so, the Colts have some boo-boo's, right?

L Bizzle said:

I'd Take Freeney and Mathis over anyone on The Patriots D

Then Antoine Bethea over anyone left over

Then a (healthy) Bob Sanders over ANYONE on both D's

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You play a different scheme. For your Charmin-soft bend-and-try-not-to-break force a turnover or die philosophy, those guys are fine for you.

For a REAL defense, give me
Wilfork first
Mayo second
Mathis third (not as one-dimensional as Freeny)
Chung fourth
McCourty fifth

etc. etc. etc.

Then you must comprehend that football is a team sport and that a good defense is always more than the sum of its parts.

So you abandon Stay-Puft Tampa 2 concepts and play the Patriot Way

all this over the Colts injuries is just setting them up,probably by Polian, for the following:

Lose and it's an excuse. Don't lose and "wow, this is a great team".

And the media is taking it, hook, line and sinker.

L Bizzle said:

I'd Take Freeney and Mathis over anyone on The Patriots D


Then Antoine Bethea over anyone left over

Then a (healthy) Bob Sanders over ANYONE on both D's

And there is a difference between your team getting rid of you, and being injured...you do know this correct? So Bob Sanders DOES count, since our front office has kept him on the team due to their belief that the team is better during the (little) time he does step on the field.

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So you'd take two undersized DE's, one of them on the wrong side of 30 and the other approaching that benchmark, over Vince Wilfork (the best DT/NT in the league) and Jerod Mayo (one of, if not THE, best ILB's in the AFC)? You'll forgive me if I call bullsh!t on that. Oh, and I'd take Chung in a heartbeat over the porcelain princess Bob Sanders. When he or Meriweather wipe out one of your receivers running a slant pattern for the 50th time in the same game, I'm sure you'll agree.

L Bizzle said:

I'd Take Freeney and Mathis over anyone on The Patriots D


Then Antoine Bethea over anyone left over

Then a (healthy) Bob Sanders over ANYONE on both D's

And there is a difference between your team getting rid of you, and being injured...you do know this correct? So Bob Sanders DOES count, since our front office has kept him on the team due to their belief that the team is better during the (little) time he does step on the field.

Click to expand...

Wrong......not being there is not being there.

Mike wright has as many tackles and sacks as freeney, and he's a backup.

The harsh reality is that the colts don't win a single game without manning

L Bizzle said:

I'd Take Freeney and Mathis over anyone on The Patriots D


Then Antoine Bethea over anyone left over

Then a (healthy) Bob Sanders over ANYONE on both D's

And there is a difference between your team getting rid of you, and being injured...you do know this correct? So Bob Sanders DOES count, since our front office has kept him on the team due to their belief that the team is better during the (little) time he does step on the field.

Click to expand...

What's the point of saying a healthy Bob Sanders? He can't be healthy. He is Greg Oden. He is Grant Hill in the 90's. Dude is not worth his deal and I promise you Polian is finished with him after this season. As he should be.

I would take Mayo over Freeney even in the scheme we run. Mathis is the real star of the line and even casual fans like yourself should realize that.

Bethea is one of my favorite players so no argument there but you under value players like Wilfork, Warren, and Mayo. They are comparable to any of our superstars.

RyanTheColtsFan said:

What's the point of saying a healthy Bob Sanders? He can't be healthy. He is Greg Oden. He is Grant Hill in the 90's. Dude is not worth his deal and I promise you Polian is finished with him after this season. As he should be.

I would take Mayo over Freeney even in the scheme we run. Mathis is the real star of the line and even casual fans like yourself should realize that.

Bethea is one of my favorite players so no argument there but you under value players like Wilfork, Warren, and Mayo. They are comparable to any of our superstars.

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I have to disagree, and Freeney made Mathis imo, and clearly Mathis has learned most of his skillset from Dwight. However, Antoine Bethea is most likely the most important cog in our defense.

And yes I understand Bob is never healthy and a healthy Bob Sanders is a oxymoron, still I would take this mythical creature over anyone on the Patriots or Colts defensively

L Bizzle said:

And yes I understand Bob is never healthy and a healthy Bob Sanders is a oxymoron, still I would take this mythical creature over anyone on the Patriots or Colts defensively

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Well I can be thankful you don't run the team. Time to spend some coin the O-Line and less on people who play :35 seconds a year.

The fact that injuries have become the 'storyline' leading up to this game, and only because the Colts, from their GM right down to their QB, have done their damndest to make it so, is downright embarassing.

Any respectable fan knows that injuries are a big part of the game, and only losers whine about them, especially before the first game they'll play on New England soil in almost 5 years.

