Published: October 09, 2008 11:21 pm         

NASON: Colts owe Rosenfels a gift bag

Thank you Sage Rosenfels, is what the Colts should be saying.

What in the world was the Houston Texans QB thinking? With a little over three minutes left in the fourth quarter game in hand, Rosenfels decides to dive for an extra yard? With that said, Rosenfels had only two or three bad plays, but cost the Texans the game. I could almost here Matt Schaub exhale … Rosenfels looked good but one thing that separates the good from the great is being able to finish games.

Rosenfels was a fourth-round pick out of Iowa State by Washington, where he never made it past third-string. Then he was acquired by the Dolphins in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2002. The Texans signed him as an unrestricted free agent in 2006. Many have stated that Rosenfels was going to be 2007’s Tony Romo, the breakout quarterback of the year coming from a backup role. I don’t think I would hold my breath on that: Rosenfels turned 30 on March 6.

The Colts started off great against the Texans. The Colts had the ball a little more than 10 minutes in the first quarter and scored 10 points. Adam Vinatieri kicked a 46-yard field goal at 9:42 and Joseph Addai had a 1-yard run just before the two-minute mark in the first quarter. That was about it until the fourth quarter as far as scoring for the Colts. Although time of possession finished Colts 28:39 and Texans 31:21.

The second quarter was rough. Time of possession was accommodating to the Texans, the Colts only had the ball about five minutes and three possessions. The first play in the second quarter for the Colts was a rush by Dominic Rhodes for no gain, second was a sack for minus-5 yards and the third was an incomplete pass to Gonzalez (nothing new for him). That’s three plays for minus-5 yards.

The second possession went a little better — a plus-40 yards total out of nine plays and a rare miss by Adam Vinatieri from 49 yards out. All that took almost four minutes off the clock and most importantly no points.

The third and final possession in the second quarter was a 20-yard pass to Dallas Clark, then the next was an interception by second-year seventh-round pick Zac Diles, a linebacker. This was Diles’ first interception and was a brilliant defensive play call by Texans defensive coordinator Richard Smith. He mixed up the play calling and caught Manning snoozing, I don’t think Ashley Manning (Peyton’s wife) has caught Peyton Williams Manning in a stare that bad.

The third quarter was very one dimensional. The Texans controlled time of possession and ran all over the small frontline of the Colts and scored on a Kris Brown field goal. I don’t understand why the Texans got away from the run and passed so much in the third quarter. I guess that is a good reason why they are 0-4.

The fourth quarter was I’m sure a quarter Rosenfels would like to forget. The Colts had only seven possession in the first three quarters and had five possessions in the fourth quarter alone. Most of the reason is due to the inexperience of Rosenfels and not being able to finish the game and putting himself in an unfortunate (for him) situation. The Texans were at third-and-eight and Rosenfels for some reason jumped to get more yards that he didn’t need and was hit by a couple Colts, lost the football and Gary Brackett, a sixth-year middle linebacker from Rutgers, a walk-on in college and with the Colts, picked up the charity ball and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown.

The next possession by the Texans consisted of one rush, an incomplete pass, a sack with an outstanding superman like stretch by Robert Mathis, a sixth-year veteran defensive end from Alabama A&M. Mathis got a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery all in one play. With that said Reggie Wayne, an eight-year vet out of the U (the University of Miami), caught a spectacular 5-yard touchdown pass.

Last but not least Melvin Bullitt intercepted Rosenfels at the Indianapolis 22-yard line and slid to the ground to run out the clock. Funny how that works, isn’t it Rosenfels?

If you watched the game you probably thought the same thing I did — the Colts need a big run stopper in the middle. Opposing teams are just running ramped and having their way. The Colts’ record is 2-2 but if they were going to the playoffs they would get ran on up and down the field. The Colts had 79 yards rushing to 156 to the Texans. The Colts are last in the NFL in offensive rushing yards per game (67.8) and the defense is also last in rushing yards per game (188.5). This was Dungy’s major goal when he was brought in to Indy. I understand his 4-3 defense and bend but don’t break philosophy, but I think it has broken (in little pieces). It needs a big player like Warren Sapp was in Tampa. I understand Simeon Rice didn’t work out as well as Ed Johnson, but the defense is great minus that one key part.

I know everyone is stating when Bob Sanders gets back in a couple of weeks things should change. I don’t see that happening, but then again I’m just an insurance agent and not a coach, coordinator or CEO. But as always, isn’t it great to be a Colts Fan!

Ed Nason is a Logansport resident and a Colts season ticket holder. He can be reached at 574-732-4100.