I was just scrolling around online and witnessed a poll question...Which team is the best in the AFC?  You would think right away the Colts should at least be an option to pick from with their 4 game winning streak and their overall record of 7-4...but nope.  Heres the link http://www.sportsline.com/nfl.

Poll

What team is the best in the AFC?    Jets Ravens Titans Patriots Steelers

Right away, I noticed that the Colts have beaten three teams on there... Ravens (handily), Patriots, and at Steelers.  Also, as of now, the Colts have tiebreakers for the wild-card over both the Ravens and Patriots (Pats wouldn't even make the playoffs if it started today).  I really do not understand the whole poll question when they don't even mention the actual BEST team in the AFC...thats right the Colts.

I really can't give you a site or link, but I just heard over on ESPN that Edge James has just asked the Cardinals for a release...however he got denied.  It is very possible though that he will get released over the offseason due to his large contract and lack of playing time.  Does anyone see a chance that he could land a job in Indy next year?  If he does take a paycut, I could see it a possibility with Rhodes as the one who will be left out probably (I can dream right).  Here's a possible controversial question, if the Colts could keep or take only one player between James and Harrison, who would you take?

Here is what Bill Polian had to say regarding Sanders knee and his status overall for those who have not listened or read the transcript from colts.com:

Q: What happened with safety Bob Sanders last week? Why did he miss the game?

A: Bob had some swelling in his knee that developed on Friday after he had practiced on Thursday. His normal routine is to rest on Wednesday, practice Thursday and Friday and play Sunday. The swelling was such that he didn’t feel like he could go. There has been consultation off and on all weekend between (Doctor) Jim Andrews down in Birmingham, Ala. – who operated on Bob back in the early fall – and our physicians. I’m not sure I can give you a definitive answer right now as to what specifically is wrong and what kind of a prognosis they can give other than they told me that none of the doctors believe there is anything structurally wrong. In other words, there is no ligament damage. There is nothing of that nature. They believe it to be some type of irritation inside the knee joint. That’s a very vague and incomplete answer, because I don’t know what the specific answer is at this point and I can’t tell you what the prognosis is. The one thing I can definitely say is they’ve been in contact with Doctor Andrews and together, they’ll try to develop some sort of regimen of treatment.

Q: Might he have to cut down practice time in order to play on Sunday?

A: It’s conceivable, but it would be premature to jump to those conclusions. This has to be governed by the doctors and how they view the problem and what’s causing it.

After reading this, I am not too confident he will be back this week but hopefully I am way wrong on this.  Let me know what you guys think and whether there are any updates on his status.

We all know that Peyton Manning stuggled early on that eventually lead to a few bad losses.  You can say it was his early knee problems, injured front line, no running game, or a lack of possessions with the ball to get into a rythm.  I say all of the above.  Experts have ruled Manning and the Colts as either done, old, or teams have just caught on to what they do after 10 years.  Sterling Sharpe from NFL.com recently answered a question in a chat (at this link  http://chat.nfl.com/front/archived_chat/47) about their stuggles this season: 

Hi Sky. Peyton Manning has had that year that we really didn't want him to have. It's just not there. People have caught on to what they are and what they do. It's no longer Manning to Marvin Harrison. It's now Reggie Wayne. Where they used to be able to balance the field between Harrison and Wayne, they can't win that way anymore. Harrison can no longer beat people.

There is no denying that Manning and the Colts offense has been inconsistent thus far.  The combo of Manning to Harrison has not been what we are use to, and  you can also say that Reggie Wayne is the number one receiver now.  But to say that people have caught on to what they are and what they do is a comment that is not expertise.  Teams already knew who they were and what they did, but it came down to execution and Manning and the offense wasn't doing that early on probably due to the problems I mentioned earlier.  Harrison can STILL beat people, but for some reason him and Manning can not just connect.  Going back to last week alone, Harrison had his guy BEAT several times whether it was on the sideline, down the middle, and in the end zone but the plays still went for incompletions  Two of those occassions the pass could have been just a bit better in my opinion.  The Colts can still win whether Harrison brings that balance to the field or not.  The Colts still won 13 games without that balance last year when Harrison was hurt, so again, Sharpe made another comment that is not expetise.

 When it is all said and done at the end of the season, Peyton will have his usual statistical year and the Colts will go to the playoffs.  Since the bye week, Manning has thrown for at least 2 touchdown passes while his interception total the last couple of weeks is at a stalemate.  He will have around 30 TDs and less than 14 INTs and if you look back at his overall Hall of Fame career, it would be just another season in the book.

