Why Jim Irsay Needs to Shun Bill Polian, Fire Jim Caldwell over Bye Week

The Indianapolis Colts are a dismal 0-10 after dropping their Week 10 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, 17-3.

Mistakes plagued Indianapolis for yet another week, with three turnovers—two interceptions thrown by quarterback Curtis Painter and one lost fumble by his replacement, Dan Orlovsky, in the fourth quarter—being their most costly.

However, the numerous errors, poor play calls, bad defense and losses week after week signal that the Colts need to make a greater change than just the guy under center.

With the (much-needed) bye week ahead, it's time for head coach Jim Caldwell to go.

Of course, for that to happen, team owner Jim Irsay has to take matters into his own hands, because team vice chairman Bill Polian doesn't seem ready to let go of Caldwell, or any member of the Indianapolis coaching staff.

Polian stated earlier this week that Caldwell has "done a magnificent job dealing with all the problems." Polian is clearly delusional in this assertion, and it really makes one wonder who exactly has the control in Indianapolis and just how sane that person might be.

Over the past 10 weeks, Irsay seems to be the only person involved with the Colts organization who has been willing to admit that the team is playing poorly; in fact, at times, he seems to be the only person around that team that even acknowledges that they're winless and that zero wins is, in fact, a bad thing.

Instead, we have Polian (and his son Chris, Caldwell and defensive coordinator Larry Coyer—who deserves the boot as well) somehow believing that this thing can turn itself around with the same leadership that has driven their team to become the very worst in the league.

We've seen this very same collection of players (with the help of quarterback Peyton Manning, of course) rack up wins in the past. We've gotten so far into this season that the only difference is Manning not being out there, and his absence is not the team's biggest issue by a long shot.

The problems are systemic, and they're a reflection of a total failure of leadership from the top down.

The Polians, Caldwell and Coyer clearly reacted to losing Manning by panicking, because they surely didn't try to mitigate that loss with strong play and good play calling. Instead, they played complacent football that has looked, at best, a poor facsimile of how an NFL team should play.

Thus, someone has to pay. There's no turning around this season, but there's no reason for Caldwell, et al., to retain their responsibilities once the Colts come off of the bye in Week 12. The Polians won't do it, which means that they clearly don't have the team's best interests in mind.

But, Irsay needs to make the change. This is his money, after all, and this is his investment. He is surely frustrated with the way that Caldwell has led his team into the very bottom of the garbage pile. And now, at 0-10, it's time to send a message.

Clearly, the Polians are afraid to send this message themselves, and that display of weakness should cost them their jobs, too.

Caldwell not a good head coach for these Colts, and he's lost the ability to lead, and the Polians have proved they lack good judgement. Irsay needs to make the decision to gut the coaching staff and hope for a better 2012, and, for the good of his team, he needs to do it soon.