By Totals 4 U
Indianapolis (0-1) The Colts were seriously clowned Sunday night by the Bears13-29 and you don’t have to look much closer than their offensive and defensive lines to find the cause. The defensive line of Brock, Dawson, Johnson, and Freeney average just 6’ 2 ½” and 273 pounds per man and things don’t improve when rush specialist ends 6’2” 245 Robert Mathis enters the game. Ok, so 6’2” 296 RDT Ed Johnson is a very promising 2nd-year player (10 T vs. Chicago) but what the heck is 2nd-year Keyunta Dawson doing playing left defensive tackle in the National Football League at 254 pounds? I had to check 8 different sources before being convinced that his weight wasn’t a typo! The Bears didn’t bother checking; they just abused the Colts for 183 rushing yards. Behind this “wall” Indianapolis favors – wait for it – small linebackers in starters 6’0” 235 SLB Clint Sessions, 5’11” 235 MLB Gary Brackett, and 5’11” 226 Freddy Keiaho. This crew is actually pretty effective (combined 34 tackles) but 6’2” 240 rookie Phillip Wheeler can’t crack first string soon enough for us. Corners Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson are decent while safeties 5’11” 203 Antoine Bethea (11 T) and 2007 AP Defensive Player of the Year 5’8” 206 Bob Sanders (10 T) are superb…they have to be. Offensively, Coach Tony Dungy (73-24 in 7th season) has all the talent he needs to succeed at the skill positions with WR Marvin Harrison (8 for 76), WR Reggie Wayne (10 for 86 and TD), WR Anthony Gonzales (5 for 48), RB Joseph Addai (12 for 44), RB Dominic Rhodes (4 catches for 30 yards), and 8-time Pro Bowler QB Peyton Manning (30 of 49 for 257 yards, TD) but has major issues up front. 6’6” 320 RT Ryan Diem is a reliable veteran but 6’5” 301 LT Tony Ugoh is in his 2nd year and could use more size. C Jeff Saturday misses with a knee injury and was replaced by 6’5” 295 rookie C Jamey Richard who’s level of competition at the University of Buffalo is dubious. Rookie RG Mike Pollack was slotted for a starting job but his knee injury gave 6’6” 290 converted tackle Daniel Federkeil his first career start opposite of 6’4” 305 Charlie Johnson who also made his first career start Sunday night. The opening week loss snapped a string of 60 consecutive regular season weeks at or tied for the top of the AFC South or the 5-time defending division champions.
Minnesota (0-1) The Vikings lost at 19-24 at Lambeau Field Monday but showed some encouraging signs of offensive life in the second half. After 3rd-year QB Tavaris Jackson (16 of 35 for 178 yards, TD, INT) managed 2 completions for 16 yards in the first half, he managed 162 pass yards after the break and added 65 yards with his feet in the game. 6’1” 217 RB Adrian Peterson (19 for 103 and TD) picked up where left off while his back up Chester Taylor (5 for 19 rushing, 3 for 21 receiving) chipped in when called. Tight ends Shiancoe (3 for 21) and Mills (3 for 49) got into the action but if decent games are to become wins for Coach Brad Childress’s (14-19 in 3rd season) crew, Jackson must effectively get the ball down field to receivers 6’4” 202 Sidney Rice (2 for 31 and TD), 6’1” 185 Bernard Berrian (3 for 38), 5’10” 186 Bobby Wade, and 6’1” 219 Robert Ferguson. Five total completions to wide outs isn’t good enough to win in this league and behind an offensive line that surrendered a single sack, it isn’t good enough to keep a starting job in this league. The situation at left tackle could be critical this week. 7-year veteran and starter Bryant McKinney is serving a suspension through Week 4 and his replacement, Artis Hicks, left Monday’s game with an elbow injury. 6’6” 321 Marcus Johnson finished the game on the blind side but if Hicks can’t go on Sunday it is an issue and 6’5” 305 rookie free agent Drew Radovich will likely come off the inactive list as insurance. Without question the Viking defense starts with defensive tackles 6’3” 317 Pat Williams (6 T) and 6’5” 311 Kevin Williams (6 T) who are typically unmovable but they were had by a makeshift Packer offensive line last week, surrendering 139 yards at 5.1 yards per carry and a score on the ground. Pitching a sack shutout against Minnesota isn’t an easy but Green Bay did just that while holding prominent free agent acquisition 6’6” 270 RDE Jared Allen without even a single tackle. Backers Leber, Henderson, and Greenway are a dynamite group, corners Winfield and Griffin are adequate, while Minnesota has issue at safety. 12th-year SS Darren Sharper started showing signs of slowing down last season and free agent add FS Madieu Williams will miss up to 6 weeks with a neck injury. 6’0” 207 rookie FS Tyrell Johnson filled in for Williams and was schooled by a 56-yard play action pass to Greg Jennings that led to a touchdown.
FREE SELECTION: The issues for Indianapolis run deeper that a “rusty” Peyton Manning and they won’t be fixed overnight. Minnesota’s strengths at offensive and defensive line correspond with the Colts lacking at those groups while having 34 players on your roster that are 25 years or younger breeds mistakes for Indy. We’re not big fans of betting against vastly superior coaching, Coach Dungy’s squad has not convinced us they are ready to win on the road. Take Minnesota +2 at the Humpty-Dumpty Dome.