Curtis Painter certainly wasn't amazing during his relief appearance as quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football as his team narrowly allowed to Pittsburgh Steelers to avoid the upset. That didn't stop former Colts' head coach Tony Dungy from telling Bob Costas that the veteran bench warmer should replace Kerry Collins as the team's starting quarterback next weekend, however.
Steelers Vs. Colts: Did Curtis Painter Win Indy’s Starting Quarterback Job?
Dungy said in the NBC post-game breakdown that he was impressed with Painter's performance on Sunday night (though Colts' fans didn't necessarily agree), leading Costas to fire a quick follow-up that basically amounted to "uh, what?" as he cited Painter's numerous over and underthrows along with the fumble that allowed Troy Polamalu to tie the game with his 16-yard return. Dungy stuck by his opinion, however, saying that Painter would be worthy of the starting job once he's able to get more practice repetitions during the week.
The fact that Painter is even an option as the starting quarterback wouldn't even be brought up if it wasn't for the Kerry Collins injury that caused the starting quarterback to leave prior to the Colts' fourth quarter (attempted) comeback. And even then, if Peyton Manning was healthy, Painter would still be holding the clipboard as well.
Painter finished the game with a pretty modest stat line as he completed five of his 11 passes for 60 yards and coughed up the football for what amounted to be a touchdown going the other direction, but he also led the Indianapolis offense to its only touchdown of the game after Collins’ couldn’t do it despite 29 passing attempts.
The Colts certainly won’t announce Painter as the team’s new starting quarterback on Monday morning following the team’s loss on Sunday night, but if Collins is out for any amount of time, the Indianapolis faithful probably shouldn’t be all that concerned if Painter needs to fill in for a spot-start or two.
After all, Tony Dungy has led the Colts down the right path before, right?
See More:
