finale) was the antithesis of tanking, with almost the entire football world waiting to see which team would be selecting Andrew Luck.

o