[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


1980 and 1983 were the Colts' 2 best chances of making the postseason in the six-season losing stretch between 1978-1983. A win over the Bengals that day would have made them 8-6 with 2 games left to play. That loss took the wind out of their sails, especially with the surrounding circumstances of that unbelievable comeback being taken away from them. I believe that they would have won those last 2 games if they had gotten that exhilarating win that they earned but were robbed of, and perhaps the other contenders would have had more pressure on them to close out the season because of it.

I felt bad that because of the fact that they finished at 7-9 overall, it makes a lot of people lump them in with the other losing Colts teams from 1978-1983 just prior to their departure for Indianapolis. A 10-6 finish ....... with or without a playoff berth ........ would have distinguished that team from the other losing ones from that timespan, and also would have enhanced Bert Jones' overall legacy of being a huge difference-maker in regard to when he did play vs. when he was injured.


o

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

That's the fan in you talking. They had no defense, and weren't serious as an organization about winning. If they had been serious about winning, they wouldn't have traded John Dutton (there best defensive player) away the previous season.

o

It isn't the fan in me talking in regard to the facts that the Colts were 7-6, had just beaten the 1st-place Bills one week earlier, and were robbed of a monumental comeback against the Bengals which ended their season. My comment was largely in regard to the Colts' 1980 season having been hacked by a horrible call and of Bert Jones' legacy of almost single-handedly being able to carry teams to playoff contention (or at least of being the biggest difference in regard to which player was the most valuable and most needed on the team), not what their chances of winning the Super Bowl were and/or what direction the franchise was going in at the time. The 1978 and 1979 seasons were glaring examples of just how vital Jones was to those teams, as was the first 14 games of the ensuing 1980 season.


o