PaytonMenning here back to pull a Jonathon Swift and stir up some controversy. Here's my less than modest proposal: We should trade Bob Sanders for a skill position player or a draft pick.

Now I know what you're saying - you're saying "Menning, you've gone crazy!". Follow me for a little bit here. It's pretty clear that Melvin has really elevated his game this season. The goal line hit at Arizona really stood out for me, and made me notice Melvin in the secondary. Going back to watch the tape, he's all over the field making tackles left and right. Indeed, Melvin is on the books for 21 tackles in 4 games this season. In contrast, so far this season Bob Sanders has zero tackles. Melvin also appears to be able to play at a high level and keep himself healthy. Bob on the other hand, has missed about half his starts as a Colt due to injury. Melvin is not a big name (yet), and as such has a small veteran contract. Bob has a huge one. As I see it, this argument distills down to: up and coming safety vs. injury prone pro bowler with a huge contract.

Now, this is where I think it gets interesting. Bob is widely viewed as a difference maker on defense. I think that the Colts could probably extract some fairly decent value for a trade. Perhaps a team would take a flyer for a good-to-great OG, or maybe even a draft choice next year. For the sake of argument, let's assume we could upgrade a hole on the team and/or receive a first round draft pick for next year for Bob. Which would you prefer? A pro bowl safety on the bench or a solid, developing player on the field AND a first round draft pick?

So there you have it - should the Colts bite the Bullitt? Discuss amongst yourselves, I'm getting a little verklempt.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4236775&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

" Indianapolis Colts starting tailback Joseph Addai said he had recent arthroscopic surgery to clean debris from a bothersome knee.

Addai

Neither Addai, who is currently being held out of practice sessions, nor team officials, would divulge which knee underwent the procedure.

A team official told ESPN.com that he was "very confident" Addai will recover in time for training camp.

Addai also reiterated that his rehabilitation is going well. "It's feeling good right now," Addai said."

Edgerrin James was released by Dumbenhut and the Cardinals today. This brings up some interesting questions. Do we see him back? Do we want him back? Do we have the cap space? Personally, I think he could only help us out, but I'm not clear that we can afford him. I hope he at least ends up somewhere classy (ok, but not San Diego). http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09119/966198-66.stm

So, for this loss, the responsibility falls solely to Brady. Balls were thrown high, in front of, and behind his receivers all night. Here's the field-general of the greatest offense of all time, and all he can muster is one TD, and 29 of 48 passing. He is solely responsible for this loss, and the Giants had nothing to do with it. Brady is the biggest choker in NFL history.

Hey, I'm all for our conversations here around the team, about the team, about improving the team, but lately all I see is a lot of crying about this loss. If only K2 had better hands, if only Dungy was a better coach, if only Marvin were healthy.

STOP THROWING YOUR FAVORITE GOAT UNDER THE BUS. It gets old. We're fans of an extraordinary team, that has done things that no other team in NFL history has. 7 playoff trips in the last 10 seasons. One SB victory. For a small market, we should be proud.

Cincy fans would kill to have had our last decade. Raiders fans would kill their own mothers to have even reach the playoffs. In Arizona, hell would freeze over if only the Cards could put together a good season. Remember the 80's? If you're too young, go watch some game tape.

We're lucky, we're fortunate, and we have the #1 or #2 roster in the league right now. Let's hope we make some good improvements in the offseason, and field a better team next year.

Time to move on folks.

So, what actually happened to Marvin? The brainless commentators blamed his fumble on rust - which may make some sense, but what happened to him after that? Why was Aroshmadu starting in his spot? Why didn't we ever line up with Reggie as #2 and Gonzo as #1? Was BBS right, should Marvin have been IR'd long ago?

I just wanted to take a moment before this game to give thanks for the Colts great season, and great decade. In the past 10 seasons, we've  had 7 playoff trips and (so far) one Super Bowl title. It wasn't so long ago, that we had some very rough, lean years (the eighties, most of the nineties).

Think of how awesome and rare this is, to have your team contending, year in - year out. We're fortunate, and we should be proud.

Anyone else think this win sets up a 2006 playoff type scenario? In those playoffs, NE knocked out SD for us, while SD was widely viewed as our "kryptonite" for the playoffs. Now the Jags look like the most likely team to knock out NE next weekend. There's no reason to think that Tom Brady won't torch the Jags secondary (after all, Manning does it all the time), but you do have to think that the Jags ball control run first offense, can keep Tom and company off the field. At this point, I can't decide who I'd rather see less in the AFCCG - NE or the Jags. However, certainly our worst case scenario is seeing the Titans go to NE, and having the Jags come to the dome.

