What I Saw Today

1. The tribute to Edgerrin James was the best moment of the day for me. The crowd was screaming like the Colts had just won a nail-biter. They packed some amazing highlights into the short tribute video. You could tell how much it meant to #32. Manning said he was almost choked up out there.

2. Offensively the Colts were consistent. They moved the ball well all game, but seemed a bit disinterested after the lead grew to 25 points. Garcon and Collie continue to improve. Addai is getting his groove back. I still don't like all the runs to the outside. It just isn't working. Despite some obvious flaws, I'm giving the run game the benefit of the doubt. The Colts are finally notching rushing touchdowns and even picked up four rushing first downs.

3. Defensively, I'm impressed. The tackling has been stellar thus far. Lots of effort plays being made (Foster and Mathis come to mind). I'll take 49 yards on 19 rushes any day. Still not in love with Tim Jennings, but the secondary will get much better with Kelvin Hayden's imminent return.

4. Tennessee. The true dumpster fire. Allowing over 300 yards passing to Garrard? No interceptions? Guess we know the game plan for next Sunday night. (Fun fact: The Colts next two opponents are a combined 0-8).

5. Denver is 4-0, but they are really hard to watch. Their next seven games? New England, @San Diego, @Baltimore, Pittsburgh, @Washington, San Diego, NY Giants. Good luck with that.

6. The Jets can play some defense, but the team itself doesn't scare me. Sanchez looked horrible.

7. The November 15th game against the Pats is shaping up to be a big one. That is as it should be.

8. I don't get the retractable roof at Lucas Oil. Most estimates put its cost at over $100 million, but it gets used for just two games a year. It is nice and all, but I'd rather have that money back.

9. How good are the Colts? We are learning more each week, but it is still too early to know. I'm seeing 12 wins on the schedule at this point. I think the five remaining AFC South games will be difficult.

10. There are a lot of unknowns, but 4-0 looks really good right now.

DZ COMMENTS:

Here are 8 more. If ever there was a day to keep with the '18' theme, it was today.

Dwight Freeney's play was inspiring, but Mathis was electrifying.
Kyle Orton's game winning TD pass was the worst game winning pass I've ever seen...since his last horrible game winning pass three weeks ago.
I know Jennings makes a lot of good plays, but only because they throw at him almost every down. Still, he is drastically better than he used to be, and does a very solid job tackling. He may be a weak link of sorts, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I can't believe I'm actually worried about Charlie Johnson's health.
Garcon gets better every week. I can't believe how much better these two WRs are than just two weeks ago. I didn't think it was possible. Like I said, I wasn't wrong to question their play through the first two weeks, but I was clearly wrong to say the O couldn't be elite until Gonzo came back.
This defense is crazy good. The Wildcat thing was a bit of a fluke. When Brackett, Sanders and Hayden are back...watch out. It just shows that the this D is clearly much deeper than I gave it credit for. Mathis and Freeney have become utterly unstoppable.
It's hard not not to believe in this team. They could win 12 games by rolling out of bed at this point. They play just 5 games against teams with winning records the rest of the year. Four of those games are at home.

And finally,

maybe it's just self preservation, but I admit that while I thought the team could be THIS good for about a week, I got skittish during camp. I'm still not sold that the run game is quite good enough yet, but it's clearly better than it was last year. It's the best of all worlds right now: excellent, championship play, but room to improve and get better.

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Injury Report
written by Chip Bennett, October 04, 2009

What's the word on Bullitt and Charlie Johnson?

They were the only two injuries of note that I heard.

...
written by Willy Duer, October 04, 2009

Glad someone else noticed that AWFUL throw from Orton. Just terrible. The Cowboys should be ashamed of themselves.

Actually, the same secondary let another awful throw beat them a few weeks ago. That Eli TD toss to Manningham was a pick waiting to happen if Newman had simply turned around. (Who throws a deep ball to the end zone inside and low?) So far that has been Eli's worst ball of the season though, which works out for me as a Giants fan too.

Anyway, that's a great way to look at Jennings. He played poorly (and got yanked, from what I could tell), but is not as bad as most people thing. Either way, though, how cool is it that that's our weak link right now? The DTs have been playing like real men these past 2 games, the LBs and tackling have improved even without Brackett, the rushing game is doing what it needs to (though I'm still annoyed that they decided to throw so much in the 2nd half today, especially on that 3rd and 1 up 31-3. Might as well have run it, if only for the practice) and the passing game is stellar. This team is showing us why we were all optimistic during the preseason.

