Kerry Collins' Latest Comments Suggest Colts Conceded to Titans, Browns Fans Fume

Sunday's game between the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans meant nothing to the Colts and everything to the Titans. Whether the Colts won or lost, they would be the No. 2 playoff seed in the AFC. But the Titans needed to win to make the playoffs.

As a result, the Colts rested many of their top players, and the Titans won a game they probably would have lost if the Colts had been motivated to win. The Cleveland Browns, who would have gone to the playoffs if the Titans had lost, were eliminated.

Browns fans weren't happy about that, but for the most part they understood: It's a fact of life in the NFL that teams that have nothing to play for are more concerned about getting ready for the playoffs than they are about winning a meaningless game. But the players and coaches who are playing are still supposed to try their hardest to win. And that's why comments today from Titans quarterback Kerry Collins are making Browns fans mad.

Collins said on WFAN today that the Titans knew they could kneel down and run out the clock at the end of the game without the Colts calling timeout because "Apparently there was some communication between Jeff (Fisher) and Tony (Dungy)."

If it's true that Dungy, the Colts' coach, informed Fisher, the Titans' coach, that he wasn't going to call timeout -- that he was essentially going to concede the game -- that could be interpreted as collusion, a violation of NFL rules. So how do Browns fans feel about that? First And Ten Inches offers a measured response:

If you were a bit preturbed by Tony Dungy before this news, you're likely not going to be feeling any better about your 10-6 football team not being in the post season. And don't get me wrong. I do not think that this would have made a difference in the game - it's just some more salt in the wound that was Jim Sorgi's attempt at looking like a real quarterback.

There is very little chance of the Colts actually getting in trouble for violating the league's rules against collusion. But Week 17 of the NFL season has become uncomfortably similar to the exhibition season, and the NFL needs to address that fact. Whether it's realigning the divisions, changing the schedule or tweaking the tiebreakers, the league should do something to make the end of the season more competitive.