| Anthony Holds. 2nd September, 2008 - 5:15 pm
 The jury’s out. Not, certainly, with regard to whether the Indianapolis Colts will be one of the better teams in the league again this year. But it’s definitely out as to whether they’ll be able to achieve the one goal that would signify success for them at this point in the life of the franchise: a second Super Bowl Championship in three years.
Outside expectations for the team have not been lower to start a season in a handful of years. Injuries to key players, along with creeping boredom among prognosticators with the AFC’s status quo, have seen to that. Run down a list of expert predictions on any sports website or in any print source, and you’ll find a double handful of pundits who believe that this is the year the Jacksonville Jaguars finally catch the Colts and take the next step. Even those who pick the Colts to continue their dominance of the AFC South don’t, in most cases, see them doing more than that. Everywhere you look, there seems to be another writer saying that the 2008 Colts will be a quick out in the playoffs.
None of the above is particularly surprising. But these low expectations and injury concerns, when examined alongside some of the best talent and stability at certain positions that the Colts have had in some time, make for a strange and fascinating stew of optimism, flux, and uncertainty.
If injuries could be eliminated from the picture, it would actually be appropriate for Colts' fans to be downright giddy going into 2008. A healthy combo of Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Anthony Gonzalez is arguably the best threesome at wideout in the league and has the potential to be better than the Harrison-Wayne-Stokley trio
of 2004, each of whom went for 1,000 yards.
At running back, the Colts have never been this deep. Joseph Addai is a better, more experienced back than he was when he and Dominic Rhodes combined to provide a one-two punch that was devastatingly effective in the team’s run to victory in Super Bowl XLI. Now, with Rhodes back from a year of exile in Oakland, the two will team again. They are joined in the backfield by Mike Hart -- Michigan’s all-time leading rusher and one of the few Colts who truly stood out this preseason.
Dallas Clark should continue his Pro Bowl-quality play at tight end while being complemented by an influx of young dynamic talent at the position in Gijon Robinson, Jacob Tamme, and Tom Santi. All in all, Peyton Manning appears to have his most potent and diverse arsenal of weapons ever.
The only problem, of course, is that injuries cannot be taken out of the picture. While the virtually intact return of the NFL’s third-ranked defense in 2007 and the presence of the aforementioned offensive skill position players bode well, there are real questions up front. The biggest at the moment, obviously, is the injury that
Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday sustained in the second-to-last preseason contest against Buffalo. It appears he has made a decision not to have surgery on a reported tear of his medial collateral ligament. If he had undergone surgery, he would have been expected back, fully healthy, in about twelve weeks. Without it he is expected to return in six to seven, but it seems reasonable to be concerned with his fitness for duty upon return. Will he be healthy enough to play at his usual high level? Even if he can’t, will his production be an improvement over that of his replacement? Only time will tell.
The Colts were already thin on the offensive line, with starting left guard Ryan Lilja out for at least six more weeks while he recovers from offseason knee surgery. Were he present, he would be the most logical starter at center. As it is, Bill Polian looks like a psychic for taking three college centers in the draft this
past April. All three of those picks, C/G Mike Pollak, C Steve Justice, and C/G Jamey Richard now figure to play somewhat prominent roles in this year’s offense, with as many as two of them seemingly on track to start. Mike Pollack has been nursing a minor knee injury, as well, but if he is ready to go on September 7, it would seem that
he will be the most obvious choice at right guard. Third-year veteran reserve Charlie Johnson is the probable fill-in at left guard, and either Steve Justice or Jamey Richard will step into the lineup for Saturday. Whichever way it goes, the Colts are looking at playing much of the year with a very young, very inexperienced group
up front. Even with miracle-working offensive line coach Howard Mudd directing traffic, protecting the franchise player with that much green talent is worrisome.
Adding to that, Peyton Manning himself is fresh off a lengthy absence which kept him out of all of training camp, and that Dwight Freeney, Bob Sanders, and Marvin Harrison are returning from significant injuries, and the situation is a bit tense. If all of these players can remain on the field, and the young replacements on the line can hold their own, the Colts might have their best team ever. If not… some of those experts’ doubts may prove prophetic. All that is safe to say right now is that the 2008 campaign is shaping up to be a wild one in Indianapolis. |
