Colts and Patriots this Sunday, but something is missing.

This game is usually hyped up and talked about all week like it's a Super Bowl. But this year with the Colts being the winless team they are, it just doesn't have that feeling. And with all the moves yesterday, this is a downright scary game to think about. Will the Patriots just go out there and put the nails in Jim Caldwell's coffin? I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Pats run up the score on this team. Especially with a new defensive coordinator calling the shots.  Who knows how that will effect things? And with a starting quarterback change. Talk about the spin cycle, wasn't it just last week the Painter was making improvements, and now he gets pulled from his starting job. At this point, wouldn't it make sense to leave Painter out there, and see if he can get it together? It's safe to say that Painter probably won't be around next season. I think Caldwell is done too. It's going to be tough for me to say that he should be the head coach.  He got lucky to inherit a good team, and take them to the Super Bowl that year.  If they win that Super Bowl, then I think he gets a pass on this season.  But he's not shown signs that he can change or adapt in game situations, and that's what the Colts need. Well they need a few other things, but for me it starts with the coach, and if they can bring in the right guy, then things should be back to normal  and right all around.  

NFL Reaction Week 12

Green Bay Packers  27     Detroit Lions  15
A few weeks ago, this sounded like such an entertaining game.  The Lions were rolling along and showing that things were changing.  The Packers were putting together an undefeated season.  Man how a few weeks change things. Now the Lions are grasping for a playoff spot, possibly losing a huge defensive player due to suspension after the stomp heard round the league, and just not clicking at this moment.  The Packers do their own thing and keep winning.  Aaron Rodgers looks to be the MVP this season, and they have a chance to run the table. 

Dallas Cowboys  20      Miami Dolphins  19
The Cowboys get the field goal to win this game and get a good win that they needed.  The Dolphins put up a good fight and show they won't just lay down this season even with just three wins.  With the Giants loss last night, the Cowboys move into first place in their division.  We'll see if they can hold off the Giants and win the division.

Baltimore Ravens  16      San Francisco 49ers  6
In the battle of Harbaugh coaches, John Harbaugh out does his brother Jim in this game.  The Ravens get the win with a huge defensive statement by getting to Alex Smith nine times.  That's a lot of sacks!  Joe Flacco throws for the only touchdown in the game, and the Ravens are in a tie with the Steelers in the AFC North.

Atlanta Falcons  24      Minnesota Vikings  14
Atlanta got a win they needed.  Matt Ryan threw for three touchdowns and the Falcons can still make some noise in their division and possibly the NFC.

Cincinnati Bengals  23      Cleveland Browns  20
Opposite seasons happening here.  I thought the Browns would be able to put something together, but they fall to 4-7.  While the Bengals are getting their season going in the right direction sitting at 7-4 with a shot at the division title.  Which rookie is making the bigger splash for the Bengals, AJ Green or Andy Dalton?  Either way, it looks that the Bengals have a bright future there.

Tennessee Titans  23      Tampa Buccaneers  17
Looks like the Buccaneers can't get their magic back from last season as they fall to 4-7.  Chris Johnson finally showed he was worth the pay day he got as he ran for 190 yards.  Going to be tough for both teams to get back in the playoff hunt.

Carolina Panthers  27      Indianapolis Colts  19
The Colts couldn't get the score they needed and end up losing to an up and coming Panthers team.  Cam Newton looks to lead the Rookie of the Year race.  And if he can get another receiver in there, who knows how good that offense can be?  Curtis Painter took a couple of shots get the Colts in this game, but got intercepted on both tries.  Reggie Wayne did all he could to keep the Colts in the game as well, catching and getting those yards after the catch.  Tough tough tough season for this Colts team, and scary to think they could go win less this season.

Arizona Cardinals  23      St. Louis Rams  20
Beanie Wells ran all over the Rams going for 228 yards and a touchdown.  Really not much else to say as both teams are not anywhere near a playoff berth. Both teams are playing for pride and that's about it.

NY Jets  28      Buffalo Bills  24
The Bills are like the Lions in that it seemed like good things were happening.  But man they've fallen off the radar.  The Jets keep getting wins here and there, but can they be more consistent?  The big story out of this game is the touchdown celebration by Stevi Johnson, where he acted like he shot himself in the leg as a mockery of Plaxico Burress.  Funny to think that Plaxico got the game clinching touchdown for the Jets.  My thinking on this celebration is, if Plaxico was dumb enough to take a gun into a club and shoot himself in the leg, then he deserves to be mocked.  I don't have a problem with the celebration at all.  

