Team owner Jim Irsay fired team vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, Chris, the Colts’ general manager on Monday. He said there was a good chance coach Jim Caldwell will be back next season, but his evaluation was not over.

He also must still decide whether a healthy Peyton Manning and a new quarterback can co-exist in the same locker room, and which veteran free agents come back next year, if any.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a year in the NFL where a team went 2-14 and there’s not been changes,” defensive captain Gary Brackett said Monday, less than 24 hours after a season-ending loss at Jacksonville.

Outsiders had expected the first order of business to be the firing of Caldwell, who won 14 straight games and advanced to the Super Bowl in his first season as Colts coach. Caldwell said he simply went about his business Monday, speaking with Irsay following the 19-13 loss at Jacksonville and with both Polians on Monday, part of his usual routine.

“You lose as many games as we lost in a year, there’s a problem, there’s an issue,” Caldwell said. “But when we were 14-2, the way you guys put it, my job was in limbo then, right?”

The elder Polian had constructed Super Bowl teams in Buffalo and Indy, and an NFC title contender at Carolina.

But troubling signs emerged this season as the Colts lost time and time again — 13 straight at one point — with Manning sidelined to recover from Sept. 8 neck surgery. And it was Manning who suggested he and Bill Polian were not on the same page.

Polian said on one of his weekly radio shows that he and the four-time league MVP had discussed the possibility of establishing a transition plan at quarterback and that Manning was OK with it. Manning later said the two had never discussed the 2012 draft plans, which include the No. 1 pick amid speculation that the Colts will take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck to groom as Manning’s successor.

Then, just before Christmas, Polian told local reporters that Manning would fail his exit physical, a move that would actually help the Colts because it would allow him to continue working out at the team complex during the offseason.

“That was kind of news to me,” Manning told reporters Sunday, then said he probably could pass the physical.

Fans have been clamoring for the ouster of Caldwell and both Polians. Irsay, a frequent poster on Twitter, has been listening.

“I want 2 thank all ColtsFans..here,throughout the country n abroad,4ur tremendous,loyal support all year long. Ur feedback is heard n noted,” he tweeted Monday morning.

For their part, players offered support for Caldwell, who just wrapped his third year as head coach in Indy.

“One thing about Jim is that he’s a stand-up guy, and guys respect that,” cornerback Jerraud Powers said. “He’s a great coach, a good guy, and it was unfortunate situation this year. But he never lost the locker room.”

The longer and, perhaps, more critical debate is how to rebuild this team and what to do at quarterback.

Manning never played after undergoing his third neck surgery in 19 months, a fusion of two vertebrae.

He did, however, start throwing to teammates in mid-December and received good reviews from both Bill Polian, who was watching, and running back Joseph Addai, who was catching balls. Doctors familiar with the procedure who did not treat Manning say he should return to a high level of play now that the fusion has healed.

If he is healthy, Irsay has promised to bring back Manning regardless of the $28 million bonus he is owed in March.

But after posting the NFL’s worst record without Manning, the Colts also have won the Luck sweepstakes, potentially putting two franchise quarterbacks on the same roster.

“I think I can co-exist with any player I’ve ever played with,” Manning said Sunday. “I think I’ve always been a good teammate in that way.”

If Manning returns, Irsay might be more likely to bring back former Pro Bowlers Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne, all of whom are now in their 30s, and keep other key high-priced cogs in the Colts’ success such as Brackett and safety Melvin Bullitt.

“I think when you’re playing, you’re so entrenched with the people you go to work with every day,” Saturday said. “It’s different for us to go out and think like an owner. But whatever decisions, we’ve got to take it as a community and move on.”

He’d clearly had enough of the Polians, though.

Bill Polian drew the wrath of fans in 2009 when he pulled the starters in the third quarter against the New York Jets, costing the Colts a chance at a perfect season after going 14-0. At the time, Polian told listeners that the team’s goal was to win the Super Bowl, not go undefeated. Indy wound up losing the Super Bowl, too.

When Manning went down this season, Polian came under fire for not having a capable backup in place, signing Kerry Collins out of retirement and fueling speculation that the team was interested in Brett Favre. He told radio listeners that he accepted the blame.

