Though it was another victory, you can still tell that Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts are far from any real contention this year. The Cleveland Browns are 1-5 today. Yesterday they were 1-4. The Colts should have won this game, but they should have won it by a lot more. 17 points against the 30th ranked defense in the NFL isn’t what I would call impressive.

I’ll start by pointing out that in 1998, coming into game 6, Peyton Manning had 4 TD passes, 12 interceptions and a 1-4 record. Luck came in at 7 TD passes, 7 interceptions and a 2-3 record. If you want to be happy about something, then be happy about that. I don’t know how many people know this, but #18 went on to be a pretty decent QB, and still is.

I think Luck is very inaccurate. His throws are usually behind the receiver, like he’s still not used to the speed of NFL wideouts. If he isn’t behind them then he’s way too long, like he’s over compensating. Something else I should mention; 1998 – 55% completion rate, 2012 – 54%. One more thing, Peyton had a much more experienced team around him than Andrew does. So if you were to look into a crystal ball, and if history tells us anything, then there will be joy in Indianapolis again. Just not right now.

The defense played fairly well, but then, again, it was the Cleveland Browns. 55 yards rushing against them, which is fantastic. However, Ternt Richardson was hurt and Brandon Weeden had a lot of open targets. Had Josh Gordon caught that for sure TD pass we might be looking at 2-4 instead of 3-3. But he dropped it and the defense held. I also believe that Luck would have had another game winning drive had he caught it. The defense had no real pressure on Weeden and had it been AAron Rogers, Tom Brady or any number of non-rookie quarterbacks Indianapolis would’ve been looking at a losing record right now.

I have to say that I was impressed with Vick Ballard. If I were Donald Brown I’d be a little worried about my starting position. There were a number of times when Ballard was caught behind the line yet still made substantial gains. I don’t believe Brown has that ability. Hell, even Delon Carter looked better than Brown has. Donald Brown needs open space, a hole to run through. I f not, he goes down like Peyton used to when he knew he was going to be sacked. Both Ballard and Carter put their heads down and brought the fight to the tackler. DBs, safeties and even some linebackers will think about that the next time they go to hit them.

I still feel the same way I’ve always felt about the offensive line, they’re just bad. Luck took another smackdown from a speeding pass rusher who just happened to blow by a Colt lineman. One of these times Luck may not get up. What then? Drew Stanton? Credit to Luck, he was aware enough to try to get back the fumble caused by the monster hit. This has got to stop. Period.

All in all, the Colts are 3-3 and sit in 2nd place in the AFC South, which no one thought would be the case after week 7 of the season. Next week they travel to Nashville to take on the Titans. Though this is a winnable game, the Colts have shown that they are not the same team on the road as they are at home, which is the case with most young teams with a rookie quarterback. So, until next week ….

One note; It was great to hear that Head Coach Chuck Pagano went home from the hospital and watched the game from there.

I just …. I don’t know what to say. Offensive line, defensive line, 2013 draft, free agency. What else is there?

In what became a very emotional day in Indianapolis, the Colts, also of Indianapolis, pulled off a stunner against the vaunted Green Bay Packers.

From the beginning it looked as though the Pack was gonna roll all over the Colts. It seemed for Aaron Rogers that playing Indy was just what he needed to get back to the all-everything he has been in the past.

The Colts were playing with heavy hearts for their head coach Chuck Pagano, diagnosed with leukemia the week before. He (Pagano) had told his team earlier that day to concentrate on getting to .500. Don’t play with too much emotion, and execute. Well, that plan went out the window by the end of the first half.

I don’t know what was said in that locker room during the halftime intermission, but what came out of that tunnel to start the third quarter was nothing short of inspiring.

All of the sudden it was Rogers running for his life. To no avail, he was sacked five times in the second half. He was picked off and pressured for the rest of the game. Andrew Luck was getting protection and Donald Brown was bouncing outside for huge gains. It was definitely a tale of two halves. And once again Luck came through with what would be another game winning drive.

Reggie Wayne. My God man. He just seems to be having a ball with his new quarterback. He (along with Cory Redding) has become the emotional cornerstone for a team that needs every advantage it can get to succeed even a little. He’s always had great hands, but Sunday put him in my Hall of Fame, if not the one in Canton, Ohio.

The Indianapolis defense in the second half was what, I hope, Chucky P was talking about when he said we were “Building a Monster”. If this is what we can expect in the future, and if the O-line gets to be where it needs to be, then watch out. I will tell you that those big mouth Texans fans will have a very short period of bragging rights. That’s right, I said it. I’m sorry but I hate every thing Texas. They may beat us this year, but that will be it. They are winning right now, but they aren’t dominating like the Colts of the past, or the Saints Superbowl team or last years Packers. In a year or two, they will go back to being our annoying little sister. Okay, tangent over. They just bug me, bad.

