FanHouse Reggie Wayne

INDIANAPOLIS -- You expect the Colts to throw, and throw a lot, but even for Peyton Manning and his band of merry, pass-happy men this was a little bit nuts. Indy ran nine plays -- eight of them passes -- in the first two minutes of the game, averaging one every 14 seconds, completely disregarding the play clock and leaving their star offensive players more than a little bit tuckered out.

"I wouldn't call it fun," said tight end Dallas Clark, who caught 11 passes in the first half and 14 -- for 119 yards -- in the game. "When you run 60 plays in the first half, you're going to feel that on Wednesday and Thursday. But the win makes it feel a lot better."

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This weekend's AFC South showdown appeared, at the beginning of the week, to be one of those strength vs. strength matchups. The Colts have the NFL's seventh-ranked pass defense and they have only allowed three passing touchdowns all season (making them the stingiest in the NFL). The Houston Texans are the NFL's third-best passing team and have thrown 16 touchdown passes in eight games.

Things this week, have, uh, changed a bit.

It's looking like Anquan Boldin will miss this week's game, so he doesn't appear in our rankings (*until now). Everyone else, including Calvin Johnson, Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne and any other injured receiver, has been ranked as if they'll play on Sunday.

Unsure whether you'll actually have your top wideout available to you for Week 9? Join us Sunday morning for our Tailgate chat, where we dole out lineup advice and keep you apprised of all the notable gameday inactives.

And if you're curious, no, Mike Sims-Walker didn't get hurt last week. The Titans finally manned up and played a little pass defense. Is this cause for concern with MSW, or just a blip on the radar? More after the jump.

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Much has been made about the Indianapolis Colts and their 7-0 start. As I pointed out in the power rankings, they are actually 82-21 in the regular season since the beginning of 2003. They are an absolute juggernaut. Thus far this season, we've heard lots of talk about how Peyton Manning looks better than ever and the Colts are firing on all cylinders. This week, we're bound to hear a lot about how the Colts are the biggest test yet for a Houston Texans team looking to visit the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

The funny thing is, in a movement worthy of Bizarro-World status, the Texans are actually the first big test for the Colts.

Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

• Trent Edwards, Bills - Edwards has been ruled out for Week 8. He participated in practice on Wednesday but only in a limited capacity. He's not recovering as quickly from the concussion as the medical staff would like, even though he's been cleared to play. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start in his place.

• Matthew Stafford, Lions - Stafford practiced fully on Tuesday but was limited on Wednesday with his knee injury. The fact that he practiced two days in a row is a step in the right direction, but it's still not known whether or not he'll be able to start on Sunday.

Where do breakout receivers like Mike Sims-Walker, Miles Austin and Hakeem Nicks rank in this week's edition?

Going by Austin's last two games, he should be at the top, but it's not a stretch to think his 150-yard, two-TD per game stretch will come to an end this week. Sooner or later, Nicks will have a game where he doesn't catch a long TD; it would have come in Week 7 if not for a lucky bounce off Steve Smith's hands.

I have nothing bad to say about Sims-Walker, except that he'd better make curfew this week!

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Did the injury bug hit your fantasy football team like it was a car windshield moving at 100 MPH? If so, it may be time to do some Damage Control.

Running Back

• Donald Brown, Colts - Brown left with a strained shoulder on Sunday and did not return. More information will be learned this week.

• Leon Washington, Jets - Washington left Sunday's game with a broken leg. He'll be out for the season, although the Jets say they are going to wait to put him on injured reserve.

• Jonathan Stewart, Panthers - Stewart injured his finger and left the game on Sunday. He did return later in the game but you'll want to watch and see what he does in practice this week. Any kind of hand injury can wreak havoc on ball-carriers.

Still missing wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez because of a knee injury, the Colts' offense suffered another setback Sunday at St. Louis when running back Donald Brown exited Indianapolis' game with a first-half injury. Receiver Reggie Wayne also left, limping off with a groin injury, but returned after halftime.

On the other side of the ball, defensive back Bob Sanders, who continues to make his case for "Most Fragile Player in the NFL", walked to the locker room with a trainer early in the fourth quarter.

Even with all the injury issues, Indianapolis smoked St. Louis, 42-6, to move to 6-0 on the year.

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Go to your league's ranking page and sort the wide receivers by average production per game. It's probably not a shock to see two Patriots in the top six, but did you realize that there were three Giants receivers in the top 15? Steve Smith has obviously caught our attention, and Mario Manningham has caught TDs in back-to-back weeks to remain fantasy relevant. Coming up in a blaze of points is Hakeem Nicks, who has scored over 10 points in each of his last three contests by catching long touchdown after long touchdown -- in fact, he only had one catch in Week 4 and took it 54 yards for a score for an 11.4-point game. Are all three starter-worthy this week?

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The Montana-Young 49ers, the '70s Steelers, the '70s Dolphins, the '90s Cowboys, the Belichick-and-Brady Patriots: what do they all have in common? They are all-time great NFL teams that racked up many wins in a handful of seasons. You know what else they have in common? None of them have ever put together as impressive a regular season resume as the current Peyton Manning-era Colts.

That's right, after beginning this season 5-0, the Manning-era Colts are now 80-21 since the beginning of 2003. The '70s Steelers went 87-27-1 from 1972-1979. From 1981-1998, the 49ers were always pretty stout, but they never put together a six-plus season run where they played close to .800 ball like the current Colts (they came closest from 1987-1992 when they went 75-20). The '90s Cowboys went 70-20 in their best stretch. From 2001-2007, the Patriots went 86-26. Shula's '70s Dolphins, at 67-16-1, check in as the best competition.

So, these Colts should go down as one of the best teams of all-time, right? Uh, no. Not yet, at least.