FanHouse Robert Mathis

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.

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

For most franchises, 12 wins is a banner year; one they can hang their proverbial hats upon. For the Colts, 12 wins is a certainly. They have won at least 12 games in each of the last six seasons. They have also had Tony Dungy as their head coach for the past seven years, but now he's gone. In 2009, the Colts will look for some continuity. Can it be provided by the Jim Caldwell administration?

Four of the best quarterbacks in the league, and quite possibly two of the best ever will suit up on Thursday night as week two of the NFL's preseason gets started.

While both Donovan McNabb and Brady have made headlines for off-the-field issues, (McNabb with his insistence on bringing Michael Vick to the Eagles and Brady with news of his wife Gisele and her pregnancy), none of the four play-callers are huge story line material on the field for tonight's matchups.

Here's what everyone should be talking about.

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After looking through some Average Draft Position lists as well as my rankings, it's proven difficult to come up with a list of five underrated defenses. In my opinion, the top ten drafted defenses are the right ones to draft. Some may be a spot high or low, but there are no surefire starters out there that are underrated.

What I want to talk to you about today, class, is the ill-conceived strategy of drafting defenses in the middle rounds. In the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh rounds, you need to concentrate on adding quality value picks before turning to your defensive selection. All it takes is one injury to turn your supposedly-great draft into a mess, so use these middle-round picks to fortify your QB, RB and WR starters. Because in the end, you don't even need to draft a good defense. It's much more cost-effective to cycle through defenses playing at home against inferior offenses.

But leaving you with that would eliminate the fun, so here are a couple of defenses that you should consider adding at the end of the draft.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Team under Peyton's leadership for the first time without Tom Moore*. That's right. Peyton's only offensive coordinator for his entire 11-year career has been the venerable Moore. Moore's first year at the helm was Manning's rookie season, so the two grew together. It's going to be interesting to see how Manning fares without his mentor calling the shots.

Of course, Manning's obviously cerebral enough to deal quite well with the transition, and the Colts have enough weapons in their arsenal to remain the high-octane offense we're used to seeing every fall.

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With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Indianapolis Colts enter the 2009 season as one of the NFL's marquee franchises. They have made the playoffs nine of the last 10 seasons, and have won at least 12 games for six straight seasons. There's a reason for that. Well, there are many reasons, but everything starts with how well the Colts draft. Beginning with the franchise-making decision to take Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf in 1998, Bill Polian has missed once in the first round. I imagine Colts fans are pretty trusting of their Team President when Roger Goodell strolls to the podium.

For years we've seen different Colts myths exploded.

First it was that Peyton Manning couldn't win the big game, but now that he's wearing a Super Bowl ring, it's hard to say that.

Along the way, we also found that the undersized Colts defense could stop the run. And we've discovered that Reggie Wayne can fill the No. 1 wide receiver role that used to be Marvin Harrison's domain.

But even now, there is a general understanding that the key to the Colts defense is safety Bob Sanders. When Sanders is out, the Colts defense is soft, but Sanders' tackling and his ability to play in the box gives the Colts a toughness that otherwise is lacking.

It sounds great, but this year, it just hasn't been true, at least statistically.

Back in Week 3, these two teams met in Indianapolis. Jacksonville thoroughly dominated time of possession (41:35 to 18:25), yet still needed a last second drive and a clutch 51 yard field goal from Josh Scobee to win it. You can see Scobee mugging the ball-boy here after the kick in one of my favorite pictures of the 2008 season.

The Jags ran all over Indy, as both Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew went over 100 yards on the ground. Also, Rashean Mathis returned a pick 61 yards for a touchdown.

At the time it was thought that this saved Jacksonsville's season, one that carried lofty expectations. The Colts seemed vulnerable, especially because the defense supposedly couldn't stop the run unless Bob Sanders was suited up.

My, how things have changed.

The Jags are dead man walking presently. Taylor and Mathis are out for the season. The Colts are riding a seven game winning streak, and will be headed, yet again, to the playoffs. They have been stopping the run better as of late, even when Sanders is sidelined, due to the emergence of Melvin Bullitt, though Sanders is now back.

Three key questions:

The AFC and NFC Pro Bowlers were announced a short while ago, and why make some pointless comment you are sure not to laugh at when we can just give you the rosters instead? Here goes.

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 with his finger in the air 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.

Here's Week 13 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory. (Disclaimer: This will only be for the Sunday games, since you probably can't even remember the Thursday games at this point.)

Studs

Mark Clayton, WR Baltimore (5 catches, 164 yards, 1 TD, 1-for-1 passing, 32 yards, 1 TD) -- Trick plays hardly ever seem to work these days, maybe because they are used with such regularity, or maybe because defenses are too fast to be fooled. I guess I should rework that first sentence a bit -- "Trick plays hardly ever work these days, unless you are playing the Bengals." Clayton had an absolutely bananas grab with one hand for his touchdown pass from Joe Flacco, and then tossed one to Derrick Mason for another score in the Ravens' rout. Clayton doubled his previous yardage total for the season and helped move Baltimore to, wait for it, 8-4 and still an outside chance at a playoff birth.