 

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)

Bill Polian used his first draft pick in Indianapolis on Peyton Manning.

Not getting an adequate backup for Manning at some point over the next 13 years cost Polian and his son, Chris, their jobs.

Less than 24 hours after finishing a 2-14 season with Manning on the bench, team owner Jim Irsay started the housecleaning by firing the architect of the Colts’ success and his hand-picked successor. Coach Jim Caldwell is safe, for now, though the evaluation continues.

The moves caught Colts players off-guard.

”Shock, man, just shock,” safety Antoine Bethea said after finding out the Polians were gone. ”I knew there were going to be some things happening, but I didn’t expect them to come so soon.”

While swift moves are common right after the season for struggling NFL teams, stability has been a key part of the Polian regime.

Since making Manning the top overall pick in 1998, the Colts have celebrated 141 regular-season wins, 11 playoff appearances, six division titles, two AFC championships and one Super Bowl title. During that span, there have been only three head coaches, two offensive coordinators and one family making the personnel moves.

The problem in Indianapolis was losing, which came in bunches this season.

”I felt that it was time for a change, that there was a need for a change,” Irsay said, flanked by his three daughters. ”Bill had entered a role where he was less involved, but still quite a bit involved because of the lockout and Peyton’s injury and the losing streak. He was around a lot more than he probably anticipated or I did. But it really was a question about both situations. I thought that it was time to change the personnel department on the football side of things that wasn’t involved with the coaching.”

Bill Polian declined to comment when The Associated Press contacted him by phone, but did issue a statement through the team.

”I’m grateful for all the support the fans have shown us in good times and bad,” Polian said. ”Indianapolis has been a wonderful place to live and work. Most of all, I would like to thank the players coaches and staff who have played the pivotal role in this magnificent journey. I will miss them all.”

Those players became increasingly dismayed with Polian’s comments, particularly those made on his weekly radio show. And the most vocal critic was Manning, probably the only person in the organization with more leverage than the team’s vice chairman.

Manning missed the entire season with a neck injury after signing a five-year, $90 million deal in July, about six weeks before he needed his third neck surgery in 19 months.

When Polian told listeners to his show that he and Manning had discussed drafting his eventual successor and that Manning was ”OK” with it, the four-time league MVP later said he and Polian had never discussed the 2012 draft and it would be inappropriate for him to have those discussions. And just before Christmas, Polian told reporters that Manning would fail his season-ending physical. Following Sunday’s 19-13 loss at Jacksonville, Manning said: ”That’s news to me.”

An even bigger problem was that the lack of a backup plan.

With Manning struggling to come back from May surgery on his neck, Indy brought 17-year veteran Kerry Collins out of retirement in late August with a $4 million contract. He didn’t last a month.

Collins was replaced by Curtis Painter, who started well but struggled badly after Bill Polian said he felt ”vindicated” by Painter’s success.

The Colts lost their first 13 games, finished with the second-fewest victories since the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and wound up with the No. 1 draft pick.

Bill Polian repeatedly said he should be blamed if there was a talent deficiency.

Chris Polian, who was named the team’s GM four years ago but didn’t start making the day-to-day decisions until this season, got caught in the crossfire. He was seen leaving the team complex Monday afternoon, just about the time word leaked of the firings.

”To think that just less than less than two years ago we were getting ready to go to Miami and play in a Super Bowl, and we were cleaning off the confetti from the turf in Lucas Oil Stadium, it has been a very sharp decline,” Irsay said. ”Even after going 10-6 last year, if people had said you would have the No. 1 draft pick and go 2-14, nobody would have believed it.”

Irsay has not established a timeline for finding a new general manager, though he said he would start contacting other GMs and teams Monday night.

No decision on Caldwell is expected to be made until after the GM is hired, though players have overwhelmingly supported him.

”One thing about Jim is that he’s a stand-up guy, and guys respect that,” cornerback Jerraud Powers said. ”He’s a great coach, a good guy, and it was unfortunate situation this year. But he never lost the locker room.”

In fact, Irsay said, there’s a good chance Caldwell will be back.

Whoever replaces Polian faces an abundance of decisions in a major rebuilding effort.

