Hello, NFL fans!

A concept we'll be continuing ad infinitum is the 24-hour open thread for fans of all football, located in the FanPosts section of Battle Red Blog(a special thanks to Tim for allowing such nonsense for the low, low price of 2 Coors Lights). A place where football fans can get together and chat about a variety of topics ranging from football to foot fetishes. Just think of it as your favorite bar/hang-out spot where you can get to know your fellow NFL fans on a more relaxed and personal basis. The point of this thread will be to bring us, the fans of the NFL, together for some friendly conversation and camaraderie. These threads started out as a place for AFC South fans to gather, but it has grown to include fans from various NFL teams with Seahawks, Saints, Patriots, Dolphins, 49ers, Eagles, Jets and Packers fans in residence. Don't ask how that works, just be happy it does.

UPDATE:

We've also been honored to inspire other teams and divisions to form their own 24-hour open threads. We welcome them all as part of our growing network of sister-threads, so stop by and check them out. Just be sure to be respectful of their differing rules and traditions. In short, don't be abrasive until they get to know you a little better.

Jack-A-Thread (JAT) Off-Topic Activities (OTA) at Pats Pulpit: A place for mostly Pats fans, but they welcome all visitors that are notJetsfans or actually from Boston.

APC Open Threads at Acme Packing Company: Real friendly folks who welcome everyone. Headed up byOBrienSchofieldismyHero, a crazy Pack/Pats-loving writer of science fiction and lame jokes. Aaron Rodgers"belt dance" required for admission.

NFC East Eternal Threads (bEAST) at Bleeding Green Nation: They've been around for a while now, but sometimes their threads are a bit more spur of the moment and usually filled with pics and gifs of bouncing boobs. It's a place mostly for NFC East fans and guys with a lot of testosterone, but they'll take anyone with the guts to walk in the door.

Official Community Thread at Niners Nation: They've got topics ranging football to Justin Bieber. Right now, it's mostly 49er fans, but you can help change that! Just watch your language as they have a "no cursing" policy.

(NEW!) CSC Lagniappe Perpetually Open Thread (POT) at Canal Street Chronicles: If you enjoy discussing time of possession, horror movies, desperate women and no cursing this is your place! Saints fans o' plenty and a few others mixed in as well. Give 'em a hand getting their brand new threads going and stop by for some conversation about Drew Brees' hairline running a 50-yard fade route.

Rules of the house:

• Nothing will be considered off-topic other than the usual religion/politics. [EXCEPTION!: SEE BELOW!!!!]
  
• Check your hostilities at the door. All previous problems you have had with other NFL fans will be considered forgotten when you enter the thread. You may encounter others who seem to be ragging on each other. Please don't jump into the argument like you own the place. Things aren't what they always appear to be. It's probably people who know each other extremely well participating in some inside-joking or friendly ribbing.
• This is not a Game Thread! There are threads already dedicated to this, and for good reason. It's the same reason why I don't watch Pats/Colts games with my Pats-loving brother-in-law anymore. Things get crazy real quick. The Colts game threads will be hosted at both Coltzilla and 18to88. Feel free to join either one.
  
• No trolling, please. If the only thing you have to say is, "Colts/Texans/Jaguars/TitansSUUUUUUUCK!!!1!!1" you're not going to make very many friends.
• If you are having problems with someone in the thread, please email me and we can work together to resolve the issue in-house. Our hope is that this thread will be self-regulated by the fans themselves and won't need any outside intervention. If you don't like what you see, treat it as any other unpalatable link you have clicked on in the past. Apply eye-bleach and move along.
  
• Have fun! We're all fans and fellow pathetic computer nerds. We have more in common with each other than we have with most everyone else in the real world. Try to remember that.
• Try to keep the thread "safe for work" since a lot of the threaders may be viewing from the job site. In other words, TDM loves her boss's boobs, but it would be inappropriate for her to show pics of them on this thread. NOTE: THIS IS NOW A SITE-MANDATED RULE!
  
