Even though the Jets are a stout defensive team and in the playoff hunt, they are helmed by a first-year QB who likes to complete passes to the other team. They’re only offensive weapon is Thomas Jones (unless you count D. Revis), and I believe our Colts will stack the line and make Sanchez beat them with his arm.

The Bills are the Bills, and if they’re the only team standing in the way of a 16-0 season, I don’t know how the Colts don’t win that game, regardless of weather conditions.

I know the numbers are never there but Addai has been coming on as the season goes. He had some good gains and the OL was clearing some nice holes. Hart always impresses me. He seems to find the first down marker no matter what.

MJD=best back in the NFL. Starting a team, I’d take him over Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson. Peterson is just and physical and bigger than MJD, but he’s not nearly the receiver or blocker, and he puts the ball on the ground. Johnson is a fraud as an MVP candidate. He’s fast as hell, but the Colts proved (twice) that he’s merely a really good back if you take away his chance to break one. Plainly, he can break them against an undisciplined defense, like he did last week, but he’s a feast or a famine, which is no pillar on which to build a good offense.

Which brings me to MJD. Hard running? Check. Hard to bring down? Check. Double Check. Versatile? Uh, yeah, returns kicks too. Good receiver? Let’s just say it wasn’t hardly fair that Session had to defend him when Garrard threw the scrambling TD pass. He’s a very good receiver and route-runner. Blocker? Two words: Shawn Merriman. Leader? It seems likely to me he’s the man in their locker room, ahead of Garrard. And, because they had the good fortune (or sense) to pair him with Fred Taylor early in his career, he’s got very low miles.

Here’s the best way I could think to express my appreciation: he could play for the Colts. Basically, he has Addai’s skill set on steroids. And this is no knock on Joe, whom I’m very happy to say has had a really good year and is a tremendous fit for the Colts. It’s just that Jones-Drew is soooo good.

After making my principal point, I want to give props to Phillip Wheeler, who carried out the halftime adjustments very well, making those cutback tackles on MJD. In my untutored eyes, Wheeler’s very best game ever.

Lastly, does anyone think Nelson sidestepped Reggie and tried to poke the ball out because he was thinking, hell, better make a play now, this instant, because if I tackle Wayne and the Colts have it on the 15 or 20 they’re scoring for sure and it’ll just eat up the clock? That may be a lot to go through someone’s mind in a split second but how else to you explain such egregious non-tackling?

…other than about Garrard. Garrard was rather sharp. He’s not a QB who is going to have a lot of yardage and awesome stats, but he’s efficient and accurate, which is something that is needed. I would say he played well the entire game, just not well enough to overcome the Colts D. I say that’s because of the Colts though, not Garrard.

Put Garrard’s performance last night against a team not named the Colts, Steelers (with Polamalu), or the Saints, and that’s a win for the Jags. I’d say with that performance, the Broncos, Pats, and VIkings all go down.

I just hope next year we get to play a few more of these night games at home. Second highest NFLN game.

We now have 10 days to ‘Get Healthy’ which is what we need, a few days to kinda nurse our wounds and then a week a prep for the Jets. I would wager to say Peyton has already seen at least 7hrs of tape on them.

Manning better win the MVP after last night’s dismantling.

Had the fire going, the older boys home from college, the whole family sitting under blankets and half-comatose from too much Chinese food. Unfortunately for my younger son who’s a Jaguars fan, it didn’t end like he wanted but what a good-old-fashioned, down-to-the-wire slug-fest of a division game.

Have to say that this year’s Colts team reminds me of the early decade Patriots teams, that somehow just kept finding ways to win. The scores were usually close enough where they mostly looked beatable beforehand but left opposing teams afterwards saying things like, “we beat ourselves,” and painfully aware that there were only two or three plays that made the difference at the end of the game. Consequently, the media starts saying how vulnerable and beatable the team is – in spite of the fact that they keep on winning. It doesn’t matter that they’re not rolling over everyone, what matters is that they keep grinding and find ways to win.

