More photos » by AJ Mast - AP

4 days ago: Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett (58) celebrates his fumble recovery during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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This post is sponsored by Comcast and their NFL RedZone channel, a new NFL Network channel. Want to see every touchdown from every NFL game as it happens as well as live look-ins to all of Sunday's games in key situations? Then you need Comcast's NFL RedZone.

From Football Outsider's Mike Tanier (via 18to88):

The Colts have the best goal-to-go defense in the NFL according to DVOA.

Even though Indy's pass defense dropped from 9th in yards to 16th in yards following the War of 1812, they've still only allowed 7 TDs. Factor in that the Colts have intercepted 10 balls and forced 10 fumbles, the old tried-and-true Tampa-2 method of forcing teams into mistakes and making them work for TDs continues to work.

Also, for the first time in I don't know how long, Indy's run defense (ranked 14th) is better than the pass defense (16th) in terms of yardage. This means teams have stopped trying to "control the clock" by running the ball, because they know the Colts are good at shutting that down. Also, factor in that New England's passing attack did much of their damage in the first half. After a strong halftime adjustment, the Colts did much better containing Brady and the passing game, forcing them into two turnovers (one an INT in the endzone, another a rather famous turnover-on-downs).

Considering they are doing all this without Kelvin Haden, and I'd say the pass defense is just fine, thank you.

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

FILE -- This is an Aug. 4, 2009, file photo showing Indianapolis Colts receiver Anthony Gonzalez during the NFL team's football training camp in Terre Haute, Ind. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

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The silver-lining for Anthony Gonzalez's injury in Week One was the rapid, forced development of wide receivers Pierre Garçon and Austin Collie. And while many have expressed frustration that both Garçon and Collie have been erratic throughout the year, the reality is that inconsistency is the hallmark for all young receivers, good and bad. Also, factor in that it usually takes a receiver three years before they finally start looking like they are worth something. Call it the Reggie Wayne Scale, if you must. I remember from 2001-2003, Colts fans (stupidly) applied the "bust" label to Reggie Wayne, maintaining that the Colts should have taken a defensive player (Kyle Vanden Bosch, maybe?), or not traded down to get Wayne and taken a defensive tackle like Ryan Pickett.

This is why fans are fans and Bill Polian is god.

Today, I'm one of the leading schmucks on the Internets who thinks Reggie Wayne is the best wide receiver in football. And if you compare Pierre Garçon's second year numbers (26 catches, 403 yards, 3 TDs) or Austin Collie's rookie numbers (38 catches, 408 yards, 3 TDs) with Reggie Wayne's second year numbers (49 catches for 716 yards and 4 TDs) you see that both young receivers are well on their way to developing into good players.

Again, this kind of development likely would not have happened had Anthony Gonzalez not gotten hurt.

In a recent Mike Chappell article for the Indy Star, we get an update on Gonzo, who is recovering from surgery earlier this month to help heal his injured knee. Gonzo aggravated the injury (which he initially sustained against the Jaguars) during his rehab process. Now, Gonzo is saying he feels "close" again:

"I felt like I was close the last time," Gonzalez said. "So in that sense, it's a little hard to say. I do feel the 'scope I had helped a lot. Now it's just a matter of getting a little flexibility back and all my strength back.

"But I think I'm close."

In yet another season where key components of the team have gone down with injury, such as the oft-injured Bob Sanders (done for the year), the addition of an important cog like Gonzo to an offense as impressive as the Colts could provide a serious jolt during the December push for playoff seeding.

However, we Colts fans have been through this injury roller-coaster before with another wide receiver, Marvin Harrison. The constant "Will he? Won't he?" for Harrison in 2007 drove me nuts from week to week after Harrison sustained a seemingly career-ending knee injury. With Gonzo, I have no wish to relive that torture. If he does come back, he offers another potent weapon to stretch the field for Peyton Manning.

But, it is important to point out the Garçon and Collie have played well enough (overall) to retain their roles. These two guys have grown up as players right before our eyes. It will be interesting to see how the Colts work with them once Gonzo gets back into the fold.

Tip to Z.Pain

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Indianapolis Colts quarterback and supposed John Unitas clone Peyton Manning (18) uses the Vulcan head touch to sap the knowledge from Senior Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore's brain. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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(Warning: This Colts v. Ravens preview is sans Mayflower trucks because, quite honestly, we've been there and done that. Most rational, civilized, well-adjusted people are over it already. Those that aren't need a life).

