Hola!   I has two questions.  Both questions designed to spark some conversation and critical thinkings stuff.  No one word answers.  One word answers = GTFO LOSERS. 

1)  Does anyone else gt the feeling that Tony Dungy and the Colts organization knew well in advance of the playoff loss to SD that Dungy would be retiring at the end of this season?  A few of Dungy's post-retirement quotes about how he was hoping during the season that he'd be able to ride off into the sunset in Tampa Bay really got this ball rolling in my head.  Those statements, combined with the fact that this was the year ALL the hard decisions were made:  bye, Ron Meeks, bye Russ Purnell, bye, Marvin Harrison, etc...  Decisions that, right or wrong, Dungy had been criticized for being unwilling to make in the past, now all happen the year Dungy decided to retire.  Any chance, from 0.01% on up, in any of your minds, that last year Jim Irsay, Bill Polian and Tony Dungy sat down and said, "Tony, we would really like you to open up the Luke for us.  After that you can retire peacefully and let the retooling of the Colts begin?"  Maybe not in those words, but I think most of us here would be confident in saying that a few of the changes that happened this year wouldn't have happened if Dungy was still the HC.

2)  With Jeff Saturday deciding to avoid GTFO LOSER status by resigning with the Colts (please, no one say he came to his sense, Jeff, like every other player, wanted $$$$, and he became one of the highest paid centers in the league, so grats Jeff) and hearing him pine after playing guard, tackle, linebacker, assistant coach, waterboy, etc... for the Steelers, it got me wondering.  With Lilja maybe done forever and the rest of the guards on the team looking a little shaky last year, what would you do with Saturday?   Would you play him at center and try to find plugins around him at OG, or would you move him to OG, where he could still make line calls if needed, and let one of the young 3 (assuming Jamey Richard) get ready for the future?   At first glance, I think having Saturday at C is the easy answer, but with the woes at guard, and the fact that Richard was better, imo, at C, than the other yahoos were at OG, I think the best OL lineup next year might have Richard at center and Saturday at guard.  Thoughts?

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#1 and done, amirite, boys?  The Titans are sooooo good.  10 whole points!  What a team!

The List

Peyton Manning was the only Colts' player named to the squad.  Reggie Wayne got 0 votes.  Dallas Clark was 3rd with 2 votes.  Jeff Saturday was 4th with 2 votes, Freeney was 6th with 4 votes.  No other Colts' player received any votes. 

To give you an idea of how good voters were this year:  Boldin, whom I love, but missed atleast 25% of the season, got more votes than Reggie Wayne (0).  Brandon Marshall whom started hot after a suspension and then was the 2nd best WR on his own team got more votes than Wayne. 

Mario Williams got more votes than Freeney, which is 0_o.

Jerod Mayo, a rookie, got more votes than Gary Brackett.  This is only a small beef, because Brackett will never make a pro-bowl or all-pro team, but it amazes me that a rookie can get more love than someone like Brackett just because of the market he plays in (and I don't buy the injury situation, since people that were injured (like Boldin) still got significant numbers of votes.

If you're too lazy to look, Manning got 28 votes, Brees 10, Rivers 9, and then pennington and warner were in the rear, I think with 1 and 2.

Surprised to not see anything on these two subjects...

First, its being reported by multiple media outlets (including Adam Schefter of the NFL network) that LaDanian Tomlinson has a torn man muscle.  I don't know about you, but if my man muscle was torn, that would be painful.  As I said earlier in the week, I'd prefer to see more Tomlinson than Sproles, because Tomlinson generally doesn't do much against the Colts, but I don't know if Sproles can carry a full load.

Second, did anyone catch Tom Jackson's interview with Peyton Manning (with guest appearances by Curtis Martin, Troy Brown, Trent Dilfer, Steve "TEH WARRIOR" McNair, and John Lynch)?  It was really cool.  It had nothing to do with the season or his knee surgeries, just kinds of paint Peyton as a person more pro sports people should attempt to act like.  Was really nice, and was so classy even Tomlinson would have approved.