Because the Colts have been having these type of grind it out, come from behind wins, the teaser to Pete Prisco’s article this morning caught my eye, “The Colts had every reason to not play hard in Jacksonville, yet they pull out a tough 35-31 victory to go 14-0.”

Even though in the article Prisco points out that close victories will be good preparation for the playoffs, the premise in that teaser was so incredibly wrong. Saying that the Colts didn’t have to play hard sounds like it was an option. It’s similar to 2007 when the media said the problem was that the Patriots tried too hard to win every game and were burnt out by the SB. Not playing hard wasn’t an option for them and it ran contrary to the character of every player on that team. It doesn’t seem that it would go over with the Colts players either to tell them to “let up” or not to try to win whenever they’re on the field, especially against a division opponent.

I think last night showed that Caldwell crossed a line, mentally. In the fourth quarter of the game, with the Colts still within 4 3 points he could have said, ’we’ll ride this out, we’ll continue to play it as we have’. Instead he put Freeney and Mathis in almost full time, just sayin, ‘I wanna win this bitch’, and the defense improved 100 fold. I’m not going to start the start em or sit em debate, but it sure seemed to me like Caldwell made his decision last night in the 4th.

Just woke up, so havent read the thread, sorry if this was discussed already.

Lovin’ me some Kyle DeVan. I love watching him blowin DT’s off the line and LB’s on the pulls!

It seems like the Colts’ schedule has been particularly challenging this year, not just from the perspective of the teams played, but from literally a scheduling perspective. Three tough road games in – what was it – 15 days? at the beginning of the year? A Thursday night road game late in the season?

Does anyone know whether this is more difficult than normal? less so? about the same?

Although I myself maligned the Colts’ D effort last night, I’ll respectfully back off that opinion after thinking about the tough game they played against Denver and the defensive approach last night (Freeney and Mathis used sparingly).

Also I agree wholeheartedly with SpazMo’s comment that Caldwell decided in the 4th qtr (commenting from my phone so too lazy to post and re-scroll through al the comments to reply properly).

but it was great to see this team compete and just let it out. Great game. This has been a really really fun season so far.

Special thanks to the Jaguars fan community at Big Cat Country for a fine week of blogging
was very classy. The Colts fan base as a whole growed much much bigger in my eyes during this week!

All the voters watched that game, and if they did not come away impressed they should have their voting rights stripped from them while a midget kicks them repeatedly in the nuts.

Why a midget? Wouldn’t a tall guy with long legs for leverage be mo-HEY!!!

Put Garrard’s performance last night against a team not named the Colts, Steelers (with Polamalu), or the Saints, and that’s a win for the Jags. I’d say with that performance, the Broncos, Pats, and VIkings all go down.

I dont agree with the comment above. this was the jags superbowl game. it is twice a year. this is the only game the fans care about. I know I live here. the jags would not beat the vikings and I dont think they beat the pats because welker will kill that secondary. and Im not so sure they beat the broncos either. Im not so sure they even beat the browns.

I love caldwell. we were all supposedly doomed once dungy left. DOOMED I tell you! I love dungy and always will and obviously caldwell has learned alot from dungy but he realizes there is something special happening here and is not about to pass up this opportunity. what the colts did last night with this game meaning absolutely nothing. honestly this guy is a cool cat! Im screaming and thinking how is this guy so calm. honestly this team looks as if its still being coached by dungy…except for last night when caldwell went for it!

The Indianapolis Colts-Jacksonville Jaguars game on NFL Network on Thursday was watched by an average of 6.2 million viewers (not including over-the-air stations in Indianapolis and Jacksonville) -– ranking as the second most watched game in the four years of Thursday Night Football on NFL Network behind Green Bay-Dallas on Nov. 29, 2007 (10.1 million viewers). THANK YOU and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to ALL VIEWERS and COLTS FANS alike!