Find me one clip of a Pats player, coach, or GM talking about how tough the injuries have been on the team. I'll be waiting... even when Brady went down the team never made it an excuse for poor play or a loss.

I also have no problem admitting that I love Peyton Manning's game. I'm always happy to see a Colts game because it's not often you get to watch a hall of famer go to work. But my respect for him doesn't grow when I hear him talk about injuries in his game week conference call. Poor form.

Don't let Polian's pathetic veneer trickle down to the rest of your team.

tobias funke said:

The fact that injuries have become the 'storyline' leading up to this game, and only because the Colts, from their GM right down to their QB, have done their damndest to make it so, is downright embarassing.

Any respectable fan knows that injuries are a big part of the game, and only losers whine about them, especially before the first game they'll play on New England soil in almost 5 years.

Find me one clip of a Pats player, coach, or GM talking about how tough the injuries have been on the team. I'll be waiting... even when Brady went down the team never made it an excuse for poor play or a loss.

I also have no problem admitting that I love Peyton Manning's game. I'm always happy to see a Colts game because it's not often you get to watch a hall of famer go to work. But my respect for him doesn't grow when I hear him talk about injuries in his game week conference call. Poor form.

Don't let Polian's pathetic veneer trickle down to the rest of your team.

Click to expand...

Injuries have been the story for this team for the last 3 or 4 weeks. They are just now getting more of the national spotlight because of this high profile game.

tobias funke said:

The fact that injuries have become the 'storyline' leading up to this game, and only because the Colts, from their GM right down to their QB, have done their damndest to make it so, is downright embarassing.

Any respectable fan knows that injuries are a big part of the game, and only losers whine about them, especially before the first game they'll play on New England soil in almost 5 years.

Find me one clip of a Pats player, coach, or GM talking about how tough the injuries have been on the team. I'll be waiting... even when Brady went down the team never made it an excuse for poor play or a loss.

I also have no problem admitting that I love Peyton Manning's game. I'm always happy to see a Colts game because it's not often you get to watch a hall of famer go to work. But my respect for him doesn't grow when I hear him talk about injuries in his game week conference call. Poor form.

Don't let Polian's pathetic veneer trickle down to the rest of your team.

Click to expand...

Uh, perhaps you hear about all the injuries from Colts fans because we, like, follow the team? We know they're decimated, we don't need someone to point it out (and to be honest no one on the team really talks about it except a blow-off response when someone asks in press conferences).

Find me one clip where Caldwell, Polian or Manning has said how tough injuries would be on the team. Or just for fun, crawl outside of your little world and read about all the ref excuses passed around on these boards after any mention of the Colts. You'd think we never won a legit game in the last 10 years

workhorse said:

I think there are two issues with the Colts injuries. One, a lot of them are at the "skill" positions. Two, the back ups are even getting hurt. Just look at our WRs and safeties.

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Explain something to me, Im not being judgmental. Just looking for an answer, and for a reason why you can beat this team.
You lost Clark we have pretty much lost shockey most of the year, pretty much even steven so far in games. Our RB's are out and corners and safeties , again, like last year, only early this time.

This year and last the Colts and Saints have managed, if nothing, to top the injury bug list . Im pretty sure you were 1st in injuries last year and we were second. I might be mistaken, but not far off.

In 2008 the Saints lost almost all of there receivers, RB's, defense didn't matter they suck anyway, but our offense still managed to top the NFL with Moore as our #1 receiver. So did the Colts.

So, my question to you is why is Mannings pass rating 93.9% with the least interceptions he has had for his entire career (4), the least TD's, the least Avg, one of the lowest sacks in his career, and his lowest attempts to completion in records? In the same situation.

Brees is easy to explain where hes at. OL failed, Brees messed up 12 interceptions and 9 fumbles.
Brees is 91.7%, but not his all time low.

So whats up with Peyton? Respectfully, not buying the injury bug, Ive seen both our QB's make that a non- issue. they have both done more with less.

Until I know the truth of this I cant but think Brady has a big advantage in this fight.

workhorse said:

Are you kidding me?

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no, did it sound like i was kidding. the media tries to come up with any reason for the pats dynasty outside of brady. they've even deified a coach that they can't stand (he burned their beloved jets) because they'd rather credit bb than give brady the credit. all i hear from the "experts" is bb is a genius, or it's the system or just recently and begrudgingly, it was the defense. sorry bspn, your gonna have to face the facts. brady's got "IT" and your golden boy, manning, does not. that's all there is to it but they'll never admit it. whatever "IT" is, brady's got "IT".

pherein said:

I cant but think Brady has a big advantage in this fight.

