I'm having the hardest time sending pictures from my phone to my email. When I get that squared away, I'll have some pics to display to everyone. The atmosphere in the RCA Dome was amazing. The Colts have come a long, long way from the team that couldn't sell out the dome to save their lives. The place was a sea of blue, and the crowd noise was so intense my ears rang an hour after the game ended. Some impressions I took from the game:
- I'll miss the RCA Dome when they tear it down. It's impossible to get a bad seat. I had GREAT seat in section 126. I saw Brandon Stokley's TD right in front of me. The seats were great, and the folks sitting around me were fun. I especially liked the drunk dude behind me yelling at Peyton to throw the ball down the field. He was yelling this is the 4th quarter and Manning already had 400 yards.
- Joseph Addai is better than Dominic Rhodes. Addai runs harder, has better speed, and is able to shed tacklers better than Dom. Addai's only mistake was the goal-line fumble. His 21 yard TD on the pass from Manning was amazing. Addai is very, very fast. The Colts running game is just fine, thank you.
- Colts defense destroyed Houston. Don't let the final score fool you. Houston had a total of 3 points, 50 yards rushing, and a belly full of turnovers when the Colts lead 27-3 in the 4th. Dungy pulled the defensive starters. With the backups in the game, Houston ran for 58 yards and scored 3 TDs in garbage time. Indy controlled them with their first units all day. The Colts run defense showed up and buried Houston's putrid running attack.
- Robert Mathis is a stud. On the first series he recorded a sack on a boot leg by Carr. Mathis ws consistently in the backfield stuffing runs, getting pressure, and causing havoc.
- The only time Houston crossed the 50 yard line (when the game was still a game) was the result of a decent run back on a kickoff. They got 3 points out of it. They didn't cros the 50 again until the 4th, when Dungy pulled the startes.
- Peyton is spreading the ball around to everyone. Marvin, Reggie, Addai, Dom, Bryan Fletcher, Utecht, Stokley, and Moorehead all catch passes.
In short, we clobbered the Texans and, for one week at least, silenced some critics regarding the running game and the defense. Addai and Mathis impressed me Sunday. It's funny: Manning throw for 400 yards and 3 TDs Sunday, and no one seems to care.