your words we hear/but we cannot sympathize

So that's the way it ends. No team earned a victory over the Colts this season. We gave it to the Jets, and we're likely to give it to the Bills. It was pretty hard to watch... after seeing these guys do so much to win so many of the games this year. Then it just gets thrown away.

For what reason?

Bill Polian said that Peyton was excused from finishing the game because Jim Sorgi got hurt.

Whatever, Bill Polian.

He also said that most wins in a decade and most consecutive wins was more important than going undefeated. He said that's why we played balls out against Jacksonville... except he forgot to mention that we got those records after the Broncos game. There was NOTHING to play for in the Jacksonville game. But we did it anyway.

Why, Bill Polian?

Losing isn't the problem. Losing for the reason we lost is the problem.

Bill Polian being a complete jackass about it afterword compounded the problem.

But hey, let's be remembered for something nobody really cares about like consecutive regular season wins or most wins in a decade. Be honest: did you know, or even care, what team had the most wins in any particular decade and how many wins they had?

Something else to consider: going undefeated has been done before. Way back in '72. Before parity. We had a chance to not only excede the 17-0 mark set by those '72 Dolphins, but to do it in a time when it shouldn't be possible. But that's not important, is it Bill Polian? I mean, who needs actual Football Immortality when you can have those other marks that nobody cares to remember.

Super Bowl 44 goes through Indianapolis, Indiana.

But we got a lot of work to do. On offense, anyway.

We come out slow and turn it on in the second half; or we come out blazing like the gates of hell only to fizzle out; or we don't get things going until the 4th quarter; or we start strong, sag like an 80 year old butt, and finish strong. Not very often this year has the offense played a complete game...

Which is good news, if you ask me.

"How the smurf is that good news?" you ask (yes, i'm putting words in your mouth).

"Simple," is my reply.

Our defense has been playing Championship caliber football most of the year (the only bad spot is the Miami game, which was about 65 years ago), but the offense... the bread and butter of this team, they have yet to hit their peak. Our best football is still in front of us. We're 13-0 and we got plenty of room to improve. And that, friend, is good news.

This team this year has been impressive. Sure, lots of teams have walked away with the illustrious Almost-Win, but the 2009 Colts have gotten something far better: the Actual-Win. Several games this year, we probably should've lost. Miami, New England, Houston, etc... but these guys absolutely REFUSE to go down. Like it or not, that's Championship Football. A big round of applause for our offense for getting it done when they gotta, and a standing ovation to the defense for saving our asses all year long. Peyton Manning has thrown 14 interceptions this year and we've lost 3 fumbles (or numbers very close to that), and our defense (through some kind of evil magick) has yet to give up a touchdown off of any of those turnovers. I don't know that I've ever heard that said about a defense in my lifetime. It's remarkable, to say the least.

And don't forget, we've done it without Bob Sanders. And without Marlin Jackson for most of the year. And without Kelvin Hayden for a good stretch. And Tyjuan Hagler went to IR. And Gonzo has only seen action in one game this year... blah blah blah.

So we're 13-0, we've won 22 straight regular season games, we've won more games in a decade than any other team ever, and our best is yet to come.

So drink up, shoot in, let the beatings begin.

but i tell ya, kid/you're better off playing leap-frog with a unicorn/that's right

The Colts are 8-0. Have won 17 regular season games straight. Peyton Manning just set a new standard with 40 grand in passing yards in a decade. He's four touchdowns away from another standard in play (300 touchdowns in a decade). He's tied for fourth all time in wins. Caldy is the first rookie head coach to go 8-0 since 1930something.

And that's just what I can remember from this passed Sunday.

On top of all that, coming into the game our defense was #1 in scoring, allowing a meager 14 points a game (though that'll go up slightly with the 17 the Texans scored). It's been a great year so far, bitches.

Here we are.

The game everyone has been waiting for.

November 15th.

Week 10.

The New England Patriots.

I'm glad Tom Brady looks to be playing his usual, albeit pansified, game. I'm also glad that after beating them, we'll tie them for second longest winning streak. It'll make it that much sweeter. No excuses.

Since 2005, we're 4-1 against them, including The Greatest Game Ever Played. Four of the five games have been won by seven points or less (with the Colts having the only blowout win, 40-21 in Foxborough). As recent history has shown, it should be a good'n. Sunday Night Football at it's finest.

As it stands now, the Colts are alone atop the AFC with the Broncos just one game back. In the AFC South, we're killin' it. Up 4 games over second place Houston with a head-to-head victory on top of that. The Patriots are 6-2, and likewise are clear favorites in their division. This game, midway through the season, could be huge come playoff time... but that's a lot of speculation I don't really wanna get in to.

Last couple weeks, we've not been so hot on offense. I'm not one bit worried, though. It's still the same offense, and Peyton's still lighting it up like Drew Barrymore did in Firestarter. We'll get into the endzone. And often.