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Brady is out, not practicing. Bill is going to reveal his latest offensive scheme. Its called the Woodcat. 15 yr old 150 pound Danny Woodhead is going to lead this team to victory :eat2:

workhorse said:

Injuries have been the story for this team for the last 3 or 4 weeks. They are just now getting more of the national spotlight because of this high profile game.

Click to expand...

Colts injuries are now getting the national spotlight because of a well-orchestrated "woe is me" PR campaign that is designed to make the Colts look good no matter what the outcome and make it easy for lazy media to ignore the fact that the two teams have had roughly equal injury issues in terms of players lost for the season, starters lost, player games lost, etc.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

Colts injuries are now getting the national spotlight because of a well-orchestrated "woe is me" PR campaign that is designed to make the Colts look good no matter what the outcome and make it easy for lazy media to ignore the fact that the two teams have had roughly equal injury issues in terms of players lost for the season, starters lost, player games lost, etc.

Click to expand...

It looks like the Colts will have every one of their starters on offense back with the exception of Clark. Its a total load of crap. Meanwhile, Brady has a couple of undrafted free agents in the back field and a bunch of JAG WRs other than a banged up Welker.

So many Colts thread, maybe this is the best spot for this ...

I was surprised by this line in the Globe today:

After their meeting with New England, the Colts have a decidedly easier road to the playoffs. Their final six opponents — San Diego, Dallas, Tennessee (twice), Jacksonville, and Oakland — have a combined record of 21-24 and none is better than 5-4. Indianapolis is on track for its seventh AFC South title in eight years.

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"Decidedly easier" strikes me as off the mark. Every one of those games looks to me like a potential loss for the Colts. Not saying they will lose them all, they might even win them all, but none of these seem like gimmes to me.

A long-running opening act - The Boston Globe

tuckeverlasting said:

no, did it sound like i was kidding. the media tries to come up with any reason for the pats dynasty outside of brady. they've even deified a coach that they can't stand (he burned their beloved jets) because they'd rather credit bb than give brady the credit. all i hear from the "experts" is bb is a genius, or it's the system or just recently and begrudgingly, it was the defense. sorry bspn, your gonna have to face the facts. brady's got "IT" and your golden boy, manning, does not. that's all there is to it but they'll never admit it. whatever "IT" is, brady's got "IT".

Click to expand...

Brady's great. He had more of a look of a system QB during the first years of his career, when he was known for more "dink & dunk," but has really emerged as the total package at QB, imo.

But you also can't deny that BB is a genius; best coach of his era, and I think when all is said & done, a good argument can probably be made that he's the best of all time.

pherein said:

Explain something to me, Im not being judgmental. Just looking for an answer, and for a reason why you can beat this team.
You lost Clark we have pretty much lost shockey most of the year, pretty much even steven so far in games. Our RB's are out and corners and safeties , again, like last year, only early this time.

This year and last the Colts and Saints have managed, if nothing, to top the injury bug list . Im pretty sure you were 1st in injuries last year and we were second. I might be mistaken, but not far off.

In 2008 the Saints lost almost all of there receivers, RB's, defense didn't matter they suck anyway, but our offense still managed to top the NFL with Moore as our #1 receiver. So did the Colts.

So, my question to you is why is Mannings pass rating 93.9% with the least interceptions he has had for his entire career (4), the least TD's, the least Avg, one of the lowest sacks in his career, and his lowest attempts to completion in records? In the same situation.

Brees is easy to explain where hes at. OL failed, Brees messed up 12 interceptions and 9 fumbles.
Brees is 91.7%, but not his all time low.

So whats up with Peyton? Respectfully, not buying the injury bug, Ive seen both our QB's make that a non- issue. they have both done more with less.

Until I know the truth of this I cant but think Brady has a big advantage in this fight.

Click to expand...

The Colts running game sucks, without Addai it sucks worse. So teams don't respect the run and drop into coverage. We have practice squad players lining up at receiver and Garcon has totally regressed. The line play is awful and Peyton is having to get rid of the ball earlier. Since much of this offense is based on timing and routes, it adds up to problems.

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

Colts injuries are now getting the national spotlight because of a well-orchestrated "woe is me" PR campaign that is designed to make the Colts look good no matter what the outcome and make it easy for lazy media to ignore the fact that the two teams have had roughly equal injury issues in terms of players lost for the season, starters lost, player games lost, etc.

Click to expand...

There is no PR campaign. I haven't see one guy make an excuse with the injuries. It's been the opposite. I haven't seen anything where any of the Colts have brought up the injuries. They have been answering questions by reporters.

In't Addai back practicing?