Quote:Problem with Polian he only looked for offense and put next to nothing into defense. With that said he did get screwed by always have his top safety (Bob Sanders) on the injury list week in and week out. I would say Manning saved from being in LA or where ever. Hell even with Manning Irsay said he is moving unless the city built a new stadium. So guess what say hello to Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

  Yet,  if not for Bill Polian drafting Peyton Manning when many thought drafting Ryan Leaf was in the best interest of the Colts,  it's hard to imagine the franchise recovering from that by the time a decision was going to be made regarding the team's future in Indianapolis.

 

 Like Bullseye mentioned Bill Polian brought in some excellent talent on Defense.  Dwight Freeney was a HOF caliber DE and Robert Mathis wasn't far behind him.    The key with the Colts was building a lead and then having their top edge rushers tee off in the 4th QTR.  A takeaway often resulted,  which preserved a victory for the Colts.   

 

Granted, Polian probably should have found a way to keep Mike Peterson,  which worked to the Jaguars advantage both in the Jaguars signing him and the Colts losing him.   The Colts also didn't have the run Defense over extended period of time that the Bucs,  another Tampa Two based team,  had.     But when considering what the Colts had on Offense,  including a great skill position players,  quality at LT and C  (  arguably the two most important O-Line positions to fill ),  and one of the best set of edge rushers in the NFL In a long time,   the contribution that Polian made for that franchise was enormous.

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