We made a big brew-ha-ha earlier this year about Baltimore native Barry Levinson's well produced but painfully flawed ESPN documentary titled The Band That Wouldn't Let It Go The Band That Wouldn't Die. The doc's story centered on the old Baltimore Colts marching band and their efforts to keep the spirit of football alive in the city of Baltimore after the Colts left town in favor of Indianapolis in March of 1984. ESPN probably should have waited until this week to air the doc, as it would have likely stirred up the fanbases in both Baltimore and Indy just in time for the now-seemingly annual Colts v. Ravens showdown.

Since 2004, the Colts have played the Ravens at least once a year. With this Sunday's game, the Colts will have played in Baltimore four times while the Ravens have traveled to Indy twice. In all the previous contests, the Colts have flat out owned the Ravens. Whether under the night lights of primetime TV, or in the pressure-packed moments of the playoffs, the Colts have consistently put their foot on the throats of the Ravens and strangled the life out of them each and every time.

Yet, despite the seemingly annual match-up, there does not seem to be any sort of animosity or hatred between the two teams. The reason for this: Peyton Manning. Baltimore fans and players seem to respect Peyton Manning more than any other QB in the league. I've heard more than a few fans from the "City of Firsts" say that Peyton Manning is as close to a clone of Johnny Unitas as they've ever seen. He even walks like unitas did, they say. There is also mutual respect from Colts players towards greats like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Ravens coach John Harbaugh (brother of former-Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh, a longtime fan favorite).

With this year's match-up, the rivalry now has the added dimension of a potent Ravens offense, led by a very impressive QB named Joe Flacco, and a Colts defense that, right now, is playing better football than the Ravens defense has this season.

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Week 10 was a real struggle this week, thanks to quite a few unexpected winners:

• Only 1 person picked the Redskins to win (shake n bake, that bastard).
• Twelve people (out of 53) picked the Packers to beat the Cowboys.
• Fourteen people picked the Panthers, and only 14 picked the Jaguars.

As a side note, our "experts" from USA Today and Yahoo! were almost unanimous in picking the Patriots (only Skip Wood being smart).  I'm sure they also still think the Patriots are better, regardless of the final score.  And they get paid to think these things...

This week in the Against the Spread contest, we had one winner, sandsaver01.  He/She got 12/15 games correct, which is unbelievable (especially to me, who only got 4 right).  Great week.  Our leaderboard after 10 weeks looks like this:

In the Straight Up contest, we had four people get 12/15 games correct!  They are:

• bluegirl
• chano14
• EnSsRex
• enjyinlife

Congratulations!  The leaderboard for the Straight Up contest looks like this:

shoein still has a share of the lead in both contests, but he's falling farther behind Bill Simmons, who has bounced back from his horrible Week 8. 

After the jump you'll see the full leaderboard.  Remember there is a game tonight, and you can place your picks either in the comments here, or in the FanShot I posted yesterday.  I'm not sure what my availability will be on Sunday, but I'll to get the link posted for everyone's picks before the games start.

Stampede Blue Prediction Contest Picks Week 10

Stampede Blue Prediction Contest Week 11, open until 1:00 ET Sunday

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Troublingly long injury report today. Kelvin Hayden, Anthony Gonzalez, Adam Vinatieri and Jim Sorgi are still out. They were joined by Hank Baskett (Illness), Antoine Bethea (Foot), Dan Federkiel (concussion), Eric Foster (back), Aaron Francisco (ankle), Pierre Garcon (ankle), Gijon Robinson (concussion), Justin Snow (elbow).

Colts.com link

More photos » by AJ Mast - AP

4 days ago: Indianapolis Colts kicker Matt Stover (3) kicks the game winning extra point during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 in Indianapolis. Colts beat Patriots 35-34. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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Yesterday, the Baltimore Ravens cut kicker Steven Hauschka. Hauschka was handed the starting place kicker job during the off-season after Ravens management decided not to re-sign longtime, legendary kicker Matt Stover who, like Adam Vinatieri, has made a career making big, money, clutch field goals. 

Gee, you think Ravens football guru Ossie Newsome regrets that stupid decision?

Prior to getting cut, Hauschka was hitting only 3-5 field goals between 40 and 49 yards and had missed two FGs from less than 39 yards. Against the Cleveland Browns Monday night, Hauschka missed a gimme FG from 36 yards out. Apparently, that's was all Newsome needed to see.

