By Nevada Sharpshooter
The Colts travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers. The up and down Colts found their swagger in a 31-3 whipping of Baltimore. Offensively Indy seems to be hitting their stride, scoring 31 points in each of their last 2 games. At QB Peyton Manning has been solid completing 63 percent of his passes and throwing 8 TDs to 5 INTs. The running game has faltered with Joseph Addai averaging only 3.5 yards per carry. Defensively the Colts have struggled until the Baltimore game. They gave up 29 points to Chicago and 27 to Houston.
By Platinum Plays
The surprising Ravens take their show on the road to the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium to take on the team formerly from Baltimore until they packed up the moving vans in the middle of the night on March 29th, 1984 and settled in Indianapolis. Twenty years later, the hard feelings have diminished somewhat as the Ravens, formerly the Cleveland Browns, as Art Modell made a cash grab of his own when he moved the Cleveland franchise to Baltimore in for the 1996 season. Many fans are confused when they see replays or pictures of Super Bowl V when Jim O’Brien kicked a last second field goal to defeat the Dallas Cowboys (16-13) in 1970. The Colt fans in Indianapolis were also rewarded with a Super Bowl victory when Peyton Manning brought home the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLI (2007) when they defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17. Not to be left out, the Raven fans also celebrated a NFL championship when the Ravens beat the New York Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV (2001).
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.
2008 NFL Sneak Peek - AFC South
By TD at Totals 4 You
Welcome to week six of your 8-week series taking an off-season look at the National Football League. This week we drop in on the AFC South where the league’s top offensive production at 24.1 points per game, top defensive stinginess at 19.5 points per game, and top record at 42-22 during the 2007 regular season failed to yield more than a single playoff win. Let’s see if they can get over the top this campaign…