Usually someone more important from Stampede Blue starts this, but apparently they are a little slow this week, so I'll be doing this.

Obviously, we all know that this is a HUGE game for the Texans and the Colts.  The Colts are trying to keep a firm grasp on the division, conference, and league, and the Texans are going for the upset over a division rival.  I've seen this described by some people as "the biggest game in franchise history" for the Texans, but I guess you guys would know better than me and everyone else I've heard talk about this game.

This is definitely the best Texans team in franchise history at this point, and the Colts are keeping up a winning tradition by starting 7-0 for the fourth time in five years.  Even with Owen Daniels and Anthony Gonzalez out, this should be an offensive battle.

So if you have any questions about the Colts, here is the place to ask.  This always gets good responses and is very interesting, so this should be fun.  A lot of Colts fans will be coming by here to answer questions, so you should get your responses quickly.  At Stampede Blue we have a dedicated (insane) group of people that will almost always be around to answer questions.

Fire away, Texans fans.

UPDATE FROM TIM: Thanks to the Colts fans for doing this; I've returned the favor over at Stampede Blue with this FanPost. Head on over there to see what they're asking about and feel free to chime in with answers of your own.

UPDATE THE SECOND FROM TIM: BigBlueShoe has decided to lock our FanPost over at Stampede Blue "because the chatter at Battle Red Blog has gotten a bit out of control." He has further encouraged his writers and readers not to comment or post over here. While I vehemently disagree with his decision, Stampede Blue is BBS' domain, and there's nothing I can do about it. What I can do, however, is keep this thread open for fans of the Texans and Colts to continue the discussion, even if we're not permitted to do so over at Stampede Blue. And that I shall do. Keep on keepin' on.

I hate to do mock drafts based off of power rankings.  I prefer to do them based off of the standings, which is why I haven't done one until this week.  By Week 3, there is enough to make a somewhat logical standings-based mock draft.  The tiebreaker I use is points differential.  I will also project juniors going pro in my mock draft.

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More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

2 months ago: After making a catch, Indianapolis Colts' Pierre Garcon, left, tangles with Arizona Cardinals' Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 in Glendale, Ariz. Both received penalties on the play. The Colts defeated the Cardinals 31-10. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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This was a fun game.  My favorite games are the ones when you know that your team is going to win throughout the entire game, and it makes it even better since I didn't think that the Colts would be able to beat the Cardinals with all of the things stacked up against them (No Brackett, Hayden, Gonzalez or Sanders, short week, tired defense, etc.).  The Colts had a lot of adversity for this game.  They even made the Colts underdogs.  That's unbelievable.  Obviously, the Vegas people aren't going to make that mistake again.  Right now the Colts are probably going to be favored by double digits for the Seahawks game.  I'm very happy that they're back playing on Sunday afternoons.  I know that it is better for the Colts fans outside of the Midwest, but I'm a greedy person and I enjoy sleeping.  The analysis is below.

QBs-Peyton Manning is unbelievable.  He has lost two of his top three receivers from 2008, and he is better than ever.  Besides Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, his other top receivers are a second-year player out of D3 Mount Union and a rookie out of BYU.  Most QBs wouldn't be able to make that work.  Peyton does.  The Brady v. Manning debate is on hold.  We are seeing what Peyton does with only two top targets and a bad right side of the line.  Peyton is second in the league in passing touchdowns and passing yards.  If we are going to be making early predictions, I'll say that number 4 is not out of the stretch of the imagination.  After the Saints start to look human, Manning will emerge past the Brees hoopla.  Bursa sacs were holding Manning back.

The rest is after the jump.

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More photos » by AJ Mast - AP

3 months ago: Indianapolis Colts running back Joseph Addai runs in the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Indianapolis. The Colts won 14-12. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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It is only Week One and the Colts have the lead in the AFC South.  The Colts beat the Jaguars, the Titans lose in overtime to the defending champion Steelers and the Texans embarrass themselves against the Jets.  The Colts have a game up on everyone which is a nice luxury.  You can look at it as next week is the start of the season and the Colts were spotted a game.  It is a very good thing that everyone else is 0-1.

The Colts had what appeared to be a normal first game of the season.  Some places looked rusty but some looked very impressive.  It was 14-12, but the Colts really did outplay the Jaguars by more than that.  An interception at the goal line cost the Colts at least 3 points and a rare Addai fumble in Colts territory also cost the team some points.  However, unless if there is some rule change that I am blissfully unaware of, there are no such thing as style points.  The Colts weren't pretty, but they are 1-0, which I feel is more important.

What I Liked

The short yardage running game with Addai.  There are 3 plays I look at when I analyze how Addai did in short yardage situations in this game.  Two of his carries were on a third and short in Colts territory that he showed amazing speed on and got within the five.  One of those runs was followed by the Manning interception, but the other was followed by an Addai touchdown.  Addai had a good game in short yardage.

The decision to start Charlie Johnson over Tony Ugoh.  I was tough on Johnson in the preseason, but he didn't play well in the preseason.  Today he played great.  He gave up no sacks.  Most of the pressure from the Jaguars came from the right side of the line with Reggie Hayward.  The biggest hit from Manning on the left side was on his touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne.  Johnson also did well in the running game.  Addai's good short yardage carries went to the left side.  Johnson did a fantastic job in shutting down Derrick Harvey.  Let's see how he does next week against Joey Porter next week.  If he can keep Porter from getting a sack, I may have to believe that Johnson is an acceptable left tackle in the National Football League.

