Smith: Who Really Won on Sunday?
If you're a serious Colts fan, you should really have the Bleacher Report bookmarked; it is, to me, one of the best places to go for analysis on every aspect of the game. Take Eric Smith's article on last week's winners and losers, for instance. He brings up the Colts's upcoming schedule, which is as follows:
@Jets
Browns
@Tennessee
Miami
@Jacksonville
... and highlights that those are all winnable games. Sure, playing in Tennessee might be tough, they've already lost to Jacksonville this year (I've been trying to purge the last minute of that game from my mind, hasn't worked yet), and they have yet to play Houston ... but logically, this is a team that could be looking at 7-2 if all goes well. Heck, they play KC and Detroit at home after that, and Tennessee and Buffalo on the road ... so really, there's a decent chance that the Colts could go 10-6 this year.
I mean, after watching Andrew Luck improve in leaps and bounds four weeks in a row (he's a winner from last week, according to Smith) I'm finding it hard to vote against their offense. The Colts ran a hurry-up offense for most of the game yesterday, all while having a rookie quarterback, two rookie tight ends, three rookie wide receivers, a rookie running back (Luck, Fleener, Allen, Hilton, Brazill, Palmer, and Ballard) ... and while most of them didn't play very much yesterday, the final Colts drive of the first quater featured Luck, Hilton, Palmer, Brazill, Allen, and Ballard, all switching in and out without huddling - six rookies. No huddle.
I mean, by the end of the season their O-line will be locked down, their wide receivers will have about ten times their current experience (6 of 8 targeted receivers yesterday were rookies), and for the first time since they let Rhodes go, they'll have two legitimate ground options (I'm including Luck, who already has over 100 yards on the season). If their defense can get healthy, you could be looking at Freeney, Mathis, Freeman, and Angerer coming out as starting linebackers a 3-4 set.
Winners last week? My favorite: #5, Colts Playoff Hopes.
@Jorgelfman
*As the_spru pointed out, the Colts are set to play Tennessee and Buffalo at home, and KC and Detroit on the road, rather than the other way around (like I posted). Good job noticing, thanks for the heads up.
@LovinBlue @jorgelfman you have the schedule wrong...KC and Detroit are on the road and Buffalo at home.
@zgs1288 To be honest, I think New York's a good matchup; the Jets have a banged up receiving squad, a dysfunctional offense, and they're coming off a short week. The only problem is Tim Tebow; his style of play could be a problem for the Colts ... they seem to forget the quarterback can run sometimes.Not a given - you're absolutely right - but possible.
@zgs1288 Nothing's a given in this life, sometimes you just got to put it out there and let the chips fall as they may (nobody remembers the bad predictions anyway right?).
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@Colt_Following haha agreed. I do think there's a shot they're this year's Bengals and sneak into the playoffs with a rookie QB. Either way, the future is bright (especially with the cap space that's going to be available this offseason).
@Jorgelfman @coltsauthority damn son. You basically just stole my next article (in @ColtsAuth_Kyle inbox lest you think I plagiarized you)
@Colt_Following @ColtsAuthority @ColtsAuth_Kyle Sorry, I can take it down ... stuff like that should probably be on the front page anyway.
