Hello everyone! The college games have started already, and as there were no open threads as of 12:18 PM EDT, I decided to make one(Shake, if you post an open thread, feel free to delete this one). Please talk about today's football action(and maybe LOLcats) here. Some of the early games include:

Minnesota @ 13 Iowa

10 Ohio State @ Michigan

Duke @ 10 Miami

and Chattanooga @ 2 Alabama

Iowa needs a win to lock up a berth in the Capital One Bowl, while a win over the Buckeyes would ceratinly help Michigan's chances for a bowl game.

Ok here you all go, i am a little late as i decided to sleep in and ( our resident steeler fan LV steelersfan just beat me two it but a few min).  but here is your forum to talk about whatever you happened to be doing on the other thread you would like to continue lol. however   i see there are not a ton of great games on yet but here is the link to THE BEGGINING OPEN THREAD IF YOU WANT  so go ahead and have at it like usual and even talk about the Colts if you feel like it.

First, I'd like to say he's great. He's off to a 6-6 FG start, and 13-13 Extra Points.

Matt Stover however, had a historical Career at Baltimore, as he is their Franchise leader in points with over 1400 points! He is also 5th all time in scoring, which is a great point to be for a kicker.

So I'm just curious about what your opinion is. I Do NOT believe in guys "Throwing" a game when playing their old team, rather i think it makes them want to win more! But i still have my doubts, so ill ask you guys what you think.

I'll put this in a situation form question.

Ok. Were down 2 points. 4th and 2 or 3. Were at the 35. There are about 40 seconds to go and we have a timeout to go. Would you guys want to kick it? Matt is great, and i believe he can, but will it be too much? He played 12 years there, and has to go back and hit an emotional game winner against the pressure of his HOME crowd? If its 45 or under i'd kick. But with wind, pressure, old team, and 45+ yards, if its 4th and 1 or 2 i'd go for it.

One more thing. Now that i got out of the way, I would say that i actually would probably kick, only because were down. So also answer this question, same situation, but were tied. Baltimore has a shaky offense, so if were tied, with a 52 yard field goal and 40 secs, do we go for it?

Well, I'm ashamed I'm doing this and normally I try to be the bigger man, but I have to rant about more bad journalism. I came in today and turned the TV on, which happened to be on ESPN2 as a 1st and 10 segment was airing. I generally don't watch, but it just happened to be on, and Rob Parker and Skip Bayless were debating whether or not Philip Rivers is a top 5 NFL QB. They also had their own lists. It was like a car wreck. You know it's going to be bad, but you have to watch.

Skips argument was for Rivers inclusion, and part of his basis was that he "outplayed" Peyton twice in the playoffs. That lit the fuse. Here are the stats from those two games:

2007:

Rivers: 14/19, 264 yds, 3 TDs, 1 pick, 128.6 rating. Manning: 33/48, 402 yds, 3 TDs, 2 picks, 122.5 rating. Statistic-wise, Rivers was slightly better, but the Colts D played very poor, and did not have Freeney or Mathis. Add that in with Harrison's fumble deep in SD territory, ending a likely TD drive, and Manning's pick that went through Wayne's hands, also in SD territory thwarting a likely scoring drive. It's debatable, but Rivers did not technically "outplay" Manning.

2008:

Rivers: 20/36, 217 yds, 0 TDs, 1 pick, 91 rating. Manning: 25/42, 310 yds, 1 TD, 0 picks, 131.7 rating. Here, it's not even debatable. Rivers sucked, Manning did not. And Manning did that despite their punter putting 5 punts inside the 15, and 4 inside the 10 (one went to 5, one went to 1). Our D and Special Teams got their ass kicked by Darren Sproles' 328 total yards and they won the coin toss. Manning did not touch the ball in OT. A bunch of crappy calls by the refs gave SD their winning drive.

So although SD outplayed us, or to be biased, we beat ourselves, but Rivers did not outplay Manning either game. Also in the segment, Bayless and Parker listed their top 5 QBs. Bayless picked Brady 1, Manning 2, and Parker picked Manning 1, Brees 2, and Brady 3. This annoyed me moderately, just b/c it was Skip, but didn't send me into a rage. Skip's next comment, however, did. He asked Parker why he put Manning 1 over Brady. He asked in the same tone one would use if asking, "Why would you eat a Big Mac right before running a marathon?" Then Parker acted like it was only because he didn't think Brady was healthy (basically indicating a healthy Brady is better). Skip then got fiery and started the "rings" and postseason BS. Parker moderately shot that down by saying it's been a long time since that Super Bowl win, but still was soft in Peyton's defense. I swear, I feel ESPN rigged that "debate" just to try and put down the factual Manning>Brady debate that was settled last Sunday.

