1. Peyton Manning is Back: Manning's early struggles this season can be attributed to anything from
injury to lack of practice time to poor game planning to a young and wounded
offensive line. But the important thing to bear in mind that he has
re-gained his timing with his receivers, is starting to feel and react to
pressure appropriately, and is once again doing a masterful job of reading the
defense, both before and after the snap.
Since the running game and Joseph Addai have not rebounded as quickly or
thoroughly as Manning has, this team will only go as far for the remainder of
the regular season and post season as Manning's right arm will carry them.
The schedule gets easier for him for the rest of the way and it will be
important for him and the offense to continue to gain traction and confidence as
they head towards the playoffs.
Even with all the problems this season, Tony Dungy's system seems to be working again
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2. Scheme Over Substance:
Although the run defense is still the weakest link of the defense as a whole,
it has certainly improved since the early part of the season, regardless of the
injuries it has had to deal with. It looks as though Antonio Johnson might
be the replacement for Ed Johnson that the Colts have been searching for since
they released him and the eventual return of Bob Sanders will bolster the unit
as a whole.
Even though numerous members of the secondary have been placed on injured
reserve and/or missed significant time due to injury, the Colts still rank in
the top five in pass defense and have only allowed four passing touchdowns
through 11 games this season.
The credit for this success in light of the injuries and other issues that
the defense has faced needs to go to the coaches, specifically Tony Dungy and
Ron Meeks, who have kept the defense on an even keel no matter how inexperienced
or awestruck the men they were coaching were. Additionally, Bill Bolian
deserves a lot of credit for continuing to unearth players that fit the schemes
and systems that Dungy and Meeks deploy.
3. The Pass Rush Has Returned:
Dwight Freeney is finally returning to his pre-Lisfranc form, Robert Mathis
is making the most of his time on the field, and Raheem Brock has established
himself as an excellent third option at the end position.
Curtis Johnson and Marcus Howard are also working their way back into the
rotation and Josh Thomas, though not as flashy or exciting as the other players
at his position, is still a consistent force that helps to steady the front
four.
The back seven defenders have done well thus far without much of a pass rush
to speak of. As it continues to improve and Freeney and Mathis slowly work
their way back to being Freeney and Mathis — not to mention the infusion of
youth and explosiveness they bring to the defense — the unit will improve as a
whole.
Indianapolis places a great deal of emphasis on the four men up
front in their version of the Cover 2 defense. The front four is finally
proving itself worthy of such emphasis.
4. They Have Only Two Conference Losses:
In the past few seasons, conference losses, division records, and point
differentials were things that other teams had to worry about when it came to
the playoffs.
However, with four losses already this season, the Colts
find themselves needing to do a little scoreboard watching and need to figure
out how the other teams in the league stack up to them in terms of tie breakers.
With losses against Green Bay and Chicago, Indianapolis has only two losses
in the AFC, which actually would put them ahead of the New York Jets should they
lose a game, since the Jets already have three conference losses.
If they
win out and the Jets lose a game in there somewhere — they also would need to
fall out of the division lead in the AFC East, that would catapult the Colts in
front of the Jets for that last spot.
It's unlikely that they'll lose to Detroit, but that would be their least
damaging loss if they need to lose one between now and the end of the season.
5. Luck is on Their Side:
They could very easily have lost against Minnesota and Houston. Adam Vinatieri made a 52-yard and 51-yard game winning kick after not making a field
goal attempt of 40 yards or longer for the entire 2007 season.
Just about
every call went their way in the game against the Chargers. They were on
the positive side of a few favorable bounces against Pittsburgh.
After a tough opening schedule, they managed to escape the first 11 games
with seven wins and are fortunate enough to face the lightest part of their
schedule in the stretch run.
Indianapolis has generally made their own
luck throughout the Dungy era, but it is definitely helpful for their Super Bowl
hopes that lady luck seems to be on their side.