Indianapolis has fallen and can’t get up

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Tuesday, October 28, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

Indianapolis Colts
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Oh, how the mighty have fallen. After Monday night’s 31-21 loss to the undefeated Tennessee Titans, the Indianapolis Colts find themselves with a losing record and almost no chance to win the AFC South.

Until this season, everyone knew that the road to the AFC championship was going to have to travel through either New England or Indianapolis. Now, though, it seems there has been a detour from Indianapolis to Nashville, Tenn.

Commentary: What’s wrong with the Colts and Peyton Manning? At 3-4 on the season, there is a real danger of the Colts missing the playoffs.

Some question whether Manning is fully healed from offseason knee surgery. Others wonder whether age and opposing NFL defenses are catching up with him.

Whatever the reason, it is clear that Manning isn’t the touchdown machine of previous years. Through the first half of the season, Manning has only thrown 10 touchdown passes and has nine interceptions. He has the lowest quarterback rating (79.0) since his rookie season, 1998.

One problem for Manning is the fact that the Colts have been without leading rusher Joseph Addai -- who missed his second straight game due to a hamstring injury -- and backup Dominic Rhodes just doesn’t have the explosiveness to keep defenses honest.

Fan Pulse: Manning may not be ready to anoint the 7-0 Titans as the AFC South champs, but fans are not very optimistic about a second-half turnaround. The Colts haven’t given fans any reason to make them think that things are going to change dramatically. Indianapolis is playing like a mediocre football team and has been all season.

Fantasy impact: In past years, you could throw a dart at the offensive skill players on the Indianapolis roster, and you would be happy with anyone you got for a fantasy football start. Manning, Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark, Addai -- it didn’t matter. You knew you were going to score fantasy points with Indy. Now things are much different and the fantasy points are few and far between for Indianapolis players.

Injury report: Addai is day-to-day with his hamstring injury. Safety Bob Sanders is still out while recovering from knee surgery. Cornerback Kelvin Hayden also missed the Tennessee game with a knee injury.

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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every...
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