Manning never played after undergoing his third neck surgery in 19 months, a fusion of two vertebrae to fix a damaged nerve that was causing weakness in his throwing arm.

He did, however, start throwing to teammates in mid-December and received good reviews from both Bill Polian, who was watching, and running back Joseph Addai, who was catching balls. Doctors familiar with the procedure who did not treat Manning say he should return to a high level of play now that the fusion has healed.

If he is healthy, Irsay has promised to bring back Manning regardless of the $28 million bonus he is owed in March, potentially putting two franchise quarterbacks — Manning and Andrew Luck — on the same roster.

”I think I can co-exist with any player I’ve ever played with,” Manning said Sunday. ”I think I’ve always been a good teammate in that way.”

If Manning returns, Irsay might be more likely to bring back former Pro Bowlers Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne, all of whom are now in their 30s, and keep other key high-priced cogs in the Colts’ success such as Brackett and safety Melvin Bullitt.

But the Polians will no longer be making those decisions.

”Bill and I had a chance to have a second meeting and to have some tears and a hug, and that was good,” Irsay said. ”It’s extremely difficult. Walking out of the locker room in Jacksonville that was a hard walk, and it’s hard because my affection for them is deep.”

INDIANAPOLIS —
The Indianapolis Colts may be 0-13 for the season, but the team keeps battling.

Two weeks ago, the Colts dropped a 31-24 road game to AFC East leader New England. On Sunday, Indianapolis battled to the end but came up on the losing side of a 24-10 decision to AFC North leader Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Ravens’ defense proved to be just too much for Indianapolis to overcome, especially after the Colts — as they have done throughout this season — got off to a slow start offensively.

Baltimore’s defense set the tone early against an inconsistent Indianapolis offensive attack that saw quarterback Dan Orlovsky consistently harassed.

But there just might be some light at the end of a very long and frustrating 2011 season.

The Colts will wrap up the year with back-to-back home games with Tennessee (Sunday, 1 p.m., Lucas Oil Stadium) and Houston — on a Thursday night, Dec. 22 — before ending the year at Jacksonville on Jan. 1.

The final three games will be against AFC South rivals, giving coach Jim Caldwell’s team additional extra motivation. The Colts will have matchups with the Titans and Texans over an 11-day period.

“It’s tough. As a professional, to do what you do and to be winless right now, it’s tough,” tight end Jacob Tamme admitted after the Ravens game. “But we have three more [games] left and we’re going to go into [this] week trying to get better and come in with a good plan, try to execute it. But it’s tough. It stinks.”

Reasons for the Colts’ rough season are many. Losing the services of quarterback Peyton Manning to preseason neck fusion surgery certainly tops the list.

But also injuries to several defensive starters, such as middle linebacker Gary Brackett (shoulder), safety Melvin Bullitt (shoulder) and cornerback Jerraud Powers (elbow) have been crucial as well.

Manning (offense), Brackett (defense) and Bullitt (special teams) have been unit captains for the past several seasons.

“Regardless of what the records are, we want to win those [AFC South] games,” Caldwell said. “We’ve got to take them one at a time. It’s a competitive situation, obviously.

“We’re going to go after this next [game] as hard as we possible can and see if we can get a victory.”

And just how do the Colts go about doing that?

“We’ve got to find a way to be more consistent,” the Indianapolis coach said. “That’s one of the things we did a little bit better [against the Patriots] as opposed [to the Baltimore game]. We’ll look at the problems to see what we need to get straightened out and get back to work.”

• Facing the Titans Sunday — Familiarity won’t be an issue for the Colts as they close out the 2011 season.

“We’re coming up on a stretch where we have three of our division opponents in a row, and certainly we do know something about their personnel,” Caldwell previewed. “But there are some guys that we don’t know much about. Certainly we don’t know much about [Titans rookie quarterback Jake] Locker. We’ve seen him run around and play, but this will be an opportunity for us to get a little bit closer look at him.”

Locker has seen increased playing time in recent weeks due to injuries surrounding veteran starter Matt Hasselbeck. He is expected to start against the Colts on Sunday.