• If you were one of the people who rec'd the previous open thread to move it to the Recommended FanPosts section, please go back to that previous thread now and un-rec it. That way, the previous thread will move out of that section, and we won't be cluttering BRB as much. Also, feel free to rec this thread to get it up to the 5 required to move it to the Rec'd FanPosts section, but please don't go above that as it makes it harder to un-rec it later.
• Read THIS! It is link directing you to a topic that can never be discussed on this site. If you break this rule it may result in warning or banning. So if I were you, I'd read it before commenting on this site, and more importantly, this thread, as it is closely monitored to prevent it's mentioning.
  

Myself (peytonsurdaddy) and TexansDC from BRB will be hosting the threads. As time goes on we'd like to add a representative from both theTitans and Jaguars fans as well. You may lobby for the position by killing a pedestrian at random being a Titans or Jags fan and just showing up for more than 5 minutes and basically having nothing better to do with your life.

Thanks,

peytonsurdaddy

Hello, fellow AFC South fans! A new concept we're going to be trying out this season is a 24-hour open thread for fans of AFC South teams located in the FanPosts section of Battle Red Blog (a special thanks to Tim for allowing such nonsense for the low, low price of 2 Coors Lights). A place where football fans can get together and chat about a variety of topics ranging from football to foot fetishes. Just think of it as your favorite bar/hang-out spot where you can get to know your fellow divisional fans on a more relaxed and personal basis. The point of this thread will be to bring us, the fans of the greatest division in all of the NFL, together for some friendly conversation and camaraderie.

• Nothing will be considered off-topic other than the usual religion/politics.
• Check your hostilities at the door. All previous problems you have had with other AFC South fans will be considered forgotten when you enter the thread. You may encounter others who seem to be ragging on each other. Please don't jump into the argument like you own the place. Things aren't what they always appear to be. It's probably people who know each other extremely well participating in some inside-joking or friendly ribbing.
• This is not a Game Thread! There are threads already dedicated to this, and for good reason . It's the same reason why I don't watch Pats/Colts games with my Pats-loving brother-in-law anymore. Things get crazy real quick. The Colts game threads will be hosted at both Coltzilla and 18to88. Feel free to join either one.
  
• No trolling, please. If the only thing you have to say is, "Colts/Texans/Jaguars/Titans SUUUUUUUCK!!!1!!1" you're not going to make very many friends.
• If you are having problems with someone in the thread, please email me and we can work together to resolve the issue in-house. Our hope is that this thread will be self-regulated by the fans themselves and won't need any outside intervention. If you don't like what you see, treat it as any other unpalatable link you have clicked on in the past. Apply eye-bleach and move along.
  
• Have fun! We're all fans and fellow pathetic computer nerds. We have more in common with each other than we have with most everyone else in the real world. Try to remember that.
• Try to keep the thread "safe for work" since a lot of the threaders may be viewing from the job site. In other words, I love boobs, but my boss doesn't. He's a dick.
• If you were one of the people who rec'd the previous open thread to move it to the Recommended FanPosts section, please go back to that previous thread now and un-rec it. That way, the previous thread will move out of that section, and we won't be cluttering BRB as much. Also, feel free to rec this thread to get it up to the 3 required to move it to the Rec'd FanPosts section, but please don't go above that as it makes it harder to un-rec it later. Thanks.

In the beginning, myself, peytonsurdaddy, and Shake, from BRB will be hosting the threads. As time goes on we'd like to add a representative from both the Titans and Jaguars fans as well. You may lobby for the position by sending cash proving yourself to have a level head and basically nothing better to do with your life.

Thanks,

peytonsurdaddy

Hello, fellow AFC South fans! A new concept we're going to be trying out this season is a 24-hour open thread for fans of AFC South teams located in the FanPosts section of Battle Red Blog (a special thanks to Tim for allowing such nonsense for the low, low price of 2 Coors Lights). A place where football fans can get together and chat about a variety of topics ranging from football to foot fetishes. Just think of it as your favorite bar/hang-out spot where you can get to know your fellow divisional fans on a more relaxed and personal basis. The point of this thread will be to bring us, the fans of the greatest division in all of the NFL, together for some friendly conversation and camaraderie.

• Nothing will be considered off-topic other than the usual religion/politics.
• Check your hostilities at the door. All previous problems you have had with other AFC South fans will be considered forgotten when you enter the thread. You may encounter others who seem to be ragging on each other. Please don't jump into the argument like you own the place. Things aren't what they always appear to be. It's probably people who know each other extremely well participating in some inside-joking or friendly ribbing.
• This is not a Game Thread! There are threads already dedicated to this, and for good reason . It's the same reason why I don't watch Pats/Colts games with my Pats-loving brother-in-law anymore. Things get crazy real quick. The Colts game threads will be hosted at both Coltzilla and 18to88. Feel free to join either one.
  
