Average Ranking: 2.647

What If Sports ranks us 2nd (+1)  Win % of 77.9

Fox Sports keeps us in 3rd (nc):  WHAT A SURPRISE: The consensus was that WR Anthony Gonzalez would be the guy to make up for the void of future Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison in this lineup. When Lil' Gonzo suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1, Indy fans got nervous.  Season-ending?  Really?  And you guys actually get paid for that kind of cracker jack reporting?  I had to re-read that line a few times, I thought I was just high on cold meds...

ESPN moves us up to 1st (+1):  Back to prime time Sunday in Nashville, where a shaky secondary awaits Peyton Manning. (Kuharsky)  Read on down for the comment regarding the Pats, it's priceless.

Associated Content keeps us in 5th (nc):  Denver has moved into #4

Walter Football ranks us 3rd (+2):  Nothing I write about the Colts can beat Chris Berman's comments about them:
"They have a waiter... a dog... and a color."   Classic Berman (referring to Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie and Donald Brown). Makes me miss the old NFL Primetime that much more. Don't worry; there will be another NFL Primetime/anti-ESPN rant on my NFL Picks page this week.

PFW ranks us 3rd (+2):  Pup receivers Collie, Garcon both showing some bite.

Vic Carucci at NFL.com ranks us 2nd (+1):  The way the Colts' offense is rolling, the only thing that looks capable of stopping it is the NFL schedule, which gives this team a bye in Week 6.  Regarding our QB (who's #1):  Seattle coach Jim Mora put it best when he said his team "played greatness" Sunday.  Regarding D-Free (who's #5): Apparently, he didn't get the message that he was supposed to miss two weeks with a quadriceps injury. Seattle's Seneca Wallace sure wishes he did.  He overlooked Mathis, which is a shame, imo.  And, finally some love for our coach (who's #2):  So much for all of those concerns about a first-year coach being able to replace the legendary Tony Dungy. 

Pete Prisco at CBS ranks us 2nd (nc):  They are quietly off to a fantastic start. Peyton Manning has thrown for more than 300 yards in four games to open the season. And the defense is playing well with the lead. Those pass rushers are good.  I like the quietly part.

Peter King @ SI drops us to 3rd (-1):  The art of the strip-sack aided and abetted the Colts once more. Robert Mathis told me it's something defensive line coach John Teerlinck has the Colts work on every day during practice, in almost all pass-rush drills. The Colts are riding a more aggressive defensive front to a good two-way team right now.

Sporting News ranks us 2nd (nc):  It would be any wide receiver's dream to play with Peyton Manning.

The National Football Post ranks us 3rd (+1):  Peyton Manning has thrown for over 300 yards in every game to start the season, and he looks to be playing the best football of his career.  Boy, these guys don't miss anything. So much for "the beginning of the end", "the window closing" and "the decline" to quote a few msm iggits.

Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports ranks us 4th (+2):  Is Robert Mathis(notes) the NFL’s most underrated defensive end?  Um, yes.  Duh.  I still don't get Philly being ranked higher than us.

WEEI of Boston ranks us 2nd (+1):  Peyton Manning and the Colts offense are at the top of almost every offensive statistic possible. They rank first in passing yards, passing touchdowns and receiving yards. The Colts are firing on all cylinders. 

[UPDATE)

Don Banks @ SI ranks us 3rd (+1):  Peyton Manning hasn't lost in his past 13 regular-season games. His little brother, Eli, is 4-0 this season with the Giants. And two of Archie Manning's three old teams, the Saints and Vikings, are also 4-0 and sit atop the NFC South and NFC North, respectively. It must be good to be a Manning about now.

NBC Sports (PFT) ranks us 2nd (nc):  If Peyton Manning misses any time, the Colts could be sliding through the top twenty quickly.  Ya think?!??!?

CHFF ranks us 3rd (+2):  Last week: 34-17 win vs. Seattle. Colts DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis each have five sacks this year. Since the start of 2004, the less-heralded Mathis has more sacks (55-51) and forced fumbles (30-23).

USA Today ranks us 2nd (+1):  Too early to think Peyton Manning might with fourth MVP award?

Note: NFL.com hasn't changed their "expert" rankings from last week.  When they do, I'll throw them up, so to speak.

GO COLTS!!