Sunday should be interesting. Phil B. lets us know that the Colts can barely field a defense this week. In fact, this Sunday only 5 of the original 11 projected preseason starters will play for the Colts on defense. Hayden, Jackson, Sanders, Keiaho, and Brackett will line up with the likes of Giordano, Thomas, and Johnson. That means the Colts have lost (at least temporarily):
Freeney, Mathis, McFarland, Brock, Bethea and Morris. Sanders, Keiaho, and Hagler have also missed games. When you add Harrison and Diem to that list, you begin to realize how remarkable this season has been for the Colts. Oh yeah, Clark, Addai, Ugoh and Gonzalez have all missed games as well.
Yesterday, on the crap fest that is ESPN's Football Today podcast, the yahoos from Scouts Inc were discussing their QB rankings. Keith Kidd, who is an ex Patriots employee was discussing with Jeremy (I helped with the worst draft record in history in Cleveland) Green why they wanted to make love to Tom Brady. Jeremy Green made the comment that with all the injuries, you could see how normal Peyton Manning has become. I laughed out loud. Manning played exactly one bad quarter this year. He, like his team, is having an amazing season.
All that being said, Sunday's game could be tough. Granted, I don't expect the Raiders to get anywhere passing, but with Justin Fargas, they do have a very tough run game. It'll be tough to stop him with a completely rebuilt D line, and it's more important than ever that the linebackers step and play huge. You just get the feeling that as long as these guys can all get healthy for the playoffs, that this team will be a holy a terror. When every man who rotates in has experience and confidence, you become a dreadnought. It's really nice to have a one month cushion before we have to win a game of significance.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
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17 comments:
In 2004, Manning lost one offensive line starter from the previous year to free agency. Three more went down with injuries during the season. By the end of the year, the Colts were playing an undrafted rookie who'd been cut by another team and a rookie fifth rounder. Despite some very shaky protection at times, Peyton threw for 49 TDs in 15 games.
In 2005, the Patriots had two O-linemen get hurt. Poor Tom Brady had to make do with a first round rookie and a rookie second rounder (essentially, two Ugohs). All year long, the suckup Boston media cried about the pass pro that Brady had to put up with. After years of outstanding blocking, he actually had to worry about pass pro sometimes.
Tom threw more interceptions. But not to worry, his media suck buddies made sure that everyone knew the picks weren't really his fault. For example, when he threw four picks against the Chiefs, the fault wasn't on Brady because some were "deflections". In the NE world of logic, a pass which hits a defender in both hands but bounces up and is caught by another defender is a deflection. And deflections are never Tom's fault.
So here's how it works -- a couple of Patriot injuries absolve Brady of all responsibility for any bad plays (even when the subs are top quality).
And an extraordinary number of Colt injuries proves that Manning is simply an average QB.
If that makes sense to you, you could live in New England.
Stan
Well said, Stan. Peyton gets plenty of love from the general media, and has for years. But maybe they're tired of his commercials and are looking for someone less over-exposed (it's not like they're real journalists, after all.... "Jeremy Green, reporting from Mogadishu on which war lord has the dreamiest eyes....")
I don't begrudge Brady the lovefest this year--yes, Moss is amazing and yes, TB has about 6 seconds on every pass play, but he also has to execute and he has done that. (Nice underthrow on a wide open Gaffney on that flea flicker--almost got picked when the WR initially had about 10 yards separation.) But I wholly agree with your assessment. Boston is a bigger podium with better microphones than Indianapolis. They yell louder, more people hear, and their somewhat mindless fans spread the gospel with every conversation. Amazing as it seems, even as Yankee fan in NYC in the 90s, I suffered from the blathering Bostonian Sox fans. They are passionate and don't know when to shut up. Hopefully it'll rebound on them. It seems that half the world irrationally wants the Pats to lose a game, so that's a start.
On another topic, nice article on Gonzo in the Star today. Things really do seem to be clicking with PM and AG. But was I the only who noticed him jogging through his pattern on a running play away from him during the Ravens game? I think it was just after a pass to him and he appeared a bit winded.... No TiVo and I may be mistaken. But something caught my eye and my first reaction was "Don't pull a Moss!" Perhaps he needs Marvin out there to show him how it's done.