• No trolling, please. If the only thing you have to say is, "Colts/Texans/Jaguars/Titans SUUUUUUUCK!!!1!!1" you're not going to make very many friends.
• If you are having problems with someone in the thread, please email me and we can work together to resolve the issue in-house. Our hope is that this thread will be self-regulated by the fans themselves and won't need any outside intervention. If you don't like what you see, treat it as any other unpalatable link you have clicked on in the past. Apply eye-bleach and move along.
  
• Have fun! We're all fans and fellow pathetic computer nerds. We have more in common with each other than we have with most everyone else in the real world. Try to remember that.
• Try to keep the thread "safe for work" since a lot of the threaders may be viewing from the job site. In other words, I love boobs, but my boss doesn't. He's a dick.
• If you were one of the people who rec'd the previous open thread to move it to the Recommended FanPosts section, please go back to that previous thread now and un-rec it. That way, the previous thread will move out of that section, and we won't be cluttering BRB as much. Also, feel free to rec this thread to get it up to the 3 required to move it to the Rec'd FanPosts section, but please don't go above that as it makes it harder to un-rec it later. Thanks.

In the beginning, myself, peytonsurdaddy, and Shake, from BRB will be hosting the threads. As time goes on we'd like to add a representative from both the Titans and Jaguars fans as well. You may lobby for the position by sending cash proving yourself to have a level head and basically nothing better to do with your life.

Thanks,

peytonsurdaddy

Hello, fellow AFC South fans! A new concept we're going to be trying out this season is a 24-hour open thread for fans of AFC South teams located in the FanPosts section of Battle Red Blog (a special thanks to Tim for allowing such nonsense for the low, low price of 2 Coors Lights). A place where football fans can get together and chat about a variety of topics ranging from football to foot fetishes. Just think of it as your favorite bar/hang-out spot where you can get to know your fellow divisional fans on a more relaxed and personal basis. The point of this thread will be to bring us, the fans of the greatest division in all of the NFL, together for some friendly conversation and camaraderie.

• Nothing will be considered off-topic other than the usual religion/politics.
• Check your hostilities at the door. All previous problems you have had with other AFC South fans will be considered forgotten when you enter the thread. You may encounter others who seem to be ragging on each other. Please don't jump into the argument like you own the place. Things aren't what they always appear to be. It's probably people who know each other extremely well participating in some inside-joking or friendly ribbing.
• This is not a Game Thread! There are threads already dedicated to this, and for good reason . It's the same reason why I don't watch Pats/Colts games with my Pats-loving brother-in-law anymore. Things get crazy real quick. The Colts game threads will be hosted at both Coltzilla and 18to88. Feel free to join either one.
  
• No trolling, please. If the only thing you have to say is, "Colts/Texans/Jaguars/Titans SUUUUUUUCK!!!1!!1" you're not going to make very many friends.
• If you are having problems with someone in the thread, please email me and we can work together to resolve the issue in-house. Our hope is that this thread will be self-regulated by the fans themselves and won't need any outside intervention. If you don't like what you see, treat it as any other unpalatable link you have clicked on in the past. Apply eye-bleach and move along.
  
• Have fun! We're all fans and fellow pathetic computer nerds. We have more in common with each other than we have with most everyone else in the real world. Try to remember that.
• Try to keep the thread "safe for work" since a lot of the threaders may be viewing from the job site. In other words, I love boobs, but my boss doesn't. He's a dick.
• If you were one of the people who rec'd the previous open thread to move it to the Recommended FanPosts section, please go back to that previous thread now and un-rec it. That way, the previous thread will move out of that section, and we won't be cluttering BRB as much. Also, feel free to rec this thread to get it up to the 3 required to move it to the Rec'd FanPosts section, but please don't go above that as it makes it harder to un-rec it later. Thanks.