“I know he’s a very fine player and he runs extremely well,” Caldwell said. “There is some benefit to having played them once, but between the times that we’ve played one another, some things change in terms of personnel.”

• No decision on Caldwell — The fate of the Colts’ coach is not up for discussion, according to vice-chairman Bill Polian. Not now anyway.

“My fervent hope is that Jim’s job is not in jeopardy because my fervent hope is that we don’t go 0-16. And we’re doing everything we can to try and avoid that,” Polian said during his weekly Monday night radio show.

• Wheeler update — There won’t be an update on the status of strongside linebacker Philip Wheeler, who suffered an ankle/foot injury against Baltimore, until later in the week.

“[There is] nothing solidified as of yet,” Caldwell said. “He’s being evaluated and getting all of the exams that he needs, so we’ll have an idea shortly.”

If Peyton Manning was playing football this season, the Baltimore Ravens would be talking about the importance of ending an eight-game losing streak against the Indianapolis Colts and their esteemed quarterback.

The Colts don’t have Manning, or even a single victory. So the Ravens are approaching Sunday’s game with caution, because they know all about the danger of facing a winless team this late in the season.

In 2007, the Miami Dolphins were 0-13 before Cleo Lemon connected with Greg Camarillo on a 64-yard touchdown pass in overtime for a 22-16 victory. It turned out to be Miami’s only win of the season.

This Baltimore team is far superior to that one, but the memory of that embarrassing defeat still lingers among those Ravens who played that day.

Asked if there was concern about playing the winless Colts, linebacker Terrell Suggs replied, “Yeah, because I lost to an O-fer team. A little slant route got us. This is the NFL, and (the Colts) are professionals. We expect them to line up and come up in here and play. They are just as big a threat to us as if we were playing anybody else.”

That loss to Miami was the lowlight of a season during which the Ravens finished 5-11. Head coach Brian Billick was fired soon after the final game, and owner Steve Bisciotti hired John Harbaugh to bring the team back into prominence.

Harbaugh has done exactly that. Baltimore reached the playoffs in each of his first three seasons, and this year the Ravens (9-3) are poised to capture the AFC North title and perhaps the top seed in the conference.

The absolute last thing the Ravens need is to lose at home against the struggling Colts (0-12).

“We have to win the football game to achieve what we want to do,” Suggs said.

What the Colts want to do is avoid becoming the second team in NFL history to finish 0-16. Playing without Manning, who’s missed the entire season with a neck injury, has been far too big an obstacle to overcome.

“Obviously, you don’t want to ever have a season this,” Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney said. “Us especially, we are not used to this at all. We are used to making the playoffs nine years straight and all that. Winning records, and all of that. This is definitely a different feeling.”

Making up for the loss of Manning was tough enough, but the Colts also have been without linebacker Gary Brackett (shoulder) since the first week of the season, and safety Melvin Bullitt (shoulder) played in only the first two games.

“We’ve lost a lot of key guys at a lot of key positions,” Freeney said.

If the Colts are to pull off a monumental upset, they must duplicate some of their previous performances against the Ravens. Although Manning was certainly a factor in helping Indy go 8-0 against Baltimore since 2001, the defense was most responsible. The Colts haven’t given up a touchdown to the Ravens in three straight games, the last one a 20-3 win in the 2009 playoffs.

With Freeney on one end and Robert Mathis on the other, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco knows he won’t have the luxury of dropping back into the pocket and casually surveying the field.

“They have a lot of pursuit,” Flacco said. “They react to the ball quickly, and they’ve kept us out of the end zone because of that.” The Colts have also been tough against the run. Baltimore running back Ray Rice got 23 yards rushing in 2008, 71 in a regular-season game in 2009 and 67 in that aforementioned postseason defeat.

“That defense is very fast. We have not fared well against them,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve turned the ball over, we didn’t run the ball on them, we’ve gotten sacked, we’ve had plays for negative yards. It’s been a theme against that defense. So we’ve got our work cut out for us. We understand that.”

The biggest thing the Ravens have going for them is playing at home, where they’re 6-0 this season and have won 16 of 17. Baltimore will probably play a fourth straight game without injured middle linebacker Ray Lewis (right toe), but the league’s third-ranked defense is still plenty good enough to contain Dan Orlovsky, the Colts’ third different starting quarterback this season.