I wouldn't worry too much about Fargas's running; he's a speed guy and that's our strength. It's the 240 lb bruisers that have traditionally hurt us worse. The Oakland game will be frustrating because of our lack of D health. I predict Addai will get about 85 yards on 12 runs and be pulled to rest him, and Keith will match it. PM will "practice" a bit more with AG to fine tune some things, and we'll win by only 14 when it should be 28, because of our hobbled D, no game film on JaMarcus Russell, etc.
Sorry. That was WAY too long.
How do some people who get paid to analyze football know so little about football? I mean seriously, I learn more from 18 to 88 Podcasts and "Eyes in the Backfield" than I ever have from Scouts Inc.
Scouts Inc and their ilk rely completely on conventional wisdom and who's hot that week, completely ignoring the season as a whole.
WARNING: This is totally unrelated to the Colts.
What are the general opinions out there about the Mitchell report? I don't know how much y'all follow baseball (I'm a die-hard Cubs fan, so I really understand loving a team that is constantly disappointing!), but I'm just not sure what to make of the whole Mitchell investigation, and I'm looking for other opinions.
Sorry to be so off-topic.
Coltsgirl,
Steroids has always been a much, much bigger presence in football than baseball. Whatever you think of all the steroid use in football over the last quarter century is what you ought to think of it in baseball, only less because it's never been as prevalent.
S
On the theme of "the only interesting things to talk about are the Colts and Pats" from a few days ago, here's an amusing blog piece about the Tuck Rule game, so long ago. Silly, kinda funny, guaranteed to ruffle feathers.
http://ghostsofwaynefontes.blogspot.com/2007/12/altering-course-of-history-tuck-rule.html
since it may be truncated, I am putting it in in two segments.
http://ghostsofwaynefontes.blogspot.com
/2007/12/altering-course-of-history-tuck-rule.html
Stan = Hater
Relax man....Manning gets his due, even from Pats fans.
I've said all along he's the best passer I've ever seen - a distinction that according to me, previously belonged to Marino.
The first round rookie is Mankins, who's the second round rookie? Not Koppen. We got him on day 2 I think.
The snow here is ferocious.
To support Stan's point about media love for Brady, I humbly refer to the famous DJ Gallo Page 2parody on ESPN.com (famous at Football Outsiders because for about a week every 12th posting referred to it). It's a couple years old. In it Gallo suggested everyone genuflect when they see or think about the number 12, that men apologize to their wives in bed for not being Tom Brady (I did and got the response "Who?" ruined the joke, but I had a good laugh.)
Clearly Gallos's piece was a joke, but clearly the parody was based on a pretty strong level of mindless media love for TB.
So what's wrong with that?
He's at the top top top of the celebrity A-list - he's a total stud and he's a proven winner.
As far as people to cover, he's a media dream come true.
Plus....the media loves Peyton (and his whole friggin family) too.
jc does have a point...Manning gets tons of man love. That's why he gets so many commercials, more than Brady. He gets more because the country as a whole loves the image. In fact, he gets SO much props it actually trickles and allows his brother to get ad deals even though, you know, Eli isn't a good NFL QB.
That being said, the current man love Brady is getting is disgusting to watch. However, neither one of these guys can touch the love Favre gets. Watching those announcers talking about Brett...that is a disturbing listen. You feel like you have to take a shower after its over.
Tom Brady is a "total stud"? He's a sleazebag. My tomcat views his personal life with disgust, and he'll lick anyone's face if they hold still...
On field, I still think he'd look a lot like Cleo Lemon if you lined him up with the Dolphins (Brady, not the cat).
Found this on the Yahoo! homepage--lots of Brady man-love (and some Belichick man-love--ugh), but also some funny/true stuff about why people hate the F-Pats.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-thegameface121407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
I particularly agree with #3, 5, and 6 in the above article...
I saw Brady's mug on the Stetson perfume box. Sleazy guy..nastier perfume
We saw his picture in a jewelry store advertising watches (I think) here in Indianapolis. Ugh. I'm not sure what the store was thinking...
Yeah, Brady is soooo classy with the media. Every time Manning and the Colts lost a big game, Peyton stayed for all the ugly questions until every writer had asked every question. But when the Colts beat the Pats in Foxboro, Brady mumbled for 20 seconds and stormed out without taking a single question.
As for the way the NE media sucks up on Brady, even some Patriot fans are embarrassed. Typical NE writer -- "No one can match Tom Brady's physical, mental, athletic and psychological greatness."
S
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