In the beginning, myself, peytonsurdaddy, and Shake, from BRB will be hosting the threads. As time goes on we'd like to add a representative from both the Titans and Jaguars fans as well. You may lobby for the position by sending cash proving yourself to have a level head and basically nothing better to do with your life.

Thanks,

peytonsurdaddy

Hello, fellow AFC South fans! A new concept we're going to be trying out this season is a 24-hour open thread for fans of AFC South teams located in the FanPosts section of Battle Red Blog (a special thanks to Tim for allowing such nonsense for the low, low price of 2 Coors Lights). A place where football fans can get together and chat about a variety of topics ranging from football to foot fetishes. Just think of it as your favorite bar/hang-out spot where you can get to know your fellow divisional fans on a more relaxed and personal basis. The point of this thread will be to bring us, the fans of the greatest division in all of the NFL, together for some friendly conversation and camaraderie.

• Nothing will be considered off-topic other than the usual religion/politics.
• Check your hostilities at the door. All previous problems you have had with other AFC South fans will be considered forgotten when you enter the thread. You may encounter others who seem to be ragging on each other. Please don't jump into the argument like you own the place. Things aren't what they always appear to be. It's probably people who know each other extremely well participating in some inside-joking or friendly ribbing.
• This is not a Game Thread! There are threads already dedicated to this, and for good reason . It's the same reason why I don't watch Pats/Colts games with my Pats-loving brother-in-law anymore. Things get crazy real quick. The Colts game threads will be hosted at both Coltzilla and 18to88. Feel free to join either one.
  
• No trolling, please. If the only thing you have to say is, "Colts/Texans/Jaguars/Titans SUUUUUUUCK!!!1!!1" you're not going to make very many friends.
• If you are having problems with someone in the thread, please email me and we can work together to resolve the issue in-house. Our hope is that this thread will be self-regulated by the fans themselves and won't need any outside intervention. If you don't like what you see, treat it as any other unpalatable link you have clicked on in the past. Apply eye-bleach and move along.
  
• Have fun! We're all fans and fellow pathetic computer nerds. We have more in common with each other than we have with most everyone else in the real world. Try to remember that.
• Try to keep the thread "safe for work" since a lot of the threaders may be viewing from the job site. In other words, I love boobs, but my boss doesn't. He's a dick.
• If you were one of the people who rec'd the previous open thread to move it to the Recommended FanPosts section, please go back to that previous thread now and un-rec it. That way, the previous thread will move out of that section, and we won't be cluttering BRB as much. Also, feel free to rec this thread to get it up to the 3 required to move it to the Rec'd FanPosts section, but please don't go above that as it makes it harder to un-rec it later. Thanks.

In the beginning, myself, peytonsurdaddy, and Shake, from BRB will be hosting the threads. As time goes on we'd like to add a representative from both the Titans and Jaguars fans as well. You may lobby for the position by sending cash proving yourself to have a level head and basically nothing better to do with your life.

Thanks,

peytonsurdaddy

<posted on behalf of peytonsurdaddy>

Hello, fellow AFC South fans!  A new concept we're going to be trying out this season is a 24-hour open thread for fans of AFC South teams located in the FanPosts section of Battle Red Blog (a special thanks to Tim for allowing such nonsense).  A place where football fans can get together and chat about a variety of topics ranging from football to foot fetishes. Just think of it as your favorite bar/hang-out spot where you can get to know your fellow divisional fans on a more relaxed and personal basis. The point of this thread will be to bring us, the fans of the greatest division in all of the NFL, together for some friendly conversation and camaraderie.

• Nothing will be considered off-topic other than the usual religion/politics.
• Check your hostilities at the door. All previous problems you have had with other AFC South fans will be considered forgotten when you enter the thread. You may encounter others who seem to be ragging on each other. Please don't jump into the argument like you own the place. Things aren't what they always appear to be. It's probably people who know each other extremely well participating in some inside-joking or friendly ribbing.
• This is not a Game Thread. There are threads already dedicated to this, and for good reason . It's the same reason why I don't watch Pats/Colts games with my Pats-loving brother-in-law anymore. Things get crazy real quick.
• No trolling, please. If the only thing you have to say is, "Colts/Texans/Jags/Titans SUUUUUUUCK!!!1!!1" you're not going to make very many friends.
• If you are having problems with someone in the thread, please email me and we can work together to resolve the issue in-house. Our hope is that this thread will be self-regulated by the fans themselves and won't need any outside intervention. If you don't like what you see, treat it as any other unpalatable link you have clicked on in the past. Apply eye-bleach and move along.
  
