FanHouse Colts

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Studs

Tom Brady, QB New England (29 of 34, 380 yards, 6 TDs) -- People were questioning his knee this season. He seemed jittery in the pocket, made throws he didn't used to make, and wasn't leading the Patriots like he had during those three Super Bowl years and undefeated regular season in 2008.

For the past few years, Indianapolis has done something called "Blue Friday" during football season. Basically, the mayor publicly asks all people to wear blue across the city, including city employees, in a show of support for the home football team. I'm not really sure if other football cities do this, I just know they do it here because it's my place of residence. While I've always found the decree a bit amateurish, I've never really wasted much time on the subject. They love their team. That's fine. We all do. Fan is short for fanatic, after all.

On the other hand, today Indianapolis made the jump into hyper-lame, thanks to their Mayor.

That's right, tomorrow is Blue Friday in Indianapolis. Rally around the team, Indy, as Jim Sorgi leads the troops to battle in the fourth of five pre-season contests!

OK, Colts fans, you've enjoyed your 18 hours or so as Super Bowl champions. Now let's talk about next year.

The guy in the picture is Colts general manager BIll Polian, and he's in charge of the team's off-season activities. The Colts' salary cap situation is widely perceived as a mess, with a lot of big-money stars, notably Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, taking up huge portions of the team's payroll. The Colts have 12 unrestricted free agents and only about $2.5 million in cap room.

But ESPN's John Clayton, who puts other reporters to shame with his understanding of the salary cap, points out that the numbers can be deceiving. First of all, Manning will almost certainly restructure his contract in the next month or two, converting a $10 million roster bonus into a signing bonus and therefore saving the Colts $8 million on next year's cap. Clayton also notes that two players who are on the books for a good-sized portion of next year's cap, Brandon Stokley and Corey Simon, contributed nothing this year, and therefore won't be missed if they're released.

As for the team's free agents, the most likely scenario is that the Colts will spend the money necessary to keep defensive end Dwight Freeney, will probably keep either linebacker Cato June or running back Dominic Rhodes (but not have the money to keep both) and then go with a youth movement in the secondary, allowing veterans Nick Harper and Mike Doss to go but drafting someone to take their places.

Do you really think if they lose June, Harper and Doss, that makes them incapable of repeating? I don't. So despite that relatively paltry $2.5 million under the cap, we're talking about a 2007 Colts team that will look a lot like this season's. That means we may be talking about the Colts again at this time next year.

It's most cerainly not as accurate as the Madden '07 prediction of the Super Bowl, but this video shows how Tecmo Super Bowl projects the big game turning out:


A Super Bowl with Jeff George at quarterback. Someone alert Jason Whitlock.

During Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast, CBS doesn't want to repeat Fox's mistake with the now famous "F--k Da Eagles" girl, or with Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. So CBS cameramen have been instructed to be extra careful.

CBS won't have any delay for the game itself, which will be broadcast live. But the network's cameramen and directors working the Super Bowl have been briefed to be careful about crowd shots to make sure they don't repeat Fox's mistake, say CBS execs. "We talk to our production teams throughout the season about what we think is appropriate," says Tony Petitti, executive vice president and executive producer for CBS Sports. For all games, the NFL also instructs security personnel and ticket-takers at entrances to prevent fans from coming into stadiums with obscene signs or clothing, says spokesman Brian McCarthy. They'll be doing the same on Sunday, but McCarthy cautions that an offensive T-shirt is difficult for a gatekeeper to spot if the fan walks through with other clothing covering it.

Personally, I'm rooting for Sarah Spain to make it on camera at some point during the telecast. I'd rather see her than Phil Simms.

First off, how did the Colts win? I'm still a bit shocked. I'm not sure if the Colts are so good that they can play that badly and still win (if that makes sense) or if they just got lucky. The Colts gave up 196 yards on the ground on just 27 rush attempts from the Giants running game. That's right, 7.3 yards a carry. On the other hand, the Colts had 55 total rushing yards on 23 carries. Thats right, 2.4 yards a carry. That's pathetic.

To be fair, Joseph Addai looked solid on his seven carries. He averaged 3.7 yards a carry. He also had three receptions for 22 yards. He defiantly has potential. He is very quick to get to the outside. On the other hand, Dominic Rhodes looked awful.

So what needs to change?

• The Colts need Corey Simon back. I'm not sure if he is that important to the defensive line's run-stopping ability or if they are just that bad. If he is that important to it, why haven't the Colts been drafting run-stopping defensive linemen instead of our 10th 5'8"' defensive back?
• The offensive line collapsed on Peyton Manning more than I think most Colts fans would like to see. Manning did a great job of picking it up and stepping up in the pocket, but this needs to be fixed. This also killed the run game. John Madden used the word "penetration" 100 times, and he was right.
• The run game (see above)

And what looked positive?