Larry Coyer.  This may fall under love.  Larry Coyer's spin on the Tampa-2 is a thing of beauty.  The Colts held Maurice Jones-Drew to 97 rushing yards and they actually got off of the field.  Believe it or not, the Colts won the possession battle today.  It is amazing.  Don't say it is because of the changes in players.  Besides Jerraud Powers, all of the starters were starters on the team last year at some point.  The starting defensive tackles were Antonio Johnson and Eric Foster, the two best defensive tackles from the team last season.  The players were the same.  It was the defensive coordinator that was the change.  This great performance by the defense was because of the change of defensive coordinator.  They went from a bad defensive coordinator who I believe never went to a practice and worked with a team to someone who is looking like the biggest addition to the team this offseason.

Click on the little link below this to read what I didn't like and a position-by-position breakdown of the game.

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More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

3 months ago: FILE -- This is a Sept. 3, 2009, file photo showing Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell during an NFL football game, in Cincinnati. Caldwell understands that previous successes do not guarantee future results. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke, File)

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Colts are up 7-6 at half time.  Peyton with 1 INT and 175 yards.  Addai has been great in short yardage.  Turnovers has hurt the Colts.

GO COLTS!

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

This man needs to have a big game in his first game and start as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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After the depressing day of college football, I'm ready to see the Colts pass all over the Jaguars and run the ball if winning with only a couple of minutes left.  Damn you Michigan...

Anyways, this game will have the most interesting matchups of the season.  We don't know how some of the new starters will do today.  There are some rookies that will be getting significant playing time and some other players with little experience seeing a lot of game action.  They will be players to look for today with the start of the Colts season.  Here are some key matchups for today's game.

Colts LT Charlie Johnson v. Jaguars RE Derrick Harvey: This is the biggest matchup of the game.  Charlie Johnson is the top left tackle on this team now, and his first start is against a highly touted and very fast defensive end.  Harvey had just 3.5 sacks last year, but he should have a bigger year this year.  He was always a project player and he was taken too high.  However he is going up against a shaky left tackle who I personally don't trust that much.  If Charlie can't block Harvey and Peyton is getting hit, then this becomes a much tougher game.

Rest are after the jump.

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More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

3 months ago: Indianapolis Colts receiver Taj Smith celebrates after scoring against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

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Finally!  The long preseason is over.  Very soon we will see who gets cut and who makes the roster.  If anyone watched the embarrassment of this game, they know how hard it is to try and find something good from this game.  Obviously it needs to be said that almost all of the players that played today are in no way expected to contribute this season, but it was still ugly.  It gave us a grim glimpse of life without Manning (and Addai, Brown, Wayne, Saturday, Freeney, Mathis, etc...).  Now we know how Lions fans feel in the regular season.  Here is a position-by-position rundown of today's "game".

QBs

~I thought both of them played well.  Sorgi played the first half and Painter played the second.  Both showed good accuracy and didn't make any big mistakes passing.  A Sorgi interception got called back but that was mostly Tamme's fault for dropping the pass.  Sorgi did lose a fumble.  This game didn't show us anything knew.  Sorgi is the second best QB on the roster and Painter is the future Sorgi.

RBs

~Simpson and Ball both played well to be honest for their situations.  The guards didn't play very well today, but Ball was able to get 3.4 yards per carry (which would have been average on the team last year) and Simpson had 16 yards on 4 carries.  Walter Mendenhall had one big run but did nothing to show he deserves to be close to a roster spot.  This will be one of the most highly anticipated cuts.  Will Hart or Ball make it?  Will both of them be on the 53 man roster?  I would guess when cut day comes that will be headline here at Stampede Blue.

WRs/TEs

~Taj Smith was pretty awesome today.  His touchdown catch was a thing of beauty when he got the ball in tight coverage.  He had 5 catches for 59 yards and was targeted an amazing 11 times.  Jacob Tamme also got a lot of looks and did decent.  His dropped pass which resulted in an interception was ugly though.  John Matthews still sucks.

OL

~Kyle DeVan and Tony Ugoh were good.  Jaimie Thomas and Jamey Richard were bad.  Ugoh was playing great at left tackle and had to compensate for the surprisingly awful performance by Richard.  Richard looked like he didn't care and was very slow.  Another reason why preseason is too damn long.  DeVan should have clinched a roster spot tonight but Steve Justice could somehow keep a roster spot.


DL

~The way they handle the D-line shows that the Colts couldn't care less about the preseason.  Honestly, the only way they could show how little they cared to an even further extent would be to not show up at all.  They play 4 DTs and no defensive ends because the defensive end position is locked up.  Adrian Grady proved to be a complete monster and I don't think he will get cut.  I have a gut feeling that Daniel Muir could be on his way out.  It depends on how the team would feel about cutting someone who was looking like he could be starting in Week One.

LB

~This is the most confusing unit on the team.  One week Mike Tauiliili looks like a star and the next he is a non-factor.  Jordan Senn didn't play all that well tonight and Freddy Keiaho showed his uselessness with missing easy tackles.  I think that Ramon Humber has to make the roster.  I mean, there is no way they can keep someone like Keiaho over him, can they?

DB

~For the corners, Jacob Lacey played well except on the first drive.  He is practice squad bound, but he looks like a future Colt.  He's great in man coverage.

~Jamie Silva played great.  He led the team in tackles and had a sack.  He was a stud today and I think he locked up a roster spot.

Special Teams

~Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal and Pat McAfee had a punt blocked and may or may not have been injured.  Someone would need to clarify that for me.  From a kicking standpoint, it was an ugly game.

~Jamie Silva is not a punt returner unless 5 yards a return sounds acceptable to you.  Simpson wasn't as bad as usual at returning kicks, but he isn't making the roster because of it.  That's for sure.

Roster prediction after the jump.

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