"How much do you wanna bet I can still win this game, ref?"

Longtime readers of the blog may know that Know Your Colts History started out as a segment where I'd take screencaps from the History of the Colts DVD and add weird captions to them.  Eventually, I wore that DVD out (as well as the Super Bowl champs DVD) so I had to go to actually writing stuff each week (well, if you call what I do "writing").  But for this week at least, the KYCH tradition will be relived as we take a look back at the 4 minute sequence that saved the Colts season.

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February 26th has been a day in history synonymous with getting away. 

• On 2/26/1998, farmers were trying to get away from the wrath of Oprah.
• On 2/26/1991, Iraqi soldiers were trying to get away from Kuwait. 
  
• On 2/26/1984, US troops were trying to get away from Beirut. 
  
• On 2/26/1815, Napoleon was trying to get away from Elba. 
  
• On 2/26/1981, doctors and nurses in an Atlanta hospital were trying to get away from a newborn baby that was sacking everyone and everything in the maternity wing.  That baby's name was Robert Nathan Mathis.

After being sedated with a tranquilizer dart and an extra large bottle of formula, Robert was taken home from the hospital where he began to live a normal childhood, except that he sacked a lot more people than the average child. 

Eventually, those around him learned to love and accept him like any other child, by which I mean that people eventually developed new ways protect themselves from this sack-happy child.  Perhaps the most famous of these advancements were parachute pants which allowed people to fit extra padding around their legs to protect their lower body from Robert's constant bltizes. 

To this day, many people believe that parachute pants were a fad started by MC Hammer, but in fact, he only began to use the pants after a trip to Mathis' hometown of Atlanta resulted in crushed pelvis and a shattered femur.  After recuperating from his injury, Hammer began to wear the pants full-time and released the hit song U Can't Touch This in the hope that Mathis would avoid hitting him in the future.  Robert wasn't the least bit threatened by Hammer's demands, but the song was catchy, so he decided to relent.

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At first, it might not seem like Peyton Manning and Nine Inch Nails' do-it-all man Trent Reznor have a lot in common.  One is a heavy metal rocker, the other is the quintessential All-American boy with an oversized forehead playing quarterback in America's heartland.  It might seem like an odd fit, but thery have more in common than you might think.

• Trent Reznor grew up in western Pennsylvania, often referred to as the cradle of quarterbacks because legends like Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly all hail from that area.
• As a student of the game, Peyton has always examined film of other great quarterbacks working at their craft and studied how he could improve his form by watching their techniques.  As he performs, you can see what he's learned from watching Jim Kelly work the no-huddle, Johnny Unitas's grit, Dan Marino's quick release, and Joe Montana's ability to work the two-minute drill to perfection.
• Manning grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana where he started his football career at Isidore Newman High School.
• At the same time that Peyton was lighting it up the Louisiana record books, Trent Reznor was recording Nine Inch Nail albums at Nothing Studios.  Where were those studios located?  New Orleans, Louisiana.  While Peyton was growing up, the two of them were neighbors.
  

The comparison doesn't end there.  As you'll see, NIN's albums tell the story of Peyton's career quite well.

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Maybe I'm alone in thinking this, but I think we've really been ignoring a fine season from Reggie Wayne.  Now you're probably thinking to yourself "Jake, that's really crazy.  And that's saying something considering the level of insanity that you bring on a weekly basis." Sure, you're probably right, but hear me out here.

Of course, Reggie is having another marvelous season.  No one is going to argue that.  But really, where does his performance fit in with the prevalent storylines that we've been dwelling on all season?  In case you're not up on the major storylines, they go something like this:

1. Are the Colts for real?
2. HOW'S THE KNEE PEYTON???
3. Has Marvin lost a step?  (Sidenote: This can't be serious.  If he really believed any of that he wouldn't have written out of fear that Marvin would come to his house.)
4. Which player is going to get injured this week?
5. Can we find a competent DT that enjoys playing the game and completed the D.A.R.E. program?
6. Where's the run game?
7. Why can't the Colts stop anyone on 3rd down?
8. Is John McCargo a Colt or not?
9. How is Marvin not 700 pounds?

Unless you think Reggie is the solution for #5 (which I'm not saying he isn't), he doesn't really fit into any of the any of those big storylines season and as a result, I don't think we've given him the credit he deserves for being such a huge part of why the Colts are still a playoff contender at this point.  Without #87, we could very easily be staring 3-6, 2-7, or maybe even 1-8 in the face right now.  Let's take a look back at how he's helped to the Colts to a winning record so far this season.

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(Of course, you should know going in that this is all made up, but just in case you weren't sure, now you know that this isn't real.  Now, let's get back to suspending disbelief.)

INDIANAPOLIS IN. — Bob Sanders was fined $15,000 by the NFL for a hit on Brandon Jones in a game against the Titans in 2006.

"That don't even make sense man.  That happened almost two years ago, and it was a legal hit," said Sanders, who said he would appeal the fine.

Sanders was not penalized for his hit during the Colts' 20-17 loss against the Titans on December 3, 2006.