The Colts next two games are very winnable. In fact there are eight games left on the schedule that they have a decent chance of winning. I’m not saying they will, but you never know. Win or not, the Colts are a team to watch. I don’t know if it was all emotion Sunday, but the Colts showed that even with their obvious short comings, they have the ability to stay with anybody. If they learned anything Sunday, I hope they learned that.

We are and will be, “Chuck Strong!”

It was going to be a monumental task any way.

The Green Bay Packers are way better than the Indianapolis Colts. That’s not debatable. Pulling a major upset at home could be a huge lift for a franchise that is in the middle of a rebuild (even though they won’t say it) and lacking in talent on both sides of the line.

Now we find out that their leader, head coach Chuck Pagano, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. It is said to be a treatable form of cancer. I am not a doctor but from what I hear and what I’ve seen, leukemia, any leukemia, is a real bitch. I pray, as do we all, that he recovers, and recovers fully.

Taking the reins for the Colts will be offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. The Colts will soldier on. Arians has stated that coach Pagano would not want his players to “win one for Chuck”. Playing with emotion is something most players do any way. But when you go through something like this it is best to just go out and do your job. Period.  The best way to honor your ailing head coach is to execute the way he coached you. Stay in your lanes, fill your gaps.

Clay Mathews, holy crap. How will the already woeful offensive line stop that monster? With three step drops and screens, that’s how. I have stated time and time again that the Colts don’t run enough screens, if any. As much pressure as Andrew Luck consistently gets on him you would think Arians would alleviate that by calling more screens. Make defensive linemen second guess their rush by worrying about being fooled into a set up.

The Colts receivers are going to have to keep their eyes open early on their routes. If Luck uses the three step drop they won’t have a lot of time to get open. I would expect the Packers to get in the faces of the Indianapolis receivers right on the line of scrimmage, leaving very little windows for Luck to throw in to. He’s already ranked with one of the worst completion percentages on passes 10 yards or less. I also believe that Green Bay will bring their safeties up close to prevent any running game (not that there is one). I think they’ll be able to do this because of the lack of time Luck will have to throw.

Defensively the Colts are going to have to put pressure on Aaron Rogers. Dwight Freeney may be back this week; and if he is you have to believe that a messed up ankle will slow him down a bit, physically and mentally. Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky definitely has his work cut out for him. As I say every week, stop the run, pressure the quarterback, stop them on third down and get off the field.

We will without a doubt see what the Indianapolis Colts are made of this Sunday afternoon. I don’t expect them to win but I sure would like to see some heart. Make it a game and don’t give up, no matter what.

I have no prediction. I’m not that smart.

It’s a little confusing rooting for the Indianapolis Colts this year. On one hand you want them to win every game. On the other hand you know (or you think you know) that they won’t win more than 4-6 games the entire season. That’s why games like the one this Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars is so important as a fan. You have to pick and choose the games to get fired up about. This is a game they can win. This is a game they should win.

Jacksonville is 0-2 coming off losses to Minnesota and a very good Houston Texans team. They have the 31st ranked run defense. They do have the 16th ranked pass defense but you can probably credit that to the fact that teams don’t have to pass against them. The Jaguars gave up over 200 yards rushing to the Texans. Arian Foster only had 110 of those yards so it looks like it didn’t matter who they handed the ball to.

Maurice Jones Drew is an annual Colt killer. He only got the ball 12 times last week but, again, I’m assuming that’s because they were playing from behind pretty much the whole game. Against Indianapolis he’s like a bowling ball. I’m not sure, but I believe he gets his first 1000 yards per season in the two games he plays against the Colts. Indianapolis has fared decent against the run this year holding both Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte below 100 yards. That’s pretty good against two of the NFL’s premier running backs. They will have to continue that against the Jaguars if they want another win.

The Colts seem to get a little better each week both offensively and defensively. This may be a good chance for Andrew Luck to be unleashed. If the Colts can get Donald Brown going a little Sunday it should open up the play action. That’s obvious, but the offensive line so far this season has not been very impressive and Brown and Luck have been pretty much on their own. So I’m hoping that this week they get off the ball a lot better. Instead of being pushed backwards all day long I would like to see some forward motion for once. If they can’t do it against Jacksonville they won’t do it against anybody this year.

