DUNGY WANTS MORE FROM HIS TEAM

In the same week that actual lame-duck Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren reportedly chewed out his team for its sluggish start, perceived lame-duck Colts coach Tony Dungy has tried to talk his team into better performance. Per the Associated Press, Dungy wants more passion, urgency, and consistency from his team. “It’s just energy and making things happen and not being denied,” Dungy said. “It’s two guys flying to get to the quarterback and the ball ends up coming loose. It’s Robert Mathis diving from six feet behind the guy and stripping the ball. Sometimes you just have to do that. You have to go get a second block. You have to run over people. “You’re not going to be able to come from 15 points down, from 17 points down week after week after week. It just doesn’t work that way in the NFL. So, we have to work to eliminate that. A lot of it is just knowing what we’re doing and not having critical errors at the wrong time.” It’s not quite the same ass-chewing in which Holmgren engaged, but for the mild-mannered Dungy it’s the closest he’ll ever come. And the common thread is that, in each city, the head coach’s successor already has been picked. Though Dungy hasn’t said he won’t return in 2009, the players surely are wondering -- and that year-to-year accountability that helps keep players focused and motivated and driven has necessarily been undermined.