Thoughts?

Anyway, Jags or Chargers, bring 'em on!

Am I the only one who saw, several times against the Ravens, their defensive linemen jump offsides, with no flag thrown? One was in a pretty critical 3rd and long, and Manning looked like he handed off, since he "knew" he had a freebie snap. But no flag. That was the first call missed, then again in the second half there was another that was pretty egregious.

???

freeney, harrison, lilja all sat out of practice on wednesday

ugoh, keiaho, hagler listed as limited participants.

practice was closed to the public and media after the stretching exercises.

this is not a one line diary? I just thumbed it in on my treo. blue, that restriction really freaking sucks.

The Pats opponents so far do not having a winning record.

• Jets (1-7)
  
• San Diego (4-3)
  
• Buffalo (3-4)
  
• Cincy (2-5)
  
• Cleveland (4-3)
  
• Dallas (6-1)
  
• Miami (0-8)
  
• Washington (4-3). Combined Win-Loss 24-34.

• NO (3-4)
  
• Ten (5-2)
  
• Houston (3-5)
  
• Denver (3-3)
  
• TB (4-4),
  
• Jax (5-2)
  
• Carolina (4-3). Combined Win-Loss 27-23

The defenses the Patriots have faced have just been weak. Here's how they rank according to ESPN:

The Jets #28, SD #16, BUF #31, Cincy #29, Cleveland #32, Dallas #7, Miami #27, Washington #5. That means NE has played 5 of the 6 worst defenses in the NFL over their 8 game stretch.

In comparison, the worst opponent we've faced, NO ranks in at #22.

We also play in THE toughest division in the NFL, while the AFC East is duking it out for last with the NFC West. NFC West people - SF, St. Louis, Arizona and Seattle.  

Lastly, I believe the Patriots are on autopilot. I think they're getting "comfortable", making assumptions about how easy they think football is. Everyone said the Panthers' would be a trap game for us ... I think we've laid a pretty nice trap for the Patriots ourselves.

Just my .02, but right here, right now, I predict a Week 9 victory. Colts 35, Patriots 31.

About the Patriots? It seems there's been some discussion around here about how much most of us absolutely despise the Patriots. We hate their coach, we hate their organization, we hate their cheating and their dirty play. Or at least I do. So to get to the point, let's vote, just for the heck of it to truly gauge our feelings around New England.

Looks like Vince Young took a swing at one of his own players. That always bodes well, (think LenDale White) when players (especially the team leader) fight each other during practice.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/specials/preview/2007/08/01/titans.young.ap/index .html?eref=si_nfl

Found this out last year. To have a live draft, you must have an even number of teams. If we don't get that 12th team, then we could open the league up to all comers. If you have an odd number at draft time, Yahoo! automatically reverts you to the autodraft, or forces you to reschedule your draft.

Both of which suck.

Could there be a Rice-Dungy reunion in the future? The Newswire is reporting that Rice was released from the Bucs after failing a medical prior to the start of training camp. Now, I certainly don't want us picking up damaged goods but Rice would be an intriguing prospect, and add some depth to our line.

Is there an ignore button anywhere on the 'Blue or SB Nation blogs? There's a particular contributor, whose posts I find less than meaningful or honest, and an "Ignore" button would go a long way to increasing my enjoyment of Stampede Blue. This person isn't even a Colts fan - and regularly argues just to argue - basing arguments on opinion presented as fact. I have no issue with the occassional out-of-town homer, but this guy seems committed to sticking around and annoying most everyone - even though he has no love for the Colts organization. Let's face it - he's here for the attention, and the attention alone. He has no altruistic motive of "improving" our Colts news experience. If I could "ignore" him, his "reward" for posting would be gone.

Blue, draft dates are probably quickly slipping away on Yahoo! for the free fantasy football. If you, want, I'm perfectly happy to setup the league for you for Stampede Blue - I've commissioned leagues myself on Yahoo! for the past 9 years. I'm hoping we can get a live draft for Stampede Blue - the autodrafts are crap.

Anyway, keep us posted.

Any chance of getting some news Blue? Or in the absence of news, perhaps some opinion? I'm tired of checking in, only to be greeted by Goofy's Matt Schaub's cheezy grin. Not as bad as the beefcake Vinatieri, but still bad. This is not a one line diary. This is not a one line diary. This is not a one line diary.