Hopefully they continue to improve.

I couldnt agree more with your last statement DZ
written by Robert I., October 04, 2009

This team is playing championship well, but there is still room for improvement. That's what I love about this team. They are good, really good, but can only get better

The Roof?
written by Scott P, October 05, 2009

Could you clarify your statement about the retractable roof? I assume you're saying they should have simply built a regular domed stadium instead of spending the extra $100 mil to open it up only a few times a year. As a local taxpayer, I don't disagree with that statement.

In addition to the Peyback Classic, they have held 3-4 other high school football nights at LOS already this season. So that has given them several more opportunities to open up the roof & let local football fans enjoy the stadium for a much cheaper ticket price too.

...
written by J.C., October 05, 2009

You guys have a WNBA team??

...
written by DZ, October 05, 2009

I hate you, JC.

Why did you have to bring that up?

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written by DemondSanders, October 05, 2009

1. I saw scalpers trying to sell tickets to the Fever game. Truly low moment for those guys.

2. Yes, I think they should have just built a normal roof.

3. I think the Titans game will be very difficult. The Titans have nothing to lose at this point. Jeff Fisher will do something insane (and brilliant). Although Manning may throw for 500 yards to make it a moot point...

...
written by funtime42, October 05, 2009

Since I didn't get the Colts game in WI, I watched the end of the Ravens/Pats game. Don'tknow what was worse - the officiating or the announcer calling them the Baltimore Colts...

...IF
written by Doug England, October 05, 2009

...and it's a big IF, because it is the NFL, but if the Colts ever get 100% healthy, this will be the greatest team of the Indy era.

The reason is that DZ was correct in saying that the defense was the elite unit of the Colts. (Although after the Dolphin's game, 18to88 readers were probably checking his meds for making such a statement.) Can we even imagine this unit with a healthy Sanders, Brackett and Hayden added to the mix?

And the offense (even without Gonzo) has the feel of the 2005/2006 units where you just feel they can score at will. I believe Oester was the first to have an inkling that the offense would be this good, and boy has he been right.

We've always wanted to see what would happen if Peyton ever played with an elite defense. This year may be our chance.

...IF

(And by the way, Dwight Freeney is a man.)

While we're talking about
written by Cass, October 05, 2009

great former players, when are you planning to induct Tarik Glenn as a Classic Colt? It's been a few years now, and it doesn't appear like he's going up into the Ring of Honor.

...
written by J.C., October 05, 2009

The Fever? WTF kind of team name is that?

Why not.....the Indiana Swine Flu?

...
written by C Biscuit, October 05, 2009

What's so pleasantly surprising is how a perceived weakness (WR depth) has become a strength in one off-season. Gonzalez was thought to have the goods to become a reliable complement to Wayne but that was not assured. He had yet to take 'the leap' we were hoping he would take this year. Collie and Garcon made a couple of touch catches and took hard hits. So when Collie and Garcon show they can handle the responsibility Colts fans have to feel good about things. There doesn't appear to be a weak link in the passing game.

None of this is possible without the O-line performing however. Those guys are giving Manning the time to find the mismatches.

You can't help but feel good about this team. They've beaten inferior teams but it's the way they've done it that is impressive. This team takes advantage of opponents mistakes. Miami gave them a gasp of air and that's all they needed. Arizona made red zone mistakes and the Colts promptly stepped on their neck. Seattle was outmanned and they never let them in the game. Lesser teams would have let the Cards and 'Hawks hang around and win by 1 score. It's fun to watch and hope they don't peak too soon.

...
written by DemondSanders, October 05, 2009

Agreed about the WR and the O-line. I'm really looking forward to the Titans game. Should tell us even more...

The sad thing about that
written by Cass, October 05, 2009

JC is that I actually think that that might be a better name.

Also of note, remember Bob Kravitz's interview response a while ago:

12.) More people attend Indians games than Fever games on average. Far more people attend Indians games per season. Do you think the Star's coverage of the two teams is proportional to the fan interest?

First, I'll say I think we've shoved the Fever down people's throats, and if I had a say in it, we'd cut back on coverage. As for the Indians, I don't know that it's all predicated on fan interest. I think people go to the Indians the way they go to the zoo. It's a great experience, but I'm not sure people care very much whether they win or lose, who's on first, who's on third, do they have a left-handed middle reliever. I can only control what I write, and I would say that I've overemphasized the Fever and given the Indians short shrift. I'm hoping to change that in the coming summers.

I don't remember seeing even one Indians column.

