What? THERE'S A GAME!

Bob will flip ya. Flip ya fa real.

With all the swirling news involving the Patriots, Belichick, and their passion for video surveillance, it's been easy to forget the there is a game this Sunday. And it's not just any game folks. It's a division game; a game against an opponent that averaged 200 rushing yards against the Colts last year, the Tennessee Titans. We Colts fans have had a lot of fun at the Titans expense this off-season. Their fans certainly let us have it when Rob M-M-M-My Bironas hit a 60 yard FG to beat Indy last December. Their fans saw it as a precursor to future success. The Colts had owned them for three years prior, humiliating them numerous times in their stadium and at the dome.

The Titans have overhauled their roster the last three years, and during that process they've added pretty much every Colts player Bill Polian has discarded since 2004. I half expected them to sign Mike Vanderjagt just for gits and shiggles. Even Dungy is amused by the number of former-Colts dressed in powder blue and white:

This is the second week in a row that the Colts will face one of the starting CBs from last year's Super Bowl team. Last week it was Jason David. This week it's Nick Harper. Former-Colts David Thornton, Ben Hartstock, and Corey Simon are also Titans. Simon is the most interesting. He's now listed as a reserve behind Albert Haynesworth. Folks, Albert Haynesworth stinks, and has stunk for some time. If Corey is playing behind him, that does not bode well for Corey.

Former-Colts aside, the Titans have a very strong offensive line and two very solid pass rushers on defense. My feelings about Vince Young are well documented. He can't throw accurately from the pocket. Because of this, he has a tendency to run. In fact, he's more comfortable running than throwing. Because of this, why defend him like a REAL quarterback? Seems to me that Tennessee is a prime candidate to get Cover 3ed, or as I like to call it: The Bob Sanders Beatdown Defense (BSBD).

BSBD involves the Colts employing a Cover 3 defense rather than the standard Cover 2 (or tampa 2), very similar to the one used against the KC Chiefs in the playoffs. Bob Sanders steps down into the box and essentially becomes another linebacker. Antoine Bethea plays center field. Since we know Vince can't throw the ball, and since the Titans are likely to run the ball out of a spread formation (maybe even the shotgun), this allows Bob to basically zero in on the ball carrier and knock him into Never Never Land. This includes Vince Young. Remember, Vince never had to face a healthy Bob Sanders last year. That game Tennessee won on Rob M-M-M-My Bironas' FG, Bob didn't play was hurt in that game and didn't play much. Hell, the Colts didn't have any healthy safeties in that game.

The basic gist of the BSBD is that Bob gets to punish anyone who crosses the line of scrimmage. If Vince Young tucks it and takes off, Bob hits him. HARD! If the Titans spread everyone out, fine. Still keep Bob in the box. Vince Young simply cannot throw the 15 yard out pattern. Vince will instead try to hit slants, or if they are covered, he'll run. With the BSBD, Bob can either jump the slant route and intercept the ball, blitz the QB, support the run if Vince hands it off in the shotgun, or simply annihilate Vince if he crosses the line of scrimmage.

Will the Colts use this defense? Probably not. I mean, Tony Dungy is a defensive guru, and I'm just a schmuck with a blog. I do think the key to the game is Bob Sanders though. The Colts were very banged up both times they played Tennessee last year. Now, they are healthy. This is Tennessee's home opener coming off an impressive win over Jacksonville. They are pumped. Their fans are pumped. They want to destroy Indy in this game. It's up to the Colts to respond, and lay the kind of whooping on the Titans we know the Colts SHOULD give them.