Marvez says the Colts were ready
Not to slight a deserving winner in Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis, but it appears most of the 50 Associated Press voters used their ballots to express disapproval with Caldwell’s handling of the Jets game. How else does the first rookie coach in NFL history to win his first 14 games on the team that had the best regular-season record finish in fourth place?
History, though, will be much kinder to Caldwell because of Saturday night’s outcome. The Colts used the end of the regular season and bye to rest injured and ailing players. Caldwell also handled postseason preparation differently from predecessor Tony Dungy during last week’s three practices. The Colts matched their starting units against each other, rather than spending sessions preparing for three potential second-round opponents.
“Oftentimes, what you lose is game speed, particularly when the (scout) teams are going off cards because they don’t know that particular offense or defense as well,” Caldwell said. “When you work (starters vs. starters), they know the system, and you really do get the game speed except for the hitting.”
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