So far this season, Skip has undermined the Colts by saying (1) they're facing too much change---a stupid argument that has long since been proven false; (2) Losing Sanders and Jackson for the season would torpedo us---He clearly did not know Sanders had been out all year and played limited in 2 games, or that Powers played in front of Jackson all year (EDIT from previously); and (3) saying the refs probably got the 4th down call wrong and Wayne should have been flagged for pass interference.

Sorry for yet another one of these annoying "ESPN is evil" posts. I have basically shrugged off the disrespect most of the season, but the lack of respect (as in none at all) we received for the come from behind win all this week has been frustrating to say the least, and the moronic Bayless comments was the final straw. Regardless of the game's outcome and the Hall of Fame QB poll, ESPN chooses to keep ignoring the Colts unless they are undermining them and Peyton. I am certain if the Colts and Pats had their roles reversed this season, the media would already have crowned NE champs for this season and next. Hopefully, we can shut all these clowns up once and for all in February.

EDIT:

I had attempts and completions in the opposite fields, so it screwed up. In 2007, Manning had 97.7 rating and Rivers had a 133.2, while in 2008, Manning had a 90.4 and Rivers had a 61.9. So rating wise, in 2007 the edge Rivers held over Manning was much larger, and vice versa in '08. Thanks to P0RSKIN2.

Okay.....Phew! Got that out of my system.

This is according to ESPN Insider, so not sure how many of you guys/girls have heard this yet, so I thought I would share it...

"Anthony Gonzalez says he is getting near a return, but as Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star writes, we've heard this before. Maybe Gonzo needs to watchthis video with Grover for a refresher.

Of course, with the Colts firing on all cylinders without Gonzalez in the lineup, there hasn't been much pressure for him to rush back. It's a smart move, and will ensure he's ready for their run in the playoffs."

There are a number of reasons why the Colts are currently 9-0. Peyton Manning, Dwight Freeney, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Robert Mathis, just to name a few, are the primary reasons the Colts are undefeated. But the contribution of the youngest player on the Colts roster has also been vital to the Colts success. I am, of course, referring to Jerraud Powers, the rookie cornerback taken from Auburn in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft.

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This is Gary Brackett's last season under his current contract with the team. I was curious to know everyone's opinion and thoughts on whether or not the Colts should resign him. Most of the things I hear and read are leaning towards the Colts NOT keeping him. All of this is speculation of course since the team has not made any official comments on their position with him. 

I will offer my thoughts. I think the guy is worth signing to another contract for a couple reasons. First, he is a heck of a MLB and leader of our defense. I noticed some serious issues with our defense last season without him in the game. Second, Brackett is a Colt, Plain and Simple.  From his Impact Foundation to his leadership in the locker room, this guy is a pure definition of who we want on our team. I couldn't even imagine the Colts without #58. I may even start a "Keep GB58 in Indy" petition to Mr. Polian and Mr. Irsay if it doesn't seem like we will be re-signing him.

Thoughts???? 

The Manning Miracle

I was going to do a fanshot on this, but I figured more people would see it if I made a fanpost.

This video concentrates on the greatness of Peyton Manning, not on the ins and outs of Belichick's brain.

I don't know about you, but I can't get enough of seeing clips from the game. I believe this one will go down in history as a classic match up. Both teams had 2 turnovers, both teams had trouble stopping TD passes. Both teams have the best QB's ever to play the game.

Regardless of whether or not you felt this was a lucky win, you can't argue the facts-

Out defense got turnovers when we needed them. Our team never quit. Our team showed character like I've never seen before.

If you're already sick of hearing about this game, my apologies, I personally still haven't come down off my high.

I really do not understand where Deion's attitude is coming from:

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Well, this will probably be rolled into something on the front page (right you are -shake), but I'm bored now so I wanted to start the open thread now.  Please feel free to talk about basically anything, even football if that's your fancy.  Some people might ask that you limit pictures of cat's and other memory killers.  I'm not one of them.  We have one of the best open thread communities in all of SB Nation and therefore anywhere, so let's stick with what got us here.

It'll be up to Sticky Ricky and Pat White to run the Phins wildcat with Ronnie Brown IR'ed

Also on the docket are our game against the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday, and there seems to be plenty to talk about.  Injuries, matchups, smack talk, Baltimore whining about losing a team they acted like they cared about but really didn't, Mayflower trucks, and more.

So guy's, let's get ready for some LOLCatsFootball!