I’m not sure which Blaine Gabbert we will see this week. I think the Jaguars are going to stick to the run at least in the beginning to minimize the impact Gabbert will have. Obviously if they’re running the ball well they won’t have to rely on him to win the game. If the Colts can limit MJD even a little and keep pressure on Gabbert then I believe the Colts win big. But if history tells us anything it’s that MJD loves to play the Colts.

So, there you have it. Limit MJD, pressure Gabbert, open some running lanes and the Colts win. Honestly, I think it will be close. I think MJD will get his yards, but in the end Colts win 24-17.

In 2011 it took the Indianapolis Colts 15 weeks to win their first game of the season. By then “Suck For Luck” was the only rally cry one could hear throughout the state of Indiana. We got our wish. Thank God. This season, with Andrew Luck, it only took two.

Behind an offensive line that has to be the worst in the NFL, and getting worse (injuries), Luck  remained calm and cool while dodging the Minnesota defense all day long. And when it counted the most, at the end of the first half and at the end of the game, he looked like he’d been there before. Many times. With a little over a minute left in the first half he marched the offense down the field and threw a perfect pass to Reggie Wayne for a touchdown to take a 20-6 lead into the locker room. That shows everyone that head coach Chuck Pagano had every bit of confidence a coach could have with a 10 year veteran, let alone a 23 year old rookie.

Then, in the beginning of the second half, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians went total conservation. Running up the middle on nearly every play the Colts went 3 and out time after time. Pagano witnessed the success of this approach from his time in Baltimore, who actually have an offensive line, and Arians did it in Pittsburgh. They could just hand the ball off to Ray Rice (in Baltimore) and any Steeler running back and they’d go for 4-5 yards every time. He doesn’t have that luxury in Indianapolis. The Vikings defensive linemen were in the Colts backfield all day. Luck should have had the opportunity to increase the lead that the Colts held at the half. Instead he gave Minnesota every opportunity to come back and make a game of it. With 5 minutes left in the game that’s exactly what they did. What should have been a mini blowout turned into a nail biter.

After Minnesota scored two unanswered touchdowns the, Colts found themselves in a 20-20 tie with 31 seconds to play. Enter Andrew Luck. Two 20 yard passes to Donnie Avery and Reggie Wayne respectively, and then a 5 yard penalty (one of many) against the Vikings, Luck handed the keys to “Mr. Clutch” Adam Venatieri, who promptly put the ball right down the middle for a 53 yd field goal to win the game. 30 seconds. Let me say that again, 30 seconds.

After the last Minnesota touchdown the sideline cameras caught Luck yelling ,“30 seconds, we can do this”!! (may not be verbatim). To me, that’s leadership. As a Marine, I would have followed that guy anywhere. Two last minute drives, two last minute scores. Impressive.

The defense played fairly well. Adrian Peterson, in the beginning was grinding 5 and 6 yards per carry. That was somewhat bothersome. But he never busted a long one and the Colts pretty much held him in check for only 60 yards. They sacked Christian Ponder 4 times, by 4 different defenders. I liked that. Up until the last two drives, the secondary held there own. Jerraud Powers and Antoine Bethea looked great. Vontae Davis looks like he may be getting his legs and the linebackers played solid all day. Justin King, on the other hand, is killing the Colts. When King comes in (on nickle situations) opposing teams just target his receiver. He fails time and time again. If he’s not getting beat, he’s getting pass interference penalties. I fail to mention Tom Zibikowski because I really didn’t see him at all. He had no impact, as usual.

All Pro Canal Swimmer Pat McAfee booted a 64 yard punt that saved the backed up Colts from giving the Vikings great field position. Punters, some times overlooked, can have huge impacts on the strategy of a game. Field position is big and he kicked well throughout.

Though this was a good win for Indianapolis, there are still a lot of holes that need addressed. Minnesota is a bad and undisciplined team, and Indy should have won this game. With all the penalties the Vikings committed, they helped beat themselves. It should not have been as close as it was. That being said, I see a bright future for this franchise. Maybe not this year (we may see a few games like the Bears game), but not too far off either.

The Indianapolis Colts’ first game of the season last Sunday wasn’t what we had hoped for. In fact, with the exception of injury, it couldn’t have gone worse. Andrew Luck threw 3 interceptions, fumbled once, was sacked 3 times and was running for his life the rest of the time. The defense was monumentally bad against both the run and the pass. I would like to say again that Chicago was a good offensive team, but after watching Green Bay embarrass them Thursday night I’m not so sure.