For those of you who remember or have seen highlights of the game, the fourth quarter of yesterday's game and the 1996 AFC championship playoff game against the Steelers were very similar (but with different outcomes obviously).  In the playoff game, the Colts had the lead throughout the fourth quarter but the Steelers scored late in the game to force Captain Comeback to run a 2 minute offense.  I believe the Colts had the ball around the 30 or 35 yard line when Jim had to throw that hail mary as time was expiring, but barely failed to convert.  This time around, the Colts scored late and forced Ben to throw the hail marry (almose around the same field position) but barely failed to convert.  Anyways, I thought it was a coincidence on how both games played out similar, but with better results this time around for the Colts.

Come someone please give me better information about Jackson and his injury that occured in practice yesterday according to Sheftner.  The injury report that the Colts displayed said that he did not participate in practice yesterday.  Still a little confused on the matter.

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Alright everyone, obviously I am not the only frustrated Colts fan around.  My brother and I were pounding anything that was close to us as the Colts made a mistake throughout the game.  I would describe myself as a pretty pessimistic guy and could easily consider this season as a waste, while the end of Manning's career comes closer by.  However, I am not throwing in the towel yet until it is statiscally proven. 

Question:  What has led to Tony Dungy's previous 3-4 starts as a coach?  ......Answer:  PLAYOFFS!

Those starts let to eventual playoff berths between the 1999-2001 seasons with records of 11-5, 10-6, and 9-7.  I'm not saying a 9-7 record will get the Colts into the playoffs, but you get the jist of my point   Anything can happen from now until the Colts 16th game against who?...well, lets not talk about it until the game rolls by.  Dungy has been in this situation before, so lets ride the ship and see what happens.

According to ESPN, Ed Johnson will be waived.  Here's the website:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3580135

This is what Polian had to say within the article from ESPN:

"Ed was well aware that his past history required him to be in complete compliance with club rules," Polian said in a statement Wednesday. "He was repeatedly told this during the off-season. Along with his teammates, he was reminded as recently as yesterday of coach [Tony] Dungy's rules of behavior. Unfortunately, he chose to violate those rules. Given the circumstances surrounding Ed's original employment with the Colts, we feel in this case that we have no choice but to take this action"

This is not a good start for the Colts this season, however, a blowout win Sunday could make things better.

The Houston Texans has just cut 21 players including LB Rosevelt Colvin that could come to a suprise to many.  The article had to say this about Colvins cut:

"Colvin is the biggest name. The Texans signed the veteran to be a pass rush specialist, but Gary Kubiak said Colvin's work wasn't good enough to justify keeping him for such a narrow role over a player who could contribute on special teams."

During the offseason, the Colts did have interest in him thus taking a physical for the team.  However, whether it was for financial reasons or not, Colvin chose to play for the Texans.  Now, Colvin could appear back in Colts rumor as a potential backup LB due to injuries at the position.  However, I do not see him in a Colts uniform unless he takes a significant financial cut and accepts the fact that he could play a less significant role with the team.  Also I could be wrong on this one, but I thought the Colts were going to use him at DE as a pass rusher and not at LB which seems even more unlikely with the emergence of C. Johnson and M. Howard.  All in all, he could be a player to look at after Saturdays cuts but that's about it.  But you never know with Polian and the Colts.

Heres the link to the ESPN article:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth/0-3-175/Texans-cut-21--including-Colvin.html

With all the injuries that have occured this offeseason with the Colts, it seems that they are being downplayed just a bit when it comes down to Super Bowl contenders.  As I have been reading season predictions from espn.com and nfl.com, the majority of the experts have the Chargers going the Super Bowl and then the Patriots in respect to the AFC.  Actually, maybe even the Jaguars have been picked more than the Colts to make it the Super Bowl.  One ESPN analyst when predicting the Chargers season mentioned this:

"Provided Philip Rivers recovers fully from knee surgery, the Chargers are on the short list for the AFC championship. One question: Can their defense stop the Patriots and/or Jaguars?"

Alright, there's something wrong with that last sentence of his when talking about whether the Chargers defense will be able to stop the Patiots and/or Jaguars.  One question:  WHAT ABOUT THE COLTS?.  Since when has the Jaguars offense been more deadly than the Colts.

If you want to read the actual comment go to the following link and look for Kevin Seiferts prediction towards to middle of the page:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/preview08/team?team=sdg

ESPN as well has a section for the Colts that was really interesting to read when you have a chance.