"It's ridiculous.  You can't hit 'em high, you can't hit 'em low, and now apparently you can't even hit 'em in the past," Sanders said. "Maybe they'll fine me for thinking about who I'm planning on tackling next week." Sanders was fined for "making an especially mean-looking tackle."

According to Randall Liu, information manager for the National Football Conference, Sanders was fined because "I was doing a Google image search and I came across that photo and I thought to myself 'Boy, that looks pretty rough' so to be on the safe side, we decided to give him a fine, even though the hit happened a few years ago." He said Sanders’ actions violated Rule 12, Section 2, Article 12(2) of the N.F.L.’s official rules.

"It's kind of silly," Colts' coach Tony Dungy said Friday. "He wasn't flagged on the play and  no one complained about the hit after the game, not even Brandon Jones.  What's the big deal?"

When asked why all of his players were wearing flags during practice, Dungy replied "Troy was right."

Deep inside Colts headquarters, the team took a quick break from their preparations yesterday for Sunday Night's game to have a little Halloween Party.  Here's a transcript from last night's festivities.

Charile Johnson: (Dressed as Keenan Thompson in Good Burger) So tell me again why you're in drag.

Mike Pollak: Well, as you know, all the rookies go through some hazing during their first season in the league.  Part of the hazing is that the non-rookies at each position get to pick out the costume for their rookie counterparts.  The linebackers made Wheeler dress up as Xena: Warrior Princess, Dallas made Jacob Tamme and Tom Santi dress up like the Olsen twins, Joseph and Dom made Mike Hart wear lingierie, Pierre Garcon has to walk around inside Anthony Gonzalez's owygen tent all night, and the three rookie O-linemen had to dress up as the Golden Girls. 

But you were the one that picked out our costumes, so why are you asking me?

CJ: So I could get Jeff to take some photos of you while you were busy talking to me.  Did you get 'em Jeff?

Jeff Saturday: (Dressed as Zeus) Got 'em!  Deadspin is gonna love this!

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Obviously, this week's game versus the Titans is huge.  Division implications huge.  Getting over .500 huge.  Having a chance to take down the last remaining undefeated team huge.  The difference between being 4 games back without a tiebreaker or being 2 games back with the tiebreaker huge. 

A game as huge as this provokes a lot of thought, but at least for yours truly, I don't have one major thought for this week.  Rather than trying to pluck one of the many small thoughts out of my head and trying to make something out of it, I'm just going to give you all my random thoughts for this week.

• Why does everyone keep saying the Colts are built to play with the lead?  Last time I checked, they've won more games by lulling their opponents into double-digit leads than they have by taking the lead early and never giving it up.  The only two games that the Colts started with touchdowns on their opening drive this season they ended up losing.  I'm almost tempted to say we should spot the Titans 10 points just so we can have a better chance to win, but that would be mighty crazy and I'm just a notch below that kind of craziness.
• A few weeks ago, I got to see the Titans take on the Ravens (in between frequent checks on NFL Game Center to see how the Colts were doing) and what I saw was a dominant defense on display.  They reminded me a lot of those Raven defenses from early in the decade.  Tough, physical, fast, and very emotional.  Occasionally, that emotion works against them, but it's not like the Colts should go in there looking for ways to get the Titans to use their emotion the wrong way.  And even if they could, I don't think Pierre wants to get any more packages, so don't count on that being a factor on Monday.
  
• When you type in "Colts Titans" in Google's photo search, this is the first photo to pop up:

Now, I'm sure there a very valid reason for whatever Marvin is doing in the background, but it sure looks like he's practicing for a career in Broadway, or in the pointing industry.

• If I could describe rookie running back Chris Johnson in a word, it would be "scary".  If I could describe Chris Henry in a word, it would be "scared".
• Did anyone else know that Adam Vinatieri is a third cousin of Evel Knievel?  I don't know about you guys, but that explains a lot for me.
• I know there's a lot of talk about how the Titans haven't faced a lot of quality opponents yet, but let's not forget when the the Colts started out 13-0 in 2005, the combined record of their opponents through the first six weeks was only 15-23.  In a topsy-turvy season like this, there's something to be said for just going out and beating the teams on your schedule, regardless of how good they are or aren't.
• In the time that it took to write this post, Tim Jennings has been flagged 14 times.

At the end of this post, there's a 7 minute highlight video of some of Marvin Harrison's best catches in his career.

Please, don't watch it.

Don't watch it if you're only interested in hearing the music selection.  "Suga Suga" by Baby Bash isn't something you'll be rocking in your iPod anytime soon.

Don't watch it in the hope that you'll see Marvin pop up at a Bruce Springsteen concert halfway through the video.  It's not going to happen.

Don't watch it if you want to find out more about his eating habits.  That's what this is for.

Don't watch it if you have sympathy for secondaries, they won't receive any in this video.

Don't watch it if you're going to examine it to find evidence that he's lost a step because:

1. That's not the point
   
2. You won't find it.
   

Don't watch it if you're looking for the latest touchdown dance craze.  Unless the new fad is to do nothing, you won't find it here.

Don't watch it if you cringe at the sight of people's ankles being broken.  It'll happen more than once here.

If after all that, you're still interested in watching this video, then by all means, check it out.  I think you'll enjoy what you see.