• Have fun! We're all fans and fellow pathetic computer nerds. We have more in common with each other than we have with most everyone else in the real world. Try to remember that.

In the beginning, myself, peytonsurdaddy, and Shake (from BRB) will be hosting the threads. As time goes on we'd like to add a representative from both the Titans and Jaguars fans as well. You may lobby for the position by sending cash proving yourself to have a level head and basically nothing better to do with your life.

So please join us at: http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9/10/1678360/afc-south-eternal-thread-1-in-the

UPDATE: There's a new thread up since so many people apparently like open threads, go figure. http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9/11/1682456/afc-south-eternal-thread-2-and  - KMR 

Thanks,

peytonsurdaddy

Spaz requested a new thread, so I gave him one.  

Use this thread to talk about whatever you want, but more important  the man of the hour--LeBron James!  Talk about how great he is even thought he blatantly quit on his team during a playoff game, or that the fact that he still hasn't produced one title in the same time frame as the GOAT Michael Jordan did even though we're all "witnesses".

Enjoy!

[UPDATE]: Lebron James will join the Miami Heat. We also have a chat going at SBNation.com. --bbs

via 3.bp.blogspot.com

Tonight we find out which two teams will play for the College Basketball National Championship.  All four teams were ranked in the pre-season AP Top 10 poll, so these squads are the real deal.  First up is Butler-Michigan Sate at 5:07 CST.  West Virgina-Duke closes the night at 7:47 CST.  This is tonight's open thread, so chat about whatever is on your mind.  Enjoy tonight's games and go, Butler!!!

via www.ticketsource.com

Today we find out what two teams will join Butler University and West Virginia in the Final Four in Indy.  The Butler Bulldogs will make their first Final Four appearance in school history after a gutsy performance against #2 Kansas State, while the Mountaineers are back after a 50-year old absence after proving why John Calipari can't coach himself out of a box with a convincing win over #1 seed Kentucky and it's one-and-doners.  The games today are:

#6 Tennessee vs. #5 Michigan State- 1:20pm CST

#3 Baylor vs. #1 Duke- 4:05pm CST

Chat about today and yesterday's games, how much you love Butler and hate Dook, or whatever you feel like.  This is your open thread!

UPDATE:

Michigan State-70, Tennessee-69 Final

Duke-78, Baylor-71 Final 

Today is Valentine's Day.  A day where Hallmark and Hershey's earn most of their revenues from stupid saps frolicking around pledging their love to one another.  If someone really loves and cares about you,  then he or she should say it more than once a year.  This day is suppose to erase all of the crap your significant other put you through the past year by buying you a $2.00 crappy card, dead flowers, and some cheap ass chocolates from Walgreen's.  Now, you may think I'm some depressed chick giving grief to couples; but I'm just being a realist.  I'd rather someone tells me he loves me on his own volition, not because a chubby, little kid with wings and a bow and arrow that America has fabricated into a holiday compels him.  

Use this open thread to discuss your hate (or love) for Valentine's Day, how the NFL's offseason sucks, and why the other major professional sports in America can't compete with the NFL (i.e. the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest last night).  

With one more game left in the 2009-2010 NFL season, I think it's an appropriate time to look back at the Indianapolis Colts' fantastic run to Super Bowl XLIV.  Since the beginning of  training camp, BBS and Stampede Blue's commenters have constantly talked about how special the 2009 Colts were going to be. 

Even when the media proclaimed that the Colts' "window" had officially closed with the departure of the Colts future Hall of Hame Head Coach Tony Dungy and  future Hall of Fame Wide Reciever Marvin Harrison and the release of Defensive Coordinator Ron Meeks (who some "pundits" claimed the Colts would miss terribly) and  Special Teams Coach Russ Purnell, they forgot one major piece was still left in Indy:  Peyton Manning.

Peyton Manning and the Colts continue to win games despite the media not believing that the team was a real contender.  This season we saw the Colts win 23 consecutive regular season games and its' 115th game in a single decade, the most in NFL history.  The Colts are 16-0 when it plays all of the starters in the 4th quarter, and with those 16 wins came some awesome plays.  Here are the top ten plays of the 2009 Colts! 