Stover, meanwhile, has found a temporary home with the team that used to play in Baltimore, the Colts. With fellow legend Adam Vinatieri on the shelf for a while recovering from surgery, Stover has come in and been his usual, automatic self. He is 6-6 on FG attempts, hitting all four tries in the 30 to 39 yard range. While sTover likely does not have the leg power to blast a 53-yarder through the uprights, he does do what every good kicker is paid very handsomely to do: Make the gimme FGs.

This is why, for my money, kickers with "big legs" are over-rated. Give me the clutch kickers any day; the guys who make the FGs when the game is on the line. Sure, even the great ones miss one or two here and there, but more often than not they are the ones who propel your team to wins by hitting the big money FG.

Guys like Stover and Vinatieri have made their careers doing that. This weekend, the Colts and Stover will return "home" to Baltimore. Hopefully, he can provide the Ravens with even more regret for letting him walk away from their franchise.

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

4 days ago: Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning reacts after he threw a touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Indianapolis, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. The Colts won 35-34.(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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This is one of the rare times I link to a Cold Hard Football Facts article. I find many of their writers there pen pieces that read more like a third grader's show-and-tell essay rather than informed sports media. One of their particular points of annoyingly ignorant emphasis is to state that the play of Peyton Manning in the playoffs has been consistently sub-par throughout his career. Despite a myriad of statistical evidence that simply does not back up their claim, some of them still hold onto the dated notion that Manning "folds" in crunch time. And I'm sure that some of those people are likely dismissing Manning's fourth quarter brilliance against the Patriots Sunday as just another Manning moment in the regular season.

They're just haters, and they don't like being wrong. Sad, if you think about it.

However, CHFF did make a great observation after the Patriots v. Colts Sunday night thriller, and it is something we here have noticed: The established media is clearly annoyed the Colts won the game.

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More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Manning asking Brady if he likes apples. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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I, much like shake, had already started the "This is why the Colts lost" edition of Inside the Numbers in my head.  They had too many 3 and Outs.  They turned the ball over twice.  The drive stats, without actually seeing the numbers, felt bad.

I'm glad I didn't have to write that.

Instead, I get to write about how the Patriots "outplayed" the Colts, in terms of the Winning Stats, but didn't score more points than the Colts, and that's really all that matters in the end.  Some notes from the game:

• NBC flashed a stat at the end of the game...This was the first time in Bill Belichick's career as a head coach he surrendered a 13+ point lead in the 4th quarter.  The previous record was 12 points in 2000 against the Jets.
• They also flashed a stat that Tom Brady was 25-2 when throwing for 300 yards, which is well above average.  Well, he's 25-3 now.  Peyton Manning, for the record, is 34-21 in his career, and 8-0 this season.  As an aside, if you want a historical look at all QB's records when they pass for 300 yards vs. 100 yard rushers, check out the PFR blog from today.
• Dwight Freeney's consecutive games with a sack ended at 9, one short of the NFL record.  That rookie came to play, and on the couple plays he did get beat, he had some help.  Thems the breaks, but I don't think Freeney is too upset today about it.
• The farther I get from the 4th and 2, the more I think Belichick was correct in his decision.  The play call, however, was a classic Brady staple.  Remember in 2007, when Brady went to Troy Brown on 3rd and 4, with just over 2 minutes to go?  Bob Sanders knew (as did I) who Brady was going to, and what route he was running, as he almost picked off the pass and took it to the house.  I had little doubt, when I saw Faulk motion out of the backfield, that that was where he was going with the ball, and the same route.  Thankfully Melvin Bullitt was on top of things, and made the play of the game.

Let's get to those numbers...

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Kyle DeVan playing Arena Football in Boise last year. Image: via www.everyjoe.com

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In possibly the biggest game yet for the 2009 season, Colts coach Jim Caldwell left 2007 second round pick Tony Ugoh and 2008 second round pick Mike Pollak inactive for the game. They were not hurt. They were not disciplined for an off-the-field incident. They seemed to be left inactive because... well, they just plain suck right now.

Their replacements on the line (Charlie Johnson and Kyle DeVan, respectively) allowed only one sack and blocked for a running game that averaged 5.1 yards a carry during the game.

While most of you know that Charlie Johnson is a 6th round pick from 2006 while Kyle DeVan was playing Arena Football in Boise last year, the fact that essentially two "nobodies" can beat out two highly drafted young players speaks volumes as to how well managed the Colts are as a team. Yes, Ugoh and Pollak are busts. They are stains on an otherwise Hall of Fame drafting resume for Bill Polian. Their lack of production has cost this football teams wins in the past, and with them both being healthy scratches for the biggest game of the year (so far), I'm pretty confident in saying their futures with the Colts stand at "Not For Long."

