TOUGH TIMES: Tight end Jacob Tamme was one of many Colts forced into action by injuries to starters, such as Dallas Clark (above). (AP)
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts sneaked into the playoffs with just 10 victories, already capping one of the best seasons in Peyton Manning’s storied career.
No, that’s not a contradiction.
Indianapolis enters the postseason with fewer than 12 wins for the first time since 2002 and wasn’t assured of a spot until the season’s final week, but the mere fact the Colts are playing host to the Jets on Saturday night is testament to Manning.
The four-time NFL MVP has posted some of the gaudiest passing numbers in league history, but there is only one number this year that truly reflects Manning’s greatness: 17.
As in, an almost unfathomable 17 of Manning’s teammates who ended the regular season on injured reserve, including favorite target Dallas Clark, much of the receiving corps and almost the entire defensive secondary.
“It’s been very different this season,” Manning said yesterday. “We feel really fortunate to be playing this week. We’re 10-6, while two teams in the NFC went 10-6 and aren’t in the playoffs. We feel fortunate to be in the playoffs and have a home game. We don’t take it for granted.”
The Colts have weathered season-ending injuries to Clark, wideouts Austin Collie and Anthony Gonzalez, and safety Bob Sanders because Manning and several of the team’s stalwarts managed to appear in every game.
Manning still had Reggie Wayne to catch his passes and center Jeff Saturday in front of him all 16 weeks, and Dwight Freeney didn’t miss a chance to terrorize opposing quarterbacks.
But it was far from easy, as the Colts stood 6-6 in early December after a three-game losing streak — practically unknown in these parts in the Manning era — before reeling off four consecutive narrow wins to give themselves a ninth consecutive playoff berth.
Those four victories came by a total of just 20 points, and the Colts needed an Adam Vinatieri field goal at the gun against the lowly Titans last Sunday to ensure a berth — though, as it turns out, they would have advanced anyway thanks to Jacksonville’s loss to the Texans .
“There hasn’t been a lot of continuity, but the past few weeks there has been a little bit more,” Manning said. “Hopefully, we can build off of that.”
All the injuries have taken their toll on Manning’s numbers, too. He threw 17 interceptions, posted his lowest season passer rating (91.9) since his second year in the league in 1999 and was hearing whispers from the critics during the Colts’ three-game skid.
It’s also been a far cry overall from the Colts of just a year ago. Last year’s version, which throttled the Jets in the AFC title game before an upset loss to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, started 14-0 and dominated the conference all season.
This year’s edition has almost no running game (no Colts back has more than Donald Brown’s 497 yards), eight rookies in its two-deep lineup and the NFL’s 25th-ranked run defense.
Jim Caldwell, the famously stoic Indianapolis coach, credits Manning and other key veterans for enabling the Colts to weather the franchise’s worst storm since it last missed the playoffs all the way back in 2001. That’s because many of them had been in even more intensely pressure-packed situations before. When you’ve played in multiple conference championships and the Super Bowl, facing the Jaguars and Raiders — even with Blair White and Jacob Tamme catching passes — is no sweat.
“The guys did not succumb to the pressure,” Caldwell said. “There was not a time during that four-game [winning streak to end the season] that I ever sensed they were in a panic because they had to get it done. They took it in stride.”