Expect a big score by the end of the night. It could easily reach the 80s by the end of the night (that's combined, folks. settle down). This game will have all the NFL media buzzing like a 12 pack of Killian's. I like it.

"But KY, what do you think the score will be?"

86-3 Colts.

The Patriots can suck it.

ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Colts fans of all ages... ColtsDigital proudly presents: KY's 2009 Season Preview.

or at the very least, doesn't hinder me.

We're down to 53 and prepping for J-ville and that tiny little wrecking ball, Maurice Jones-Drew. It'll be a good test, this first game of the season, to see if our Run Defense has actually improved, or if it's SSDD. Big Ed will miss this game because of a one game suspension (that i'm not entirely clear on. anybody know why he's suspended? wouldn't being kicked off the team last year be punishment enough?), and the Depth Chart has Fili Moala behind him, so Moala will likely get the start. Mathis, Mookie, Moala, Freeney. Put Big Ed in there and i like our starting D-line. But we takes what we can gets. Behind them, Wheeler, Brackett, and Session. I gotta say, I do like that starting linebacker corp. In the defensive backfield you'll see Hayden, Jackson, Bullit (Bob is out with injury. surprised?), and Bethea.

Should be solid. We'll see. We know our pass rush is good, with Freeney and Mathis. We know our coverage is good with Hayden, Jackson, and Bethea. Bullit is decent, but I much prefer Giodano in that spot... sadly, he's no longer on the team (in a silly Al Davis-esque move). Everything rests on the defensive tackles and the linebackers, and in particular, what they do against the run. That's our question mark and has been for ages. Moves were made to try and improve it.
Prediction: I'll keep the ol' foot out of my mouth and play the Wait-And-See game.

On offense, we should be alright. P-Money under center (who happens to be Jeff Saturday). Reggie and Gonzo and Garcon/Collie. Clark and whoever else at tight end. Addai/Brown. We've got more playmakers on offense than the Raiders have actual football players. I'm not even gonna talk about it.
The offensive line, however, worries me. In particular, Charlie "wtf is he doing in the starting line-up" Johnson. Of course, Tony Ugoh is the only other option, so I do understand going with Johnson. At least he tries. Maybe not much more than that... but you'll see effort. The worst thing about all that is it's the most important position in all of pass blocking on the offensive line. We're likely to see lots of help from RBs and TEs over there, which is one less toy for #18 to attack defenses with.

But... Peyton Manning is a god and he has enough weapons elsewhere that I really don't think it'll be an issue either way. And Peyton has looked extra sharp during the preseason.

Prediction: Good gawd almighty. My vocabulary isn't big enough to describe the awesome that we're about to lay on these fools that make up the rest of the NFL.

Overall: With what looks to be an easy schedule (read: easier than the last couple years), more toys on offense than even Batman could handle, and a defense with enough playmakers and more bigger size at the DT spots, we're gonna roll right on through another 12+ win season... and don't be surprised if it's the most dominating season of football you've ever seen.

Because it will be.

people (read: fans and talking heads) are writing off one of the most dangerous teams the football world has ever seen: the 2009 Indianapolis Colts. i don't know why... for the life of me, i can't figure it out. so what do i do? dare them to tell me why they won't take home the trophy in Miami one more again.

what makes the Colts so scary good? well, self, i'm glad you asked.

defensive tackle -Moala, E. Johnson, A. Johnson, Taylor. all 300+ lb guys. Big Ed Johnson was dominant in his rookie year with the Colts, he was excused from the team last year after getting caught with marijuana. after Coach Dungy's retirement, new coach Caldwell quickly resigned him. Antonio Johnson came from Tennessee. Titans coach Fisher tried his damndest to keep Mookie, offering to match what Indy was going to pay him but #99 wanted to play, something he wouldn't do very much with the DT rotation the Titans had. he came in midway through the season and was coming on pretty well. with a full offseason to train with the Colts instead of the Titans, he'll be somebody to reckon with. Moala and Taylor both played at big-time colleges (USC and Michigan, respectively), so they both know how to play. whether that translates to the NFL remains to be seen, but inside the organization the defensive tackle position is said to be one of the strengths of the team where it has been weakness before. this will open up the rest of the defense to play Colts football. Clint Session has moved from strong side lineback back to weak, his natural position. you'll be seeing a lot of him. get used to the name. Marlin Jackson is also back from injury as well as Bob Sanders. The Hit Squad is full force again... the secondary will be as good as it was in 2007 (not that it sucked last year, being the #6 pass defense in the league).
the most significant change to the defense, though, was losing Ron Meeks and bringing in Larry Coyer at defensive coordinator. Coyer previously coached in Tampa, so he knows the Cover 2 defense and he's nowhere near as vanilla as Meeks was. this squad has the talent and coaching now to be a top 5 defense. our DEs can pressure the quarterback without the need of blitzing. our DTs can anchor themselves during run plays to keep offensive linemen being able to get to linebackers and breaking RBs for big gains and they can push the pocket on pass plays. our linebackers can do what they were brought in to do, and Session/Brackett/Wheeler are all very good at what they do (provided they don't have o-linemen in their face). our secondary as a group, Kelvin Hayden/Antoine Bethea/Bob Sanders/Marlin Jackson, is argueably the best in the league.