Sunday night, there was a noticeable difference with Kyle DeVan on the right side blocking on run plays. Chad Simpson had some hard runs, and (once again) Joseph Addai was masterful running the ball hard in the 4th quarter against a gased Patriots defense. Addai's 4 yard TD run and his 9 yard run to the goal line prior to Reggie Wayne's game-winning TD grab are the kinds of runs a team needs to beat a squad like the Pats.

By the way, the Addai TD run was to the right, with DeVan providing an excellent block on Vince Wolfork and Jerod Mayo.

In his weekly Monday press conference, Jim Caldwell confirmed that DeVan has won the starting job over Pollak, and then went on to praise DeVan's work ethic and ability to "fight" as a lineman. Clearly, Pollak did not play with the consistent toughness and tenacity DeVan has played with. This lack of toughness and fight is the same thing that cost promising tackle Tony Ugoh is starting job in Training Camp.

So, while I'm sure you all are upset like me that, essentially, two very high round draft picks were wasted on these two crappy players, the positive is we root for a team that (as Jim Caldwell states) will put ego aside to honestly evaluate their roster. As a result, the people who are playing the best actually play, as opposed to the people drafted the highest.

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

4 days ago: New England Patriots NFL football head coach Bill Belichick walks from the podium after speaking about his decision not to punt late in their 35-34 loss Sunday to the Indianapolis Colts, at a news conference in Foxborough, Mass. Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

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Seriously Dan? I mean, seriously?

The worst call of the final 2:08 of the Indianapolis Colts’ 35-34 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday wasn’t made by Bill Belichick.

It came courtesy of head linesman Tom Stabile, who on the now-infamous fourth-and-2 attempt, ruled Patriots running back Kevin Faulk(notes) was juggling the pass until he landed on his back inside the 30-yard line.

Replays show Faulk had jumped in the air and initially batted the ball up. Stabile could see that. Faulk, however, then cradled it into his chest as he planted one foot on each side of the 30 before being pushed down.

Whether replay would have been conclusive enough to overrule Stabile’s call is unknown. The NFL may claim the call on the field would’ve stood, but who knows what would’ve been determined.

Since Wetzel is too dense to see just how pathetic he looks writing this stupid, seemingly redundant "the refs blew the game" love letter to Bill Belichick, I'll just state the obvious for him and anyone else who thinks along the same lines.

Wetzel is wrong in his replay assessment. Completely, flatly, and blatantly wrong. Tom Brady's pass hit Kevin Faulk in the hands. He was then met hard and driven back by Melvin Bullitt, forcing Faulk to bobble the ball. Bullitt drove Faulk back and by the time Faulk had complete and total possession of the football, he was a yard short. Using the TV "line" is not official. It is where the stick are on the sidelines, and from the vantage point of just about every possible TV angle, Faulk had possession when he was one his back, one yard short. That was the call on the field, and after about a billion replays, that is what we viewers saw.

But even if Faulk did make the first down (he didn't, but let's speculate just so we can make Wetzel look even more ridiculous), the Patriots were unable to challenge the play because Belichick and Brady had blown all of their second half timeouts. Now, what's funny about this is Wetzel acknowledges that:

Since the Patriots had blown their timeouts and the play came just outside the two-minute warning, which would’ve triggered an automatic review, it’s all a moot point.

Um, OK. If it's a moot point, THEN WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS STUPID ARTICLE BLASTING THE CALL!

I mean seriously, you got paid to write this, Dan? Paid actual money?Good grief. The article is nothing more than a hit piece on the refs, but even in that Wetzel falls short, pathetically trying to frame how "hard" it is to call NFL games.

you can't have it both ways, Dan. You are either blasting the refs about the call, which would make you look like the Patriots homer you so obviously seem to be, or the call was right on the field and you dispel any suggestion that the refs spoiled the game for Belichick and the Patriots.

Bottom line: The call was right. Replay backed up the call, and even if it didn't the Patriots couldn't challenge it because they mis-managed the game.

So, in a nutshell, Wetzel's article is just a quick hack piece he "mailed in" without thinking about how stupid it reads.

Dan Wetzel = lazy and overpaid.

[UPDATE]: Apologies to the self-important grammar Nazis for the spell check adding a "r" to Wetzel's name. I'll also add that "bad journalism" isn't poor grammar or a lack of spell checking. That's being "human," especially when your site doesn't have a gaggle of interns or proof readers to double-check that stuff. Bad journalism is getting the story or the facts wrong, which Wretzel... er, Wetzel did.