Let's try to keep the 'he's a dumbass', 'he's a moron', etc... to a minimum, okay, guys?  I agree with all of it, but we should cut him some slack occassionally, expecially on the random chance his opinion happens to coincide with ours. 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/12/29/Week17/index.html

I still don't feel that Manning will win it.  I think the last thing in voter's minds will be Pennington beating the Jets and Peterson tossing the ball before he crossed the goal line (did he really do this?  PFT said he did, but I didn't see the play).  Can't wait to see the discussion about this weeks Indy @ SD game.  My prediction?  Monday we'll hear that the Colts are dangerous.  From Tuesday till Friday it will quickly transition to, 'The Colts don't play well against the chargers.  The chargers are hot.  The chargers are great.  The Chargers are GODS AMONG MEN.  PHILIP RIVERS CAN IMPREGNATE YOU FROM 100 YARDS AWAY.  LADANIAN TOMLINSON IS BACK!  CHRIS CHAMBERS IS FAT.  (I wish i could make my font bigger)."  ANyhow, by saturday afternoon, the Colts will be 15 point dogs and the sky will be falling.  Thankfully for Colts' fans, Atlas' knee is all healed.

A)  The Colts can't run the ball!!!! one one one one!!!   This is what you're going to hear for the next 2 weeks.  The Colts can't run the ball.  Neither can the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team that you're gonna hear 'has as good a shot as anyone to win the super bowl!'   Let's be honest here.  The Steelers have a worst offensive line than the Colts.  They have a worst running situation than the Colts (though it is similar, if I was the steelers I'd be starting Mewelde Moore over Parker, much like I think Rhodes is playing better than Addai right now) and, 90 seconds in the game, down by 5, you can pick Roethlisberger or Manning, who ya go?   Thats what it comes down to, these teams are basically the same on offense, until you look at the person under center.

Other play off teams that can't run: 

1) Arizona

2) San Diego (if they beat Denver)

3) Baltimore and Atlanta average good yards per game, but they also lead the league in attempts.  To put it in perspective, if the Colts averaged their rushing average (3.4 yards per attempt) and ran the ball the same number of times Balt has, the Colts would be 9th in the league in rushing.  This is over simplifying things, I know, but don't be surprised when Michael Turner can't even finish the season next year.

4) Miami... I know, I know, they looked good earlier in the year, but run blitz the wild cat and they get nothing.  All of their rushing yards yesterday came from end arounds, not their running backs.

There are some other borderline teams that struggle with the run.

B)  I don't think Peyton Manning is going to win his 3rd MVP.  I'm not saying he shouldn't, he should and its not close.  But the more I read media types who vote on this thing, the more I see them giving caveats after Mannings name.  They seem to be desperately seeking someone, anyone to take the award from him.

C)  The Pitt - Tenn game yesterday didn't show how good Tennessee was (but they are pretty good), it showed had bad Pitt is.  The same thing the Colts did to Ben the Titans did.  He can't play against a team with a good front 4 and zone coverage in the back.  He gets confused by the zones, holds the ball too long, and gets sacked.  Most of his great plays come from man coverage where he's able to avoid the pressure and then exploit a one on one matchup down the field.  I was hoping things would work out differently, but it seems like the best bet (in my mind) for the AFCCG will be Colts - Titans, where the Titans will try to do something they did in 1999 - go 3-0 vs a divisional opponent to go to the Super Bowl.

D)  Patriots fans are on drugs.

First, I bring you this paranoid piece of perfection: http://www.patriotsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=41301

Then this one... read the whole thing, pay attention to the comments about Manning!:  http://www.patriotsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=41292

F)  This one is for shake specifically:  Dude, the FO people are douchebags.  They never talk about the Colts, so what do they do when they get a thursday night game?  Talk about the Patriots!  And I don't know who Ben Riley is, but he's a nozzle extraordinaire.  He's been saying all year, "The Colts suck, they won't win 10 games, they won't make the playoffs, blah blah blah".  Now that they have 11 wins and are in the playoffs?  Ignores the Colts and acts like he never said any of that shit.  No matter what I've said about Dungy in the past, I want him to win the SB this year more than ever and give the rest of the country a big horseshoe shaped shit burger.

I don't read the live game threads, but I noticed in the 4th quarter (might have happened sooner, will update after i watch the game again, although it will be painful, and I don't have nearly enough booze in the house to watch the defensive side) that the Colts were under the Post-Gary Bracket weight limit of 4.2 metric tonnes.  Then I noticed that Keiaho had moved to MIKE, Hagler was at WIL and Session (hold the S) was at SAM.   So apparenly the coaching staff didn't want to wait 2 more games before pulling Gilbert Gardner's really REALLY *REALLY* fat younger brother off the field. 