Looks like we claimed a CB off waivers from the Browns. Yahoo! is reporting that Antonio Perkins (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/7279) has joined the team. Don't get too excited though, he has only played in 5 games in the entire 2006 season, for the Browns, no less.

Supposedly we also waived Matt Turullo, but since I never even remember hearing about us signing him, it can't be much of a loss.

There is very little to read about all this right here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AglBnRXWIe_Mj4mDjof9jMqI2bYF?slug=ap-coltsmoves&prov=ap&am p;type=lgns

Finally getting over his homerism for the Pats, Peter King from SI.com has finally picked us against NO for Super Bowl XLII. Not sure whether this is really a blessing or a curse (I'm thinking the latter). But it is nice to finally see the organization get the kind of recongition that it deserves. We've been a favorite pick of the media in years past, but never with Peter King. Ah well, his picks last year sucked, but perhaps this year we can prove Peter right.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/06/03/mmqb/index.html?eref=si_nfl

Corey Simon's option bonus cannot be recovered by the Colts ... Let's hope he can play this year to make all this dough worth it.

"Regardless of how the Corey Simon saga is resolved, it will remain a hefty financial investment for the Indianapolis Colts...."

More here: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070515/SPORTS03/705150422/1100

Looks like we probably won't be signing Barlow after all. From Colts.com "Sitting Down with Dungy":

Q: The Colts enter the rookie mini-camp with DeDe Dorsey and Kenton Keith as the backup running backs. What makes you feel comfortable about those guys?

A: With DeDe, I remember (then-Minnesota Vikings Head Coach) Denny Green telling me when he was getting ready to play (quarterback) Daunte Culpepper. He hadn't actually played him in a game, but Denny had watched him on the scout team. Denny used to run the scout team the same way I do. Denny would say, `He's ready to go.' He just knew. DeDe's the same way. Just from having him and being in the huddle with him, questions that he asked and the way he would do things for us on the scout team, I've got a lot of confidence in him. I feel like he's going to be ready to go. Kenton, I don't know as much about, but (Colts Scout) Cal Murphy - our guy up in Canada - has said, `This guy can play.' Between the three of those guys (second-year veteran Joseph Addai is the starter), I think we're going to be in pretty good shape.

Looks like DeDe is our guy next year.

Seeing some reports that the Patriots have signed away Randy Moss from Oakland. This is scary news indeed, if it's true. Assuming Moss can return to form, they've finally added a valid deep receiving threat to the team (no Wes Welker does not scare me - or Donte Stallworth, at all). What's the local take on this? I have to say, the Patriots have had one heck of an offseason, while ours seems to have been bittersweet so far (losing Stokley, no major acquisitions for next year, ... and now this)

The status of Colts defensive tackle Corey Simon remains a mystery. Tony Dungy said Simon still has some medical issues after missing the '06 season with a knee injury and an undisclosed illness. Also, two grievances involving Simon and the team remain unresolved.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/scorecard/04/16/truth.rumors.nfl/index.html?eref=si_nfl

This was too great not to post. It smacks a bit of schadenfreude, but really, how can we ignore this story?

A Bears fan made a bet, that if the Bears lost the Super Bowl, he would legally change his name to Peyton Manning.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/02/07/fan.name.change.ap/index.html

Just a question. in the Superbowl, I noticed, during the introductions a sweep shot of Charles Tillman. If you looked closely you would have noticed an amber tinge around his pupils. I found this quite strange. After some digging I found out that these are high contrast contact lenses that improve a players vision - particularly for fast moving projectiles. So, my question is, what is the NFL policy on these lenses? Is it cheating? Regardless of official policy what do you think?

I lean towards cheating - given that some players wear helmet shades (see LT), I'm ok with that. But, IMHO, lenses expressly for vision enhancement are cheating.

Now maybe our guys use them too, I don't mean to single out a Bear player - he's just the one guy that you could clearly see was using them (albeit in HD).

So this SB was crazy - with 6 first half turnovers, 4 of which were in the first quarter. Fumbles were the order of the hour, and turnovers were coming like candy (for both teams). The Bears played their best game, and got the best weather they could possibly hope for.

So, I was wondering what you guys thought about my new name for this one. Let's call it

the FumBowl

Did Manning really deserve the Superbowl MVP? His stats were pretty unimpressive. He did manage the game well, but I think that there were clearly others more deserving. So, did Manning just win by default? I'm wondering, because it seems like in this case, we made a true team effort; and the MVP award basically turned into a popularity contest. So, from those who know (us loyal Stampeders), Who was the REAL Superbowl XLI MVP?