Number Ten

Chad Simpson's kickoff-return touchdown against the Jaguars in Week 15.  I believe once every ten years, the Colts' Special teams score a touchdown; and Simpson's was the one for the 2000s. 

Number Nine

Joseph Addai jukes Ray Ray in Week 11.

Number Eight

 Reggie Wayne proves why he is the best Wide Reciever in the NFL against the Cardinals.

Number Seven

Our favorite stripper Super Mathis strip-sackin' in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Number Six

Dallas Clark delievering a pizza making a one-hand TD catch against the Ravens.

Continue reading this post »

We all know that Dwight Freeney will still play in the Super Bowl despite suffering a "bad" ankle sprain.  This morning John Clayton was freaking me out with his discussion of Freeney's ankle.  Apparently Dwight does not have a high ankle sprain which can be very nagging, but Clayton kept emphazing that he had a bad ankle sprain that would sideline him if the Super Bowl was being played this coming up Sunday. 

However, you all may be wondering how is it that Freeney has a such a bad sprain, but he'll be okay in less than two weeks? Remember that Freeney is a fast healer who tries many techniques to speed up the healing process of his injuries, but most importanlty, Freeney is probably the most motivated player in the entire league when it comes to health. It's very hard to break that man's spirit!

First let's take a look at what we know from Dwight's injury and how it occured:

1. It happened during the 4th quarter when Freeney was rushing Mark Sanchez.

2. It appears that Freeney to some sort of awkward step during that play which he most likely rolled his ankle.

3.  Freeney appeared to be walking gingerly to the sidelines without a serious limp and with no assistance from the Colts' training staff.

4.  Freeney remained on the sidelines for the remainder of the game and did not head back to the locker room like he did Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals where he suffered a quadriceps strain.

5.  There was no report that Freeney had or will have a MRI on his ankle.

Now it's time to do the research on what grade of a sprain Freeney has.  I will use the the same handy websites that Dr. Blue's other assistant, Dr. Cass, used to diagnose Freeney's quadriceps strain.  Since I don't recall hearing Freeney himself speak about his injury, I will have to make assumptions based on what I saw during the game.

From this site we see that Freeney was able to most of weight on his ankle since he walked without any assistance during the game, but it most likely gotten worse as the day went on.  We all know he experience some pain, but most likely just mild pain since I did not notice any grimace look on his face as his left the field (or maybe he was putting on a show?). 

Let's look at the symptoms for a Grade 1 ankle sprain:

Some stretching or perhaps minor tearing of the lateral ankle ligaments.

Little or no joint instability.

Mild pain.

There may be mild swelling around the bone on the outside of the ankle.

Some joint stiffness or difficulty walking or running.

In the bold print are the symptoms I visually saw or are just pure assumptions.  These symptoms do not see too bad, so now let's check out the symptoms that classify a Grade 2 ankle sprain:

Moderate tearing of the ligament fibres.

Some instability of the joint.

Moderate to severe pain and difficulty walking.

Swelling and stiffness in the ankle joint.

Minor bruising may be evident.

Freeney appeared to have none of these symptoms Sunday, but injuries can get worse as time goes on.  Finally, Grade 3:

Total rupture of a ligament.

Gross instability of the joint.

Severe pain initially followed later by no pain.

Severe swelling.

Usually extensive bruising.

I highly doubt Freeney ruptured a ligament or loss feeling in his lower leg, so I guess will can eliminate Grade 3.

Next  are the recovery time for a Grade 1 and a Grade 2 ankle sprain:

Grade 1 sprains usually take one to two weeks to heal completely. Grade II sprains can take up to six weeks...On average, count on a two- to four-week healing period for any significant sprain.

 via InteliHealth

My diagnosis: Grade 1 ankle sprain

Treatment for an ankle sprain will consist of the classic  RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation).

Likelihood of returning to the field: 100% by the Super Bowl (Duh!)

18 players appeared on today's report. Jerraud Powers was the only one not to participate.  Even though the New York Jets doesn't have a competent passing game, the thought of Tim Jennings giving 8 yards of cushion to Braylon Edwards or Dustin Keller still worries me.  Hopefully Powers will participate later on in the week.

