What's Next After Another Colts Choke?

Another postseason. Another Colts choke. Sure, there was the 2006 Super Bowl championship. But before that and since then the Colts have had better teams that should have had no trouble going all the way.
 
That wasn’t the case this year. Well, at least not during the first seven games of the season.
 
But the final nine games made everyone believe that the Colts were the hottest team in the NFL.
 
And they probably were. That is, until the first round of the playoffs began.
 
Sure, there are many reasons for the Colts' first-round collapse this time around.
 
One major reason has to be San Diego punter Mike Scifres. He had one of the finest games for a punter ever! He turned field position all night long.
 
Another reason is the lack of a quality running game, which has haunted the Colts all season long.
 
But the defense, ranked 11th in the NFL, is the reason Indy isn’t moving on yet again. The overtime meltdown was inexcusable. Not to mention allowing Darren Sproles to run over, around, through, and past them all night long.
 
But when it came down to crunch time the Colts “D” couldn’t stop anyone and when they did stop a drive on third down a costly penalty resulted in continuing the Chargers' game-winning drive. 
 
Anchored by Pro-Bowl defensive ends, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, this Colts “D” allowed 20 points or less in half its games this season. 
 
But the time has come for change. The time has come to spend quality money on a quality linebacker and defensive tackle. The Colts must improve up the middle.
 
When 5-foot-7, 180-pound Darren Sproles slashes and gashes you for 300-plus all purpose yards, something has to be done. I mean no disrespect to Sproles, but a great NFL defense does not allow that to happen.
 
And we learned that this defense was anything but great. 
 
The Colts can no longer afford to hold serve as they have in previous off-seasons.

In the end it was the lack of a running game and the inability to stop the running game that forced the Colts out early. It was quite remarkable that they even won 12 games.

The Indianapolis franchise must address the linebacker position and they need to add depth at defensive tackle. There will be many great LB's available in the draft come April.

Hopefully DT can be addressed during the free agency period. Of course the Colts were hurt by injuries at the position early in '08, but added depth would have helped their cause this season.

Another area of concern has to be the aging offensive line. They must sign or draft some great run blockers.

The way I see it the franchise is at a crossroads. Tony Dungy may be on his way out, and the team still has all these areas to address to stay competitive in the AFC South.

Whatever happens over the next few weeks and months will go a long way in determining how far the Colts will go next season and beyond.

So it looks like Colts fans will have to wait 'til next year... again.