What that game showed us was that if you pressure Jay Cutler he will make mistakes, a lot of them. The Colts showed that in the first couple of series against the Bears. Then they just disappeared. Poof! They were gone. Then Cutler looked All-Pro. If you pressure the quarterback your secondary won’t have to cover so long. Pressure equals sacks, bad throws and interceptions, just ask Luck. You can have a second rate defensive backfield if your front seven is putting the hammer down on the quarterback consistently.

That’s where the Colts fail. There were times when they got to the qb, but way more times than not Cutler had all day to pick apart the secondary. The Colts front seven have to do a much, much better job.

It’s been said that Sundays game against Minnesota is one of the most winnable games of the season for Indianapolis. That sounds like a must win to me. They beat Jacksonville in overtime last week, Jacksonville’s not good. But the Vikings have Adrian Peterson and the Colts have not shown that they can stop the run.  The obvious key here for Indianapolis is to limit AP and pressure Christian Ponder. They need to get off the field on third downs and give Luck and the offense multiple possessions.

Offensively the Colts O-line has to do a whole lot more protecting than they did against Chicago. Give Luck some time and keep him off his back. They have to open up some running lanes for Donald Brown and Vick Ballard. Sounds easy. But the Colts have shown that the O-line is by far one of the worst in the NFL. Two new additions this week says that GM Ryan Grigson and head coach Chuck Pagano know this. Sooner or later they’re going to have to settle on a permanent starting line. There is no way changing the line up every week is going to promote any kind of continuity, which is paramount to a successful offense.

I’m not sure what to expect this weekend. Did they learn any thing last week? Did they make the necessary adjustments? Was last week just first game jitters or is this the way it’s going to be all season long? We knew it was going to be a process to get to where they want to be and I’m willing to be patient. But you want to see improvement from week to week.  They say that the biggest improvements are made between week 1 and week 2, for the Colts it’s a matter of necessity.

MINNESOTA – 31 INDIANAPOLIS – 28

The first thing most experts, fans and bloggers are going to do after the Colts 41-21 loss to the Chicago Bears is compare Andrew Lucks performance to RGIII and Peyton Manning. That is a mistake.

Strictly by the box score you will see that he threw 3 interceptions, fumbled once and was sacked three times. He had a rating of 52.9. What you won’t see is that he was running for his life on damn near every drop back. To put it mildly, the Colts offensive line was absolutely horrible. What you won’t see is that he picked himself up off the turf and did it all over again, and again, and again.

Both RGIII and Manning have respectable offensive lines, a running game and a defense. The Colts have none of that. Comparing Luck with those other two guys is like apples and watermelons, it’s absurd. So let’s not even go there.

Instead let’s talk about the total lack of talent currently in the Colts starting lineup. I’ve already discussed the offensive line and believe me I could go on and on, but I think Mr. Lucks’ stats say enough.

Defensively my mother (she’s a saint, not a New Orleans kind of saint, just a regular saint) could have sat back there and thrown for 300 yards against what I might consider a defense that’s a step up from Savannah State. Granted, the Bears are very talented on the offensive side of the ball, but how much of it was Chicago’s talent and how much was the Colts lack of talent? With the front four putting absolutely no pressure on Jay Cutler, they left the secondary to fend for themselves. What a disaster that was. Indianapolis’ defensive backfield made former Colts castoffs and current Bears corners Tim Jennings and Kelvin Hayden look like All-Pros.  Chicago receivers were open all day long. The Bears were only 4 for 12 on third down conversions, but when you’re gaining 10-12 yards on first and second down who cares?

Obviously, I was not very happy with the Colts performance on Sunday. And some will say that I’m being a little too harsh. That everything is new to these guys, give them a chance. I will, but I just can’t stand to see very well paid professionals get rolled over like they’re standing still.

This new defense was supposed to be all about putting a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, forcing mistakes into turnovers and bad throws. What transpired Sunday was embarrassing to say the least.

One other thing that bothered me Sunday was the lack of screen plays. Anyone who has ever witnessed even a little of the Pittsburgh Steelers while Bruce Arians was there knows that the screen was king. They ran it a lot and they ran it to perfection. Andrew Luck could have minimized the grass stains on his ass had they ran a few screens to slow down the constant pressure the Bears put on him. To me that just makes sense. Oh well, I guess that’s why I’m just a fan.

It’s the first game of the season against what looked like a top tier team; let’s see how they do next week at home against the Vikings. Maybe I’ll change my tune. I hope so

If I had a choice, I would rather open the 2012 NFL season somewhere other than Chicago. Like Miami, no offense (get it? whatever.) to Miami. That being said, I’m just a fan, I don’t make the schedule, I just live with it.

