FanHouse JeffSaturday

The Indianapolis Colts are one of the premier franchises in the NFL at the present. Since 1999, they've made the playoffs and won 10 games in all but one season. They've won at least 12 games in the past six. They've had offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd in place during that entire timespan. Tony Dungy was the head coach for the past seven. All three have now departed.

Their replacements are Jim Caldwell (head coach), Clyde Christensen (offensive coordinator) and Pete Metzelaars (offensive line coach). Translation: The Colts just drastically downgraded at three very important coaching positions.

By tomorrow afternoon, the Ravens will either have their replacement for Jason Brown or the Vikings will have brought back the elder statesman of their offensive line. Matt Birk says that his first jump into free agency won't take long, as he'll make a decision by Thursday on whether to sign with the Ravens or return to Minnesota.

The Ravens need Birk more than the Vikings do. Minnesota has been planning for Birk's potential loss, as they are grooming John Sullivan to replace Birk, although there is little doubt that Birk, a six-time Pro Bowler, will be a better center in 2009 than Sullivan.

Peyton Manning should be safe for another year. The Colts beat the free agent clock to re-sign center Jeff Saturday to a three-year deal. The move keeps the Colts' line together for the 2009 season, but more importantly it brings back the man who makes all the line calls and anchors the center of the line.

In his 10-year career, Saturday has allowed only 7.25 sacks and nine penalties according to Stats Inc. Manning's quick release does help Saturday's sack stats, but his presence is vital to the Colts' line, something they found out when he missed four games last year thanks to a knee injury.

If you pay any attention to the Steelers, you probably know that guard Kendall Simmons has struggled with pass blocking, run blocking and staying healthy. But even with that, the Steelers' decision to cut Simmons on Thursday is pretty shocking considering how thin the Steelers are at guard.

Just two years after the Steelers signed Simmons to a five-year, $24 million deal, they cut him on Thursday. It leaves Pittsburgh with only one guard (Darnell Stapleton) on the current roster who has ever started a game. One would hope that this means the Steelers plan on bringing in a guard in free agency, even if Jeff Saturday, their likely No. 1 target, has re-upped with the Colts.

Either Jeff Saturday's agent is doing a good job of raising the Colts price to keep the soon-to-be free agent or the veteran center really wants to come to Pittsburgh.

Saturday's agent told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Saturday would love to replace his blue and white with black and gold. Whether that is a true sentiment or simply a way to try to jack up Saturday's price is something we'll figure out over the next couple of days.

But if Saturday does come to Pittsburgh, it would be a big step forward for a team that will likely sit out most of the free-agent spending spree.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The Indianapolis Colts are one of the league's marquee franchises in the present tense. In 2008, they won 12 games -- their baseline figure for the past six seasons. No one else in the NFL can stake that claim. In fact, they've made the playoffs in nine of the last 10 seasons overall, another league-high in that span.

The problem, as has been the case far too many times for these Colts, was that they came away empty-handed in the postseason.

While there were some nice offensive stats -- Peyton Manning went 26-for-32 for 277 yards and three scores -- the story of this game was the Indianapolis defense. After losing Gary Brackett, the rest of the Colts defensive personnel stepped up their game with five sacks, four takeaways, and a touchdown. The Bengals managed only a field goal.

Obviously, we can qualify all of the above by saying the Bengals are quite the embarrassing football team at this point -- being spared much ridicule in light of the Lions' woes -- but you can only play the competition put in front of you. The Colts have now won six straight games. They get the Lions at home before traveling to Jacksonville in Week 16. Really, it's hard to see how this team gets tripped up before the last week, which means they'll be bringing an 11-4 record home to face Tennessee.

The only item of concern has to be the running game. Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai combined for only 57 yards on 20 carries. When Jeff Saturday comes back some of this should be resolved, but they can't go into the playoffs without the ability to run the football.

At least not if they expect to go anywhere.

Earlier in the season the Colts offense struggled, especially running the football, during an absence from their Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday. They'll have to make do without him again, this time for three to four weeks, due to a strained calf muscle. He left the game last night in San Diego because of said ailment. Jamey Richard, a rookie, will take over on snaps, and he has gained some valuable experience this year for nearly three games due to Saturday's mild injury woes.

On the surface, this seems like a huge blow the Colts offense. If you dig deeper, however, you can find some solace in several forms. Perhaps even silver lining. The rest of the team was far from healthy earlier in the season when Saturday missed the first two games, but now they are all pretty much in tip-top shape. The Colts play the Browns, Bengals, and Lions in the next three weeks. They should take those games with ease, even without Saturday in the lineup. This would set them up for a final two games in which they play at Jacksonville and host Tennessee.

Optimistic, but also somewhat realistic, thoughts would place the Colts at 10-4, with Saturday returning to take on the Jags in Week 16.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our live Fantasy Fanhouse experts live chat from 10 am to 1 pm every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Arizona Cardinals

Steve Breaston - Breaston practiced lightly this week with a knee injury, but is expected to play on Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - Turner was seen with his ankle in a bucket of ice (owww)after Sunday's game, but he says it is not serious and will be ready.

The Chicago Bears

Devin Hester - Hester has some torn cartilage in his ribs and has not practiced this week. I doubt if anybody starts Hester, but if so look elsewhere as he probably will not play.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our live Fantasy Fanhouse experts live chat from 10 am to 1 pm every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Arizona Cardinals

Steve Breaston - Breaston practiced lightly this week with a knee injury, but is expected to play on Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - Turner was seen with his ankle in a bucket of ice (owww)after Sunday's game, but he says it is not serious and will be ready.

The Chicago Bears

Devin Hester - Hester has some torn cartilage in his ribs and has not practiced this week. I doubt if anybody starts Hester, but if so look elsewhere as he probably will not play.