If any of you watched the postgame commentary last night, Reggie Wayne echoed my sentiments, "I have no idea what he [Dungy] will do. All I know is this team doesn't respond well to anything that resembles a playoff bye."

Common sense and general risk aversion dictates that you basically treat the next game like the final preseason game. Intensity won't be playoff level and Tennessee won't be showing their playoff hand, but on a really tangible level, I don't think the Colts should take this game off and basically do a walk-through in front of 60,000 people. This team needs to iron out its run game issues on both sides of the ball and keep its timing and cohesion going. We all know the playoffs isn't the time to do that. So Coach, please oh please, don't rest em'!

What do you think?

The Colts have been one of the most successful franchises in the NFL during the 21st century. I have a hard time sitting through this season as much as anyone else, but give me a break! All this crap about Dungy's mentally aloof and his heart isn't in it, Peyton's not the same, Marvin's washed up and we should cut him at the end of the season, the defensive scheme is crap and we need 3-4... seriously people get a grip!

First, Coach Dungy deserves more credit than that; he wouldn't be coaching if it weren't where he wanted to be. He has integrity if nothing else and he's still the same coach who lead the Colts to a superbowl and those 7-0 seasons we've come to EXPECT! Secondly, football still is a team sport and just because Peyton and Marvin are having down years thus far, doesn't mean they're individually playing poorly. That's just an argument that doesn't hold water if you know anything about football. Finally, there's nothing wrong with Cover-2. ALL defenses have their weaknesses, even 3-4! If there was one invincible defense, the whole league would be playing it. The truth is there's not and its more about execution than scheme in the NFL. Look at the 06' Colts D in the Playoffs!!

If the Colts had Bill Cowher at the helm, Peyton throwing to DeSean Jackson, and a 3-4 scheme on D, they'd still have issues...guaranteed!

Looking at the upcomming schedule, there's a real possiblity of going 6-10 this season with losses to: Tennessee, New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Cleveland, Jacksonville, and Tennessee.

I know prognostication is usually useless but I can't help but feel like the way things are going this season and the general amount of bullsh*t excuses comming from the Colts this is a real possibility. Even IF the Colts make it to the playoffs, I really don't see anything special happening....I'm officially depressed :(

In case you didn't listen to it, here are the Cliff's Notes:

Overall no takeaways from the film other than the 1st quarter and the last 4 minutes of the game. We played hard but for 3/4 of the game we self-destructed, played without passion and unsound fundamentally. We made progress in the bye but that didn't translate to the field somehow.

Defensively there is some inexperience causing the young players to be going through a thought process about where they should be but moreso we're not playing with enough passion, not flying to the ball like we should be. Hopefully the last four minutes opens the floodgates and set the tone for the remainder.

We can't expect to come from behind on a weekly basis like this. We don't practice that way so we can't expect to be able to recover from poor play like that week-in, week-out.

Defenses are crowding us unlike in the past. This could be due to the lack of cohesion in the passing game or the lack of pass protection causing the deep ball to be less of a threat than historically was the case. Until we consistently make defenses pay with deep passes they will continue to crowd us.

Freeney strained his leg on the first fumble recovery, no update on Kelvin or Marlin, more concerned with how to play better than what the docs have to say. Charlie played because he had more practice time, Tony not demoted.

Spec teams better over the first four weeks, Adam and Hunter kicking better.

Call on Raheem was understandable, increased enforcement on defenders pulling guys down.

Friday is the last day that injury status MUST be published. Nothing we can do about things happening on Saturday.

Unfortunately for Sage, he probably won't get a chance to play through this because Schaub will come back and get the start. Tony would tell him, "You didn't loose the game by yourself." Guys should rally around him and focus on positive not negative.

I recently moved out to the San Francisco Bay Area after having lived in Indianapolis all of my life. One of the things I miss most about home is our beloved Colts. Being out here has really given me a sense of perspective; especially with the constant circus that is the Raiders dominating the media.

The Colts, as a team and an organization, are BY FAR the best run and most respectible in the NFL and really an elite sports organization in general. I can honestly say I've never been embarrassed to be a Colts fan but I know many of the folks out here often are by their teams. This is not about wins or losses because no team in any sport wins all the time. When it comes down to it, is the team one that you feel proud to support win or loose? My answer for the Colts has always been yes and I hope your's has too. Be thankful to have a team like the Colts, I know I am!

http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=bb968c88-3434-4856-945d-a66e1c8d8b34&et_cid=17864855&et_rid=1452880440&linkid=SANDERS+UNDERGOES+SURGERY

Recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery: 4-6 weeks

That puts him back in the lineup for the Tennessee game, which is obviously curcial! It seems like the Colts are mismanaging surgeries this year; Peyton's too late in the summer and this surgery which could extend Bob's absence an extra 2 weeks over the original recovery time for the HAS. I'm not complaining because any time with Bobzilla is better than none and if this helps extend his durability then I'm all for it but man this seems like recipe for disaster...

Mr. Polian pretty much confirmed my hypothesis in the Dungy Presser Recap post I made. He indicated that much of the difficulty came from a lack of rotation in the defense. With the way the Colts' defense is built, difficulties will snowball if a.) the offense has short (time) drives and b.) there is a lack of rotational ability in the defensive lineup.

Basically, not having any mass on the D-line due to injuries, thus inhibiting rotation, kept the Colts' "greyhounds" (Mathis, Freeney) on the field too long. That coupled with the sheer number of plays Jax was able to run (78), made this a perfect storm to beat the Colts.

What to take away? Even with a perfect set of circumstances; the Jags could only manage to beat the Colts with a last second field goal aided by questionable officiating. It seems there's more of a silver lining to this 1-2 cloud than perhaps you thought...

Much the same line comming from Dungy about the breakdowns on defense. We had too many people out of position; we didn't play with enough intensity; we weren't sharp in many small areas that lead to overall breakdowns in defense.

Not much change in the rhetoric from one year to the next after these, unfortunately, recurring breakdowns on defense. As we know, the Dungy-2 relies on speed and precision to be effective and a lack in either area makes the whole thing crumble. With a defense that is built for speed, its important that they not be on the field for very long or mental and physical endurance becomes a factor; as evidenced by the poor tackling and ball pursuit as Jax wore the game on. The important thing is that a.) the offense keep the ball longer to keep the defense fresh and b.) that we evaluate if the personnel package on D is equipped to play Dungy-2 as it is obvious that they aren't understanding their assignments propery. Perhaps there are key positions that have inexperienced players such as DT that are hurting the overall scheme; that I can't say for sure. What are your thoughts?