The Colts inability to stop the run, for what seems like forever, has not (in my humble opinion) changed, even with their new 3-4 defense. The Bears can run the ball, period. If this trend continues on Sunday afternoon we’re not going to see too much of Andrew Luck. Also, everyone knows that if you can run the ball effectively it opens up play action all day long. Jay Cutler may not be a top 5 quarterback, but if you give pretty much any NFL quarterback time, he will pick you apart. So if the Colts can’t stop Matt Forte and Michael Bush then look for a lopsided score in favor of Chicago.

However, if the Indianapolis D-line can make a few stops then this game could be a good one. I know that seems obvious, but it’s just a plain fact, we have no idea how this defense will perform, especially early in the season. They have to give Luck a chance, any chance. They have to get off the field. Being one of, if not the worst third down defenses in the league last year, they can only get better. As a fan, it’s very frustrating.

For the Bears defensively, they can definitely bring it. The Colts O-line better be completely focused, because they will need to keep as much pressure off of our rookie qb as possible, on the road, at Soldier Field. They also have to open up running lanes for Donald Brown and the rest of the rbs. Against one of last years best run defenses, this will be a huge undertaking. This is another area of major concern for Indianapolis. If the preseason is any indication of what to expect from the O-line then Sunday could be a long day for Mr. Luck. (Insert “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” reference.)

As a fan of the once proud and successful Indianapolis Colts, I can only hope that both the O-line and D-line play respectively. I can only hope that what we saw in the preseason was all vanilla, that come Sunday, the Colts will prove everyone wrong and play straight up with the Bears. However, until they do, Bears 31-14.

After two weeks of surprisingly decent, sometimes very good play by the Indianapolis Colts we finally witnessed what all the experts and pundits had been concerned about. That the Colts may be what everyone thinks they are. Bad. Very bad.

Maybe they were playing vanilla. Maybe they just didn’t want to show anymore of their hand. What ever the reason, they just looked like they we not into all the hype this match-up generated. It was supposed to be the No.1 vs No.2. Luck vs RGIII. What it ended up being was some no name Redskin rookie running down the throats of a non-existent defensive line. It was Andrew Luck running for his life on every drop back. Negative running plays, sacks, constant pressure; and that was just one series for a Colts offensive line that looked more like Swiss cheese than it did the brick wall we were hoping for.

The previous two weeks the Colts had slow starts and then settled down and played much better. Against Washington they started with a bang and then fizzled into pure ugliness. Neither Luck nor RGIII lit it up, but RGIII didn’t have to. All he had to do was hand the ball off to a running back, any running back. Then sit back and watch Freeny and Hughes wave as they ran around them. And if the Redskins went up the middle it seemed like they gained 5,6 or 7 yards every time. The Colts gave up 5.4 yds/carry for the game. It was ugly.

Andrew Luck was the only thing the Colts could feel good about on that Saturday afternoon. Even under constant pressure from a good Washington defense Luck stayed cool. No interceptions and a very pretty 31 yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton. Other than that there was nothing. I mean nothing. They averaged 2.o yards per rush. Abysmal. Donald Brown – 7 carries, 8 yards. Vick Ballard – 7 carries, 8 yards. Delon Carter – 3 carries, 5 yards. Sacks allowed  – 4 for -28 yards.

If you add it all up it’s a recipe for another #1 pick in the 2013 draft. But, then again, it’s only preseason, just one game, as everyone seems to agree on. As I’ve stated in previous blogs, in Indy it’s more than that. As much hope the Colts gave us in the first two games, they gave as much doubt in the third. Cincinnati is next but the starters won’t be playing much at all, so we really won’t know for sure what the Colts are bringing until September 9th in Chicago against a very good defense and a scarey offense. This time it’s for real.

The big tweet last week was the trade for Miami’s Vontae Davis for a second round and conditional late round (presumably 6th) draft pick in next years draft. I read a lot of the message boards and once you get past all the teenage idiots and uninformed trollers that seem to flood most of these boards, Dolphin fans seem to really hate this move. Some mention the fact that he was lazy, out of shape and just didn’t seem to care. But most realize that playing for a franchise that doesn’t seem to have a clue about building a good team in the NFL would wear on almost anybody. Losing year after year after year would make many people lose interest. Word is he’s for real if he wants to be. He has a new start on a team the really does want to win. A team that has been winning for quite a while. He’s young (24 years old) and has a lot left in him. This trade just may be what he needs to be the force that most believed he could be coming out of college. Regardless, it’s a major upgrade for the Colts. we will find out if the price they paid is worth the risk.