Indy Questions/Comments

All,
I was just watching Sports Center, and I'm getting about tired of hearing everyone saying that this will be Indy's year to define itself. Haven't they made the post-season and/or had a great records for the past couple of years? Why can't ESPN and others just accept that they are the new team to beat? Great QB, great running game, decent/bad defense but they get it done better than most teams in the NFL. I don't really remember, but was there any talk like this during the Cowboys, or the 49rs reign on the NFL? I wonder if once we get our stuff together if they'll be saying this type of trash about us. It's like they are wanting them to fall apart, that's just bad.

All,
I was just watching Sports Center, and I'm getting about tired of hearing everyone saying that this will be Indy's year to define itself. Haven't they made the post-season and/or had a great records for the past couple of years? Why can't ESPN and others just accept that they are the new team to beat? Great QB, great running game, decent/bad defense but they get it done better than most teams in the NFL. I don't really remember, but was there any talk like this during the Cowboys, or the 49rs reign on the NFL? I wonder if once we get our stuff together if they'll be saying this type of trash about us. It's like they are wanting them to fall apart, that's just bad.

Well, you cannot be the team to beat, until you have done anything.... While I agree with you on the run game, that is about it .... our QB is young and has not done anything yet....Our D was bad last year, but the year before with most of the same cast of characters, was one of the best in the league. Also, only 1 playoff appearance in this millenium does not make us a top tier team.

Long story short, until you show someone you can do something, you are not the team to beat.

Redskin Rich, I was mainly reffering to the way Indy is being handled now, vice the way we are being handled. We'll be back on top of things in a few years (hopefully), but I was talking about indy for the most part.

I agree with you hagams, and I'll go a step further. Jacksonville was probably the better of the two teams during the regular season last year. Don't forget what they did to the Colts in Week 13 (14?) last year. A lot of people got turned off by their "regression" to 8-8, but don't be fooled by record, JAX improved as a team from 05 to 06.

In 2005 they had a 12-4 record that was heavily inflated by a weak schedule. They lost big to a few good teams. In 2006 though, they played a lot of good teams and dominanted most if not all of them. They kinda screwed themselves by getting poor QB play against weak opponents like Houston, but remember this team lost it's QB for the year a week after we played them.

I say that Jacksonville is the team to beat full well knowing that Peyton Manning is at the pinnical of what just might be the greatest career ever by a QB now. But it's just not about one guy. While the Indy front has been good for years, their offensive personel is really being stretched to it's max. Dallas Clark is reportedly going to take Brandon Stokely's role in the offense. Joseph Addai has no competent backfield parter as of right now. That defense is still in dire straights versus the outside run. A pair of DEs that average 255 between them and corners who aren't espicially built for tackling is a recipe for disaster. Seems if opposing offenses can get the TE out on Bob Sanders, they should have the corner for a first down 9 out of 10 times.

Indy's certainly going to win some games next year, but the formula they used this year won't even get them to the playoffs. As good as Peyton Manning is, and we could very well see the best year ever by a QB this year, he just can't score everytime down.