on offense, we still have P-Money at quarterback. i have no need to explain why he's the best in the game.
our offensive line is embarrassed about their play last year, particularly the running game. Jeff Saturday is 100% again and Ryan Lilja returns to the team after being sidelined most of last year with an injury. those guys feel like they have something to prove... that last year was a fluke. they'll be playing with a chip on their shoulder and they will be one of the best groups again.
the RB position is the strongest group besides QB. Joseph Addai + Mike Hart (who broke every major school record at Michigan in his 4 years there. back from season ending injury) + Donald Brown (lead the NCAA in rushing yards last year) = one of the most dynamic backfields in the NFL. each can catch the ball in the passing game, each is fairly adept at picking blitzes (Ja is the best in the league right now, with Edge not having a team), and each has a different running style that very much compliments the others.
Marvin Harrison was let go this offseason, and as much as i hate it (the guy was the definition of greatness) it could actually be a good thing for our offense. the last two years, we've pretty much been without him. in 2007, he had the injury and last year he was barely there. defenses didn't respect him as much anymore and he gave them no reason to. Reggie Wayne has been carrying the #1 receiver role here for some time already, so don't expect him to faulter now. Anthony Gonzalez is ahead of the curve of WRs in Indy. coming into his third season, he's already better than Reggie was at this point. he can get YAC, something the Colts haven't had in a while. both Reggie and Gonzo can play at all three primary receiver positions (split left, split right, slot) and be effective. in the passing game, Dallas Clark is as big a mismatch as there is. too fast for linebackers, too big for DBs... and he's Peyton's favorite target after Reggie Wayne.

the back-ups at all positions (except quarterback) got significant playing time last season with all the injuries Indianapolis had, so in back-up roles this year they have the experience necessary to be next man up.

couple all this with the head coaching change and you've got a very dangerous team.
"but you lost Tony Dungy."
yeah... we did, and Dungy's a HoFamer without question. but Caldwell has been in Indy as long as Dungy has. he's a Dungy guy and brings the same attitude that Tony had. he also brings something of his own: unpredictability. during the offseason, he and his new staff have been adding wrinkles to our scheme, both on offense and defense. he also brought in an actual Special Teams coach. Moore and Mudd, two of the best at their position (OC and o-line coach), retired because of muddied pension plans... but Colts GM Bill Polian has said they'll definitely be back as consultants, which means they'll be doing what they've done the last 12 years only with the title of Consultant rather than Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach.

so you tell me... if not Indianapolis, then who?

Alright, ladies and gentlemen. The 2009 NFL Draft is upon us. Today (April 25) is Day 1. Everyone knows that Indy is in bad need of a defensive tackle, and most Colts fans are begging Bill Polian to draft us a beast. With the loss of Marvin Harrison during the offseason, however, there's speculation that Bill Polian will draft a wide receiver with the first pick. Gotta keep Peyton loaded, after all. There's also talk about drafting a running back, although I don't agree with that personally. In my opinion, our running problems last season wasn't our running back (my main man, Ja), but crappy play of our offensive line. It's that that needs to be addressed. Joseph Addai isn't any less good than he was in years prior.

So what's it gonna be?

Who can really tell with Bill Polian?...

Not I.

Join me, and other less important Colts fans in the Chat today at 4pm Eastern (1pm Pacific) and discuss the Colts picks as well as the picks of the other 31 NFL teams.

So here we stand, Colts fans. One win away from securing our spot in the playoffs, like so many years before. It's different this time around, as we can't win our division, but we're coming up on the end of the season and we're one win away from being able to sit our starters in the last game of the season.

Deja vue? We got the Titans to finish the season yet again, and we could see our boys bow out early, yet again. Of course, this all depends on how we fare against the Jaguars, but since my lack of focus won't affect the outcome any, I'm gonna look ahead.

But first, I'm gonna look back...