I actually don't know if this was a performance issue or if they did it because Hagler can't possibly be any slower than Davis and speed would help against the shotgun, draw, shotgun, draw, 5 yard out, shotgun draw, defense.

Did anyone notice if he got injured?  Otherwise, I'll check to see if this was a 2nd half adjustment.

Lets say last year Peyton were to come out and say that someone else should have won DPOY instead of Bob Sanders.  Or that one of the players picked for the probowl on the colts wasn't deserving...

Or what if Tony Dungy was being talked about as a hot choice for CotY, and Manning came out and said some other coach, doesn't matter who, is a better choice for coach of the year.

Would you all be behind Manning making these statements, or would you want Manning to STFU and keep his opinion to himself?

From indystar: http://www.indystar.com/article/20081217/SPORTS03/81217043/1100

Says Harrison did not make the trip to Jacksonville, Addai and Sanders did and are expected to play, I guess Gonzo will start in his place, not sure who will take over the third WR spot.  Kinda hurts in this game since the Jax secondary is depleted, having 3 healthy receivers would have been nice.  I'm still trying to get to the seventy-five word limit, doubt i'm there yet, but I'll check

1)  Let me say that after watching the game again (in super fast motion, I only watch the running game, both offense and defense) the officiating was even crappier the second time around.  The muffed punt has been covered, but their WRs (especially Standeford) were great at holding down field.  And by great I mean "really really breaking the rules right in front of the officials and no flag being thrown".  This wasn't your standard 'you can call holding on every play' holding.  Two times Tim Jennings' jersey was pulled so much you could see his tummy (I think he had eggs for breakfast), both on two of Kevin Smith's longer runs.   The illegal contact/PI calls in this game were also craptastic.  The Colts should have probably been called in the first quarter for a PI down field, and when the refs failed to do so, they made sure to make up for it in each subsequent quarter.

2)  Clint SessioN is a beast, still.  The Colts ran a nifty defense a few times, showing how much they trust Session, Bullitt, and Bethea.  The Colts would play a 'nickel' look, but the 3 LBs would be Bullit - Keaiho - Davis, and then Session would be over the slot.  He was able to make a TFL (tackle for loss) on quick screen to Johnson on the first play of the game, and made a few stops in the backfield on the run from this formation.  He was very active, the most active of the line backers.  He was out of position a few times, but it wasn't his fault (will cover whose fault it was in 5...4...3...2...1...)

3)  OH.  MY.  GOD.  The defensive line played horrible.  Yes, there was the standard 'Freeney and Mathis are gonna get their necks broke if you don't call that' holds on pass plays, but Jesus, this was Freeney's worst game against the run I can ever remember.  The Lions would frequently line up with a trips right formation in either a 2 TE - 2 WR - 1 RB or 3 WR - 1 TE - 1 RB set, start the run to the strong side (the trips side) and then cut back.  During the game, the runs looked to be the fault of the safety (usually bullitt) because he was missing a tackle.  This is partly true, however the bigger problem was WHY the Lions kept running the weak side cut back to Freeney's side.  The Lions weren't, for the most part, blocking Freeney, because Freeney would slant straight down the line of scrimmage into nothingness.  He could have passed a field sobriety test he was going so straight down the LOS.  The fews times the Lions DID block Freeney on a run was when the run was actually to the strong side, away from Freeney, and they didn't block #93 with a lineman.  They would pull the far TE against the grain and WHAM (for John Madden) block freeney out of the play.

To continue this thought, the Colts ran so many stunts and twists, it made no sense.  Freeney and Mathis could have schooled these guys one on one (which they often were being blocked), but the Colts rarely gave them the chance.  On multiple plays they would both stunt inside of the tackles, or loop around the entire line switching sides.  These can be effective, when used at the right times, but they just wore them out on Sunday.

4)  I would love for someone to explain to me what happened on the Colts first drive of the second half.  Simpson takes a sprint draw for ten-ish yards to the 20 yard line for a first down.  Next thing you know, its 4th and 20 from the 40.  So confused.  No penalty, no explanation, nothing.  I'm assuming there was a hold somewhere, but I never saw it.

5) Speaking of never seeing things.  STOP GIVING ME SCREWED UP CAMERA ANGLES.  I DON'T NEED HEAD ON OR BACK SIDE SHOTS FROM FIELD LEVEL.  If you want to give me north-south looks, do it from the catches end zone cam.  Otherwise just stick with the normal look.