Houston Texans  20      Jacksonville Jaguars  13
The Texans might finally put together a winning season and be able to do something in the playoffs, even though they've lost both of their quarterbacks, and are going to a third string guy.  That should be interesting to see how that plays out.  Word today is the Jags just fired head coach Jack Del Rio, which is an odd move, but a move that was going to happen eventually.  And more surprising that it hadn't happened already.

Oakland Raiders  25      Chicago Bears  20
Sebastian Janikowski made field goals of 40, 47, 42, 19, 37 and 44 yards to break the team record he shared with Jeff Jaeger.  Not much else offensively happened in this game as the Raiders couldn't put it in the end zone until the fourth quarter.  Michael Bush got the lone touchdown for the Raiders.  The Bears couldn't get going with their backup quarterback, and hope to rebound next week if they want to make the playoffs.

Washington Redskins  23      Seattle Seahawks  17

The Redskins put up 16 points in the fourth quarter to get away from the Seahawks.  Redskins are another team that started off hot early in the season, but have definitely cooled off.  It's hard to find anything positive for the Seahawks, hey at least they've won four games.  

New England Patriots 38      Philadelphia Eagles 20

The Patriots were themselves in this game as they easily took care of the not so dreamy team of the Eagles.  Still hard to believe that Vince Young would throw out that term "dream team" for the Eagles.  They've not lived up to the expectations, and I'm interested to see if Andy Reid survives.  

Denver Broncos 16      San Diego Chargers  13

Jesus lead the way for the Broncos to win this game.  Oh wait, I mean Tim Tebow. I get the two mixed up, my fault.  My Super Bowl pick of the Chargers isn't looking so super now, can I get a redo on that one?  I gave into the paper championship look and look what they did for me.  The Broncos just keep winning games though, and have a chance to win their division.  

New Orleans Saints  49      New York Giants  24

The final game of Week 12, and you get blowout game on Monday night.  The Saints are just marching along and if it weren't for the impressive season that the Packers are having, the Saints would be the talk of the town. This team is probably just as scary with the way they put up points.  Things are clicking down there, and it could be a showdown with the Packers in the playoffs for a shot at the Super Bowl.  

 

Colts Fall to 0-11

It sounds weird to even say that after such a successful past decade.  But the Colts couldn't get it together yesterday, and lost to the Carolina Panthers. A bright spot for the Colts was Reggie Wayne, who had 5 catches for 122 yards and a score.  It looked like he was trying to do all he could to get the Colts that elusive first win.  And the defense did what they could do with guys getting sacks and forcing fumbles.  There was even a blocked field goal, so at least this felt like an inspired and competitive Colts team.  


They will need that same effort and more for the next two games.  Going up to Foxboro to play the Patriots should be interesting.  That game was supposed to be a Sunday night one, but now is flexed at 1:00.  I guess the good thing is ESPN won't be trying to fish for new ways to talk about this rivalry.  And who knows if this game will be competitive.  The Patriots look like the Patriots of old scoring in bunches and holding the other team down.  This is definitely a scary game for the Colts, and they need to play perfect to have a chance.


The week after they head to play the Baltimore Ravens, who look like a team wanting to make noise in the AFC.  But the Ravens are beatable, especially when they only put up 7 points, like in that Monday night game against the Jags.  Maybe the Colts get lucky, and pull off an upset of the Ravens.


But overall, this season is a wash, and you can only find so many bright spots.  0-11 doesn't give you many of those, especially if the team just looks flat.  The big bright spot it seems most fans are looking for is the number one draft pick.  Suck for Luck, indeed.

Colts Play the Panthers, but does anyone care?

What to make of this game?  There's really not much left to play for, except the number one draft pick, which would probably be Andrew Luck.  But do the Colts get Luck and keep Manning?  That's a whole other blog post.  Looking at today's game, let's just hope the Colts can be competitive. That's what I feel like has been missing in the past few games.  Even the Dolphins team that's only won a few games seems so much more competitive than this Colts team.  And the fact that Bill Polian said on his radio show "Curtis Painter didn't play that bad", but bad enough to get pulled from the fourth quarter of the past games, shows that he does care about the team.  I don't think Dan Orlovsky can come in and save the Colts at this rate, and there's no way you bring back Peyton Manning. Let him get completely healthy or as healthy as he can be now, and start fresh next season with hopefully Manning at the helm.  I think he's got a few good years left in him, and hopefully we could still make some noise in the AFC.  But right now, it's suck for Luck, and the Colts seem fine with that.
  

