Careful here. I'm not buying the reports that say Collins can't catch onto the offense. I smell a red herring there. The reason Addai doesn't scare folks here is that under Dungy and now Caldwell, the Colts have passed the ball 40-50 times a game while running it 20-25 times. Over the past 5 years, they have been godawful at drafting OL and the lack of a good running game is a direct consequence of that. It sort of became a closed loop: can't run the ball so Peyton had to pass more. Peyton is passing more so they don't run the ball and so on. As for their defense, the first team looked pretty good in preseason. And don't forget just how fast they can be. But looking at them from the outside, I am of the opinion that Dungy's "Tampa" defense has seen its better days.
NFL Network reporting Peyton had neck surgery this morning, and that Foster will play! It's from Michael Lombardi, so take that for what it's worth. Edit: The Foster bit is per Foster himself. He says, "all signs point to me playing Sunday." Mort is also reporting the Neck surgery, per Peyton thread in the NFL Talk.
Man, that's a tough break. You never want to see a competitor and an opponent go down like that. Hope to see him back on the field next year. Didn't know his father and brother both had neck issues as well. It meant a whole lot more when we beat the Colts last year and we got shots of Peyton on the sideline with his dejected "Manning face." Wish we could've had our shot to repeat the performance again this year.
He's been retired for a full month after a 5 year stint on an offense that was run first and he only averaged 25 throws. So even if the colts adjust to run more (which has proven to not be effective), he'll still likely to have more than 30 attempts a game, protected by a line where only one guy has started a full season. It may be a closed loop, one that they could risk with Peyton at the helm. Take him out and everything else still holds true: inexperienced, if not craptastic oline which will magnify the declining running game and force Collins to make even faster decisions. Historically he's immobile, we know he has a slow release, learning a new system that's a complete 180 of what he's been playing for 5 years, and up until 2 weeks ago, he was retired.
Jags were smart with their timing when they cut Garrard. Not to say it was a smart decision, but had they cut him a week or two earlier I am certain the Colts would have gone after Garrard and not Collins. Both QB's with AFC South experience. Collins is 2-4 against the Texans, 2-2 as a member of the Titans, no record against the Texans as a member of the Colts, and won his sole start against the Texans in 2010. He is 19-24 in the month of September, 13-13 against the AFC South (games played). Of course ya'll know the Texans are 2-16 vs. the Colts, with both wins coming @ Houston, and winless at Lucas Oil Stadium. They split the 2010 series. All games at Reliant vs. the Colts under the Kubiak era have been decided on average by less than a touchadown - 5.6 points. While those games during the same period at Lucas have been Texans losses decided by an average of 13 points.
In his very best season out of a fairly up and down career, Collins posted a 85 QB rating. 17 seasons, 10 in which he played in 11+ games. In 8 of those 10 seasons, he posted double digit INTs, and for his career he averages one INT per game. The last time he threw for 3000 yards was 2005. The last guy you want playing catch up in the final week or two before the regular season is a new QB. And we're talking about a career 74 Rating QB here. No one's scared about Addai because reps aside, he hasn't broken big plays in forever, even with Manning spreading defenses out for him. He's still going to be running behind a poor line this year, and now teams will be more free to drop a strong safety in the box. From where I sit, the Colts are almost forced to go to a West Coast dink and dunk offense. Lean on Dallas Clark and Wayne, use Addai in the flats, and pray that Collie and Garcon weren't totally dependent on Manning making them look good. Is Collins accurate enough to make those quick reads and get enough zip on the ball on short routes? I doubt it. His poor completion percentage aside, he's earned a rep for holding the ball too long for a home run ball instead of checking down.
Color me "not stunned" http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Foster-doesn-t-practice-likely-a-game-time-2161295.php
The Texans are still TEAM DISAPPOINTMENT until proven otherwise. They need to come out and jump all over the Colts. Can you imagine how deflating it would be for them to fall back into their "slow start" mentality, mismanage the clock, get burned in the secondary, have no pass rush, and generally stink? This is the opportunity of their young lives. The Division is their's for the taking. Take it!
Ya, I was hoping Tate would get it. I figure he'd get some good reps once ward gets stuffed. I think he's available in my league still too. Might drop someone for him, although my gut tells me Arian plays.
I'm high on Tate too..... but Ward had a wooping 6.3 yards per carry last year. Tate hasn't played a regular season game yet. I'm hoping we see another round of what he did to Oakland last year. Very excited about Tate, but this can play out on its own. They'll both get plenty of touches Sunday.
It's a good position to be in. Ward played extremely well last year and deserves to be the #1 backup on paper. BUt like you said, Tate's certainly shown enough to get touches and I'm sure he will get plenty...the guy has good size, breakaway speed and he isn't afraid of contact...he's a rare combo.