6)  The Colts D has played a lot of man coverage (not cover 3) the past 2 weeks.  They haven't been blitzing on these plays, but I'm thinking they are playing more man to allow Freddie and Clint more freedom to attack the line of scrimmage.

7) Some quick Colts' passing game + ref notes:  If that was offensive PI on Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss has 0 catches for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.  FOR HIS CAREER.   The Lions were amazingly good with contact 5-10 yards down field.  The Walt Colemanites did a good job of following their leader. 

The Colts got called for an off-sides in the 2nd quarter (I believe, I wasn't taking notes).  This was a great call, considering the LT was making a humping motion towards the ground.

Thats all.  I would say, in general, all of the frustating things from this game (other than the turnovers) were all fixable.  The colts are getting shredded on the weak side runs, but its all schematic or players not playing backside containt.  Both of which are not only fixable, but easily fixable.  So I would assume that once those gets fixed, plus Foster, Dawson, Brackett and Sanders are back, this defense will be rarin to go.

As we approach the offseason much discussion has been made about who the Colts should and should not resign.  A lot of the debate revolves around two specific players, Jeff Saturday and Kelvin Hayden.

So let's say you're the Colts' GM.  You can only sign one player under the salary cap.  Do you choose the veteran center who knows all of the calls, is an extension of the QB.  The vital clog to an otherwise shaky offensive line?  Or do you choose the cornerback.  The 2nd round pick that has blossomed into an occasionally dominant player.  He's big.  He's physical.  He can catch the ball.  He can tackle (This is all stuff I'd have said if I didn't watch the Lions game, so lets just pretend it didnt happen, right Kelvin?:P).  He's also young.

Who do you pick?  Note, I'm not calling either one of them ladies.

So now that I've cooled off from the game, I have a few questions regarding... some decisions today.

1)  I like Chad Simpson as much as the next guy, I really do.  And the fumble doesn't really appear to be his fault, just fluky the way the foot came up and hit it.  But why do you have a rookie in there in crunch time instead of Dom?  The Vikings were burning time outs after every run and there was the 2 minute warning, so he obviously didn't need a blow. 

2)  Why was Josh Thomas in at DT instead of Brock or Muir?  Hey, Thomas is good against the run, as a DE.  Look, I realize I often come off as a boob that knows too much, is rude, and is gonna take your lunch money and spit in your gfs hair.  But why, for the life of me, when you're playing an 0-13 whom you know is going to want to run.  run.  run.  run.  and run.  to eat up clock and shorten the game, do you not have your actually DTs in the game?  Muir has gotten a push almost every time he's been in the game, which is like 3 plays. 

3)  What was with the weird ass play calling?   Dom was slicing and dicing them in stretches, the Colts would get to 2nd and 3 and play calling would go pass (from shot gun), pass (from shot gun), punt.   Even if the Lions were selling out on the run, go under center and play fake deep a few times, guys..

4)  This isn't a question.  Manning is still hurt.  Maybe not physically, but mentally, definitely.  Watch him when he throws the ball.  He throws and before he can follow through, he's turning his body away to shield his right knee from contact.  Its bizarre, he's never done it before, and its gotta be related to everything that happened earlier in the year.

5) I love lamp.  KURT WARNER AND DREW BREES FOR MVP.

If anyone else records Colts' games, load up the Bengals game and watch the Colts defense for the first three quarters.

I was a big Clint Session detractor in  the first and second quarters of the season.  I would have taken a gimpy Rob Morris over him; I felt he was a big reason the run defense sucked.

Fast forward to now... I didn't tape the Clowns game, because it was teh gay and it made me want to stab my eyes, and my 3 year old deleted the chargers NFL Replay, but watching the Bengals game, I've never seen a LB read his keys and react so quickly.  There were plays where he read the TE and was darting into the backfield before the RB had the ball.  He was quick on handoffs, draws, screens, and I even saw him cover the TE in man coverage and defend a pass.  I said this in Phil B's rats blog, so if you read that, sorry for the double coverage, but Im just zomg impressed with the light year leaps this kid has taken.  I would almost be tempted to buy his jersey if I didn't know that in 2011, after his rookie contract is up, he'll be wearing a Titans or Jaguars jersey and some 2nd year LBer will be taking his spot.

