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Analysis: Who’s to blame in Manning departure? Hard to name one single villain

By Reggie Hayes, The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.) –

The inevitable but still disorienting news that Peyton Manning will not finish his career with the Indianapolis Colts means someone has to take the blame.

Less than a year ago, the Colts were celebrating Manning’s contract and the “fact” he would retire as a Colt. Now the Colts have decided not to pick up the option on his contract and Manning becomes a free agent on his way to a strange, new uniform.

Who’s to blame?

Everybody.

And nobody.

This sad story doesn’t have an easy villain. Some fans might want to pin it on Colts owner Jim Irsay, given it was his ultimate decision not to pick up the option on Manning. That’s fair on the surface. If Irsay paid the $28 million (which would have turned into $35 million with salary), Manning would still be No.18 in blue. It’s as simple as that. Yet it’s not.

Blaming Irsay is short-sighted. So many variables fell into place to reach this point, it’s nearly impossible to list them all. I’ll try anyway.

Blame for Manning’s departure from the Colts should be placed on:

— Manning’s neck.

If not for his surgeries (now up to four) and his health setback, the Colts wouldn’t haven’t hit rock bottom, lost 13 straight games, finished 2-14 and landed the No.1 pick in the April draft, which happens to include a presumed franchise quarterback in Stanford’s Andrew Luck. They wouldn’t have had the “start over with another possible all-time great quarterback” option.

— Colts management.

If Bill and Chris Polian had been better prepared for the possibility of Manning’s absence, they wouldn’t have played musical chairs with quarterbacks Kerry Collins (too old, too rusty), Curtis Painter (too limited, too tentative) and Dan Orlovsky (too little too late). The panic to sign Collins at the last minute sent an air of desperation into the Colts practice complex. It led to a lack of offensive confidence and multiple losses.

— Former coach Jim Caldwell.

Caldwell tried to ride the Manning style of offense with Collins and Painter at the helm and it didn’t work. Manning’s mastery of play calling and leadership proved far too advanced and integral to the process. Caldwell should have switched sooner to a more conservative, run-based approach that would have relied less on his shaky defense. Of course, his offensive line wasn’t built for that style, so his hands were somewhat tied.

— Bad luck.

If the Colts had managed to win three or four games, the No.1 pick and Luck would have been off the radar, the Colts might have been more inclined to maintain at quarterback while Manning rehabbed further. They had their chances in several early losses where a single play might have swung the outcome. The more the losses mounted, the more the inevitable wholesale rebuilding project emerged.

— Irsay.

The owner decided to clean house, firing the Polians, Caldwell and, eventually, most of his staff. Once Irsay started down that road, the idea of a surgery-scarred, soon-to-be 36-year-old quarterback became less appealing. If Manning was at optimum health, the choice would have been much harder. Of course, at optimum health, the entire story changes.

The sudden end of the Manning era was the result of a perfect storm. Or an imperfect storm, if you prefer. It wouldn’t have happened without the surgery, the slow healing, the unproductive backups and every domino that fell along the way.

Actually, this wasn’t just a storm. It was a combination of hurricane, tornado and forest fire.

As with all natural disasters, it’s futile to assess the blame. You grieve and move forward. That’s the only option.

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