St. Louis Rams at Indianapolis Colts Preview

By Darrell Laurant | Monday, October 17, 2005 | ( 0 )

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The Joe Vitt Era begins for St. Louis this Monday night. Mike Martz hopes it's a short one.

The St. Louis Rams head coach, who is hospitalized with a virus in his heart valve, won't be making the trip to Indianapolis. Instead, top assistant and linebackers coach Joe Vitt will direct St. Louis against a team that has been the class of the NFL so far this season.

Indianapolis Colts' QB Peyton Manning got off to a sluggish start early in the season, slipping to a 44 percent QB rating against Jacksonville and managing only two touchdown passes in the first four games. But he threw for four scores against hapless San Francisco last week, and the Colt defense pulled the team through while he slept.

For the second straight week, Manning and favorite receiver Marvin Harrison have the chance to break the league record for most touchdown passes by one pitch-and-catch combination. At 85, the Colts' duo is tied with Steve Young and Jerry Rice of San Francisco.

Manning has another capable target in Reggie Wayne, and RB Edgerrin James is averaging over 100 overland yards per game.

Yet while the Indianapolis Colts have always been able to score points, stopping other teams was a problem. Not this year. Fearsome edge rushers Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney have combined for 11 sacks in 2005, and linebacker Cato June has returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

A subplot to the game is the return of St. Louis Rams' RB Marshall Faulk to Indianapolis for the first time since being traded away by the Colts. That could be nothing but a minor curiosity, however, as Faulk is currently backing up Steven Jackson.

St. Louis QB Marc Bulger will test the Colts' secondary, having already thrown for 1,648 yards and 10 touchdowns. One of the weapons in his arsenal, WR Isaac Bruce, will probably sit out the game with a lingering case of turf toe, but Torry Holt, Kevin Curtis and Faulk are also dangerous receivers.

For aficionados of one-on-one confrontations, it will be intriguing to watch All-Pro Rams OT Orlando Pace try to block the cat-quick Dwight Freeney.

Mike Martz will no doubt be watching on TV.

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