I've been giving a lot of credit to Antonio Johnson (and rightly so, imo) for the improvement in the defense, but much like 2006 when Rob Morris replaced 'The Swinging Gate' at SAM, a marked improvement at the strong side linebacker position has really helped key this turn around.

One caveat.  I don't know if he's just cheating a lot and getting lucky, I assume not, because he was never really caught out of position on draws or play action, but I'm assuming that people might try to take advantage of his aggressiveness by running PA off of draw looks, having the TE block-slip into a route and hit him in the hole behind Session.  If that happens, forget all the praise I've heaped on him, he's a bum, bring back Gardner, etc...

The person released to make room for RB Najeh Davenport was TE James Petrowski.  Petrowski was signed from the Tennessee practice squad when Tom Santi was put on IR.  He had yet to be active for a game.  The Colts, by rule, had to keep him on their roster for atleast 3 weeks after signing him from the Titans', and were now free to release him.  The fact that he was released means the Colts' feel all their running backs will be healthy again this year.  I know most of you know this, but I'm just trying to fill the 75 word min and sound really smart.

According to Mike Florio (ducks to avoid the tomato that was chucked at his head) the Colts' have signed Najeh Davenport.  I hope this says more about the health of Chad Simpson than the health of Addai...

No word on who the colts had to cut/release/ir to make the move, will post (or someone else will) when I know.

This message has 61 words, which is apparently under the required limit for words in a fan post.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before, but i really need to get to the bottom of this...

Did one of the Colts rape Ron Jaworski?   For the past 4 weeks, Jaworski has used his 5 minute segment on Pardon the Eruption to bash the Colts.  When the Colts' blowed up (emmitt talk) on the Texans Jaws said, "well, its just the texans' (Hows that look now, Jaws, the Texans will finish 8-8 or 9-7...) and in the same show said of the 49ers beat down of the Rams, 'their offense is finally coming alive, its a sign of good things to come' (paraphrased).

He was again dismissive of the Colts' after they beat the Chargers and the Clowns, saying that the offense wasn't the same (while making no mention, of, you know, its NOT the same, since there's no Jeff Saturday or of a Defense that has allowed, what 29 points in the last... 3 games, and allowed less points to a browns team with Derek Anderson than the Titans allowed to said Browns team with Ken Fing Dorsey)

And then today, he was dismissive of the Colts again, pointing to the Titans beating the Colts 2 alien abductions ago.  Jesus, Jaws, what did you leave out, let me count the ways?  No Sanders, no Hayden (though we did have Jackson, so it might be a wash), no ANTONIO JOHNSON (DPOY), The offensive line was still in shambles, no Addai, etc...

Aside from the fact that he's fallen off the planet as far as an analyst goes, he's become a shill for the refs and nfl in general, and seems to be trying to turn himself into a cartoon to match kornheiser, i just don't understand the need to attack the same 9-4 team over and over and over and over.  Talk about something else if you don't like em, I mean, they're as bad as the lions in Jaws opinion, so just ignore em till february...

One of the people I predicted last night (self-pat on back, imo) was released to make room for Alexander... DB Brandon Foster.

I have nothing else to say but I'm apparently 34 words short of 75 so hey, how's the weather?  Whats up?  zoinks!  Jeepers!  Jinkies!  Rutroh raggy!  Crap this is only 51 words, this is taking forever to just type out 34 random words, i dont know what to do, can we get the min word limit lowered to like 1?  Hitting publish again!

Since there seems to be some interweb plagiarism going around today, let me give credit where credit ds due, found this stat while reading Paul Kuharsky's AFC South Blog on BSPN.

Red Zone defense during the past 5 games (the win streak):

They have allowed 17 red zone trips (3.4 per game)

They have given up 6 TDs (35% TD conversion)

They have given up 9 FGs (53% FG conversion)

And they have forced one turnover and one missed FG.

Teams have scored 69 out of a possible 119 points.

Rushing stats:  Teams have rushed 34 times for 72 yards (or 2.1 yards per rush)

Passing stats:  Teams have completed a really high 76% of their 17 passes (13 of 17) but for a really tiny 65 yards (3.8 YPA)

The Colts have 1 sack in the red zone in each of their last 3 games.

To give you the other side of the equation, the Colts offense converts their red zone chances in to touchdowns over 71% of the time.

