FanHouse Jeffsaturday

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?

Over the past decade, the Indianapolis Colts have been one of the most successful franchises in sports. Some constants (Peyton Manning, for example) are easily identifiable to the casual football fan, while others are not. Howard Mudd is part of the latter group.

Mudd is a 67-year-old offensive line coach. He has been with the Colts since 1998. Along with offensive coordinator Tom Moore -- who also started with the Colts in '98 -- Mudd retired in May due to concerns with the NFL's pension plan. The Colts then brought both back under different titles, though they will hold the same duties this upcoming season. For Mudd, 2009 will be his last season as a football coach.

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.