...not worthy of Brady
written by Doug England, October 05, 2009

One of the things I love about this site is that it generally does not take pot shots at other teams' players... coaches or columnists maybe, but not cheap shots at other teams' players.

But with all the opinions flying around in the aftermath of the Pats/Ravens game, I going to throw my two cents worth in. Listen the league is going to do eveything it can to protect QBS, and every QB is going to gratefully take any call they can get. I get it.

But Brady yesterday seemed to be lobbying for calls on plays he didn't even go to the ground. (And a couple of times his lobbying seemed to get him the calls.) I know punters fall to the ground like they've been shot to try and get a call, but it just did not seem to be worthy of Brady for him to be yelling at the ref for a call, just because a defender got close to his legs.

...I'm not even saying the calls were wrong
written by Doug England, October 05, 2009

Maybe the calls were right under the letter of the NFL law. And hell no, I would not have the guts to stand in the pocket with the likes of Dwight Freeney and Albert Haynesworth bearing down on me. It just seemed a little sad to see the great Tom Brady, the master of finding his third check down reciever, crying for calls on plays he was barely touched.

WRs whine for the DPI call on every pass play
written by Bob M, October 05, 2009

The difference is, they never get it based on their lobbying. Brady seemed to. Um, who is reffing here, anyway? Ted Williams used to get balls/strikes called like that, too. (great anecdote on that in The Brothers K, BTW, DZ) It is a very easy relinquishing of responsibility for a ref/ump to give the superstar whatever seems appropriate--the fans are happy, the league is happy, and the superstar's continued success (partly due to the beneficial calls) seems to indicate that the calls were right in the first place. Brady is not the first and won't be the last. Plus Winter's crew likes the laundry, as we all know from last year's OT loss to the Chargers.

JC, Swime Flu is too trendy a name. In a few years, there will be a new malady du-jour. Yuppie Flu or Epstein-Barre would have been trendy about 15 years ago, but nothing today. I'm partial to encephalitis or meningitis, but a lot pf peole looking for Greek food might find themselves at a basketball game instead. Think how awesome an arena would sound with the crowd chanting, and alternately clapping, "Clap!" clap "Clap!" clap. Hmmm, might be considered tasteless....

...
written by DZ, October 05, 2009

Been at work all day. I'll try to respond to some of these:

@Cass: Irsay said that Glenn will go in the RoH. I'll wait another couple of years for that to happen before putting him in the CC

@JC Swine flu is the funniest joke I've heard in some time

RE: Brady and lobbying for calls.
I've seen Manning do it. QBs do it all the time.

...
written by sb, October 05, 2009

Edge gives back some love -- http://www.theolympian.com/spo...93319.html

“I’ve always said he’s the best quarterback to ever play the game. That is the way I felt,” said Edgerrin James, a reserve running back with the Seahawks who once shared the Colts backfield with Manning. “Hopefully, everyone feels that way by the time he’s done. Today, you saw the way he went out there and executed (the offense) to perfection.”

easy folks
written by m@, October 05, 2009

I'm torn. It's so hard not to be fired up with how the boys are playing on both sides of the ball, but as dungy was often heard to say, you're never as good/bad as people say you are. and there are still 12 games left in the reg. season.

Anyone else thinking Fisher's going to get VY back into the lineup sunday night in a few wildcat formations? I mean, he's smart enough to see what miami did to us, and they are 0-4 after all. Nothing to lose.

Lastly ... Dwight Friggin' Freeney. Seriously? "At the end of the day..." the guy is just plain unbelievable.

Dwight Freeney......
written by Cass, October 05, 2009

sticking a giant middle finger to Dr. Cass's prognostications.

"No fan tells me when I can and can't play. I'm gonna play this week just because of that."

Not Worthy of Brady?
written by Kentman, October 05, 2009

I don't see how lobbying for ticky-tack penalties ISN'T worthy of Tom Brady. Remember, this is the same guy who cheated and got plenty of calls on his way to "winning" three Super Bowls. The fumble against the Raiders was utterly bullsh!t, the four consecutive defensive holding/pass interference no-calls at the end of the 2003/2004 AFC Championship Game, when the Colts were driving for the tie, were blatantly ignored, and to top it off, their offense had known the defensive plays coming from the sideline for who knows how long (we never got to see those burned tapes...hmmm...) So, no, it doesn't strike me as out of character Brady to sacrifice his dignity, or what little he has left after the aforementioned strikes against it, and bitch and moan for the officials to give him one more call.