Most of all, the Ravens know they have to win to stay on course for the postseason.

“We know what we’re playing for. We know what they’re playing for,” Suggs said. “They are trying to get their first win; we are trying to pile these wins up and go on a playoff run. That’s what is most important to us. Here they come. Let’s do it.”

BALTIMORE – If Peyton Manning was playing football this season, the Baltimore Ravens would be talking about the importance of ending an eight-game losing streak against the Indianapolis Colts and their esteemed quarterback.

The Colts don’t have Manning, or even a single victory. So the Ravens are approaching Sunday’s game with caution, because they know all about the danger of facing a winless team this late in the season.

In 2007, the Miami Dolphins were 0-13 before Cleo Lemon connected with Greg Camarillo on a 64-yard touchdown pass in overtime for a 22-16 victory. It turned out to be Miami’s only win of the season.

This Baltimore team is far superior to that one, but the memory of that embarrassing defeat still lingers among those Ravens who played that day.

Asked if there was concern about playing the winless Colts, linebacker Terrell Suggs replied, “Yeah, because I lost to an O-fer team. A little slant route got us. This is the NFL, and (the Colts) are professionals. We expect them to line up and come up in here and play. They are just as big a threat to us as if we were playing anybody else.”

That loss to Miami was the lowlight of a season during which the Ravens finished 5-11. Head coach Brian Billick was fired soon after the final game, and owner Steve Bisciotti hired John Harbaugh to bring the team back into prominence.

Harbaugh has done exactly that. Baltimore reached the playoffs in each of his first three seasons, and this year the Ravens (9-3) are poised to capture the AFC North title and perhaps the top seed in the conference.

The absolute last thing the Ravens need is to lose at home against the struggling Colts (0-12).

“We have to win the football game to achieve what we want to do,” Suggs said.

What the Colts want to do is avoid becoming the second team in NFL history to finish 0-16. Playing without Manning, who’s missed the entire season with a neck injury, has been far too big an obstacle to overcome.

“Obviously, you don’t want to ever have a season like this,” Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney said. “Us especially, we are not used to this at all. We are used to making the playoffs nine years straight and all that. Winning records, and all of that. This is definitely a different feeling.”

Making up for the loss of Manning was tough enough, but the Colts also have been without linebacker Gary Brackett (shoulder) since the first week of the season, and safety Melvin Bullitt (shoulder) played in only the first two games.

“We’ve lost a lot of key guys at a lot of key positions,” Freeney said.

If the Colts are to pull off a monumental upset, they must duplicate some of their previous performances against the Ravens. Although Manning was certainly a factor in helping Indy go 8-0 against Baltimore since 2001, the defence was most responsible. The Colts haven’t given up a touchdown to the Ravens in three straight games, the last one a 20-3 win in the 2009 playoffs.

With Freeney on one end and Robert Mathis on the other, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco knows he won’t have the luxury of dropping back into the pocket and casually surveying the field.

“They have a lot of pursuit,” Flacco said. “They react to the ball quickly, and they’ve kept us out of the end zone because of that.” The Colts have also been tough against the run. Baltimore running back Ray Rice got 23 yards rushing in 2008, 71 in a regular-season game in 2009 and 67 in that aforementioned post-season defeat.

“That defence is very fast. We have not fared well against them,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve turned the ball over, we didn’t run the ball on them, we’ve gotten sacked, we’ve had plays for negative yards. It’s been a theme against that defence. So we’ve got our work cut out for us. We understand that.”

The biggest thing the Ravens have going for them is playing at home, where they’re 6-0 this season and have won 16 of 17. Baltimore will probably play a fourth straight game without injured middle linebacker Ray Lewis (right toe), but the league’s third-ranked defence is still plenty good enough to contain Dan Orlovsky, the Colts’ third different starting quarterback this season.

Most of all, the Ravens know they have to win to stay on course for the post-season.

“We know what we’re playing for. We know what they’re playing for,” Suggs said. “They are trying to get their first win; we are trying to pile these wins up and go on a playoff run. That’s what is most important to us. Here they come. Let’s do it.”