Who Wants Man Meat!? - My 2008 Indianapolis Colts Preview

It’s here! The 2008 NFL season is upon us and you know what that means…time for my annual Indianapolis Colts preview – in other words, time for me to bore the ever-living crap out of 98% of the people reading this. Good times!

Last year was lackluster in producing juicy stories heading into the season – except for the Mike Vick story that somehow seems like it was 5 years ago that all went down. This year is different. This year, we’re all on pins and needles to see Brett Favre in a new uniform…riveting! Beyond that, the storylines this summer and preseason have revolved around injuries. Will Peyton Manning and Tom Brady be healthy for the season? Should pro-bowler Shawne Merriman risk his career to play this season with a torn MCL, or should he have surgery and rehab for next year? What will the New York Superbowl Giants do now that 2 of 3 of their defensive studs are gone (Strahan retired, Umenyiora out for the season)? I really can’t remember another time where so many key players are question marks heading into the season. Brady, Manning, Chad Johsnon, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Maurice Jones-Drew, Matt Hasselbeck, Braylon Edwards etc. etc. Fantasy football leagues all across the land are in peril from this outbreak of injuries. Unfortunately, the Colts are at the very tippy top of the mountain of injuries and there’s no real promise heading into the season that everything will be okay. Let’s begin.

Infected Bursa Sac Buddies!! ------------->

Strengths:

The re-acquisition of Dominic Rhodes – Yes, after experiencing the dark side, making irresponsible decisions and putting illegal substances into his body, Dominic “the prodigal” Rhodes has returned for a second stint with the Colts. If you remember way back in 2007 when the Colts became the rulers of the football world, Rhodes was the starter and focal point of the Colts’ running game. Rookie Joseph Addai was becoming a stud and a HUGE reason why the Colts finally beat the Patriots in the playoffs, but Rhodes was the guy who came up with the big plays when the Colts needed them – especially in the Superbowl against the Bears, where Rhodes ran for 113 yards and a touchdown on a rainy Miami night where the ground game was absolutely essential. A one year contract for $600,000 provides the team with very little risk and the potential for a very big reward if Rhodes can play the way he played in 06. Now Rhodes will be a backup and he knows this offense, so he’ll be able to fit right in. Addai suffered some injuries himself last year, so the addition of Rhodes in the backfield should help keep Addai fresh all season long.

Tony Dungy still lives here – Even if Rhodes was a troublemaker out in Oakland last year, he won’t dare screw up under Dungy’s reign. After weeks of speculation at the end of last season, Indianapolis exhaled one big collective breath when Dungy said he’d be returning for at least one more season. Even though I really have no clue what Dungy does during football games except wander back and forth on the sidelines with his arms crossed, just having him there watching the game makes me feel all snuggly inside.

Peyton Manning is still on the roster – All signs point to him playing in week one, but Manning hasn’t taken a snap all preseason long because he had an infected Bursa Sac removed from his knee in July. If Manning plays, then you can pencil in another 4,000 yard, 30-touchdown season. If he doesn’t play all of the games, then who would you rather have on the sidelines, coaching Jim “I’m a fan disguised as a quarterback” Sorgi through every fumble and interception?

Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison – BOTH have something to prove this year. Harrison wants to prove that he’s a) not washed up, and b) not a criminal. Wayne wants to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke and he ain’t nobody’s b!@#$.

Defense – I could sit here and write about how Bob Sanders just got back from Krypton, or how Dwight Freeney feels like a rookie again because he hasn’t been on a football field in 10 months, but that’d be too easy. No doubt, without those two players, the Colts defense would strug-gle this season. Instead, I want to say how I’m most looking forward to watching the likes of Antoine Bethea, Marlin Jackson, Kelvin Hayden and Freddie Keiaho come into their own after a few seasons under their belts. I believe Bethea is primed to become just as big of a beast as Sanders this year, and I think the hard-hitting combo of Jackson and Hayden can hang with any CB duo in the league. The Colts have a reputation of molding great linebackers (see: David Thornton, Mike Peterson, Cato June), and Keiaho has had a few seasons to get his feet wet. This is his breakout season. Unfortunately for Colts fans, the Colts also have a reputation of getting rid of said great linebackers immediately after they become great (see: David Thornton, Mike Peterson, Cato June). So enjoy him while you can.

Weaknesses

Injuries – I don’t have to say it, but starting the season with a plethora of injuries probably doesn’t serve well for a successful season. Sanders, Freeney, Manning and Harrison are all coming off of injuries and surgeries. Now that Manning seems to be coming back, his security hand warmer, Jeff Saturday goes down with an MCL injury and is out for at least six weeks. The Colts need all of these players on the field in order to be successful. Freeney missed most of last season and the pass rush was feeble at best – making Billy Volek look like the mutant child of Mike Vick and John Elway in last year’s playoff game against San Diego.

Special Teams – Good God can we please make some tackles on kickoff and punt coverage this year? It’s Indianapolis’ annual achilles heel. There’s no need to even write anything else…they’re going to be terrible. The Special Teams unit should be forced to watch this over and over and over until someone decides to make some tackles.

Offensive Line – The only real reason I think the O-line is a liability is because of Saturday’s injury. He’s gone for at least six weeks and his backup, Ryan Lilja is also on the physically unable to perform list. So now we’ve got a collection of three rookies who could be snapping to Peyton Manning. Suffice it to say that when you’re bed-side tonight saying your prayers, throw one or two in there for Saturday’s little knee ligaments and Peyton Manning’s tolerance for pain.

Rivals:

New England – Screw Tom Brady and screw Bill Belichick. I hope they lose every game and Brett Favre rockets a laser right into Belichick’s eardrum. Patriots won 18 games in a row last year, but lost the biggest one. Then their team got worse when key players left for free agency. They’ll still probably be really good since they have the easiest schedule in the entire league – but they’re not the same team they were last year.

Jacksonville -Jacksonville makes it their yearly mission to knock the AFC South Crown off the Colts heads. They draft players and acquire free agents for the sole purpose of beating Indianapolis even though they’ve never topped the Colts for the division title. And they finally have a quarterback. This year is as good as any for the Jags to finally win the AFC South unless they meltdown like usual and act like their whining head coach.

Prediction:

The Colts will win their division, but it will be closer than in years past. They’re not going to take the last two games of the season off to rest their starters. Jacksonville, Tennessee and Houston all got better in the off-season. The Colts will join New England as one the top two teams in the AFC, earning themselves a bye in round 1 of the playoffs. Other playoff teams will be – Steelers, Chargers, Jets, Jaguars. If the Colts overcome these injuries, I see no reason why they shouldn’t win the AFC this year. They’re older, but they have better players on their roster than the 2006 roster when they won the Superbowl. I say they meet Dallas in Tampa this year, and Tony Romo will spend Superbowl week on vacation with his girlfriend and her dad, lose his focus and collapse like he does every year in big games. Colts win!

...of course, if all of these injuries prove to keep their key players out for significant time, forget I said any of this.