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All I have heard this week is with this talent on the Colts' roster, they should be at least .500 if they had a decent QB. I look at that team and I think they have no more than 3-4 wins at most.
I still maintain that Peyton Manning's legacy dodged a huge bullet this season with him out because even with a healthy Manning, they weren't going to be better than .500. With Manning last year, they were 10-6 and they had the AFC West to walk over rather than the AFC North this year.
Let's look at the supposive talent:
Defense
Dwight Freeney - Yes, an elite DE
Robert Mathis - A very good DE
Pat Angerer - Gets padded stats because the Colts' defense is on the field most of the game
Gary Brackett - Injury prone and overrated. Hasn't been good since 2007
Antonine Bethea - Very good safety
So they have three of eleven defensive starters that are good.
Offense
Reggie Wayne - Elite WR
Austin Collie - Injury prone and overrated (decent back up, but not a starter)
Pierre Garcon - Very streaky (half of his yards and all of his TDs this year came in two games)
Dallas Clark - A very good TE
Jeff Saturday - Old and overrated
Joseph Addai - Could be a great 3rd down back, totally miscast as a lead back and still living off his reputation of his rookie season
Donald Brown - Total bust who's career stats for yards and TDs are pretty much what BJGE gave the Pats last season
Ryan Diem - Overrated
So they have probably 3-4 players on offense any good
The fact of the matter is if you get past all the names, this is a bad team and their record isn't much worse than the talent they actually had. Manning hid a lot of warts last year with an easy schedule. I think with a significantly tougher schedule this year from last year (their own division is more competitive this year and the AFC North is the best division in football) even Manning couldn't hide the warts this year. This team has been living on a cake division, reputations, and Manning's arm for the last few years. Polian has allowed the talent to get old or leave while not replacing the pieces over the last few years.
I still maintain that Peyton Manning's legacy dodged a huge bullet this season with him out because even with a healthy Manning, they weren't going to be better than .500. With Manning last year, they were 10-6 and they had the AFC West to walk over rather than the AFC North this year.
Let's look at the supposive talent:
Defense
Dwight Freeney - Yes, an elite DE
Robert Mathis - A very good DE
Pat Angerer - Gets padded stats because the Colts' defense is on the field most of the game
Gary Brackett - Injury prone and overrated. Hasn't been good since 2007
Antonine Bethea - Very good safety
So they have three of eleven defensive starters that are good.
Offense
Reggie Wayne - Elite WR
Austin Collie - Injury prone and overrated (decent back up, but not a starter)
Pierre Garcon - Very streaky (half of his yards and all of his TDs this year came in two games)
Dallas Clark - A very good TE
Jeff Saturday - Old and overrated
Joseph Addai - Could be a great 3rd down back, totally miscast as a lead back and still living off his reputation of his rookie season
Donald Brown - Total bust who's career stats for yards and TDs are pretty much what BJGE gave the Pats last season
Ryan Diem - Overrated
So they have probably 3-4 players on offense any good
The fact of the matter is if you get past all the names, this is a bad team and their record isn't much worse than the talent they actually had. Manning hid a lot of warts last year with an easy schedule. I think with a significantly tougher schedule this year from last year (their own division is more competitive this year and the AFC North is the best division in football) even Manning couldn't hide the warts this year. This team has been living on a cake division, reputations, and Manning's arm for the last few years. Polian has allowed the talent to get old or leave while not replacing the pieces over the last few years.