• 3rd down conversions. On the first drive alone the Colts were 5-for-6 and finished 11-for-16.
• I ripped Terrence Wilkins and I apologize. He was great, averaging nearly 30 yards a return. Although his one punt return was for only 1 yard.
• The kick coverage was great also. A rarity in Indy.
  
• Manning was Manning. Marvin Harrison was Marvin Harrison. Reggie Wayne was Reggie Wayne.
• Adam Vinatieri gave me confidence that I've never felt in a Colts kicker. He nailed 4 out of 4 with no doubt.

The game was definitely full of week 1 mistakes, but a win is a win. At least the Colts play the Texans next. I think we'll see a much better Colts team this week.

Throughout the offseason, the preseason and virtually the last 14 years, I've been predicting the Redskins would win the Super Bowl. And if not Super Bowl, I always predicted them finally turn everything around. They can do it with Ritchie Pettibon. And Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith and Jeff George. Well, not Jeff, but with every offseason binge I saw the light. Especially Steve Spurrier.

Over the years I've been humbled. I've come off the Super Bowl runs and stuck with wildcard berths. Last year at 5-6, I optimistically predicted the Redskins wold run the table and make the playoffs. And they did. So this year, with my confidence back, I've been predicted anywhere from 11-5 to 12-4 and a "serious" Super Bowl run.

But one person has me beat. Rick Snider of the Examiner, a newspaper here in Washington, DC, predicts the Redskins future all the way to the score of the Super Bowl. And he keeps it a bit realistic. He says the Giants will win the NFC East and the Colts will finally make the big game. Snider even says the Redskins will lose to the Cowboys in week two. But he takes Washington to Miami and even politely apologizes for revealing the score of this year's Super Bowl.

Every time I turn on the TV it seems impossible to not see a new Peyton Manning commercial. I know that Peyton is one of the top paid advertisers in all of sports but I will admit that he needs to stop doing the DirecTV commercials. They are horrible! However, there are some good ones out there. I've put together a small collection of some of my favorites. I have embedded videos at the bottom of the page, so refer to the number and you can view them.

1. This is Peyton's newest Sprint commercial. I find this one pretty funny. He is dressed up in a disguise talking about Sprint's new NFL mobile. At the same time, he is referring to Peyton Manning as if it isn't himself. Question is: Since when did Peyton sign with Sprint?

2. This one seems to be pretty recent also. It is put out by the NFL and it features all 3 of the Manning's'. I don't usually laugh at commercials but I actually did when I first saw this one. It's my favorite.

3. One of the Master Card Ads from last year. It's funny but it got old after seeing it for the 100th time. CUT THAT MEAT!

4. Another Master Card ad. Funny also but got old. D-CAF!

Peyton, you're an amazing player, but let's keep it to that.

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So I ran across SI.com's "Top 10 QB-WR Tandems In the NFL" article today online. As I started to read from 10 to 1 there was no doubt in my mind about who would be pictured in the #1 slot. It would be Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. They did just pass Steve Young and Jerry Rice as #1 on the all-time list didn't they? Maybe I was dreaming that? Wait...no I wasn't. Actually, SI.com even quotes it for me...

Harrison and Manning snapped Steve Young and Jerry Rice's NFL mark of 85 TDs by a QB-WR tandem back on Oct. 17, 2005, against the Rams. The two know each other inside-out at this point and continue to be one of the most feared duos in the NFL.

However, to my surprise, the Manning and Harrison duo was not #1, nor was it even #2!. They came in 3rd place. Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith took 2nd. Keep in mind that they have only had one great year together. 1st place was Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson. Once again, only one great year together.

I guess SI.com thinks that one year of success in Cinci and Carolina trumps the 7 straight years of 1000+ yards and 10+ TDs from the "tandem" in Indianapolis. Laughable!

For awhile now I have been shielding my eyes anytime the Colts' return team steps onto the field. Why? Well here are some stats...

Last year (2005) the league leader for kick-off return yards, Terrence McGee, averaged 30.2 yards a return. The Colts? Their return man came in 33rd place at 20.9 yards a return. It was Dominic Rhodes by the way...

On top of that, Troy Walters averaged just 8.2 yards a punt return.

So what did the Colts do to fix the problem in the off-season? Well, they drafted an impact return man with their 7th round pick. T.J. Rushing comes out of Stanford as one of the best return men in school history. According to Standford's Team Site, "Rushing piled up 1409 yards to rank third all-time at Stanford with a 27.1 yard average that ranks him second."

In the Colts first pre-season game versus the Rams, Rushing had a 63 yard kick-off return, totaling two returns for a 41 yard average. I think it might be time to uncover my eyes.