Here is the link, it will give you more words and a pretty chart, but it doesn't give you things like league average and how their defense compares to other teams, but 35% TD% is pretty darned good.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth/0-7-14/Colts-red-zone-defense-great-during-win-streak.html

Through 10 games, Peyton has attempted 380 passes, putting him on pace for 608 passes, which would eclipse the most passes attempted by him in a single season by 17.  Now, he's not old or anything, but I'm not sure this much throwing can be good for the soul.  And while you'd think having a resurgent running game would lower the number, he had his second highest attempt #s against HOU (46, 49 was highest on opening night v bears).  On top of this, Manning is currently throwing 6.76 YPA, which would his lowest average since his rookie year.

I only threw the YPA stat in there because I was surprised it was so low (i guess I'm not surprised if I actually think about it, the long ball hasn't really been there this year), but I don't really blame that on Peyton. 

The number of attempts is a bit worrisome, though.  Im not saying that in a 'we can't let Ben Roethlisberger throw the ball more than 12.3 times per game, otherwise we'll lose' sense, but more in a "I dont really want to watch his arm fall off any time soon' sense...

I love 2 thing in my life, my family and the Colts, but I absolutely obsess over Fantasy Football.  So this morning I was doing some research on rush defenses, so that I could get some idea of whom I would like to trade for (and away) since the trade deadline for all 22 of my leagues is coming this wednesday.  I wanted to share some numbers with you Colts' fans, I thought you might find them interesting.

We'll take a look at 3 different teams and their rush defense numbers for the past 5 games played.

Team A will be a 'bad against the run, good against the pass' team.

Team B will be a 'good against the run, bad against the pass' team.

Team C will be the 'well rounded, very good, borderline great' team.

Team A:   

19 carries for  51 yards, 2.7 ypc.

35 carries for  116 yards,  3.3 ypc

31 carries 88 yards, 2.8 ypc

32 carries, 140 yards, 4.4 ypc

27 carries 59 yards, 2.2 ypc

The total for the 5 game period:  144 carries for 454yards, 3.15 ypc

(3.15 ypc would be good enough for the 3rd best rush defense in the league)

Team B:

27 carries for 114 yards, 4.2 ypc

36 carries for 139 yards, 3.9 ypc

27 carries for 119 yards, 4.4 ypc

12 carries for 14 yards, 1.2 ypc

23 carries for 126 yards, 5.5 ypc

Total:  125 carries for 498 yards, 3.98 ypc

Team C:

38 carries for 132 yards, 3.5 ypc

17 carries for 58 yards, 3.4 ypc

22 carries for 94 yards, 4.3 ypc

24 carries for 102 yards, 4.2 ypc

24 carries for 78 yards, 3.2 ypc

Total: 125 carries for 464 yards, 3.71 ypc

As you can see, Team A, who is 'bad against the run' has been run on the most for the least amount of yards and the worst ypc average.  Now, as you're reading this, I'm sure most of you have realized who Team A is, your Indianapolis Colts.  Who are teams B and C?   Team B is the upstart Miami Dolphins, whom people have been saying are truly stout on defense.  Their numbers would be borderline scary if not for the denver broncos putting up the PUTRID 14 yards on 12 carries.  And Team C?  None other than the Tennessee Titans.

Now, obviously there is more to defense than just rush defense stats, but I think these numbers go along way to showing a few things:  1) the defense has improved, markedly, over the last 5 weeks.  The addition of Johnson and the increased play time for Eric Foster are only helping matters.  2) The 2 losses in this 5 week span for the Colts are probably more attributable to the poor play from the offense and some undisciplined play from certain players (seems like each week is a new player).  3)  If the Colts can get their offense back on track, they have real aspiriations for going somewhere.   4)  The Titans ARE beatable.

The one and only thing I'd be concerned about from the Colts perspective is the New England game.  The Patriots basically used the Jaguar game plan, and that seems to be our achilles heel.  Not rush defense, but reacting to runs from the shotgun.  In this case, its players, not scheme, but its correctable with coaching.  The DL and LBers are over playing pass when teams go into the shotgun.  The DL is fanning out, opening wide lanes for RBs to dart through, but worse, the LBers are overpersuing their gaps, so RBs will go towards one gap then cut back through another huge hole, and there's no one there.  But like I said, its fixable.  And, hey, maybe the Pats and the Jags both miss the playoffs and we don't have to worry about it.

I hope you enjoyed my neurotic stat checking, time to trade everyone that plays against the colts.. :P