Did Not Participate:

Jerraud Powers (foot)

Limited Participation:

Antoine Bethea (back) Dallas Clark (illness)

Full Participation:

Joseph Addai ( shoulder) Ervin Baldwin (shin) Gary Brackett (calf) Melvin Bullitt (shoudler) Ryan Diem (elbow) Dwight Freeney (foot) Cody Glenn (back) Charlie Johnson (foot) Antonio Johnson (shoulder) Robert Mathis (knee) Jamey Richard (shoulder)  Jacob Tamme (ankle) Tony Ugoh (knee) Adam Vinatieri (right hip) Reggie Wayne (knee)

Colts.com

Um, I guess this is the open thread for tonight's MNF game with the New York Giants fighting for a shot at a Wildcard berth and the Washington Redskins playing spoiler.  Talk about whatever's on your mind:  the Colts being 14-0,  Peyton Manning on the verge of his NFL-record 4th league MVP, the Chargers being the most "dangerous" team in the NFL, LOLcats or the game itself.  Enjoy and go Colts!

Dwight Freeney will be apart of the Five Good Minutes segment today of PTI!!!   It comes on again at 6:30 eastern on ESPN2.

Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts!
Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts!

Media outlets such as ESPN claims that the Chargers are going unnoticed (but how is that if the media is talking about them?), but they've always had the attention of the Colts and its fans.  We all know that the Bolts have knocked the Colts out of the playoffs in consecutive years leaving a sour taste in Colts fans' mouths.  The most recent AFC playoff standings show the Colts (12-0) and Chargers (9-3)  as the #1 and #2 seeds, respectively.  The Chargers have won seven straight games after starting the season 2-3. 

I bring this question up because of a quote from Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column:

"Best team in football,'' one NFL coach told me Saturday. Don't laugh.

Earlier in his column, Peter King said in so many words that the Bolts "own" the Colts by listing the scores of the last five meetings since 2005 with the Chargers having a 3-2 lead over the Colts. Yes, I know the Chargers have had the Colts' "number" for quite some time, but I have a feeling that things will change if these two squads meet in the playoffs this season.

During the two playoff losses, the Colts were unhealthy and missing two very valuable defensive players: Dwight Freeney in '07 and Gary Brackett in '08.  Without those two guys (and a limping Mathis in 2007) the Colts' D made Billy Volek look like a Pro-Bowler without the leagues best pass rushing duo, and Antonio Gates have a field day without an adequate MLB. 

The Chargers' 7 game winning streak is second behind the Colts and Saints 12 game winning streak this season.  During that time, the Chargers' offense has averaged 31.1 points per game, while the Chargers' defense has given up 15.1 points per game.  Pretty impressive, right?  It is until you look at who San Diego has played during it's winning streak: the Oakland Raiders (4-8), the Kansas City Chiefs, twice  (3-9), and the Cleveland Browns (1-11); while Denver Broncos (8-4), the Philadelphia Eagles (8-4), and the New York Giants (7-5) all have a shot at making the playoffs.  The combine record of San Diego's six opponents is  31-41.  During the first half of the season, the Colts were given grief for having a cupcake schedule which included the Jacksonville Jaguars (7-5), Miami Dolphins (6-6), and Arizona Cardinals (8-4).  Right now the Jaguars are in the driver's seat for a wild-card berth, the Dolphins (along with the Jets) are one game behind the Patriots in the AFC East, and the Cardinals are in cruise control in the NFC West--so much for a cupcake schedule. 

Based on the stats of these two teams, it's basically a wash between both offenses that are both in the top 5 in scoring and botttom 5 in rushing yards per game, as well as a wash between both defenses.

So are the Chargers the best team in the NFL?  Well, no, but this is coming from a Colts fan.  However, I truly believe that San Diego is the team to beat  in the AFC with the Patriots' defense being exposed more and more each week, and the Steelers' self-destructing.  Even though the Colts are 0-2 against the Bolts in the past two post seasons, I'm a firm believer that the third time's a charm.

The NFL Network is showing the 2006 AFCCG with the Colts and the Patriots today at 12 Noon Eastern/ 11 AM Central time!!!!!!!!  Enjoy and Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts! Go Colts!
Go Colts! Go Colts!