Thank you to sports

You know I was never a good athlete, and still am not, but I like to think I am.  But thanks to sports, I can watch other guys who are much better than me do the things that I would love to be doing.  Who could forget the small school of Butler taking on big bad Duke in the NCAA Championship Game, and making it back to that same championship game last year? I have fond memories of staying up to watch the Atlanta Braves try to finally get a World Series ring after all those years of dominating the NL East.  And what about a Pacers team that gave us Reggie Miller and all of his heroics?  Where do you even begin with that?  I love the "push off" on Jordan personally even if the Bulls end up beating the Pacers that series.  Sports is another form of entertainment that we can get lost in.  Just for a few hours you can sit at a Colts game, and forget about whatever else is happening.  You can root for your team to be the best because you want to to best the best.

Tough Time to Be a Colts Fan

Wish I had a happier topic to blog about, but the Colts aren't giving us fans much to talk about other than how bad they are.  Who knew the loss of Peyton Manning would have been felt this much?  Maybe he does deserve MVP consideration without playing a snap?  How crazy would that be?  Do you need to actually play to get MVP?  It's too bad as well that Curtis Painter has slipped and taken some steps back from where he started. If you're putting in another quarterback, then something is wrong.  But according to Bill Polian on his radio show on Monday night, Painter didn't play that bad.  He'll agree to disagree with the caller that stated Painter played really bad.  The Colts made a quarterback switch, how does that NOT show you're playing bad?  I think the overall spin cycle the team has been doing is the most frustrating part about this season.  You had Jim Caldwell stating it's a marathon and all of that.  Well we're getting to the final laps, and I don't see any light at the tunnel.  This team might be another 0-16 team.  Not exactly a good mark on the otherwise great resume of the Indianapolis Colts.  I am starting to get of the mindset, you need to just blow up the thing, and start over.  Reggie Wayne and Robert Mathis both won't be back next year, will they?  If Manning can come back healthy, then next season should be much better.  But if not, then Mr. Andrew Luck, you're up to bring the franchise back to its glory days.  

More Questions than Answers with the Mess at Penn State

As I was thinking about this situation at Penn State, I was torn between blogging and not blogging about it. But the more I read, the more I get fired up and want to throw out my two cents about everything. It's the biggest thing in sports right now, and it's showing that sports isn't everything.

Let's start off with the fact that this shows no one wants to step up and take the blame themselves.  If Mike McQueary witnessed the act of a 10 year old boy getting raped by Jerry Sandusky, why isn't McQueary going straight to the authorities?  Why would he pass it on to Joe Paterno?  And then Paterno passes it on to school officials? Obviously, if I witness something, I will report it.  Why hasn't this question been brought up to McQueary?  Or maybe it has, and there's just nothing being written about it.  Either way, we probably won't get an answer on these questions.

Next up, you have Paterno fired, and students decide to riot.  Oh that makes so much sense.  I hate this feeling of let's just riot for no reason. Students had to see the writing on the wall, and realize it wasn't going to end well for Paterno. They would have probably rioted after Paterno's last game.  That's the cool thing to do nowadays rioting for no reason at all.

Finally, I would think in this case, it's so hard to be objective and unbiased since it's in fact about raping children. I can't imagine anyone can report this type of story without some sort of feeling about it.  I guess you have to put those feelings aside, and report it the best you can.  I feel like more comes out and more questions are coming out as well.  Like I said earlier, the more questions coming out, but the less answers are being answered.  What a time to be there at Penn State.

Peyton Manning Should Not Play This Season

Indy Star Article about Jim Irsay Tweeting Peyton Manning May Still Play

First off, can Jim Irsay ease up on the tweets?  You know how the media is going to run with them, and I can't imagine that Bill Polian would be happy with that type of situation. I've already blogged about this whole idea, but it needs to be said again.  Irsay should stick to the "contests" which I've never heard anyone of winning.  So if you have won one, let me know.  

Second, Peyton doesn't need to come back this season. If the Colts had some shot of making the playoffs, then I could see the rush to get him back, and give them a chance to be in the playoffs.  But sitting at 0-8, this team isn't going anywhere, but the top of the draft.  And who knows what they will do when that time comes around?

Third, if Peyton Manning did come back for a snap or play a game, would it really be worth it?  What if he goes out and gets hurt?  Of course that could happen next year and any year, but I'd rather him be at full health, and completely comfortable with going out to play.

Overall, Colt fans will just have to think about this season as a blip on the radar. At this rate, I think Jim Caldwell will be gone.  The Colts will have to think deep and long about whether to draft Andrew Luck if they get that first draft pick, which is looking like a huge possibility.  If Luck is ok with sitting a couple of years, I say go for it.  But I think the last thing this team would need is some sort of quarterback issue.  There are many other issues going on with this team, but that's the priority to address.