3-4. That's how we started our season. Many people, fans and "experts" alike, had already called the Colts dead this season. We'd seen flashes of brilliance, but nothing consistant. Injuries, out of synch, all kinds of problems collaborated against us. We got handled easily by the eventual AFC DirrtyDirrty Champions, though the score doesn't reflect too much of that. Then came the arch-rivals, the nemesis, the antithesis to the Colts, and everything that is wrong with the NFL: the New England Patriots. In the usual, hard fought battle, the Colts came out on top thanks to an Adam Vinatieri field goal. Then came the streak... the Steelers, the Texans, the Chargers, the Browns, the Bengals, and finally the Lions. Seven wins in a row (though admittedly, the last two don't really count. it's not fair to count wins against high school teams... but we can't pick who we play)... anyway, seven wins in a row and we stand on the verge of yet another playoff birth under Coach Dungy after overcoming a very dismal start to the season. We sit at 10-4 now and in control of our own path to the tournament.

We've beaten the top two defenses in the league (destroying the Ravens and coming away with another close one in Pittsburgh). It could turn out that the Steelers come to be the #1 seed in the playoffs, so that gives us, I think, a bit of confidence going in. We laid 24 points on the best defense in the NFL, the most of any team in the league against that defense. And here we stand... poised and ready for a playoff push. Many pundits say we're one of the more dangerous teams heading in, and I couldn't agree more. Our defensive line is playing solid football (thanks, Freeney) and we still got Peyton Manning and all his toys on offense.

Whodathunkit? The Colts, a team that started the season destined to fight for a top draft choice, now stand battle-tested and ready to raise hell in the 2008-09 NFL Championship Tournament.

Hell of a season... let's keep the train rollin'.

So here we sit, admist a 3 game win streak.
First, New England. Then Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh. Then the Texans, who we (in my correct opinion) were lucky to beat the first time around.

But here we sit. Three solid wins. That's not much of a win streak, especially given the last 10 or so years of the Indianapolis Colts... but for this season, those three wins have been reason to celebrate. Our offense is finally starting to come around and our defense has been tackling better. We finally got some beef in the middle (thanks, Titans). I think, though, above everything else, what i'm most happy with is the ressurgance of the run game in the second half against the Texans. For the first time all year, we ran well. Better than well. Good. Great? That, probably, this whole season, has been the best thing so far. A run game.

My main man, Ja, looked like a very good running back again. Probably won't put a quietus on the "trade Addai" bull(edit), but i was pleased.

But how'd it happen. How come, all of a sudden, we can run the ball again? Simple. Coaching.

During halftime our coaching staff made some remarkable adjustments. I wasn't in the lockerroom, but it was evident on the field that something changed. Holes were opened. Blocks were held. Yards were gained. I have to (and because i am, you have to as well) give all the credit to our coaches and our offensive line. Coaching and execution.

Here's hoping the momentum carries over in the Sandy Ego game.

The one game we, as Colt fans, circle on our calender.

Indianapolis vs. New England.

This one, like so many in the past, didn't disappoint. This season has brought particular hardship on both teams. Ed Johnson and Quinn Pitcock gone. Tom Brady gone. Indy's offensive line (and with it, the run game) gone. Neither team, however, let that stop them. Both teams played good, sound football and the Indianapolis Colts stood victorious in the end thanks to the foot of one Adam Vinatieri.

New England let him walk a couple offseasons ago because his kickoffs were shorter and he hadn't made a field goal from 50+ in about 5 years I think. Well... Adam's been booming kicks so far this season and Indianapolis won thanks to a 52 yarder from #4. Bob Sanders was back made it known right from the start. He helped to neutralize Randy Moss, who had only 4 catches with zero being touchdowns. When brought into the box against the run, he made his tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage.

It really felt good to see Colts football again.

Our defense only gave up 1 touchdown the entire game, holding New England to field goals the rest of the way. That's what we're built to do. I'd have liked, as much as anybody else, to get a few more three-and-outs... but with the interior of our defensive line in the shape its in (thanks to Johnson and Pitcock), I don't count on that. And neither should you.

If anybody can find anything to complain about (and they have. i've seen it), then they're obviously just looking for something to bitch about. We won, we beat New England, and we looked good doing it. Maybe not Megan Fox good, but good. Here's hoping it carries over into the second half of the season.

Well... we did it. We finally looked like the Colts. Marvin proved he doesn't suck (i told you so). Peyton proved he's still the greatest. Our offensive line proved it could block. Most importantly, though, our defense proved it could stop the run. It looks like the season isn't a wash afterall. We can collectively breathe. Man, am I ever glad to see Marvin Harrison back to form, making people look retarded when they try to cover him one-on-one. Well done, Marvelous.

I had one problem with the game. After Diem's stupidass self got that freaken sweet touchdown called back, we played more lax than we had up to that point. We got content with what we had and didn't attack on offense any more. Our defense went back to the bend but don't break philosophy as opposed to the "Kill 'Em All" mentality. True, the Ravens only managed 3 points, but still... a shutout would've been splen-diddly-riffic. I don't like when we do that. I would've liked to have seen at least one more drive. One more bomb from the assault cannon. Just one more.

A quick question, though. Is Melvin Bullit trying to be the next Darrell Reid? I certainly hope so.